Safari 2018 June 25th & 26th

June 25th...Treescape Camp

Coastal Banksia

From Cessnock we drove a short distance to Constable Estate to see a memorial to Len Evans who was the major influence in the development of the Hunter River Wine Region. He had visited our Milawa Vineyard on a number of occasions. He was English born and became an avid wine enthusiast here in Australia. From Cessnock we followed the maze of roads and highways across country to Nelson Bay. We avoided both Maitland and Newcastle a fact that we were very pleased about. Driving with a caravan in heavy traffic in unfamiliar roads is not a lot of fun! John did very well to follow the correct signs.
We have settled into a small camping park called Treescape at Port Stephens. We appear to be the only caravan booked in. We plan to stay 2 nights. After exploring the area and visiting a point where whales can be seen and Coastland Banksia were in bloom, we walked from our van to a beach called Samurai Beach, which does have a very deep sandy access path. We were happy to walk. It is a beach where nude bathing is allowed. Not for us with such a cold wind blowing and not for us on the warmest calm day either.
We expect to spend a calm night here with no traffic noise and only the sound of waves in the distance. Our day has been most enjoyable and not nearly so cold!

June 26th

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo       

We have stayed in the Port Stephens area today and had a good look around the various points of interest...Walks have been great on sandy beaches, bush tracks and rocky points. Late this afternoon we walked along a bush track which was thick with Banksia trees and many other natives plants and trees of this area. We could hear a large number of birds, most of which we could not identify. There were many squawking birds from the Friar bird family surely interested in the honey from the Banksia flowers. They were difficult to see amongst the thickets of branches and leaves. Suddenly I realised that I had disturbed a very large bird. After careful tracing we were able to identify it as a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo...the exact cockatoo that we occasionally see when skiing down the Dargo Road from the WSC lodge. I was not close enough to take this photo..some one with a much stronger lens on their camera than I have on my tiny pink Nikon.
Tonight we have enjoyed a delightful fish meal at the nearby Golf Club. Fish of the Day was Dory with a lemon sauce plus feta and dried tomato.