Port Stephens - 21st October

Port Stephens Car Kilometres: 183,452

Distance Travelled: 547km

Total Distance Travelled: 15,201km

We pack up at Moonee Beach and head off in the direction of Port Stephens, stopping on the way at the Big Banana (big, fibreglass, hugely tacky) and the 'Clog Barn' (no idea).We manage to restrain ourselves and skip the model village, but stop for a gourmet meat pie a few hundred kilometres down the road at a Lonely Planet recommended bakery.The pies are delicious, and apparently very popular with the local constabulary - we see several police cars pull up and drive away again with a pie in hand while we're eating our food outside.

Upon arriving in the drizzle at Port Stephens, we pitch the tent at a campsite that's almost empty, and plan our next few days.However, the following morning we find out just why it's so quiet - everyone who hasn't already left is hurriedly packing up, and by 10am the wind is so strong that we are forced to spend pretty much the whole day alternating sheltering from the elements with holding the tent down and resecuring the guy ropes.It's pretty miserable, although we cheer ourselves up by nipping out to get an Eagle Boys $5 pepperoni pizza and a bottle of wine, although we manage to make the rookie error of buying wine with a cork in, when the one thing we don't have in our kit is a corkscrew... we manage to borrow one from one of the caravans - they're cooped up cosily watching TV, waiting for the weather to pass.

The following day, the wind has died down a little and we venture out.It's still pretty miserable though, and we're not out for long, preferring to watch DVD's in the tent.The campsite man kindly lends Dave a bright yellow raincoat for our trips to the bathroom, since the rain is still bucketing down.The last other tent on the site packs up and leaves at about 5pm, having gotten completely flooded out while they were out for the day... we're starting to think we're a bit silly staying put...

We wake up on Friday morning to a much brighter day, and the campsite quickly fills up with weekend campers, all bright and breezy compared to the soggy, bedraggled look that we are currently working.We head out to Stockton Bight for a walk, and watch the kite surfers zoom around.After a cruise around some of the other beaches, we park up at the marina to feed the fish some stale bread, and spot some dolphins playing just out to sea in the sunset.

On Saturday, we decide that the sand has had enough time to dry out following the rain, and go back to the Bight to arrange a sandboarding trip out on the huge dunes out there.It's just like Lancelin in WA, but a lot quieter and without any pesky quadbikers to cramp our style.We get a ride into the dunes and the hire of a sandboard for as long as we like for $20 each, accompanied by an enthusiastic guide who spends his afternoon pushing us off the top of the dune, waxing lyrical about tourism in Australia, and being generally entertaining.We have a giant dune to ourselves, and although we're not allowed to stand up on our boards (I'm not sure I'd have managed it anyway), we have a super active afternoon tobogganing down the slopes, and although it's tough climbing the dunes each time and we're worn out afterwards, we have a brilliant time.

Dave has sacrificed his old camera for the greater good, and made a few videos of the action, holding it between his feet as he slides down... although after a particularly nasty face-plant into the sand, it gave up and refuses to switch on forever more.We are also highly amused by the hundreds of Korean tourists that are bussed in and out of the beach and Bight - many of them are dressed highly inappropriately; the men wearing suits, and the women tottering in high heels.According to the sandboard guy, those who are brave enough to attempt the sandboarding usually go up and down once, and then spend the rest of the afternoon posing for photos, a sight we spot several times.

After de-sanding back at camp, we go back to the marina for more fish feeding, although we don't spot any dolphins this time.We'd planned to go out for dinner, but don't find anything that we fancy, and head back out of town, ending up grabbing some tasty fish and chips to share, just as the chip shop is closing up.