Getting out of Sydney – Nelson’s Bay and Newcastle

By Daisy Boxall, University of Sydney, Australia

After an amazing first month in Sydney, the itch to get out and explore has begun and where better to start then a drive up the coast to one of the most beautiful national parks I’ve ever been to – Tomaree National Park! Although this wasn’t our plan A, Nelson’s Bay was an obvious second choice as someone who lovess any coastal adventure, especially when they involve whales!! So off we went, on a Friday night out of the city.

Tip #1: if you’re going to rent a car, make sure you check your insurance deal before you get to the airport. They can be funny with age and how long you’ve had your licence etc. It will just make the process a bit quicker.

Tip #2: try avoid driving in the CBD, it sucks, you can never turn right and parking quickly is not an option.

So over the Harbour Bridge we went, listening to the classic road trip songs and onto the motorway and into the bush.

Tip #3: don’t drive at night if you don’t like the dark or driving at night, they don’t believe in street lighting on the motorways in the bush. It is so so dark!

3 hours of being a passenger princess, a Hunger Jacks burger, and a kangaroo spotting later, we finally arrived and a celebratory beer and round of cards played before a good night sleep. The next day we did the most amazing walk! At brekky we met this lovely Aussie woman who told us we ‘just have to go’ up to Tomaree Head Summit Walk, a steep but quick walk through the forest to see the most beautiful views of the national park coastline. Sadly, our quick drive to the start brought with it the first encounter of Aussie rain until, as if blessed by the weather gods, the most incredible sunshine and clear skies appeared just in time for us to sweat our way to the top. The view was just breath-taking and made even better by a spotting of dolphins under the headland!!

Tip #3; don’t swim in the bay, it’s a great white nursery,
we didn’t see any so hopefully the Aussies weren’t pulling our leg.

After meeting another lovely Aussie at the top, we were told to
drive 20 minuets down south to Boat Harbour Whale Watch Lookout. I think from the name you can guess why we went and OH MY GOD… (try spot the whales, bless they look so small!)

Tip #4; go at sunset or sunrise, this is apparently when the whales are most active, and I can vouch that this was true in our case!

Such an incredible end to the day and made even better knowing it was infinitely cheaper than the boat tours in the port so your welcome! Then a speedy drive down to Newcastle to get a curry, a trip to the local hotel and bed to see off a fab day 1 of our trip! Our second and last day was just as beautiful as the first. Up and out the hostel for a quick brekky in town and a trip to Blackbutt Nature Reserve.

Tip #5: don’t go. It was like a zoo but just very sad, the animals looked so sad in their tiny enclosures so if you do want to go see wildlife, make sure you do you research properly and don’t go to the first suggested search on google.

To make up for our downer to the day, we drove to the highly praised Boggie Hole up the coast and this is where google redeemed itself, it was beautiful! Defiantly try go here, although it was absolutely freezing and the locals did have a laugh at our attempts of trying to battle the cold and crabs. But, I think I get the ice bath trend a little now. After a drive back to Newcastle centre to walk to the Lighthouse (with not only a beautiful sunset but our second encounter with dolphins) we got a happy hour pizza and pint and set of back to Sydney.

Tip #6: make the most of happy hour in Aus, they love it! And you can sniff out some wicked deals if you try hard enough.

There is so much to do in and around Newcastle and on our limited time I think we defiantly chose some amazing spots! All in all, I would 100% recommend this little trip and I’m so excited to see more! Newcastle especially is so easy to get the train to from Sydney if you don’t have a car but annoyingly, Nelson’s Bay and most of the coast just north of Newcastle is hard to reach without a car or with a tour just because the public transport is not great. Either way, a great first trip out the city and can’t wait to go on more!