Having picked up our hire car from Sydney, we managed to shoe-horn all our luggage (and kids) in the back and set off over Sydney Harbour Bridge towards our next stop, Newcastle. We thought it would be best to head straight to our Airbnb and get through two days worth of lessons so that we could do a few fun things the following day.
I had read about a swimming spot to the south of Newcastle beach where the locals choose to cool down on a hot summers day and avoid the crowds on the beach, and I was keen to pay it a visit. As you park up in King Edward Park, there’s not really much indication that anything lies at the bottom of the stone steps that lead down the cliff. If you peer over the chainlink fencing at the edge of the cliff path you can catch a glimpse of it, but as you make your way down you find a well hidden sign explaining what lies beneath.
Bogey Hole is the oldest seawater bath in Australia. It was carved into the slate cliffs using convict labour under the direction of Major James Morisset in 1819. Apparently Bogey comes from the old Dharawal word which means to bathe, and has absolutely nothing to do with the obvious, much to the disappointment of my two kids.
Essentially this enormous bath was hewn from the rocks at sea level. So as you sit on the jagged platforms or bathe in the water, the waves from the Pacific Ocean are constantly crashing against the walls and washing over the edge into the Hole itself. We went on a very calm day, and the water was still soaring ten feet in the air as it struck the sides. Apparently when the surf is more ferocious it is downright dangerous to be there. Supposedly that doesn’t stop the die hard locals though. At some point in its history, metal railings and chains have been installed all around the edge, and the more daring locals seek their thrills by perching on the edge while holding on to the chains to avoid being washed into the perilous sea. People have died here in the past, both by being washed away, and also by hitting their head on a submerged rock while diving. The mother of that boy has been calling for its closure ever since. But tragic as it obviously was, to be honest I think that with the exercise of a little common sense it’s perfectly safe, and accidents can happen anywhere right?
One good tip when visiting is to find a nice high resting place on the surrounding rocks to place your belongings before you venture into the water, safely out of the reach of any freak waves. It’s not uncommon for the sea to snaffle the belongings of unsuspecting visitors.
Following our morning swim, we trundled on down to Newcastle Beach for a quick lunch at The Kiosk. This awesome beachfront eatery churns out perfectly cooked food and hand made drinks for you to enjoy right on the sand. The beach here is also very well equipped for every type of beach-goer. There is a large expanse of perfect golden sand with rolling surf, rock pools, an artificial crescent-shaped shallow lagoon for toddlers, and also several salt water ocean baths dating back to 1910.
Next on the agenda was a drive up the coast to Anna Bay to check out the largest moving coastal sand dunes in the southern hemisphere. Stockton Beach runs all the way from Stockton in Newcastle to Anna Bay, a full 32 kilometres of uninterrupted beach and dunes. With the correct permits you’re allowed to drive the entire length of this beach in a 4×4, although I’m not sure our little hire car would have made it! Instead we wanted to have a go at sand boarding down the enormous 30 metre high dunes at the Anna Bay end.
From the car park you are ferried into the dunes aboard all terrain transport trucks, and dumped in the middle of the sand at the base of a huge dune. After your 30 second introductory “safety briefing” you’re free to trek up and slide down the dunes with your board as many times as you like. Sounds great right? But in reality walking up a 30m high sand dune in 32 degree heat is pretty hard work. To make it worse, at the top it’s really windy and the sand is blown into your face with the intensity of an industrial sand blaster. Riding down is fun, but the realisation soon hits that you’ve gotta trek all the way back to the top for your next 5 seconds of downhill gratification. The novelty soon wears off, and within about forty minutes we had all pretty much had enough, and sought shelter under the safety tent while we waited for our return ride. Hunter did pretty well and actually managed to stand up on his board despite the guides instructions to sit down (show off). But inevitably the ocean seemed more appealing, so we caught the truck back across the dunes (looking like a band of extras from Lawrence of Arabia) and made a bee-line for the water to wash the thick coating of sand from our faces.
The following day we woke to the sound of torrential rain bouncing off the tin roof of our Airbnb. Despite the fact we are in the middle of the southern hemisphere summer, rainstorms are pretty common, and the weather report says this one is here to stay. No matter, we continued further on up the coast to spend one night in Port Macquarie, hoping to outrun the weather on the way. We were on our way to see the Koala Hospital based there. Bam had been super excited to mingle with these cute, furry little critters. Indeed I think we had all expected to get up close and personal with the injured marsupials, but in reality they’re pretty shy animals, and we can only view them from a distance as they sleep in the trees. This is apparently the only Koala hospital in the world, and they are breaking new ground researching treatments and practices to conserve Australias favourite fuzzy residents in their natural habitat.
After making a donation to the hospital (there’s no entry fees, it’s free to wander around), we found a local shopping centre to grab a bite to eat. Randomly, after lunch, we came across the Port Macquarie Surfing Museum tucked away in a shopfront in the food court! Stuffed to the rafters with historic surfboards dating back to the early 1900s, some priceless ones once owned by greats of the sport, and even one signed by countless world champions which was last sold at auction for thirty grand. They even had a skateboard owned and signed by the great Tony Hawk. A very random find in a run down food court!
Unfortunately, the rain we thought we had outrun had now caught us up, so we decided to call it a day, retire to the accommodation for the night, and get a few lessons done while we waited out the storm. Hopefully the weather would be better for our next stop.