Australia





4 Mar: Newcastle

This morning we decided to discover the historic part of Newcastle by foot. We walked along the man-made spit at from Nobbys Beach to the lighthouse and back and then along the wharf to Queens Wharf Tower. After a climb of 180 steps we were rewarded with a lovely view over the city and harbour. We then visited Christchurch cathedral before heading for the local park with swings and slides, to the kids delight. Afterwards we drove to Blackbutt reserve, an animal reserve set in bush land, a few kilometres out of town. We barbequed some sausages there at the picnic area for lunch before setting out to see the wildlife. There are kangaroos, emus, koalas, wallabies, lots of birds, wombats, a snake and possums which we didn't manage to see. Koala encounters were advertised at 14h, so the girls begged to stay to be able to touch a koala for the first time! We got to pat an adorable one year old joey, who wasn't really interested by our presence or loving strokes, but by the fresh eucalyptus leaves he'd been given to munch on!

It began to rain quite heavily mid afternoon, so our plans to return to the beach were put on hold. Instead we went shopping to buy Gaelle a new mask for snorkelling (she broke her previous one in the swimming pool in Albury) and we picked up some head nets to keep the flies and mosquitoes away when we reach central Australia. We also filled the fridge up before heading back to Queens Wharf in Nelson Bay for a nice local beer and an internet session at Queens Wharf Brewery. The views from the second floor terrace were lovely as the sun set. We returned to Nobbys Head car park for dinner and the night. Our night's sleep was interrupted several times by locals driving in and out of the car park for a seaside chat or a spot of fishing; until 4am, can you believe it? They should have been tightly tucked up in bed...!

Gaelle and Sophie cuddling the joey koala Jenny's turn to have a cudlde with a koala One of the many lovely coloured birds - a rainbow lorikeet

5 Mar: Nelson Bay

Jenny went out for a run before breakfast along the seashore, past Ocean Baths to Bogey Hole, a swimming pool carved out of the rocks by convicts in 1819 or the private pleasure of their commandant. It's now accessible to the public for bathing, but it's abandoned to nature. There are soft coral, starfish and crabs living in the pool and huge waves come crashing in against the side of the rock pool at high tide. After breakfast, we all went to Bogey's Hole for a dip. It was fun ! The pool is a beautiful mixture of natural beauty and history.

After a drive of an hour or so, we arrived in Nelson Bay. A small touristy town in the beautiful bay of Port Stephans, which boasts resident dolphins and the Stockton Bight, sand dunes stretching 35kms south to Newcastle. We headed straight for the tourist information office to find out about dolphin cruises and quad excursions on the dunes. Unfortunately the quad tours were not suitable for the kids, so we booked a dolphin cruise at 13:45. We had just enough time for a bite of lunch and a seasickness tablet before the cruise set off.

We saw 2 pods of bottlenose dolphins which were feeding. A female named Hook and her baby came up to the front of the boat and swam along side for a few instants. It's very difficult to get decent photos of them, as you never know where and when they'll come up for air, but we all thoroughly enjoyed watching the dolphins swimming around.

After the cruise we went to see the stunning lookout above the bay, followed by the sand dunes by Anna Bay. Sophie went for a paddle in the sea in her dress and was taken by surprise by the waves; the poor thing came out drenched, covered in sand and a bit put out by the ordeal! In the evening we decided to treat ourselves to dinner in a restaurant overlooking the marina in Nelson's Bay. We both ate some famous A ussie steak; it was lovely and tender, yum, yum! Afterwards we headed back to the sand dunes for the night.

Bogeys Hole (convict-carved pool) Hook and her baby: bottlenose dolphins in Nelsons Bay Sand dunes at Anna Bay and our view for the night

6 Mar: Seal Rocks

After a lovely night's sleep, rocked by the sea, we set off further up the east coast to Seal Rocks. Today is wash day, so we picked a campsite on the edge of the beach in a very quiet setting of a National Park. After launching the washing machines we tucked into lunch under a beautiful blue sky, protected by the awning of our campervan, with the sound of the breaking waves as background music.

We then spent a peaceful afternoon at the beach. The waters were incredibly transparent and warm. There were small jellyfish type things washed up on the shore, which we later learned were bluebottles; they have painful stings but are not poisonous. Their presence put a dampener on our bathing, so at around 17h we went back to the campsite. The girls made some friends on the site next to ours and we joined t heir parents for a beer after dinner; t wo brothers and their families who had migrated from the UK 3 years ago. Unfortuantely there were a group of young lads camping opposite us who partied on loudly, despite the campsite rules, until 3 in the morning, so we didn't get a good night's sleep. We were hesitating on whether to stay put for a second night, but that decided it we would continue along our way!

Beach at Seal Rocks The girls looking at a bluebottle washed up by the tide

7 Mar: Seal Rocks to Forster

We started off the morning with a walk up to the historic lighthouse from the beach (1.5 hours return). The views from the lighthouse are stunning. On the way back in a local shop we bought a body board for all the family. Back at the beach which was today clean of any signs of bluebottles, we all tried our hand at surfing the waves. The conditions were ideal, even for the girls. Gaelle become addicted and even Sophie managed to surf a few small waves with our help. After a picnic on the beach, we decided we'd had enough sun for the day, so headed further north towards Forster in The Great Lakes region. We stopped off just south of town to visit the lookout at Cape Hawke. The lookout was at the top of a 20 minute walk through a mosquito infested rainforest. We sprayed on the mosquito spray and walked up as fast as we could! The view from the top was worth it; we could see the inland lakes, the coast and the surrounding beaches. We then headed into Forster to One Mile beach. The girls played at a playground at a picnic area behind the beach. We then decided to take a walk to discover some of the Forster coast and ended up on a beautiful sand dune overlooking One Mile Beach. After a barbeque dinner at the picnic area, we headed back to the lookout for the night, for a quiet night's sleep.

Gaelle trying her hand at bodyboarding for the first time Sophie surfing a wave On the sand dune at Bennett Head overlooking One Mile Beach

8 Mar: Inland to Ellenborough Falls

This morning we were on Forster Beach at 8:30 am. Jenny went for a swim in the ocean baths whilst François and the girls headed for the waves with the body board. What a wonderful start to the day! We then decided to drive inland to see some flying foxes near Wingham. After an instructive halt at the tourist information office at Taree and a lunch and Internet break at McDonald's, we arrived in Wingham Brush Nature Reserve. From the boardwalk, you can see hundreds, if not thousands of flying foxes in the trees. And not just any trees, giant stinging trees; that is to say that their leaves sting badly and signs warn that if stung, medical advice should be sought... The list of dangers in Australia is getting longer and longer! We also say some brush turkey (black turkeys with red heads) wandering around the reserve, a glimpse of a land mullet (a sort of large dark lizard) and some superb Moreton Bay fig trees.

After an hour's drive and 10 kms of dirt track we arrived at our next stop off, at Ellenborough Falls; apparently the 2nd highest falls in NSW, at 200 metres. We saw a huge, 2 metre, goanna when we arrived by the picnic area - an impressive beast. Sophie and Jenny took the walk down to the base of the falls via 641 steps, whilst François and Gaelle took the flatter option to a lookout point. We then headed back to Wingham Brush, towards the coast, where we settled down for the night. At sunset we saw all the flying foxes fly off to hunt for the night, all 200'000 of them - an unforgettable sight!

Little red flying foxes at Wingham Brush Nature Reserve A magnificent Moreton Bay fig tree Sophie at the base of Ellenborough Falls


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