After our short stay in the Hunter Valley, we departed to Caves Coastal Bar & Bungalows which we had booked  "with Gourmet Grazing Hamper". The accommodations were near Lake Macquarie, Australia's largest coastal saltwater lake covering an area of 110 square kilometres (42.5 sq mi) which is connected to the Tasman Sea by a short channel. Our bungalow oversaw the ocean at Caves Beach, not the actual lake.

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Caves Beach is well known for its namesake - a network of sea caves at the southern end of the beach, which can be explored at low tide.

HEI_6001 HEI_5957 We enjoyed our days at the beach a lot with long beach walks, dinners at local restaurants and in our bungalow.

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I let the drone fly observing surfers from above and spend early morning hours taking pictures of the Galactic Centre.

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We also observed nature, seeing for the first time a Purple Swamphen.

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Here the combined video including surfers.

More images here.