2015 May - Day 6 (Port Stephens -> Sydney)

TODAY'S ITINERARY

DAY 6: PLACES VISITED

1.         Breakfast by Nelson Bay B&B         2.       Dolphin Watch Cruise         3.       Lunch         4.       Sand Dunes Adventure

5.       Quay West Suites Sydney Hotel         6.       East Coast Car Rentals         7.       The Rocks         8.       Pancakes on The Rocks

Woke up bright and early to a hearty and hot breakfast prepared by our lovely host, Trish! 

It was such a wide spread of breakfast selection! I miss her poached eggs that are so yummy! Do give a try for the hot breakfast, you won't regret it!

Dolphin Watch

Port Stephens is also known as the ‘dolphin watching capital of Australia’. Cruises from Nelson Bay provide the opportunity to get close to them, and some tour operators even offer opportunities to swim with the dolphins. In winter, the waters off Port Stephens are one of the best places in Australia to see the magnificent acrobatic displays of migrating humpback whales.

We boarded our cruise, MV Surprise and headed out to "chase" after the dolphins. It's not really a chase of dolphins as the cruise will rest at a location once we spotted the dolphins not to far off. 

Once we reached the middle of the lagoons, we spotted the dolphins which came out to play in pairs or groups. You will be able to see a playful few that come really near the resting cruise to play, while the rest will be playing somewhere further from us. 

There you goes! One of the many dolphins that we spotted in the lagoon!

Stockton Bight Sand Dune

After the dolphin chase, we headed off for Stockton Bight Sand Dune for our sandboarding activity! Had a light lunch at the cafe near the entrance of Stockton Bight Sand Dune, nothing remarkable for the food, hence only a single picture. :P

The remarkable Stockton Bight Sand Dunes (Worimi Conservation Lands) near Anna Bay offer 4WD tours, quad biking, sand-boarding, horse and camel riding. Explore Tin City, where the movie ‘Mad Max’ was filmed; or visit the historic buildings of Raymond Terrace.

Boarded the lorry-like vehicle which ferried us to the middle for the sandboarding activity. 

Not sure if it is like a real desert, but it feels that way to me. Endless of sand around you once you reached the sandboarding area. Feeling lucky that we actually had the dune all to ourselves. 

There are different heights which you can sand board down (as you can see from the top right photo, it is a slope at the starting point). I preferred the highest height as that is where you really feel the slide longer. But it's really tiring as you have to carry the board up the slope to your preferred height, slide down and repeat again. Great way to exercise though!

Happy us after tiring ourselves out with the climbing up.

After that, we head back to the city for our last leg of the trip.

Crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge to get to our accommodation which was right in the middle of The Rock. 

Quay West Suites Sydney

Tel : (+61)2/92406000

98 Gloucester Street The Rocks - 2000 SYDNEY

Dropped off our luggage at the last accommodation of our trip before heading off to return the car. The accommodation was a great choice as it is more of an apartment than a hotel. It has all the facilities of a hotel and was really comfortable and spacious. 

Returning the rental car back to the place where we pick up. Thankfully, the rental place does provide a transport back to the airport and the driver was kind enough to drop us off at Mascot Station instead of the Airport Station which will requires an additional fee to take the MRT out to the city. 

The Mascot station just one station away from the Airport Station and it saved us AUD $18.20!

At the Mascot station which we purchased the single trip ticket to get to Circular Quay where our accommodation was located at. Unable to purchase the Opal card from the ticketing counter as the Opal card is available for purchase at certain shops which we successfully got it only on the next day at a shop near the Circular Quay Station. 

I like that there train is a double-decker as compare to Singapore MRT, much more spacious and comfortable.

There we are, right at Circular Quay where the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House is located.

Pancakes on The Rocks

4 Hickson Rd, The Rocks, Sydney

Phone: 02 9247 6371

Headed for dinner at the highly raved Pancakes on the Rock which really lived up to its name in my opinion. Lucky us that there was an available table without a queue! 

They do have other outlets in Sydney, but this is the first store and the nearest to us! 

Missing the pork ribs and the pancakes as I'm typing this out! The pork ribs are just so tender and flavourful while the pancakes are soooooo fluffy inside and crispy on the outside. Definitely will head back if I travelled to Sydney.

Taking a stroll back to our accommodation which is just down the road. Enjoying the tranquillity of the back roads and the cool breeze. 

Ending off with the wonderful view from our accommodation!