Hawks Nest, NSW Australia

I swung inland after Stockton to circle around Port Stephens Bay, travelling through several small towns. Karuah is supposedly known for its fresh local oysters, but I didn’t stop to find out even if I would have been partial to a serving of Oysters Kilpatrick topped with crispy bacon bits and Worcestershire sauce. 

When I passed through Tea Gardens, all I could think of was sitting outside at a café on a balmy afternoon with a pot of tea and a lamington, an Aussie favourite with various stories of its origins. While there is no conclusive evidence of how it came into existence, one thing is certain: the recipe for the famous lamington was discovered in a 1900 issue of the Queensland Country Life newspaper, making it more than 100 years old and most likely named after the then Governor of Queensland, Lord Lamington. How the town got its name is also a mystery. Some suggest it was after an attempt to grow tea in the 1820s, albeit unsuccessfully, or because of the tea trees along the Myall River near the town. 

I arrived in Hawks Nest on the northern shores of Port Stephens Bay, which has a long and colourful story. The bay resulted from a submerged estuary of the Karuah and Myall Rivers. It was initially occupied by the Worimi people, who lived along its shores. Early explorers were attracted to the bay’s clear waters. When Captain James Cook sailed by in 1770 on the Endeavour, he named the bay after his friend Philip Stephens, the Secretary of the Admiralty. The HMS Salamander was part of the Third Fleet, transporting convicts to Sydney, and the first to enter the bay in 1791. Then, in 1795, HMS Providence arrived. The captain was surprised to find five convicts living with the Worimi people, who escaped from the Sydney area but got wrecked in the bay. By the early 1800s, the area was a haven for escaped convicts, and a garrison was established at what is now known as Soldiers Point. 

These days, the Port Stephens region is a holiday getaway. Its greatest draw is the resident pod of 150+ bottlenose dolphins, hence the bay’s claim as the “Dolphin Capital of Australia. These magnificent animals are super-intelligent with a hearty appetite, eating up to 22lbs (10kg) of fish per day. They are also ‘conscious’ breathers, unlike humans, who breathe automatically, needing to surface every few minutes to breathe. When asleep, only half of their brain is at rest while the other half is awake to manage breathing and staying alert.