North Haven & Dunbogan

On Tuesday the 17th November we took our time to get organized to pack up and leave as we were only travelling 6km. When we came through North Haven we were amazed how beautiful the water way was and the beach and so decided we would come back there for a few days. So we had a relaxed morning including a walk and then packed up and left. Five minutes later we arrived at North Haven. I don’t think we have ever had a shorter trip between camps. Check in time at the van park was 11am so we went for a coffee overlooking the river before checking in.

From one Reflections van park to another, we are staying in the North Haven Reflections Caravan Park. Plenty of room here and big sites. We are very close to the beach and the mouth of the river. Had a relaxing afternoon and put a roast on the webber for a great evening meal.

Wednesday morning we chose to take a drive to check out the general area. The North Haven Beach is only 100 metres from the van park. Pretty nice beach but not much of a surf. The surf club has a café which was packed the previous Sunday.

Drove down to the tiny North Haven CBD (the bigger shops are at Laurieton). Linda went looking for some swimmers. I went over to the jetty and took in the beautiful river. There were some good sized fish swimming around the jetty. Must come back and drop a line.

Drove through Laurieton to Dunbogan which is basically on the other side of the river to north Haven and so they run like parallel towns either side of the river. As you go through Dunbogan you have the river right beside you, as you do with North Haven, but it is much closer. The water is such a beautiful colour and so clear. We went onto the beach but returned later in the morning for a coffee. The café which is right on the water was very full and doing a roaring trade so we got a takeaway and went to the nearby park. Just a beautiful waterway.

The small beach at the mouth of the river is bounded by breakwaters so it is very protected and just gorgeous. It is actually called Pilots Beach because the old Pilot Station is right nearby.

We then drove up to the Camden Head car park and took the 800 metre bushwalk to the Pebbly Beach Lookout. It is a beautifully shaded walk through the bush.

Then drove to the Charles Hamey Lookout carpark. The view from the carpark was pretty special.

Then took the walk up to that lookout. Another easy 500 metre one way. Similar view but with more elevation plus a bit more coastline.

Started to head toward Diamond Head and realized it was all National Park. Wasn’t keen to do that right now. Went back to North Haven and visited a fresh pie shop to take care of lunch. Then back to camp. We chilled for a while and then headed out for a swim. We took the short walk to the North Haven Beach but because of the wind it was not that inviting. It would have been good but as we are spoiled for choice we chose to drive back over to Dunbogan to Pilots Beach. It was a good choice, just such a beautiful little beach. There were even dolphins riding waves in the distance at the bar (entrance/exit to the channel). There is a caravan park at Dunbogan and by that stage we had decided that if we had the time again we would go to Dunbogan to stay instead of North Haven. Again that is because we are spoiled for choice in this great state.

Back to camp after a beautiful swim. Had a relaxed afternoon. Chatted to another couple who were leaving in the morning. They were a younger couple from Newcastle who had been on a two week holiday but were due to go back to work. About 75% of people we have met on the trip are from Newcastle. Those Novacastrians love their caravanning. Had a very relaxing night.

Next morning we went down to the jetty at the North Haven boat ramp to try and catch some of those fish I saw the previous day. Not so many of them around this morning. After a while we went further toward the mouth of the channel. It was still an hour or so before high tide and the water was running in like a torrent. I thought I would then give the beach a go. Still no luck there. Then tried the jetty again. There were plenty of decent sized fish there but they must have been mullet because there were no bites whatsoever. Then tried where the river widens a bit and not a bite. A final try back on the breakwater wall and apart from losing whatever patience I had I lost some gear on the rocks. A typical days fishing for me, but I did learn where I should be trying to fish here so I will store that up for next time.

After lunch we headed toward Dunbogan planning on going for a swim at Pilots Beach. On the way we stopped at Laurieton and got some shopping done. Then continued on to the beach. It was very windy and not inviting so gave the idea of a swim a miss. As we were about to leave we saw these four or five guys lifting something heavy and coming from the beach on the south side. It became evident that they were carrying a big turtle. Went over and had a look. This turtle had been beached on the shore here and was not a well turtle. These guys must have been called by someone as they came to rescue it and take it to Taronga Park Zoo. The guy in charge mentioned that there was a lot of algae on its shell which should not be there. Don’t quite know what that means but we wish the turtle well.

At lunch time at the van we met the new neighbours who pulled in after the novacatrians left this morning. Guess what, they were novacastrians. Nice people. So that evening back at camp we had a nice happy hour with two sets of neighbours. This was followed by a BBQ of pork chops and another relaxing night.

Our novacastrian neighbours gave us a tip about the Big Brother Lookout. We did not know about it at all so we must get back into the habit of contacting the tourist information centres. As we found out about the lookout late in the day it was to late to go then so decided to go in the morning before hooking up. That was easy as we only had a half hour drive to the next camp. So next morning after getting mostly ready to leave we drove up Big Brother which was only ten minutes away from our camp. Even though the view was hazy it was truly stunning. In these photos you can see the channel to the ocean at North Haven. You can also see Camden Head where we walked up to the lookouts. To the left of North Haven where you have your hills is Bonny Hills. The beach keeps going on to Lake Cathie and then to Port Macquarie.