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Published: December 16th 2015
Tea Gardens Hotel Ferry
The harbour at port Stephens is quite extensive and supports a ferry service from The Tea Gardens down to Port Stephens several times a day. It is a combination of tourist and regular passengers.We have stayed at Lemontree Passage previously as it is reasonably close to our family near Newcastle, and because the park is quiet, located on the waterfront and being a little dollar wise, cheap off peak fees bought through Travelauction.com.
Once again, Marg drove the van and car, but it seems that lessons towards Towing 101R are some way off. This was a relatively easy concrete site to back up onto, and pretty level as well. The facilities here are good, but at peak periods like Christmas and Easter, they would be pushed to the limit.
The afternoon we arrived here, it was over 40c outside, so the set up was a little exhausting, but not much longer than had we driven the motorhome onto the same site. It seemed we only needed to add washing liquid to our clothes as they were already very wet. A cool drink or two, and a shower soon freshened us up.
The next day we took the ferry from Port Stephens up to the Tea Gardens Hotel. This old established hotel is a very popular eating house as well as watering hole. The ferry brings tourists and locals alike to and
Not a P & O Cruise Ship
There are many house boats around the harbour. This one is one of the more interesting, but I'm not sure about its sea worthiness! from the Hotel and the surrounding settlement. Though the ferry takes 45 minutes to an hour, that is still quicker than driving around the harbour. The ferry is by no means young, and shows signs of old age wrinkles in the seating which looks to have been recovered from a 19th century picture theatre and an abandoned church. It was probably built for purpose, but getting pretty tired. Some of the flip-bottom seats were more like Venus fly traps with several passengers disappearing to who knows where.
Port Stephens is famous for the number of dolphins that live within the harbour. On a good day you would see many. Ours was not a good day for several reasons. Yesterdays 40c had dropped to 17 - 20c with a good wind-chill factor making for uncomfortable travel. The Dolphin Cruise boat set out before us and pointed our captain to two dolphins they had tracked, but those glamorous images of dolphins riding the bow wave didn't happen on either leg of our journey.
Up at Tea Gardens there were several house boats moored along the river's edge. One I photographed for its unique presentation, though I rather think the days
Beautiful Coastline
From top of Tomaree NP. of good seaworthiness had long passed. The galley would at best be described as primitive by any New Guinea Native who happened to pass by.
The lunch at the hotel was really good and at a reasonable price as well. I had a medium rare steak, and was pleasantly surprised that the serving was very generous. Marg had grilled fish and was likewise very pleased with her meal. We had about 30 minutes to fill after lunch before the ferry returned, so we had a quick peep around the local shops at the settlement. The peep had to be quick because other than a few alternative eating houses, there was not a lot to look at. The wind got colder on the return trip so we were glad to get into the car and warm up as we travelled back to our caravan park.
Part of our journey was to catch up with family. The boys here are all involved in cricket or athletics, Dad in cricket administration, and Mum juggling meals, games, food for the team and everything else that runs a household, and a High School Formal just to add complexity. A plan was hatched for
Inside the ferry
A little ancient looking inside. The seats were a little hazardous for some. our youngest grandson to skip school on the Monday and for him to take us up Tomaree Point. We have seen the point previously and somewhat mistakenly thought the climb up was like a spiral pathway. Not so. Where the path would need to be steeper than steep, steps were provided. Many were like ships companion ways with small steps and a steep angle of ascent. Where that was insufficient, there were rock steps, some of which were at the max for those blessed with short legs. Marg and I huffed and puffed our way up, while young grandson probably did the climb twice over as he ran ahead and then came back to us. The journey is really worth the effort with views down into the port as well as the heads and southern coast line. There are some pretty efficient spiders with their webs spread between trees, one of which I photographed. A little later there was one that went right over the pathway. I showed young grandson the spider and he panicked. It took him a couple of minutes to get under way again.
Most grand parents like to get up to date photos of their
Houseboat Galley
Hmmmm. Not the flashiest. grandchildren. Marg managed to get a good one. Most of mine have a long pink extension protruding through the lips or teeth.
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Mum & Dad
non-member comment
Well done
Enjoyed the pics and comments