Another 6 hours of sleep in our now 5-star tent. The chorus of the frogs and toads through the night sky was a relaxing harmony to fall asleep and wake up to.  Wait! What was that going around the tent.  A quick investigation and it was wallabies passing through the campsite.

We ate our porridge before getting breakfast envy, as the smell of cooked bacon and eggs wafted through from the gas BBQ area.  The family were only one step away from glamping with their huge tent and culinary delights. We had been chatting to them, grandad, son and three children.  Small world as the grandad left Christchurch in England to emigrate to Australia with the family when he was seven.

We all left around the same time. Said our goodbyes and headed to the beach,  leaving our tent erect, locked and at the mercy of the roos.

Prehistoric Pelican

We headed for Cave Beach in Lake Macquarie.  We had seen some large animals in the distance by the water as we circled Australia’s largest saltwater lake, but only realised what they were once we saw this monstrous pelican perched high on the top of a telegraph pole. Around 1.9m tall, a wingspan of nearly 3m, and a huge bill it looked like it could eat a shoal of mackerel in one giant gulp.

We made it to Cave Beach. As it was just after high tide the caves weren’t accessible yet, so we headed off for a walk along the golden sand.  Signs were up about the rip currents and there was only a tiny area open between the lifeguard flags. After the last week’s tragic events nearly everyone was only paddling to their knees and three young surfers riding the huge waves.

We walked from one end of the glorious beach to the other.  Found the perfect spot of a bench up in the sand dunes for our picnic, made in the car on route.

Returning to where the caves were, we could see the tide had receded enough to leave the entrances water free.  A small climb over some rocks and we were in.  Our kind of adventure. Working our way around the rugged coastline finding little passages that hours earlier would have been filled with marine life.

Return to base camp

We returned via a small stop by the lake where we saw an eagle soaring through the sky, swooping down and resting on a branch high in the tree,  surveying the lake possibly looking for is next meal.

The tent was still up.