26&27/3/17 Nifty fingers , memorial walk

 Saturday saw me have a game of golf at Nelson Bay , I had 35 points , so nearly played to my handicap , which is good . The bad news was they charged me an additional fee for being a member of Social Golf Australia . They maintain my handicap for me while I am travelling - apparently the Newcastle Golf Assoc doesn't like this "virtual " golf club , so they slap a $15 green fee on top of the competition fee - talk about discrimination !!

Sunday 26/3

 Out & about again , we headed down to Boat Harbour , not too far away from us . It's a small town / suburb of Port Stephens , and is basically a very rocky section of the coast , with many little bays .

  Around to Anna Bay , which turned out to be a very busy place . It's at the northern end of Stockton Beach & dunes - it's called Birubi Beach at this end though . There are many tours and things you can do among the vast amount of sand dunes - sand boarding , quad biking , nature tours , 4wd tagalong tours , etc , etc , etc . No parking spots anywhere near the beach , so we kept heading toward Stockton.
  Arriving at Stockton we went out to the beach , before following the road around to the Hunter River . There are great walking/cycling tracks all along the foreshore . The views across to Newcastle were pretty good, to Knobby's Head -

 To Fort Scratchley that was used during the war -

  Across to the southern foreshore -

 And the magnificent buildings -

  Driving around to Newcastle , we decided to have some lunch on the opposite side of the river , so headed near to Knobby's Beach . We sat beside the river and ate lunch , as it turned out we were only about 3m from the ute , but some nifty fingered little b@#$#@#s managed to steal 4 of the 6 tyre pressure monitors off the ute's tyres - this is the 1st thing that has been stolen from us in over 2 years . Karma will come into play for those little mongrels - the sad part is we won't be there to see it , but it will come to them !!   The sadder part was we didn't notice they were gone till later when we were fuelling the ute up !!
 Driving around the fort and around the city precinct , we cruised Hunter St , but couldn't find the Parthenon Milk Bar , no Hell's Angels either , so we headed up to a high point on the coast toward Bar Beach .
  We found a surprise since we'd been here last , The Memorial Walk , an elevated walkway and then a lot of steps that lead down to Bar Beach - it's a popular fitness walk .

 It's also commemorating the many men & women who lost their lives in WW1. Names are engraved on the silhouettes .

 Here are the steps - and there's a lot of them !!

 This is Bar Beach .

 After watching a pod of dolphins chase 2 schools of fish around for a while , we drove back into the city centre , passing some fine old houses on the way .

 Some sight seeing/driving done , we headed back to the park and a cool swim . This is one of the locals .

 Monday 27/3


   Today sees us at Fingal Bay , again not too far away , only about 20mins drive . Fingal Bay faces to the east and is a beautiful sweep of sandy beach reaching right around to Fingal Spit that connects Shark Island to the mainland - depending on the tides - apparently there re really strong water currents here and many people have drowned thinking they could make it across !!

There's a lookout where these photo's were taken from Barry Park - a popular whale watching area . There's a walk around the coast to Boulder Bay , there's not a lot of information about it until you're 500m into the walk . Continuing on we made it out to the tip of that headland , but decided it would be wise to go back to the ute as we didn't take any water with us and it was 27 degrees and very humid . Boulder Bay was another 2klms away . There's a section of Tea Tree forest that you walk through , other sections have been destroyed by fires in the last few years .

 Port Stephens lighthouse is on Shark Island , there are remains of the old lighthouse keepers cottage beside the lighthouse .

  This is the swimming beach of Fingal Bay .

 Leaving Fingal Bay , we headed around to Nelson Bay and the Volunteer Rescue HQ , being patriotic , the flag was flying well !!

  Views from the grounds were great , looking out to Yucaaba Head on the northern side of the entrance into Port Stephens .

Tomaree Head on the southern side .

 Then below the VRA HQ is a beautiful section of the bay that you can drive beside .

 That's it , back to the pool for another swim , and the other bonus is , there's a spa !!

Here's a map link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MIaeQVV3Td7VFLdjYaNDb6QzeV8&usp=sharing

24/3/17 Samurai Walk

  After another rainy night and morning , the sun finally made it's presence felt , clouds burnt off and disappeared .
  Maree & Kevin checked out of their unit and dropped around for a few hours before heading off to Sydney . Just the opportunity to show Kevin the drone . Taking off from beside the van and flying straight up above the many trees , the wetland stated to appear - these 2 photo's are looking toward Nelson Bay .

   The sand dunes stretch from Samurai Beach back to the wetlands .
Maree & Kevin hit the road , we did a few things around the van before some lunch and then a walk down to the beach . The track takes you along the edge of the wetland , which is lined by large tea trees and sand dunes covered in gum trees , till the vehicle track cuts it's way through . Here are a couple of shots of the wetlands .

 Onto the 4wd track and into the dunes , we then took a shortcut through the dunes straight to the beach rather than follow the track down . The sign to the beach is interesting , apparently this is a clothing optional beach Hmmm . We continued , as an upside , we could go for a swim at the beach , even though we didn't take our swimmers , or maybe not !!

 As we climbed the dunes , the ocean & waves appeared , there were a few vehicles parked down to the right of us and another 6 at the far end of the beach , but the beach was bare , pardon the pun !! Wandering down to the right , we noticed there was plenty of bluebottles washed up on the beach , this kept our eyes down and on the sand .

  You can drive your 4wd down on the beach here , as long as you have a permit - $10 for 3 days or $30 per year .
  To the far end of the beach and the rocky granite outcrops we could see the odd person fishing & wandering around .

Down on the waterline we got caught by the rush of water coming in at knee depth , so moved a little further up the beach out of the water . Along the way we saw a few people sunbathing , obviously with skin coloured swimmers on !! We sat on the rocks and watched the water for a while , while some of the regulars strutted their stuff around the place .
 The view back up the beach was pretty good without any obstructions .

 This is the view around the corner toward One Mile Beach .

  After a few of the regulars vacated , we did as well , going straight off the beach and into the dunes away from the track again . Back to the van in no time , we decided to head down for a swim in the pool , and then a nice warm spa afterwards .
  Apparently this park we are in used to be Samurai clothing optional resort !!!! Glad that's changed , there's some things that don't need to be seen !!!
 Cheers , Here's a map link : - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1n3byuTywKgNSp_kfy6hrjQqjscU&usp=sharing         

23/3/17 At the bay

  The rain is still here , but there's plenty of time between showers , and the temperature has increased as well , but with that comes higher humidity levels .
  Small things , but we managed to get all the washing done and dried - an achievement of sorts given the weather .
  With the improved weather we went to Shoal Bay for a paddle .  It was overcast , but still warm , and very pleasant .  The bay isn't too deep , you can see the sea grass below , many boats are moored here , and we paddled around several catamarans and yachts .  Views of Tomaree Headland were great , and back along the restaurant strip .

  We headed back around to the park via Corlette , there's a nice bay with lots of moored yachts - made for a nice photo .

  From here , we drove round to Soldiers Point for a look , there's a great view past Nelson Bay down to the entrance of Port Stephens .

  Back to the park , and we find more of the locals were visiting us , this time a monitor lizard about 1.5m long !!

  Today was a great catch up with my 2 uncles , 4 cousins , and my sister & brother in law . We had a very pleasant lunch at Soldiers Point - it's not often you get to have lunch with a 90 and a 100 year old !!
  Not much else to report on , stay tuned .

20/3/17 Away we go

  After several weeks of wet weather , appointments etc , we are off again . It's been a busy month catching up with family & friends and taking care of our health & well being , servicing the ute & rv, as well as the odd trip around , but it will be nice to get moving again !!
 We've pulled up stumps at Gerroa and headed north to Nelson Bay .
 Before we get there though , here's a few photo's from a wet day in Kiama . The next 2 are from near the Blowhole looking toward Surf Beach .

  From here we headed back toward Gerroa , calling in at the Little Blowhole , it was going well .

  Given the conditions , we decided to call it a day , shame as it hadn't really started .

 The weather stayed with us till today , with about 190mm falling during the last few days , we were happy to see it stop for a while . The countryside has benefitted from it though , with everything looking very green and lush , the farmers have had a kick start to carry them through winter .

 A day with very little rain was great for our trip to Nelson Bay . We had a hassle free run up Mt Ousley , Picton Rd , Hume Hwy & M7 , and Pennant Hills Rd was good as well - only had 4 red lights along the way !!!
  Our plot for the next week isn't too bad either , we have a timbered wetland beside us , sand dunes about 200m away and the park has been revamped , there's a nice pool & spa not too far away and the beach is a 20 min walk .

  There's even some furry residents in the trees around us , here's one having a snooze not too far from us .

  There's plenty of koala's in Port Stephens , I'm sure we will see plenty more .
That's it , not a lot , but hopefully the weather will ease a little so we can get out & about , time will tell .

14&15/3/17 Old roads , new views

14/3/17

 On the way to lunch today with Lyn’s brother Norm & Debbie at Shoalhaven Heads , we detoured to Berry .  While checking out a few country lanes we found some interesting sights . Around Berry there’s a bit of dairying , and you can understand why when the grass is as green as it is at the moment !!

  After chatting to a local resident in between rain showers , we drove across the highway and headed up to a place called Woodhill . It’s up in the escarpment , and runs into Budderoo National Park and Barren Ground Nature Reserve . 

  It was one of those light bulb moments , when you find somewhere you’ve driven past for years and never stopped at . This locality runs in to Kangaroo Valley and another locality - Wattamolla . It’s one road we’d never been up or down from either end . Heading up the road and toward Kangaroo Valley , it was like you’d found a little bit of paradise , clouds just covering the top of the escarpment , green grass almost shouting at us , and untouched temperate rain forest stretching into the valleys and cliffs around us - spectacular !!

  Time running short we turned and headed out for lunch , we’ll be back here - maybe tomorrow .

We enjoyed lunch and catching up with Norm & Debbie , then headed for the park .

15/3/17

    After last nights rain showers , we were guaranteed plenty of water around the place , it bucketed down several times through the night . 

With our spirit of adventure reignited yesterday , we headed back to Woodhill again . On the way just near Berry is a Camp Quality recreation ground , and I noticed yesterday , there was a nice little stream , so we called in for a look . Well it was flowing very well , probably 500mm higher than yesterday !! It was a chance to play with the camera & tripod - here’s some of the results .

  There’s an opportunity for a view back down over Berry from about half way up the climb up the escarpment , so we stopped - of course !!

  Another attraction was Drawing Room Rocks - we’d seen the sign yesterday . There’s a walking track up to the rocks , that can be reached from Barren Ground Nature Reserve but is a much longer walk . There was a few showers around when we arrived so we waited for a few minutes while they passed . There’s views down the valley toward Wattamolla at the start of the walk .

  Hiking boots on , we started up the hill just after a 20 something , 6ft piece of muscle , oozing fitness , headed up the track in front of us . We did see him again , on his way down while we were still heading upwards !! 

  There is a sign saying it’s a Class 4 walk , 4 klms return - allow 3 hours for the trip - we had been told it’s only a 25 - 30 min walk - Hmmmmm . We kept going , just because we could , and it wasn’t raining - bonus !! The track was not very wide and dropped off quite steeply on one side and had quite a bit of rock face on the other - don’t trip over !! The views down into the tree’s was pretty good - the rainforest in all it’s glory - Wet !! 

 Deciding to return back to the ute we turned and headed down , not knowing how far we had to go wasn’t really helpful . Then the 20 something 6ft piece of muscle came back down, we chatted to him for a bit . He told us the track up top was flooded and you couldn’t get to the rocks anyway , so it was a good decision to return . After he’d passed us and disappeared down the track , I noticed there was quite a few leaches on Lyn’s shoes , looking at mine there was also plenty there as well . Brushing them off we kept going and tried not to stop so they couldn’t get us - good plan but - black socks may be good for not showing dirt , but not so great for showing leaches !!  Back at the ute , it was shoes & socks off and check out how many friends we had still attached - Lyn had 2 on one foot and one on the other - they’d all had a little feed . I faired a little better and didn’t have any , but we put the shoes on the drivers side mat while we checked socks etc - a couple of the little    beggars decided they’d stay inside and latch onto my feet while we drove down to Kangaroo Valley. Funny though , we did have a discussion about leaches yesterday , saying there’d be thousands of them with all the wet weather - is that the memory starting to go - or has it gone already hahahaha !!

  The drive down was great , through a nice valley , the creek down the bottom was flowing really well . There’s a lot of dairy cows here with several farms . One bonus was to see a waterfall coming over the escarpment - it too flowing well . 

 Lunch was at Kangaroo Valley beside the river , then we decided to head out to Bendeela . For those that don’t know where that is , it’s west of the township on the northern side of the river and is a popular free camp . At christmas time and summer holidays it is extremely busy , there are 3 sections to camp in - just depend’s how busy it is , as to whether they open up the other sections . It’s a really good place for kayaking , you can paddle from the bridge in town down river to here , a pretty easy paddle - real easy today !!! There were about 30-40 caravans out here today and several tents . 

  The river was running a metre or so above normal level today , but people were still out paddling .

   The return to Gerroa was still to be decided , but we chose Berry Mountain , as we hadn’t been over it for a long time . The thing we are noticing more than anything else in all these places we know , is the growth in all the trees - definitely taller and thicker than they ever were , I guess that’s the difference from when we were here and didn’t pay any attention to the scenery - it was just the road you drove to get to the destination , and you didn’t pay any attention to it , now however , we are probably taking time to smell the roses , you tend to notice a lot more when you slow down and open your eyes to everything around you !!!

  The road over the mountain isn’t anything to write home about , but we did find a nice little waterfall crashing down the rocks beside the road - time for the tripod & camera again !!

 The road wound it’s way up through the rainforest again , making for a nice drive .

    And with that done , we were back at Berry , then the park , and then the pool - time for a few laps !!! 

  Here’s a map link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=12AvPDXV3HnbYvH9FO87XzF-bhvo&usp=sharinghttps://drive.google.com/open?id=12AvPDXV3HnbYvH9FO87XzF-bhvo&usp=sharing