Myall Lakes Weekend Break(MLWB)

3 days, 2 nights, from Sydney

November-January

Escape on an all-inclusive getaway to the stunning beaches, sand dunes and forests of the Myall Lakes. Explore national parks and marine reserves, encounter dolphins, birds and native animals, enjoy great food and lakefront accommodation, learn about local history and indigenous culture. These fully-guided tours give you the chance to get close to nature, relax and unwind – you can be as active or as laid back as you wish. Experience fabulous scenery and wildlife, meet friendly locals and taste some wonderful local seafood.

The Myall Lakes is one of the largest coastal lakes systems in New South Wales, listed as a Ramsar Wetland of International Significance. The region includes 40 kilometres of beautiful, unspoiled beaches backed by magnificent rolling sand dunes, paperback swamps and littoral rainforests, as well as rugged headlands  and a series of serene coastal lakes. They are mostly enclosed in a national park that extends from Hawks Nest on the northern end of Port Stephens northwards to Seal Rocks.

They offer an abundance of birdlife as well as the chance to get close to native mammals and marsupials and to enjoy a range of water-based activities in the sea or on the lakes.

The offshore and estuarine section of the park is contained within the Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park. The park’s diverse marine life includes many species of dolphins, turtles, fish, invertebrates, seabirds and seaweeds along with threatened species such as the Gould’s petrel, little tern, grey nurse shark and green turtle. Important oceanic islands, major estuarine wetlands and lake systems feature among a variety of park habitats.

Many significant Indigenous cultural and spiritual sites are located within or adjacent to the marine park and national park including middens, burial sites and traditional campsites. Aboriginal association with the sea and land in the area dates back thousands of years and Indigenous people still gather food in the traditional way.

These tours introduce you to the national park and its surrounding attractions, from the beauty of Port Stephens to the wonder and serenity of Seal Rocks.

Itinerary

Day 1

Departing from Sydney you travel to Nelson Bay on Port Stephens where you embark on a classic wooden vessel for your cruise to Tea Gardens, during which you are more than likely to spot playful dolphins from the resident colony which lives and breeds in the north-eastern section of the Harbour. At Tea Gardens you'll enjoy a seafood lunch at a restaurant built over the riverfront.

After lunch you travel to the beach section of the national park, where you can enjoy the seashore and explore the Dark Point Aboriginal Place. Dark Point is a rock headland located between two beautiful stretches of beach, overlooking the rocky outline of Broughton Island Nature Reserve. Significant to the Worimi people for at least 4,000 years, the area includes large shell middens, burial sites and ceremonial grounds. You also have a chance to wander the massive sand dunes at the rear of the beach.

From here you travel to Bombah Point, taking the vehicular punt across to your accommodation in  a Lake Front Villa at Eco Point Myall Shores resort. Before dinner in Leggies Restaurant you'll embark on a sunset lake cruise of Bombah Broadwater.

Day 2

This morning you have a chance to go on a guided kayak tour of the lake shores before travelling to Seal Rocks on the national park's northern boundary. Seal Rocks is an idyllic place, remarkably accessible yet seemingly remote, blessed with unspoilt beaches, rocky headlands and a beautiful 19th-century lighthouse complete with restored keepers' cottages. You'll have a chance to explore the lighthouse precinct, have a swim, gaze out to sea from the headland and enjoy a picnic lunch on the beach. Afterwards you travel to nearby Wallingat National Park to marvel at the 360 degree views from Whoota Whoota Lookout over Wallis Lake and 100 kilometres of coastline to as far north as Port Macquarie.

Before tonight's dinner at your resort restaurant you can enjoy a guided spotlighting tour. There is no better way to finish the day than under the brilliant night sky. This tour will highlight the solar system and some of the area's unique nocturnal wildlife. With no city lights to dull the experience, you'll be amazed at how the sky lights up.

Day 3

Your final day's start gives you the chance to rise a little later  - or early if you wish to get in a bit of paddling, swimming or walking before your departure. Today's first organised activity is a gentle walk along the Mungo Brush Rainforest Track, an easy 30-minute stroll through an isolated patch of coastal (littoral) rainforest, a lush environment on an isolated rocky hill on the eastern lake shore. The rainforest is dominated by a closed canopy of trees like native olive, coogera, brush bloodwood, shining leaf stinger and strangler fig. On the edge of the rainforest swamp mahogany, mock olive, cheese tree, cabbage tree palm and tuckeroo can be found. You're likely to see many birds, including golden whistlers, figbirds, rufous fantails, bowerbirds, emerald doves, honeyeaters and tawny frogmouths. You may be lucky enough to spot a koala in a swamp mahogany or paperbark tree.

After this short walk you wander along the Tamboi Trail, which takes you through stunning cabbage tree palm forests to a tiny old fishing settlement on the Myall River, after which you enjoy a BBQ lunch on the lakefront at Mungo Brush. You return to Sydney via the fishing village of Karuah, noted for its delicious oysters - where you'll meet one of the hardy oystermen and take away a sample bag of this sought after delicacy. You'll arrive back in the city in the late afternoon, refreshed, invigorated and inspired by your weekend's encounters.

What You Get

Start and finish in central Sydney, travel by air conditioned 4WD coach, two nights accommodation, all meals, morning and afternoon teas, entry and admission fees, local tours and cruises, individual trip kit including personal comfort pack, use of a netbook computer for the duration of the tour.