For our first Easter as a married couple, we had a lot of options. Unfortunately, we did not count on the opportunism and profit-maximising motives of the airlines, hoteliers and the tourism industry as a whole! Flights were ridiculously expensive and accommodation hard to find! Apparently, accommodation for the Easter long weekend gets booked out a year in advance!!!
Finally, we settled on going to Port Stephens, which, by all accounts, is one of the most beautiful coastal regions on the Eastern seaboard of Australia. We stayed in the Oaks Boathouse at the Tea Gardens for two nights. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit overcast but there were plenty of things to do. We went on a dolphin watch cruise (disappointing as we only saw 3 dolphins, presumably because of the wet weather!) and went to a place called Dark Point, an old aboriginal meeting place. Dark Point was absolutely amazing, massive 30 m high sand dunes appearing to stretch endlessly until, suddenly, crystal blue waters of the sea appear! It was bizarre to see and dunes on one side and the beautiful sea on the other!
We went to Nelson Bay Marina on Sunday and it was a total contrast to the peace and quiet in the Tea Gardens. The Marina is very commercialised with lots of skiffs, boats and all types of water activities. We had to choose between parasailing, ocean kayaking, Thundaraft (essentially an adventure ride in a big rubber boat similar to those used by U.S. Seals), jet skis, boat hire, fishing, dolphin watching, whale watching, cruises etc. Our decision was essentially simple, parasailing just looked and sounded cool! We experienced a plethora of emotions during the 10 minutes - the initial nervousness when we were strapped in, the thrill of taking off from the boat, the breathtaking views of the ocean and mountains at the top and the exhilaration of the sudden descent (along with the customary dip into the water).
After parasailing, we went to a place called Anna Bay and One Mile beach. The water was beautiful and unlike most Australian beaches, it was not too cold (about 22 C). After a little while, I convinced Parul to join me in the water and we both had a great time body surfing. The beach was great because it was relatively empty and the waves were awesome even in the shallow waters. After an hour in the water (and getting a significant tan!), we decided to see the most commercial part of Nelson Bay. This was the 5 - 6 km stretch of sand dunes in Stockton beach and again the contrast of the dunes and the sea was phenomenal. We saw many busloads of tourists from Japan and China there and we were secretly glad we saw the sand dunes in Dark Point, where it was not so jam-packed with people!
Our last stop was Lake Macquarie, a large lake in the Central Coast of NSW (about 90 minutes north of Sydney). It is a huge lake and there are towns situated all around the lake. We stayed in Warners Bay and had a nice Mexican dinner with cocktails and burritos on Sunday night. On Monday, we went to a new suburb development in Lake Macquarie and went Aqua-biking in the Lake (see http://www.aqua-cycle.com/ ). I made a donation to the beautiful lake as well by dropping my mobile in it!
With our spirits dampened by the loss, we went to Caves beach, which, funnily enough, is a beach with caves. The caves are not too big but again, it was a first for us. Again, we were blessed with a beautiful day and the water was very inviting! I did some more body surfing and the waves were again fantastic! I was very impressed with the quality of the surf up in the Central coast.
After a quick dip, it was time to drive back to Sydney and we decided to take the scenic route through The Entrance (www.theentrance.org)and Gosford and the drive through the Marina at The Entrance was particularly noteworthy.
Overall, it was a great trip and very relaxing. I would definitely recommend Nelson Bay for the scenic beaches and the variety of water activities.
1 comment:
Wow!!! thats quite a bit in a long weekend. Glad u guys had a good time. Forget about the mobile!!!!
I thot thios was a blog where Parul wud contribute as well. Looking fwd to reading her as well.
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