Australia
Nelson Bay

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
    • Day 28

      Nelson Bay/ Newcastle

      February 21 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

      I dag traff vi Peter og Pamela. Dette er noen vi traff på vår rundtur i Australia for 17 år siden. Det var fint å se dem igjen og i kveld og kanskje et par dager til er vi sammen med dem i deres hus. Vi har gått vår daglige gåtur på cirka 1 time, godt og varmt ute…Read more

    • Day 179

      Port Macquarie & Nelson Bay

      February 22, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      On continue de longer la côte Est direction Sydney et on passe une journée à Nambucca Heads puis à Port Macquarie.

      Toujours de belles plages avec plein d'oiseaux et autres animaux sauvages, on prend d'ailleurs le temps d'observer un dauphin jouer juste devant nous 🤩🐬
      Et on teste enfin les barbecue public (dans chaque espace vert, un bbk à gaz est à disposition !) : plutôt sympa !

      Avant de continuer notre chemin, un arrêt à l'hôpital des koalas où ils sont recueillis et soignés avant d'être remis en liberté (pour ceux qui le peuvent...).
      Les cas les plus sérieux ne sont bien sûr pas visibles.

      C'est ensuite à Nelson Bay que nous passerons 2 jours et demi avec 2 nuits dans un "caravanpark" : en gros, un vrai camping !
      Piscine, accès direct à la plage et tous les équipements nécessaires, c'est parfait !

      On est impressionné par les arrivées du vendredi soir, le camping se rempli à une vitesse folle pour le week-end, c'est plein de vie 🤹‍♀️

      Anecdote :
      Un habitant du coin peu ragoûtant a pointé son nez les 2 jours à la même heure en faisant exactement le même chemin.
      Sa trajectoire passait sous notre van, pas rassurés la 1ere fois, le lendemain nous l'avons gentiment laissé passer en gardant nos distances !
      Read more

    • Day 141

      PORT STEPHENS

      March 20, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Freitag, also viele Aussis sind bereits im WE und unterwegs...
      Von Zurückhaltung, Abstand wegen Ansteckungsgefahr ist nichts im Verhalten zu bemerken!
      OK, in den Lebensmittelgeschäften werden in den Kassenzonen erste Schilder angeklebt, aber nur belächelt!! Händedesinfektion der Kassiererin Fehlanzeige, in anderen Geschäften haben wir zum Glück eine strenge Befolgung der Hände-Desinfektion gesehen!
      Heute Abend steigen vielerorts die Partys mit Livemusik, gestern waren wir Augenzeuge einer Bingo-Party...
      Hier ist echt noch ein hartes Stück Aufklärungsarbeit zu leisten!
      Am GAN GAN LOOKOUT hatten wir genug Abstand, und einen grandiosen
      über PORT STEPHENS und auf die Strände dort...
      Read more

    • Day 10

      Koalas, Camels, and the Southern Cross

      November 18, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

      Truthfully, the last time I smiled as much as this, was our wedding day I’m sure.

      We were pleased to get out of the city and eager to see what the rest of the limited amount of country we are able to see in our short time here, had to offer and have not been disappointed.

      A little snooze on the back seat and we were already arriving at Port Stephens, first stop the Koala Sanctuary. I knew these animals were adorable, but was not prepared for exactly how cute, or to hear o
      f the limited number remaining in existence, something like 130,000 are left, that is all. Mainly at the hands of urbanization, as despite their natural habitat being developed, they long to remain in their area, many suffering extensive injuries through wildfires and collisions with vehicles. Not to mention, they can be fatally scared simply by a feral dog’s continuous bark up close. Although each of the koalas we met, were recovering from injury described in relative detail through a descriptive signage thoughtfully detailed to tug at heart strings in a bid to encourage sanctuary donations I am sure, I tried to remember they were now over their terrible experience and in a happy place, being lovingly cared for and nursed back to health.

      After leaving the sanctuary, we headed to check in at our airbnb, where we hoped to add Ellis as a guest to our room. Unfortunately, not possible, so he had to head out to purchase a hammock that he is currently suspending between two trees on Birubi Beach living his best life overnight (a common occurrence).

      Next stop was the sunset camel ride through the surf at Birubi in Anna Bay. On arrival at the beach, I was entirely overwhelmed at the beauty of the beach and the sand dunes (the largest moving dunes in the southern hemisphere), so much so, I actually thought that if I believed in heaven, it would look a lot like this utterly inexplicable natural beauty that no words can do justice. Only to be topped off by a collection (herd??) of camels, waiting to be ridden in the sunset surf. On chatting to the family running the tourist attraction for the past 20 years, they managed to allay my animal welfare concerns by explaining how well treated the camels were and how PETA had been in contact recently to use their ranch and service as an example of good practice.

      Australian camels were introduced into the country many years ago and are upsetting the natural ecosystem apparently, and as result are being brutally culled at an alarming rate (watch YouTube BBC documentary for full details of atrocities). Not these camels, they are well cared for and very affectionate.

      As we rode the camels through the dunes and into the surf as the sun set, I smiled and smiled while wondering at the natural beauty surrounding us, it was spectacular and an hour of my life I will never ever forget, the joy it brought me was genuinely emotionally overwhelming in a very positive way.

      After leaving the camels, we headed out to supper, only to return to the same beach a few hours later to admire the stars in a non light-polluted environment. Although I returned to the warmth of the vehicle (leaving Ellis and Wade discussing the universe using the stargazer app introduced to Wade by Neil a couple of days ago and the length of time man has really been on earth), I struggled to verbalize to myself the gratefulness I felt for all I have been graced with.

      What a stupendous day. I will upload pics in a few hours, just waiting for my phone to charge.
      Read more

    • Day 11

      Whalewatching

      September 1 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Every year from May to November, more than 40,000 humpback whales migrate along the NSW coastline from Antarctica to the warmer waters of the Pacific and back again. This was one of the attractions of the Port Stephens area for me, as there were lots of opportunities to see them on their annual migration, either from the headland or from a whale-watching boat tour. There were lots of operators offering boat tours, with boats of various sizes and tours of different lengths. A couple of weeks before I set off for Australia, I booked a 3-hour whale and dolphin-watching trip on a catamaran, with a company called Imagine Cruises. There were 3 crew members running the trip; one was a lovely woman from Scotland called Karen, and she was great at making sure everyone was OK. She told me that the guy skippering the boat, Frank, was the owner. He used to be a lighthouse keeper on one of the islands we went past, until his house burned down 30 years ago. His employers decided not to replace the house as they were moving to automated lights. So he lost both his house and job. He didn't know what he was going to do, until he looked out to sea and saw two humpback whales and he had the idea of building a boat to take tourists out to see the whales. For a few years times were tough until there was a white whale in the area, and he was featured on TV taking the crew out to see it. After that business boomed!

      Frank was excellent at his job; he seemed to have a sixth sense for finding the whales, and in between sightings he told us lots of information about whales and also dolphins and seals. The company are so confident that you will see a whale on one of their trips that they guarantee it, and offer a free cruise on another day if you don't see one.

      We were barely two minutes out of the harbour before a mother and baby dolphin were spotted off the back of the boat. As we then set out for sea we were told to look out for the tell-tale spout of air being blown out of the water, which the whales do before emerging from the water. And it wasn't long before the first whales were spotted. Over the next couple of hours we must have had over 10 sightings, including a mother and baby, and also several times when the humpback whale's tail breached the water then crashed down. Sadly I wasn't able to capture that on camera, as there was no telling where they were going to pop up next, which they did without warning. Often they came very close to the boat; swimming alongside the boat.

      We finished with a trip to an island where there were some seals, and then on the way back anyone who wanted to could climb out along the net at the front of the boat to the lookout in the bow!
      Read more

    • Day 9

      Nelson Bay

      February 20 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

      A lovely road tour up the Pacific Highway via Norah Head to see the Lighthouse. It was a very wet start but brightened up as we went further north. Arrived in Nelson Bay a beautiful place, albeit a little stormy.Read more

    • Day 30

      Nelson Bay

      December 14, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

      AKA "God's Waiting Place" and I can totally see why. It's full of ancient people in a place that looks like paradise. The photos don't do it justice. It's one of those places where you have to just put the camera down and take it all in, which is why there aren't any pictures of the huge pods of dolphins that came right into the marina at sunset.Read more

    • Day 193

      Nelson Bay

      October 19, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      So, nun heisst es wirklich Abschied nehmen von AUS. Ein letztes mal fahren wir zur Küste und geniessen einen herrlichen und unvergesslichen Ausblick auf den weiten Ozean und die Küstenlandschaft.
      Aber jetzt schnell nach Sydney, der Flieger nach Neuseeland wartet nicht auf uns ;-)
      Read more

    • Day 944

      Ein wilder Ritt

      July 30, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      Whale watching war heute angesagt. Zuvor hatten wir am Campingplatz aber noch diversen Besuch bekommen.

      Abgesehen von 3 Delphinen war das auch der einzige Wildtierkontakt. Ok, ich will nicht meckern, 3 Delphine war richtig cool. Ein Foto wäre nur mal ganz schön, die sind einfach zu flink.

      Mit Walen war heute nicht viel los, lediglich ganz am Schluss, und aus 500m Entfernung haben wir gesehen wir einer gesprungen ist. Es war einfach Pech. Auf der nachmittags Tour war wahrscheinlich mehr zu sehen.

      Das Erlebnis war stattdessen die Bootsfahrt an sich. Wenn da eine Welle auf das Boot zukommt deren höchster Punkt etwa auf meiner Kopfhöhe ist.... da wirds ganz schön wackelig.
      Read more

    • Day 42

      Nelson Bay

      October 12, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

      Auch heute ging es mit 3,5 std. etwas weiter als sonst, nämlich zum wunderschönen Ort Nelson Bay.

      Nelson Bay liegt auf einer Halbinsel und ist dadurch umrandet mit Wasser und Stränden ohne Ende. Diese werden wir uns morgen alle ganz genau ansehen, da es heute mit rund 30 Grad doch schon sehr warm war 😀

      Heute haben wir uns erstmal den Stadtkern und einen von vielen kleinen Häfen hier angesehen die quasi um die Ecke von unserem schönen Hotel liegen.

      Doch das heutige Highlight kam eher spontan und mit ein wenig Zufall zustande. Und zwar gibt es hier eine geführte Tour über einen Golfplatz.In einem Golfcaddy 😀 ...Golfplatz ? Naja, eigentlich ist es offiziell ein Nationalpark...bzw. eigentlich ist es ein Reservat in dem Kängurus leben.

      Ein wenig kompliziert auch für die Einheimischen hier..aber um es kurz zu machen...es ist irgendwie alles 😀

      Das besondere sind aber nunmal diese Kängurus. Und zwar mehr als 200 Stück die hier leben und sich inmitten von Sandbunkern und Löchern tummeln. Das muss man irgendwie selber gesehen haben um das zu glauben.

      Geführt wird die Tour von Kangaroo Phil, der uns während der Caddytour mit unzähligen Informationen versorgt hat. Die Kängurus leben hier Kreuz und quer verteilt, mal alleine und mal in Gruppen. Aber das schönste war es Kängurus mit Ihrem Baby, dem "Joey" im Bauch zu sehen 😊

      Morgen geht es dann wieder rauf aufs Wasser und dann an die Strände 😊

      Liebe Grüße
      Jonas, Jasmin&Thomas
      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Nelson Bay, 2315, Нельсон Бэй

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android