For weeks now John and I had been talking about just getting out of Sydney for a couple of days. We have had a lot going on the past 8 months and it was like we just needed to stop have a break and breathe. So the week before I did a bit of looking around to see what accommodation I can book at the last minute.

At first we were looking at the Blue Mountains, but I don’t work with cold weather very well so it was decided we would head up the coast to Port Stephens/Nelson Bay.

Its about a 3 hour drive from where we are, so I finished work at midday and we planned on heading up the coast just after that. The weather was crazy all morning with really strong winds and rain, that scary type of weather, where I was not looking forward to being on the road. Luckily by lunch time the rain and wind had eased.

I went home quickly and packed the rest of the things we needed, I wasn’t feeling the best either been trying to shrug off a virus. By the time we left Sydney is was about 3:00 pm, stopped on the way to grab some lunch before we left.

The drive wasn’t too bad and traffic was pretty good. We arrived around 6:00pm to the Oaks Pacific Resort , went to reception to check in and get our room key.

Wow what a resort, every room is looking over the massive Lagoon pool, this pool goes around the whole resort like a moat, unbelievable

Really bright and airy room we even had a corner spa in the Bathroom. By the time we unpacked we were both exhausted from the drive, and decided to check out the resort restaurant for dinner.

The food was nice not a massive selection to choose from but covers steak, fish and chicken, and they have a buffet salad and desert bar to choose from. Neither of us were that hungry so we ate what we could and then went for a walk over to the Salamander Bay Shopping Centre to get some juice and fruit for breakfast. We of course we got sidetracked and ended up going for a walk for a couple of hours checking what was around the area.

On the Saturday we decided to venture out on a walk to explore the resort. Not only did they have a massive lagoon pool they also had a day spa and a gym as well as the restaurant and bar. The Reception area is 24 hours so always someone there to help out!

On the Saturday afternoon we went for a walk down to Salamander Bay, it was about a 15 min walk from the resort. Was a really nice peaceful walk but freezing. The views were amazing across the bay!

We made the trip to Nelsons Bay on the Saturday night to go out for dinner, we ended up choosing Wests mainly cause I had no idea what I wanted to eat and they had a variety of choices to choose from. The place was packed with people and once we decided to go to the Bistro, John went and ordered our dinners. I went with a Lamb Roast, which was good just a little dry.  After we ate we headed home and spent the evening relaxing watching TV.

Sunday we packed up our things and checked out of the resort, and went for a drive down to Soldiers Point to have a look.

We then hit the road back to Sydney, the drive home was good, no traffic and the weather was really nice (still cold).

Have you visited Salamander Bay, what is your favourite place to go away too for a weekend getaway? Let us know in the comments below?