Day 11 Monday 22nd July, Having a whale of a time

A short journey today of only 60kms brought us from Cessnock to a beautiful park at Manning Park on the banks of Lake Macquarie.  We decided to stay for 4 nights as we could get a great deal where we pay for 3 nights and get 4 nights! We also decided that it was worth having a lake-front site so we could easily put the kayak in if we wanted to. After setting up I made some lunch to take with us and we headed out to explore some of the nearby beaches. Our first stop was Blacksmiths Beach, a popular surfing beach with a lovely long stretch of sand. We had a stroll along the beach and then drove to Caves Beach where we not only discovered the caves and rock-pools but saw some whales heading north. We stopped at Reids Reserve near Swansea for lunch and then called into the historic Catherine Hill Bay Beach. This is a historical listed town as coal was mined nearby and transported from the jetty/wharf for many years from 1873. Returning back to the caravan park, I felt it was finally warm enough to put the kayak in and so I went for a lovely late afternoon paddle around Manning Point.