Nelson Bay , Australia

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Nelson Bay is part of Port Stephens and is where our daughter bought a house a couple of years ago. It has a lovely climate and is a holiday destination for lots of Aussie families. The Brits have yet to discover this lovely place. There are multiple bays to explore all with great beaches. Daughter Helen lives near Bagnall Beach as this is the only one specifically for doggies so her dog loves it. However it is a clean beach and bags are provided for you know what and are expected to be used! Out to sea are a collection of beautiful black swans only to be found in Australia. This bit of the coast also has a large variety of flora and fauna so the mixture of different trees makes the place more interesting than having unending expanses of eucalypts. We saw a koala up a tree on the first day and lots of different birds such as parakeets, parrots, kookaburra and lorikeets,.

The other great thing about Nelson Bay is the lovely Marina with seafood restaurants and great seafood shops selling the gorgeous oysters that abound round here and we certainly have had our fill of those. Rick Stein has recently opened a restaurant at Bannisters which is well worth a visit if you are in to fine dining. At the other end of the scale is the Mod Thai restaurant where the portions are huge but all the food is very tasty. Middle of the range is the Wharf or the Shoal Bay Country Club.

Nelson Bay is about one and a half hours drive from the Hunter Valley where we did great wine tasting with cousins from Melbourne and also had fine dining at the Hunters Quarter restaurant. A good day out.

Socialising with our daughters friends was also a must so she held an 80s themed party for all her ambo colleagues. A great party but the next day was totally wasted as were we!!

Newcastle is also only down the road. This is a city with lots of history and unfortunately we didn't have time to do it justice. There are long coastal walks , beautiful Victorian houses, a fascinating Fort and art galleries as well as a good restaurant scene.

It has been a lovely week here, gone all too fast but we move down to Sydney tomorrow before boarding the India Pacific railway- another adventure ahead.

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