saloonpassage

Sunday (18th.)
We went to dinner at Peppers Restaurant “Merrits” last night, it was fantastic!! not hugely expensive but very good, the food was great and service was exceptional! Then a long sleep-in this morning, unfortunately, because John told us later that a few dolphins had come into the marina (about 7am) and were only meters away from our boat (again, another photo opportunity missed 😟).

Went into town (a quick taxi ride from here) and had breakfast at a cute little cafe, Gaz managed to end up wearing a cup of coffee in his lap (helping the waitress put the food on the table). After breakfast a quick trip to a menswear shop for a new pair of shorts – cause he looked like he had pee’d himself!!!!! – hahahaha 😄 – was very funny.

Then a relaxing day today wondering around Nelson’s Bay, bought some seafood for a bit of a BBQ on the back deck with Sue, John, Garry and me, think I might have knocked everyone’s socks off with my spicy chilly prawns, everyone going, 😱 whoooo-Hohhot-hot-hot! – but all the prawns got eaten 😀.

At the moment Gaz and I are sitting back looking at the view – wondering what tomorrow will bring.

You really work up a thirst around these parts!

Smooching in the park – ain’t love grand! 😘

Well, it’s now Monday night (19th.) and we’re are still here at Peppers Anchorage! Whilst it’s a wonderful place we are all anxious to go out cruising. A few issue have stopped us from exploring Port Stephens (by boat), the 1st has been the wind, which has gradually got stronger since we arrived, then John and Sue have had a small problem with their boat and need to make a minor repair (a part needed, but not available locally), then on top of that John has had a problem with his knee, which is badly swollen and very painful (but like most men he’s insisted it’s no big deal, saying “it’ll be ok in the morning” etc.) but it does need some medical attention!

Solutions were put into place today:-
* Sue took John off to the doctor this morning, if the treatment works he should start to improve over the next day or 2.
*John hired a car and Garry drove his “limping” mate to Newcastle to order the part for Just Chill’n (John and Sue’s boat). Sue and I did it tough and had to go sit in the resort spa – life’s so tough at Peppers 😉 ha ha!
*The wind should die by Wednesday and other issues should be resolved so hopefully we’ll be out exploring Broughton island by Wednesday or Thursday.

Meantime, here at Peppers 😊 — Gaz and I walked into Nelson’s Bay yesterday, google maps said 4.6k. by road, but, I think the route we took was more like 7k but we had a beaut walk – all along the shoreline.

We picked up a few supplies then a taxi ride back to the boats for an evening BBQ with Sue and John, along with a few drinks.

This morning we were treated to the sight of a couple of dolphins swimming about inside the marina area, sorry folks – I still couldn’t get a great photo but managed a semi decent one, they were wonderful to watch as they gracefully swam around the enclosure for about an hour.

Tuesday (20th.) We had to wait to hear from the the guy from Newcastle about the part needed for Just Chill’n. In the meantime John’s leg was a lot better so we went to have a look at Shoal Bay, mainly to check out the public moorings again as we’d like to stay overnight there in the next day or so, found a nice little restaurant (cheap too) the “Mod Thai” to have lunch, the food was sensational! Then got the call from Newcastle so the boys dropped us off at the resort and they took off for the 2 hour return trip to pick up the part. Sue and I did a few domestic chores, the guys got back, fitted the clamp and all was good. Celebratory dinner on Saloon Passage (any excuse for a celebration 😆).