Upside down map rant

The geography of Port Stephens and the Myall Lakes is complicated enough without this extra impediment. On a map on the waterfront at Tea Gardens they've made the map UPSIDE DOWN!

And to confuse us even more, the other side of the signboard has it the other (ie the correct, north up) way round.

So what's going on? I've been seeing more and more of this recently. I assume the relevant authorities have decided the punters can no longer handle the north at the top convention, and that we need to have the thing oriented for the way we're looking.

I for one don't find this useful at all. Hawks Nest is to the east of Tea Gardens, not to the west. STOP DOING IT PLEASE!

Tea Gardens

We took the ferry from Nelson Bay over to Tea Gardens. It's on the north side of Port Stephens harbour, and it's just across the Myall River from Hawks Nest, famous (among other things, perhaps) as the holiday home of choice for ex-Prime Minister John Howard. It's also the gateway to the complex Myall Lakes system, and the Myall Lakes National Park.

Somewhere in the Myall Lakes, my friend Paul's boat sank recently. I haven't been able to establish what exactly happened, except that "it went down backwards", and it went to the bottom, where it remains, and all aboard were rescued by another boat.

Pelicans are everywhere. They seemingly run the police and the fire brigade!

Camels and pyramids - and it's not the Middle East

It's actually Birubi Beach at Anna Bay in the Port Stephens area, and it's at the northern end of the Stockton Sand Dunes.

The pyramids are World War 2 tank traps, and the camels are rounded-up outback Australian ones, $30 for a sedate 20 minute ride.

It was an unexpected and surreal sight, and we had little idea this is what went on here.

You can do 4WD bus rides too if the mood takes you.

Cudda been Sydney, cudda been Canberra!

We spent the weekend exploring the Port Stephens area, up the coast north of Newcastle.

Captain Cook noted the fine sheltered harbour in 1770, as he sailed up the coast after leaving his recommended settlement site, Botany Bay, which later turned out to be a dud. On the way up he'd also noted Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), which turned out to be the 'best harbour in the world' and which became the actual 1788 settlement. But if he hadn't, then Port Stephens might have become Sydney instead. The harbour is the same size, and geographically as complicated. It's not as deep though.

We enjoyed our visit to the volunteer-staffed marine rescue centre, near the mouth of the harbour.


In the 20th century, when the newly federated Australia was looking for a site for its permanent capital, Port Stephens was one of the contenders. Walter Burley Griffin even drew up plans for a capital city, looking rather Canberra-like of course. It never got built, and one reason I heard for it not being chosen was that it could have been too easy to invade from the sea. (It's also not somewhere between arch rivals Sydney and Melbourne.)

Here's a link to a Newcastle Herald piece showing 'Pindimar City', which could have been the 'New York of Australia', overlaid on Google Maps: http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1412468/topics-pindimar-city-now-figment-of-google/

Below: the marina at Nelson Bay