A weekend in Port Stephens

Just for the heck of it, we decided we needed a weekend away. It’s good to have a break every now and then, even if we are retired!

We headed off up the F3 on Friday afternoon, and got to Nelson Bay around 3:30pm, to pick up the keys to our accommodation for the weekend. It turned out to be a quite nice 3 bedroom place, right on the water at Corlette. We could sit in the lounge room and look out at the water and the boats – a relaxing view.

We got unpacked just in time to watch the sun set.

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, and windy, with quite a chill in the air. So we rugged up and went for a walk along the beach.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading, watching the world go by, before the Smiths (friends from Maitland) arrived in time for afternoon tea. More relaxing, but this time accompanied with catching up with the Smiths, before heading out for tea in Nelson Bay.

For anyone wanting somewhere to eat in Nelson Bay, the Rock Lobster at d’Albora Marina is worth a try, as long as you don’t order the chicken (Les was less than happy with his meal, but when the waitress noticed and asked what he thought, and Les told her, it resulted in him getting his dessert for free!). One thing, though – expect to pay Sydney prices for the meals.

We said farewell to the Smiths on Sunday morning, then spent the rest of the day doing pretty much the same as we did on Saturday – walks (in the other direction, and admiring the “sculpture”)

reading, playing Rummiking (Les won), and waiting for yet another lovely sunset.

Monday morning, just for a change, we went for a walk. But this time we challenged ourselves to walk to the top of Tomaree Headland. Part of the way up there are some gun emplacements from WWII.

We kept walking all the way to the top of the headland. It was steep and tough going for us old folk. But the view was worth it.

We even saw a whale! (No photo, as it was too far away.)

After our exertion in the morning, it was back to relaxing in the afternoon.

Tuesday morning dawned bright and clear again, but unfortunately it was the end of our weekend away. Driving back into the Sydney traffic, we could feel all the hectic pace of living in the city, and are looking forward to our holiday in August.