Day 277 - Monday 2 October - Back to the coast, Nelson Bay

Day 277

Monday –

2 October 2017 

Monday again, they come around quick. Today is a public holiday in NSW so we figured it would be busy out and about with many making their way home. We laid about lazily in bed reading until 9am and then dragged ourselves out and started the day, including paying for a n extra three nights here. We were then ready to head out just after 10.30am with the car and lunch packed for our journey to Port Stephens and Nelson Bay.

Once set in the GPS, we followed the given directions towards the coast. We were in for a bit of a drive, an hour and 20min and numerous km’s, but we weren’t in any hurry.

I messaged Leon, the rep we met last week at the oyster and craft beer festival to let him know we were heading to Murray’s Brewery for midday and then set about looking for caravan parks to move on to in the Central Coast region.

I located the one we stayed at in Umina back in 2003, but at $84 a night, we weren’t staying there this time around. Instead I located one in Toowoon Bay for half the price and I locked us in for a four night stay.

We were soon making our way down the main thoroughfare towards Port Stephens, traveling along with little traffic and then we noticed the bank up heading away from the seaside escape and back towards Sydney. The trail of cars seemed to go on forever and we hoped that it would be cleared by the time we were looking to head home.

At 11.45am we saw a sign indicating Murray’s Brewery and we pulled into the car park to be overwhelmed by the number of large coaches ferrying Asian tourists to the winery / brewery, fun!

We battled our way through the crowds with Paul eventually taking up a spot at the outdoor bar. I busied myself taking photos before joining Paul to listen to the barman give his spiel about what he was pouring. He even had me taking in one and while I like the initial taste, it was very bitter in the end and not to my taste. 

When Paul had been through the taps, he met up with the senior barman and continued to chat, being given a selection of bottled beers he hadn’t tried.

We returned to the car to collect his growlers and then it was back to the bar to have them filled and just as we were ready to leave, Leon turned up, so we ordered drinks and sat down at a recently vacated table to enjoy them and the company. It turned in to one of those unexpected afternoons where you come away glad that things fell into place. 

In the end we stayed for more drinks and lunch, which was delicious, an incredible feat considering how busy the place was and the food that was being turned out by the kitchen. We were very impressed with the whole venture and they have been smart encouraging the Asian tour groups to ensure cash flow, even if they are rude and obnoxious.

It was 2.30pm when we finally said goodbye and made our way into Port Stpehens. Our beautiful sunny day had been replaced with cool and cloudy and as we drove closer to the coast we could see the water was quite choppy.  

We pulled up at the boat ramp and did a quick walk to admire the view. A sea rescue vessel was just arriving, pulling in a small run about that had obviously found trouble.

After our walk, we drove on to Nelson Bay, parked at the Woollies and then headed out into the town centre, a lively tourist destination. By now the weather was turning against us and it was starting to spit. 

We made our way to the foreshore, walked along the front to the boat harbour and out along the harbour wall. The rain was just starting to impede our wander as we began the trek back.

We stopped at the seafood shop for 2 dozen oysters for $25 and then did a quick stop for supplies before returning to the car. It was a shame the weather had lessened our time in the area, as I would have liked to look around further.

Once on the road, we set the GPS again with it indicating we would be home at 5.20pm, however the traffic we encountered earlier had not dissipated and we joined the long, slow crawl back towards the main highway, lucky we weren’t in a hurry.

In the end we added an extra 30min to our journey, finally pulling in just before 6pm. We were straight into dinner, cooking up the oysters and having the salad we had packed for lunch and then never ate. After dinner it was into today’s homework.