Best Southern Hemisphere Adventure, Day 4

Saturday morning Jeff and I headed out for a grand adventure up to the Lower North Coast of New South Wales. Our ultimate destination was to be the Port Stephens area.






Along the way we stopped to clean the wind shield and get some breakfast



Or should I say, "Real Aussie Tucker"? (the place that sold us our egg and bacon sandwiches shared a space with McDonalds and I think these photos were their attempt to guilt people into customerhood)


Back on the road.


What a tiny mixer.


This is the closest I got to a good photo of the injured wildlife signs they had along the way. You see, there's a special hotline you call if you see a koala that has been hit by a car for it to be rescued.


Soon we were in the pleasant waterside metropolis of Nelson Bay where the offerings for amusement were many.






Then we drove to the Tomaree Peninsula for a trek of inexpressible proportions. We walked along this beach until it became a dangerous landbridge to a junglish hill/mountain which one could climb until they arrived at a lighthouse, all the time wondering if the landbridge would be covered by ocean when they returned to it (speaking with the tourism lady in Nelson Bay she left us with the impression that a trip to Tomaree Peninsula meant you would die). I was also troubled to discover dozens of the monster spiders I saw at the zoo along the path.








Heading back from the lighthouse I was relieved to see that the landbridge was not covered by ocean but by fishermen. The return trek, across the beach all the way to the car, was not easy and I fell victim to a sneaker wave that totally snuck up on my sneakers.



We then headed to the Lemon Tree Passage area which was supposed to be infested with koalas.


Walking through the koala reserve it was pretty hard to know what to look for as a koala hunter. I might as well have been looking for koalas in Central Park.


Who knows how many disasters this sign prevents.


My verdict.


Then it was time to enjoy Lemon Tree Passage proper, tasty chicken sandwiches, the punchbowl they call the small chips, and ice cream treats bearing questionable names.





Lemon Tree Passage at dusktime.