Unwelcome visitor!

So, we have seen some marvellous, breathtaking and beautiful sights since our arrival in Australia. It was only a matter of time therefore before we had an up close and personal encounter with some of the less attractive locals! Neither of us are too keen on sharing our personal space with spiders, snakes or insects larger than our thumbnails (very sensible we think!), and obviously we knew that Australia is home to several (hundreds!), of spiders, the world's most deadly snakes and insects thrive here - hoorah! Our thinking though, despite our lack of fondness for all things creepy and crawlie is so long as they stay in their environment we'll give them a wide berth - if we venture in to their territory then we need to be aware that we may come face-to-face with the subjects of our phobias - and deal with it.

At home, we are less vigilant.........despite knowing that the Huntsman (a rather large, hairy but not venemous spider), likes to venture in and wander around the house........so we should not have been unduly surprised to find one of them on the ceiling having a look around.....add to this a smaller but to me, equally scary spider of unknown identity running up my arm whilst in bed last night (really!) and my worst fears were realised!

Still, lived to tell the tale! But whoever said that aversion therapy is the way to go with phobias knows nothing!!

24 October 2008

At last the rain has stopped(!), the skies are once more clear and all is well!

As it happened our forced confinement indoors over the past few days gave us the opportunity to catch up on all those things that have been waiting to be done whilst we've been walking beaches, taking in sunsets, picnicing and sight seeing etc etc! Managed to get blog more or less up to date, Facebook up and running and respond to our emails....

And, in spite of the lousy weather we have still had a good week! Had a surprise gift delivered for our 25th Anniversary - a lovely basket of all kinds of fruit and some bubbly (that's it on the profile pic), a call from the koala sanctuary to help out and we have made good progress planning our trip to Tasmania next month - good times!

We've just over a week left here in Port Stephens and still have some walks we would like to do and a couple of trips out in the bay....hoping good weather holds, sure it will!

Ever the optimists!

Tomaree Peninsula

We worked off breakfast one morning by experiencing one of the most beautiful walks in the Port, Tomaree Headland. From bottom to top took us around one and a half hours. When we reached the summit we were rewarded with spectacular views of the stunning coastline. We could see the Heads, Zenith, Box and Wreck Beaches (which border the ocean), and Shoal Bay the opposite side. There was also a lookout over the ocean towards Fingal Spit, the lighthouse and the nature reserves. Looking back towards and beyond Shoal Bay we were also able to make out Soldiers Point. The weather was just perfect and we could see for miles.

Returning to the bottom we were startled by our first sighting of a (huge!) Lace Monitor Lizard - a magnificent creature - he/she meandered off uninterested in us and a few yards ahead we encountered a second Goanna - this time much smaller but more inquisitive! Tried to capture them both on camera but they were remarkably well camaflouged......see if you can spot the smaller one amongst the leaf debris!

Just look up and you might just see a koala!

Whilst you'll find many animals in Port Stephens, the koala stands out. Unfortunately, the koala population in Port Stephens is always at risk from the loss of habitat, injury and death on the busier roads and from roaming dogs.

It is currently the breeding cycle for koalas and as this is also the tourist season there are a number of mishaps.

The Hunter Koala Preservation Society and the Native Animal Trust Fund all do their best to rescue injured koalas and the local koala sanctuaries work tirelessly in their recovery and rehabilitation.

We responded to a request in the local paper for volunteers and have been asked to help with cleaning their living quarters and collecting leaves for their meals! We are unable to have hands-on experience with the koalas as it takes several weeks to learn how to handle them correctly etc but still, we feel we are at least doing our bit to support both the sanctuaries and the preservation of this beautiful creature.

Sunset Beach

At the risk of becoming a beach bore(!), there are an incredible number of fabulous beaches here in Australia and not least here in Port Stephens. Our local beach (5 min walk from the house), is not the biggest but is the best spot to watch the sun set - hence the name! We have seen some spectacular sunsets since arriving here - each one is different but all, without exception, are breathtakingly beautiful. Truly awesome.

"Blue Water Paradise"

Over the past few weeks we have been lucky enough to have some glorious weather - fine and dry with warm springtime sunshine. The blossom is in full bloom, there are camellias, roses, azaleas, jasmine and a number of plants we don't recognise all flowering and filling the air with beautiful scent.
The area is dubbed "Blue Water Paradise" and it's not hard to see why.

We have settled easily in to a routine of exercising the dogs along the numerous beaches, picnics for lunch at one of the many coves and exploring the local bush trails and sights within the local vicinity - it is a very pretty place. The various bays have pristine golden sandy beaches and the sea is both warm and vivid turquoise. The ocean the other side of the bay is less calm but equally blue with mile upon mile of empty sand beaches.

Our first trip out was to Nelson Bay which is the main township here and which is perched at the tip of the southern arm of the bay. Since then we have also visited the quieter settlements of Shoal Bay, Soldiers Point(our home neighbourhood), Boat Harbour and Anna Bay.

We have also been to Stockton Beach which actually has the largest sand dunes in the eastern Australian mainland.

The North Coast (NSW)

The coast from Sydney north to Queensland is more densely populated and much more touristy than the southern coast, with popular holiday destinations strung along the coast north of Newcastle. Port Stephens is one of these destinations.

The coastline consists of a myriad of inlets, bays and coastal lakes, interspersed by white, sandy beaches and rocky promontories.

Port Stephens is just north of Newcastle, the wide bay extends inland for almost 25km and offers calm waters and numerous coves ideal for swimming whilst the ocean side has good surf and wide sandy beaches.

Port Stephens, New South Wales

October 2008

After waving farewell to our "rellies" back in Brisbane we took a short flight to Newcastle (yep famous for coal here too!), and met up with the owner's of our latest house and pet sitting assignment. We had a pleasant journey from the airport to Soldiers Point in Port Stephens and our new home until the end of the month. On arrival we met the 2 delightful dogs, Rani & Meg. Both labradors and both real sweeties.

Over a glass of wine and a delicious supper we chatted with Doug and June and got to know each other a little better. They have a lovely home here and we have spent the past couple of weeks exploring the local area and having fun with the dogs.