Hunter Valley and Port Stephens

Just finishing up 4 days in the Upper Hunter Valley and then Port Stephens for a few. Beautiful places both. Here are a few photos:



Stayed in a beautiful mountain cabin near Barrington Tops National Park, complete with this view from our front porch/lanai.




The countryside in this part of Australia is especially pretty, with lots of rolling hills and valleys like this scene. The Hunter Valley wine region was just to the south of us, in fact there were a few vineyards in the foothills near us.


Did a couple of very nice, and challenging, hikes. These grass trees apparently grow to be quite old - don't even start to grow the trunk until they're over 20 years old we're told. Our host said that these were upwards of 500 years old, and from the charring on them must have seen and survived several bush fires during the course of their lives.




Did a long hike up in the National Park, and on our return leg we came upon a big, fat Black Python lying in a pool of sunlight right next to the trail. He was HUGE - not in length (about 5 ft) but in girth (about 12 inches around, expanding to about 2 feet around his midsection where a great big lump indicated that he's just swallowed a small wallaby or maybe a possum earlier that morning. Was just sunning himself and digesting breakfast as we passed...on tippy-toes I might add. He never moved a muscle though - wasn't at all concerned about our presence or close proximity.


Drove over to the nearby town of Gloucester one day just to have a look around and spend the afternoon in the pretty town. During our walk we came upon this hotly contested game of lawn bowls going on in the local park. They do love their sports here - had everything going on from a swimming competition to a rugby match to soccer games. Am frankly a little surprised at the Aussie affection for some of the pedestrian British sports like lawn bowls and cricket. They just seem a bit too tame for the rough and tumble Aussies.


After four nights we drove down out of the mountains to Port Stephens, still only a couple of hours from downtown Sydney but right on the coast. The harbor here is supposed to be about twice as big as Port Jackson (Sydney Harbor) and it's absolutely gorgeous. Reminded us a lot of Hawaii - Kauai especially.



Nice view of the coastline from our front porch.



Just around the point from our rental is this stretch of shoreline sand dunes stretching for over 20 miles...supposed to be the biggest in Australia. All I know is that it looked like Saudi Arabia off to the right as we walked along the beach.



This is Fingal Bay. On either side of this headland we had the place all to ourselves. The views called to mind Hawaii...or maybe Tahiti. The water was crystal clear and about 72 deg. - a bit chilly by Hawaii standards but still plenty warm enough to swim in. Have to be careful though - lots of rips in this area.



We explored all of these pretty little beaches on subsequent trips to the area. The little sand spit connecting the two islands in the top of the photo above is dry at low tide and you can walk across the neck to the lighthouse.



Pretty typical view from about two blocks from our rental house. Would have liked to have had some snorkeling gear to hunt for lobster in these rocks - the place must be teeming with them.


Heading north tomorrow morning to another beach community about 5 hours up the coast called Coffs Harbor...home of the "Big Banana".