At the end of my Summer break in early 2019, as an end of holiday activity, we headed up to Nelson Bay in NSW. I knew this would be a long drive for a day trip but just really needed to get out of Sydney. The drive down was, well intense. Everyone was in holiday mode and it felt like they weren’t paying attention. No wonder its a notorious stretch of road. We eventually made it to Nelsons Bay safety. It was just nice to be out of the city for a while.
Nelson Bay
As soon as we arrive I found somewhere to park so that we could plan our next move. As it was lunchtime we decided to walk around the town eventually finding a pie shop that was recommended by a friend. It seemed to have quite a few people visiting so we decided to give it a go. The pies were pretty average and fairly expensive but I guess that’s to be expected on the main strip of a tourist town.
Heading down to the beach we stuck to the shade as the sun beat down with no respite. It was so strong that I left my cardigan on as I really didn’t want my arms to burn. The sun felt so strong that I didn’t think sunscreen would even work. I must have looked so strange but at least I wouldn’t burn. It was really lovely walking down the beach despite the heat. The water had a really cool inflatable playground on it that looked like heaps of fun. The beach area had heaps of facilities and plenty of grass to chill out on.
The heat was starting to get back to us and so we headed back to the main street to grab an ice-cream.
Newcastle
As must as I wanted to continue to walk around the Bay the sun was just too hot. So we decided to escape and visit Newcastle Museum. The museum was quite small but rather interesting, showing the history of the town.
We managed to just catch the mining demonstration which when they sealed off a large area I got rather excited thinking it would be a live smelting demo. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more of a light and sound show. Despite this, it was still quite a lot of fun! There was also an interactive area with heaps of activities suited to both adults and kids!
Home Time
With the day coming to a close we headed home. It was a little interesting driving back as smoke from a nearby bush fire was getting rather close. I got my partner to look up the location and check that there were no road warnings out. Luckily it was quite a while away and we could continue on safely.
Looking for more Aussie travel? Take a look at my Canberra Series – Three Days in Canberra – Part 1.
