Newcastle & Stockton Sand Dunes

I am very much someone who unconsciously thinks that grass is greener on the other side. Life and the world is more interesting overseas and Australia/Sydney/NSW is boring. However since starting a full time job, my time is quite limited. And in fact, so many people think that Australia is so interesting and would love to visit. So why do I feel this way? It really comes down to the fact that it's familiar and, sadly, I am a little desensitised to the beauty of it. I have been making a conscious effort in 2016 to see more of Australia or the very least, more of NSW outside of Sydney.

Long introduction aside, that is why over the ANZAC long weekend I headed up north to Port Stephens. The furthest north I had ever been was Newcastle many many years ago as a day trip and honestly, I don't remember too much about it. Mr Paella and I headed onto the Pacific Highway which was quite frankly a very very boring drive. It is really the only road up the coast so taking the smaller highways wasn't an option.

Newcastle was the first stop and it was so incredibly windy! The photos don't capture how strong the winds were and I really felt that I was being moved by the wind. As the photos show, it was a beautiful day. We also discovered the Memorial Walk by accident as we were driving by and it was definitely worth walking on! It provided stunning views of the ocean and I believe the best vantage point of Newcastle. Something that I didn't know prior to the trip was that Newcastle has the largest coal exporting harbour in the world. It was insane to see the size of the machinery and equipment at the docks.








Next stop was Nelson Bay and my first time staying at an Airbnb. The woman was a little crazy and was really seeking self validation. I had picked up this vibe back when I was reading the reviews of her place and her comments to critical comments (not negative, just slightly slightly critical). Thank goodness for 5 years of retail where I have perfected the 'Ah please tell me more' persona.


Stockton Sand Dunes is a must see for people visiting Port Stephens and I can definitely see why. The beach is 32km in length and it honestly feels as though you are world's away. As mentioned before, it was super windy and I had sand everywhere. In my shoes, my eyes, my hair (oh boy it was stuck there forever), clothes. Unsurprisingly, it is quite painful to have sand blown at you. Being such a tourist attraction, there are multiple tourist operators who offer: camel riding, quad biking or sand boarding. I didn't do any of them due to a lack of interest; someone needs to explain the appeal of sand boarding to me. The dunes that I could see (granted I obviously didn't walk too far into them) wasn't as high as the ones at Kangaroo Island but unlike there, they stretched as far as the eye could see.











This was my fifth trip as part of #take12trips. To see previous trips please click here.