AUSTRALIA 2011: Exploring Port Stephens

AUSTRALIA 2011: Exploring Port Stephens (May 8-9, 2011)

There’s a lot to explore in Port Stephens, and the sand dunes just formed the tip of the iceberg. Port Stephens is a coastal region divided into several towns and seaside villages. All of them share the Pacific Ocean coast, but each village has its own beach or bay. We accessed the Stockton Beach sand dunes through Anna Bay, and we went on to discover some of its neighbors.

Shoal Bay and Tomaree Head

S H O A L  B A Y

After resting from our sandboarding adventure, we drove to Shoal Bay, one of Port Stephens’ many beaches. To our left we could see a silhouette of the jetty against the sun that’s just about to set, and to our right was Tomaree Head.

We enjoyed this gift of nature while watching the occasional group of birds scurry along the shoreline, and the sight was picturesque indeed.

The sun about to set, as viewed from Shoal Bay

N E L S O N  B A Y  M A R I N A

Yachts at Nelson Bay Marina

From Shoal Bay we headed to Nelson Bay, where we stopped for a while so the kids can use the playground to their heart’s desire. As the sun was setting on the horizon, we walked along the marina with the shops to our left and the yachts to our right. So many yachts and boats were “parked” on the marina, and they made such a pleasant picture against the setting sun.

Most of the shops were already closed (I still can’t get over the fact that they close at 5PM), but we managed to find one that was open and eat some gelato. Gelato in the freezing cold weather? Why not?

N E L S O N  H E A D  L I G H T H O U S E

The following day, we visited the Nelson Head Heritage Lighthouse and Reserve, which had a beautiful panoramic view of the area. From up there we could clearly see Shoal Bay, which is where we were the day before.

View of Shoal Bay from the lighthouse

Some artifacts in the museum

Aside from the beautiful view, we also got to learn a bit about history. The first light was installed at around 1872, and this is why they had a wealth of artifacts to show. All of these were displayed in their mini museum, which is what made the visit quite educational and interesting.

Lighthouse in action

The most interesting feature of the Nelson Head Lighthouse though is that it's an actual, functioning lighthouse. This isn't just a museum with artifacts, but it's something that actually still does what it's supposed to do. I've never been to a functioning lighthouse before, so it was a very enriching experience.

We had to climb up the lighthouse to see it in action, and this is where we talked to some coast guards. We found out that the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol has been appointed trustee since 1990, and it was really fun seeing them in action.

L I T T L E  B E A C H  M A R I N A

Little Beach Marina

Watching pelicans at Little Beach

We proceeded to Little Beach Marina soon after, which is still part of Nelson Bay. Here we spent most of the time looking at seashells, watching pelicans, and just basically enjoying a view of the sunshine and the clear turquoise waters. The beach was deserted and picture-perfect, so we just took in all the sights with pleasure.

G A N G A N  H I L L

After all our beach explorations we went up to Gan Gan Hill, which is 160 metres above sea level. They have a lookout which offers a 360 view of Port Stephens and surrounding areas, and the view was just breathtaking.

Port Stephens as seen from the Gan Gan Hill Lookout

We even saw the massive sand dunes from afar, as well as the beaches we visited earlier in the trip. We still went go-karting after this, which was a whole lot of fun, but the Gan Gan Hill Lookout, to me, was the perfect way to say goodbye to Port Stephens.

P.S. I love you!