Port Stephens

We took a well earned break from painting, cleaning, unpacking and re-packing to get away for a couple of days three hrs north of Sydney in Port Stephens. We buckled the little man up and he travelled like a champion on his first vacation - barely a peep out of him, although I swear we caught him singing along with the Waylon Jennings CD a couple of times.

Port Stephens is awesome, as Kelly said it is hard to believe it is so close to Sydney you really feel like you are on an island somewhere (yeah, I know Australia is an island ... you know what I mean). We stayed in Nelsons Bay but also checked out a couple of other spots near by and we really liked those ... Shoal Bay and Fingal Bay are really, really beautiful.

Although there are Koala crossing signs on the roads we didn't see any although Kel gave it her best shot and probably has a kink in her neck still from all the time she spent looking up in the trees as we drove and walked around. It was a pretty chilled time we did little more than go to the beach (Luca was automatic with his screaming as soon as I put his feet in), walk around the waterfront, eat well and have a few beers. Kelly made lunch reservations on the way back at the Wonganella Winery - cool place, nice food and I hear the wine is good although I was happy with a vanilla milkshake.

We took the scenic route back to Sydney through Newcastle and I entertained(?) Kelly with stories about my previous trips to the area. It was great to get away and hopefully we'll make it back up to Port Stephens sometime soon. 2007 is off and flying, I can't believe it is February already!