Snorkelling at Fly Point, Nelson Bay

Woke up to cheeky and chirpy Rosellas this morning. Maybe it was the smell of hot coffee or more likely the aroma of Jenny’s bacon butty (that’s northern speak for toasted sandwich).

We too were in a bright and chirpy mood. The sun was already hot, the sea breeze had dropped and the ocean around Nelson Bay was pretty flat and calm. Perfect weather to test drive our new snorkelling gear at a local dive spot at Nelson Bay called Fly Point. Even our wetsuits still fit and we haven’t worn them since our teenage years...!

We had missed high tide by an hour or two but even so, there were lots of flat head, bream and little yellow fish to see (as identified by Jen), meandering through the rocks and seaweed. Of course Jen latched on to a school of bream... ever the teacher!!!

We shall try snorkelling the same spot during high tide as a local said he had spotted a turtle.

After lunch, aquatic sports make you hungry, we travelled across Port Stephens to a wonderful spot called Birubi Beach at Anna Bay. Birubi Beach is surronded by amazing sculptured sand dunes which go on forever up the shoreline and into the distance. This is aboriginal land owned by the Woromi Tribe and with permission, you can traverse the dunes in a 4 wheel drive for a bit of fun off roading.

Alternatively, tour groups have quad bike dune tours and dune surfing. We opted for the more dangerous past time of walking the beach and the sand was so hot, Jen literally burnt her toes. I was wearing thongs but Jen insisted bare foot is the Aussie way to do it and she painfully continued walking the hot coals. We took a dip in the surf and immediately dried off after coming out under the now baking sun.

Feeling that we needed to extend ourselves and complete more than two activities in one day, we headed for Fingal Bay during the afternoon low tide. At Fingal Bay, we walked the pristine beach to a point where on low tide, you can walk across the spit to Shark Island. The tide was turning though and it’s quite unique to see tidal waves breaking on each other coming in from opposite sides.

There has been well documented shark feeding frenzies at Fingal Bay, hence, Shark Island, so we pretty much just walked in the shallows.

The mood had changed and a storm was brewing as the temperature suddenly dropped so we headed back to the refuge of our campervan to batten down the hatches.

All in all, one of our more active and fun days.

WILDLIFE
Rosellas, Flathead, Bream, Small Yellow FishWeiterlesen