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Hump Day – Camels, Dolphins, and Whales, Oh My!

Wednesday. Middle of the week. Get over the “hump”. The weekend’s getting closer – life’s getting better.

So why be down? Let’s make the best out of this day! You’re in Australia, and there’s so much to do every day – Wednesday is no exception! You might as well make this hump something fun and exciting – and what better way to do it than explore the real life humps of Australia?

I’m Sofie and my first blog post is about my daytrip to Port Stephens, where it is indeed possible to explore some real humps: riding camels and watching humpback whales!

Port Stephens is a large natural harbour located 160 kilometres north east from Sydney. It might be a bit tricky (and a long way) to get there on your own (four and a half hours by train and bus). So I went with Colourful Trips and cruised up on a comfy bus instead. The ride up is two and a half hours, and you’re guaranteed to get an eye-full of nature to look at along the way – win!

Before lunch we stopped at Birubi Beach; what a special place! On one side there are sand dunes as far as your eye can see, and on the other a lovely beach! It’s a perfect way to start your adventure to Port Stephens. And yes, you get to explore the dunes. You can do sand boarding, camel riding, horseback riding and 4W drive or just walk around; it’s up to you, but camel riding was a personal must for me. We were met by these big animals in the middle of the sand dunes. The trainer told them to lie down; and they did. We climbed on, and when the camels got up it was almost like riding a rollercoaster. If you’re ready to let your inner child run free, sand boarding is crazy fun too.

14628215_10153825358280933_10227381_nAfter all the excitement in Birubi, we drove on to Nelson Bay to get some lunch, and when we got there we were met by the nicest seaport! Picture this: lunch in the sun with the beautiful, peaceful harbour as our backdrop, getting pumped for the big event of the day – Dolphin watching! You can pick Humpback whale watching if you prefer, but… dolphins!! I grabbed the best spot on the boat – right in front in the sun, and it didn’t take very long before we were surrounded by a herd of mother dolphins! In case you don’t know, dolphins are super playful animals, and they were ready to put on a show. Needless to say, there was plenty to watch and everyone on the boat was really excited to be this close to this many dolphins.

14696759_10153825354930933_1582996264_nWe left the area with all the dolphins but some of them followed the boat, jumping and playing with the foam from the boat – adorable. When we finally “escaped” the dolphin herd, we just cruised along the beautiful beaches, admiring the crystal-clear turquoise water with the sun shining bright; what more could you ask for? When we got back to Nelson Bay Marina, we had to wait around a bit until the rest of the group was back from whale watching. It’s a longer trip and a bit more expensive, but you see humpback whales – enough said. The high season ends in mid November, so if you want a chance to see these amazing animals you should go ASAP!

In the end, it was “mission successful”, since it didn’t really feel like I had to get over any humps in order to get passed this Wednesday – my kind of Hump Day!  My recommendation: book in a trip for the next Wednesday, you won’t regret it!

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