Destination : Nelson Bay
Date : 20th and 21st Feb 2010
After a long duration of tiresome "support" life, there came a day of experiencing hot summer on the beaches of Australia.
Experience Certainty is the punchline of TCS and "Experience Summer" is that of deputes in Australia at this time of year !!!! On Saturday 20th of Feb 2010, 12 member TCS gang started towards Nelsons bay on a two day trip.
[Standing from Left to right - Reena, Venki, Dushyant, Jawahar, Nattu, Bhanu, Kumar, Bala and me. 3 monkeys below - Prasad, Praveen Kumar and Praveen Bhat].
This time hired a elagant 7-seater Mistubishi Pajero and a a 5-seater Mitsubishi Lancer.
Nelson bay is at a distance of 190 Km from Parramatta. It is one of the major beach resort of NSW attracting thousands of aqua lovers. There are lots of aqua events such as Jetski, parasailing, surfing, scuba dive, fishing etc. Also to the south of Nelson Bay, Stockton Beach has the country’s largest coastal dune system, stretching for more than 30 km to the northern outskirts of Newcastle. One can enjoy quad-biking, 4WD and sand boarding here.
After a three hour drive reached our destination "d'albora Marines" where the first activity - thunder rafting was scheduled. It was a exciting ride on a 12-seater speed boat for about 30 mins - hitting and splashing against the strong waves of the sea.
Next we all had a good burning experience on the hot sand dunes. But enjoyed the quad-biking. It was a good one hour drive on the sand dunes along Stockton beach.
At sunset, reached the accommodation we had booked at Fingal Bay. It was a huge 5 bedroom unit which was capable of holding our big gang!!!!
Everyone was so tired after being out under the hot sun for a whole day. When it came to the question of feeding the stomach, everyone decided to go out in search for an INDIAN restaurant. Found one in the heart of CBD - Taj Tandoori.
After having a superb dinner along with beer (for alcohol lovers) and Mango Lassi (for others) all headed towards the beach. I could not understand the reason why all these guys were in a hurry to be on the beach at this time of night, until I captured this :-)
After a short sleep at night, got ready to have a look of sunrise on the eastern coasts of Australia.
Though we could have been in a better place to view the sunrise, the place where we were waiting also provided opportunities for some good photographic moments.
Next event planned was para-sailing. The experience was worth its money being high up in the air enjoying the aerial view of sea and the shore.
Next had a thrilling experience on a JET-SKI. Had taken a risk of driving the YAMAHA water scooter as I don't know swimming !!!. When I said that I don't know swimming, the guy who was managing this activity asked me not to do it if I don't want to be the food for sharks :-). But it was a good experience of driving in the sea at a speed of 70 Km/hr.
Later in the afternoon visited the sand dunes once again in the hope of sand boarding. But no one could withstand the scorching sun and all had to settle for few photographs on the sand and return back to a shady area.
At sunset began on a return journey to Parramatta. On the way visited Hawkesberry River. The drive was amidst one of the thick vegetation of Australia - The Dharug National Park.
Reached Parramatta at about 10 PM on 21st. And a two day trip filled with fun and excitement rejuvenated our minds to take the workload back at office.
