Monday 26th March to Sunday 1st April
Port Stephens to Buladelah
We didn’t get too far this week after setting off from Port Stephens on Tuesday. We were conscious that it was Easter weekend so all campsites would be full and the roads would be jam-packed. Unfortunately, we didn’t get too far but heard that Buladelah was a good little stop off. The plan was to see out Easter before moving on again.The first port of call was to drive through Myall Lakes National Park, only a stone’s throw from Nelson Bay over the water, but an 80km drive. We stopped at Jimmy’s Beach to look back on Port Stephens to see whether we could spot any dolphins. Of course we didn’t see any but the sand was gorgeously white and squeaked beneath our feet.Our first night back on the road was spent in the National Park itself just behind the sand dunes. This was remote camping with no electricity or water available so it was a good job we were prepared. We got chatting to our neighbour’s for the night and ending up sitting around a campfire drinking until 11pm. I didn’t expect it but we saw our first wild dingo, circling straight through the camp at night. It came through twice probably looking for food.After too much vodka, our early start didn’t exactly go to plan but we managed to get out by 9:30am and, most importantly, before the ranger came. Once we got to Buladelah (after a ferry crossing and another dirt road), we swapped the free camp for three nights at the Bowling Club. For $10 for three nights, you can’t go wrong. We met two other couples who both are from Western Australia and happened to be originally from Blackpool and Burnley. Not great being a Preston North End fan! Whilst the campsite was cheap, it was Easter so we treated ourselves to meals out and many drinks. We all got into bowls as well (mainly for the drinking) so we stayed another three nights! Unfortunately, the men didn’t turn out to be too good at bowls so we ended up losing the tournament 2-1. The only trip out we managed to fit in was to see New South Wales’ tallest tree. Exciting. We keep picking things to do that involve far too many kilometres on gravel roads that should be for 4x4s only. The tree did turn out to be huge but it didn’t take long for us to be back in the van travelling back.I promise next week’s post will be more exciting.