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Published: October 30th 2008
Birubi Beach
Beach and sand dunes of the 'moving sands'Hello! Here we are in Shellharbour and only a couple of weeks from home. Since our last report we have stayed at Port Macquarie, Nelson Bay and now Shellharbour. We plan to do Batemans Bay, Merimbula and Lakes Entrance to end the trip.
Grafton I did promise a report. Somewhat underwhelmed. Grafton is a typical regional town with extensive shopping and commercial facilities. Essentially a residential area and catering to the surrounding areas for major shopping, cars, vans, computers, etc. It is close to the highway so suited to lunch stop or morning/afternoon tea at the Cassegrain Winery. They had a very nice Sauvignon blanc.
Kiama
Pelican perch! So good I had to buy a six pack.
We did some touring:
South West Rocks A nice discovery that we will visit for longer in the future. The caravan park was right on the beach. Very picturesque setting. The town was close . With the right weather it would be good for the sunlovers . Nearby we found the Trial Bay Jail and before looking it over we enjoyed a light lunch at a cafe looking up to the jail on one side and out across the water on the other. Very nice.
Hat Head On the way to South West Rocks we took a thirty klm detour to visit Hat Head. It was a wet and misreable day and was matched by an unimpressive town. Don't even think about it! You do need to check places recommended to you but!
Wauchope When we stayed in Port Macquarie 25 years ago we went to Timbertown with the kids and thought it was good. These days Wauchope, like many Aussie towns is stagnant even though it still has a stable economy without the timber industry of
Birubi Beach
A stranger on the shores? yesteryear. We didn't stay long.
PORT STEPHENS
The drive from Port Macquarie to Nelson Bay was only 180 klms so not too daunting. This has to be one of the most picturesque areas we encompassed on our trip.
Again, the park was near the beach but about three klms out of town. Although not that well maintained and it took me ages to get on to our site, we really enjoyed it beacause of the walking. The town was two to three klms over a small national park. Walking through the park Rhonda commented on the number of birds all around the country. We have seen and heard lots and lots of them.
Funny isn't it! 'What you see when you haven't got a gun '. We started a morning walk along the beach from Nelson Bay to Shoal Bay on soft sand and at the end came to a national park. Only one klm to the lookout so why not! Yes, vertically as it turned out! But the views around the port were beautiful and ....... no camera! Oh well, we'll come back. But we never did as the weather turned cloudy. The
South West Rocks
Trial Bay Jail. She wasn't keen to let me out! 'walk' turned into a three hour marathon but we loved it.
The Marina is a key tourist destination with quite a few shops, cafe's and restaurants. Whale and dolphin watching, fishing charters co-exist with a fishing co-op and fishing vessels.
The port is quite large with a number of settlements. We visited:
Shoal Bay Point nearest the port entry. Nice liitle beach with coffee houses and some shopping. Park is over the road. OK but you would need to shop in Nelson bay.
Fingal Bay Really good surf beach as bay opens to the ocean. not much else there.
Anna Bay South west across the point from Nelson Bay, the beach is largely rocky. A reasonable shopping facility there but limited.
Birubi Beach This was a real surprise! This is the start of the largest moving sands in the southern hemishphere. Looking out to the sand dunes you could imagine yourself in the desert. The only facility here is a kiosk. You can take your 4WD onto the beach and travel for kilometres. An unusual and interesting spectacle. You should keep it in the back of your mind to
Port Macquarie
Rockwall and beach. Caravan park just to the left. take a look if you are nearby.
Lemon Tree Passage Situated on the other side of the entry to the port. As it is further around for holiday makers from Sydney, it is less well appointed. All the necessaries there and very quiet.
Raymond Terrace Quite a large regional town and similar to Grafton. It is the main town in Port Stephens and has all the usual retail suspects . It is on the upper reaches of the Port Stephens area but is near to lakes rather than the port itself.
SHELLHARBOUR
What a day to make the trip past Sydney! It was wet and miserable and I started the day with a bit of a 'slide'. Therafter caution took over. It was a very hilly trip to the outskirts and mountainous coming down to the Wollongong/Port Kembla area where Shellharbour is. The car handled it all very easily and it's just as well because having the wrong towing vehicle would have been a nighmare.
The park here is right on the water. The van is less than 100 metres away with only one other van in the view
Shellharbour
The view from the van to the point. We booked for two nights but will stay until Sunday to Batemens Bay. Today is windy but not cold and tomorrow is tipped to exceed 30 deg .
Yesterday we went for an afternoon drive :
Kiama We really liked this place and will stay in the future. The marina area was interesting. The main feature was a blow hole. The sea was flat so not a lot of action. kiam had a nice touristy seaside feel to it.
Nowra The regional centre again. On the Shoalhaven River, it has a little more appeal being closer to the ocean. We arrived late in the day and so didn't give it a lot of time. It has the same population as Raymond Terrace and smaller than Grafton .
We've covered a lot of territory in this report. What we really need now though is a strong reminder of the warm balmy weather we adapted to very well further north! Good luck and we'll see you soon.
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