Sand and some dolphins

After breakfast, a 90 minute drive took us to beautiful Nelson Bay on Port Stephens, where we boarded a boat, the Moonshadow to go dolphin spotting. In the first 15 minutes or so we saw a couple of dolphins, though glimpses were so brief it is difficult to provide any worthwhile photographic evidence. After that brief encounter, the dolphins made themselves truly scarce and were nowhere to be seen, but the trip was still very enjoyable.

In contrast to the previous days, the weather was slightly on the cool side with a rather fresh breeze blowing, but that didn’t stop half a dozen intrepid souls ( certainly none of them from our group of ancients) who chose to be towed along in a big net attached to the stern of the boat. I was shivering with cold just watching them.

After a light lunch (I chose to have just a pie from a gourmet pie shop which I discovered up a side street) we boarded the bus for a bit of a sightseeing tour around the coastal area. Port Stephens is very scenic, with some attractive-looking beaches, and it’s easy to see why it is such a popular holiday destination. We then drove on to Anna Bay, 11km away where the 20 of us boarded a type of 4WD minibus for a drive along the beach. We were told to look out for dolphins, but the sea there was quite rough and the dolphins were a definite no-show.

This stretch of beach, accessible only to four-wheel drive vehicles, is well-known for its huge area of continuous sand dunes which average about 2km in width. It is certainly most interesting to see, and we could see a variety of different sea birds, including a couple of spectacular white-breasted sea eagles with their giant 2m wingspan.

Our destination, some 10km along the beach, was a place called Tin City which quite literally is a collection of tin shacks, some of which are still inhabited. The place’s history goes back to the 1890s. At its peak there were about 36 structures there, but today there are only about 8-10. Built on the sand-dunes, the buildings are a couple of hundred metres from the shoreline and are in the middle of nowhere. I spent what little time we had there - this trip was more rushed than I would have liked - trying to get worthwhile photos of the shacks and of the interesting sand dune formations nearby. Being late in the afternoon with the sun low in the sky there were interesting perspectives of light, shade and texture in every direction. A true photographer’s paradise, though I fear that I had only limited success with my creative endeavours. Tin City itself is fascinating and it has a long and interesting history.

En route back to Anna Bay our vehicle diverted to go up some very steep dunes to an area where enthusiasts are able to ride sand surfers down a very steep sand dune slope. We got the chance to see only a couple of them in action as it was quite late and the business was closing for the day. From what little I saw, it looks like great fun. We then jumped on our bus for the 90 minute drive back to Pokolbin, sadly for the final night of our trip.Read more