The village of Karuah, which is on the old Pacific Highway straddles the Karuah River. It includes the largest Aboriginal community in the Port Stephens LGA and, at the 2006 Census, had a population of approximately 857. The rest of the suburb’s population live in the rural properties which surround the village.

The Karuah bridge was built and opened in December 1957. In 2004, the Karuah Bypass was opened which, as part of the  AusLink program, speeds up car and truck travel times past the township.

Colette has a chaletvan in the caravan park where she and Leonie often go for holidays.  To day we went there for the day. After we arrived Earl and I went for a walk to check out the jetty on the River, the boats being Earl’s priority focus.  The tide was out and we were fascinated by the crabs on the mudflats and the few birds that were hanging out there.  We spotted our first Sea Eagle (similar to the South African Fish Eagle) in a distant tree and one also flew over.

The Karuah township has long been known for its oysters and at lunchtime we went to a local outlet and bought 2 dozen cleaned and opened oysters for just $28.  We sat at the riverside and ate them with our picnic lunch. What a stunning spot it was.  A sea eagle flew over with a fish in its bill, a little egret made an appearance but then decided not to stay, we found pelicans around the corner and chatted to friendly people at the next table.  Afterwards we explored the area, went to a local café for coffee where Earl and Colette got into conversation with a local Aboriginal fisherman.  We then returned to ‘The Lighthouse’

I went for a walk to the jetty again and along the boardwalk over the mudflats.   The tide was in and so the scene was quite different from earlier this morning.   A Willie Wagtail entertained me and I managed to get photographs of a peewee and a lorikeet.

It was just the most perfect day.   We saw birds, ate excellent oysters and enjoyed another piece of Australia.  Once again we were blown away by the fact that there were no crowds and that another beautiful spot was just an hour’s drive away.