Aussirose Travel and Photography: Kendall, Kew, Laurieton, Bonny Hills, Lake Cathie

Kendall, Kew, Laurieton, Bonny Hills, Lake Cathie

Laurieton Lookout, the best lookout we have ever been to.

More about that later.

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LAKE CATHIE

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I have fond memories of swimming at the Hastings Point inlet. This one at Lake Cathie is better!

Lake Cathie (pronounced Kat-Eye) Foreshore Reserve is so pretty and I absolutely loved my swim here. In fact we were both impressed with this whole area. Laurieton itself is awesome and the beaches and rivers here are clean and wildly natural. We could have stayed much longer to explore.

I took out my new toy crystal ball as you can see. I love this photo.

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Opposite the reserve is an Australian Big thing. The Big Lawn Bowling Ball.

The ladies were playing what seemed to be a Comp at the time, all dressed up in their Club Colours. They were taking their lawn bowls seriously and looked to be very good players. If I lived here, I think I would take up Lawn Bowls.

When we first arrived here, we went to Lake Cathie Beach on the right hand side of this inlet. The waves were huge and we were not inclined to swim here. I am so glad that we drove around to the foreshore.

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BONNY HILLS

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We didn't go for a dip here. It looked nice enough, but we had already been in at Lake Cathie and it was close to lunch time and we were hungry.

There is a surf club here and cafe which looked good. The surfers were out and we watched them for 10 minutes.

We both liked Bonny Hills. It's a very pretty place and had a good vibe.

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BONNY HILLS TAVERN

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At Bonny Hills Tavern we shared a pizza. There's a lovely beer garden out back and a playground for the kids. I imagine this place would be very busy on the weekends. Pizza was good.

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BONNY HILLS WATER TANK ART

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How pretty is that!

Located on top of the hill with a nice lookout over the beach looking up to Laurieton.

There were a couple of wicker chairs here, but hubby was reluctant to walk to them as the long grass looked like a snake haven.

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NORTH HAVEN BEACH, LAURIETON

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This is one of the nicest photos I have of hubby. Doesn't he look handsome?

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As mentioned before, hubby and I both really liked Laurieton. There are a lot of Caravan Parks aound here, but I bet they don't have any permanents. I need to check it out. There is a bus service from where we stayed at Kendall that goes through Laurieton and right up to Port Macquarie which is the next big town up the coast. I could quite happily live here.

Unfortunately my swimming in the surf days are probably over, unless I find beaches with absolutely no rips. This getting old business is not all it's cut out to be. I did however sit down in the water and let it wash over me which still counts as a dip in the surf. It was real good.

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LAURIETON NORTH HAVEN WALL RESERVE

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Today I packed a picnic and we had it at this reserve. We watched the pelicans and fisherman on the shore as well as in a boat. It was very relaxing. I love our picnics.

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LAURIETON ARMSTRONG OYSTERS

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Ahhh, fresh oysters! 🦪 😎

Seafood is my favourite, especially fresh oysters & prawns, so when we both saw Armstrong Oysters, we had to go in and have a squiz. $55 later, we were armed with king prawns & a dozen oysters for Kilpatrick, and they were fresh as! Yuuum!

We questioned why Sydney Rock Oysters? Aparently it is the breed. It was confirmed that they are grown locally. We could see a number of oyster farms here in the river at Laurieton.

Oysters were later consumed Kilpatrick the next day at Crescent Head, washed down with a bottle of red from Langhorne SA. We visited this winery passing through a few years ago. Very nice. What we will not forget though are the dive bomber mozzies at Langhorne campsite. We didn't finish our unhook. Quickly moving on.

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LAURIETON HOTEL

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On our first day of arrival we set up, left Tookie in the van and went to explore Laurieton.

We had lunch at the Laurieton Hotel. Lunch was good. We sat inside and not in the beer garden as it was chilly outside.

Our plates were huge! Another mistake. We usually share. Food was good but it's a bit hard to eat a huge burger. Check out the photo. How do you wrap your mouth around that? lol.

And I don't want to use a knife & fork. It's a burger! Lol. Hubbies salt & pepper squid was fresh as! Yuuum.

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LAURIETON KOALA CROSSING

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We saw a lot of these signs in and around Laurieton.

We asked the locals, what is it with all the Koalas crossing here?

They laughed and said it's just a few greenies going a little too far and that they have never seen any Koalas in the area. As if Koalas know to cross at their crossing anyway.

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LAURIETON LOOKOUT

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This place was awesome! And yes, there were a lot of hang gliders jumping from here. Check out the videos below.

As mentioned at the outset, this is now the best lookout that we have been to. Known as North Brother Lookout or Little Brother Mountain Lookout, it is a windy 6 km's on a very narrow road. Half way up they were doing road works on what looked to be a landslide. As usual, you have one working and the rest standing around.

The landing zone is not visible from the lookout and is on private land. Check out this site for more info and a video taken by one of the hand gliders.

Paragliding at Laurieton Lookout

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KENDALL SHOWGROUND

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As February is the hotest month, we were reluctant to free camp as air conditioning is needed. So we are choosing to split up our accommodation between Caravan Parks and Showgrounds. Caravan Parks are very expensive now along the NSW Coast being between $50 and $60 and sometimes more per night, so staying inland a little at Showgrounds is the cheaper option with the cost being between $20 and $30 a night. Much more affordable.

So here we are at Kendall Showgound, a short 15 minutes from Laurieton.

When we arrived, there was a Gymkhana going on for the local Pony Club. The caretaker apologised for the noise. We said, no that is awesome and I walked over to get a few shots.

The facilities here at Kendall Showground are nice and clean and there is a camp kitchen with everything you need. Power & water for $25 per night. Great!

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KEW BIG AXE

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The Big Axe is located at the Kew Information Centre and is a monument dedicated to the Timber Industry. It was built by the Men's Shed which is located where we stayed at Kendall Showground. Men's Sheds are common these days in small towns around Australia. I think this is a very good idea for men's mental health. After all, us ladies have been doing this for years with our ladies days out and get togethers. It's a good thing for men and women to get together separately and enjoy each others company.

The Information Centre was closed. Does not open until 9.30am. You can free camp here overnight and the toilets are nice and clean.

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KENDALL BIG BIRD TREE

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The Big Bird Tree located in Middle Brother National Park are some of the largest Blackbutt Trees in New South Wales.

We dropped the Oysters & King Prawns back at Kendall Showground and picked up Toukie & the bird backpack to take the bird to the Bird Tree. Well Toukie thought it was ok, but enjoyed the rainforest walk better. He whistled all the way.

The round bush walk was about 300m in all and very easy to walk. I totally recommend. Although, bring the insect repellent as the mozzies here are deprived of blood!!!

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