Port Stephens

We only spent the one night in the delightful twin towns of Forster, Tuncurry. We'd been really lucky with the weather but our luck had to run out somewhere and I guess it was Forster. We made another earlish start and headed off to Port Stephens, via one more stop at Kristens' Dads' bakery. This time we bought some delicious croissants and carrot cake and Richie introduced himself to the lady working there - still didn't get any freebies though!

We arrive in Port Stephens about lunch time. I'd identified a nice apartment in the centre of town, but when we arrived the office was closed, anyway to cut a long story short - after lots of calls, we finally got our apartment. Another huge fabulous apartment, but not as fabulous as Port Macquarie - mainly due to the lack of views. We cranked up the heating and settled in. 

Two bedroom apartment Port Stephens, party time...

Port Stephens is a very pretty place - very spread out, as it doesn't really have a town centre. Our apartment was in Nelson Bay, which is the most popular area. We had another Indian the first night, was pleasant enough 5.5/10 possibly .....

We really only had one full day in the area so we made the most of it. The views are really something, but you needed a car. We drove to Salamander Bay, only about a 10-15 minute drive. 

Mariner, Salamander Bay.

We ended up having coffee on the mariner and chatting to a local about life in Port Stephens - seems it's mainly retirees and holiday homes for Sydney siders.  It would be a fantastic holiday home as it is so peaceful and only about 3 to 4 hours from Sydney.

next beach to Salamander Bay, Port Stephens.

After our two nights in Port Stephens, we were getting a bit tired and not really in the mood for Sydney, so we booked our flights back to Perth for the Friday. We planned to spend three nights in Newcastle, drive to Sydney on Friday morning and drop off the car and catch our midday flight. Yodi - Mommy is coming!

As we left Port Stephens, we decided to find the  lookout point, Gan Gan that a local had told us about. We got royally lost and had to double back,but the views were worth it. 

view from Gan Gan lookout.

weird flower only found in NSW