Chef Rick Stein followers, seafood lovers, and people in search of the right weekend seashore getaway, it is time to pack your luggage.
Two and a half hours north of Sydney, on Australia’s east coast, is the gorgeous seaside vacation spot of Port Stephens – over 30km of white, sandy seashores, pristine waters, incredible nationwide parks, gorgeous sand dunes, coastal promenades and small cities, all wrapped up terribly informal way of life. 26 stunning seashores and a powerful bay, this space is a paradise with blue water. World-class browsing holidays, diving with grey nurse sharks, swimming with wild dolphins, snorkeling in quiet coves, sightseeing cruises, stress-free jet boat rides and ATV excursions – Port Stephens is family-friendly enjoyable. However for many who wish to do completely nothing on vacation and do it in type, then Bannisters Port Stephens is the right vacation spot!
Port Stephens isn’t a metropolis per se, however a group of relaxed coastal neighborhoods, every providing one thing slightly totally different, together with Nelson Bay, Anna Bay, Shoal Bay, Fingal Bay and my private favourite, Troopers Level, a picturesque peninsula and sleepy bay village on the southern shores Port Stephens,
In 1826 a small garrison of troopers was established at Friendship Level to seize escaped convicts. The garrison was later deserted and Friendship Level was renamed Troopers Level. It’s now often known as the perfect sundown spot in Port Stephens, with stunning waterways, protected swimming seashores and an award-winning marina that pulls yachts from everywhere in the world.
Household holidays at Troopers Level started once I was very younger. Crammed into the again of the automotive, with my youthful sister and two very bushy spaniels, it appeared like an countless journey and I’d inevitably get carsick someplace alongside the best way. My sister and I’d combat over the armrest, and our mother and father would yell at us to cease preventing. We had been scorching and sticky, we had been drained and irritable. These are the issues that childhood recollections are product of!
However after we arrived, all that was forgotten instantly, overwhelmed by the thrill of vacationing in our favourite place! We might spend the summer season in an outdated picket home, with a wrap-around verandah, in true outdated Australian colonial type. We had been drawing straws as to who would get the privilege of sleeping exterior within the tiny a part of the veranda that served as an additional bed room. The entrance steps from the home led straight to the seashore, and we’d disappear on the sand for hours, solely returning when it obtained darkish. Parental supervision was minimal, this was a long time earlier than ‘helicopter parenting’ existed. We shaped ‘gangs’ with different kids on the seashore and spent hours collectively in search of shells and in search of rock swimming pools. On a Saturday afternoon we obtained 20 cents to spend on the native retailer and would spend an age deciding which sweets to spend the cash on, turning up hours later with slightly paper bag of our ‘blended lollipops’. There was at all times a film on the neighborhood heart on Saturday nights and nearly the entire city would present as much as see it, it doesn’t matter what was exhibiting. We watched pelicans fishing with their massive beaks and discovered to catch fish ourselves. We hand-fed the colourful rainbow lorikeets that landed on the porch each time somebody went exterior. We swam and constructed sand castles, embellished with shells, seaweed and driftwood. The household barbecue was an nearly each day ritual and somebody, often me, would inevitably lose a sausage to a wily kookaburra that swooped in simply because the sausage was on its option to my mouth! These had been a few of my happiest days. However I grew up, moved away, moved on, moved abroad and left these summers at Troopers Level behind.
Now, 40 years later, I used to be returning. Having lived in Zambia for over 30 years, I’d return to Australia on certainly one of my uncommon visits to see my mother and father. Time was quick, however I used to be decided to revisit the Troopers Level of my childhood. I jumped within the automotive and headed up the street, then down reminiscence lane.
The outdated winding freeway that made automobiles battle was gone, changed by a three-lane expressway speeding me, quicker than I used to be prepared for. I missed a flip and spent a while ‘trying round’ on the streets of Newcastle, earlier than a sort passer-by put me again on observe. Strolling into Troopers Level, I used to be pleasantly shocked to see that some issues hadn’t modified. Some issues had been unrecognizable although. The neighborhood heart was nonetheless standing, though there appeared to be no promoting for Saturday evening motion pictures. There have been no extra sweet retailers on the nook. The pier the place I had discovered to fish was nonetheless intact, however the home with the wraparound porch was gone. What was additionally the identical however totally different was the outdated Salamander. A as soon as run-down sixties motel, Salamander Shores by no means regarded so good in my youth. Nevertheless it wasn’t Salamander anymore. Remodeled, many tens of millions of {dollars} later, into an expensive four-star foodie retreat, Bannisters effortlessly captures the coastal allure of Port Stephens, completely packaged in a contemporary resort, and it is the place I will be spending my weekend.
Bannisters Port Stephens opened in late 2018. That is the second location for the Bannisters group, which started in 2002 when media entrepreneur Peter Cosgrove renovated a Seventies motel in Mollymook, a small coastal city three hours south of Sydney. However Bannisters by the Sea by no means got here to life till Cosgrove welcomed Rick Stein, who opened his first restaurant exterior the UK right here in 2009. Rick Stein’s in Mollymook has since grow to be an extremely widespread restaurant with Sydneysiders, Canberrans and worldwide guests all desirous to take pleasure in superb seafood and absorbing the sluggish life on the south coast.
Beginning his profession in 1975 at The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall UK, Rick Stein has made a profession out of touring the world and discovering a few of its tastiest areas. He has written greater than 20 cookbooks, produced greater than 30 cooking reveals, and is now one of many world’s most revered cooks, with a status for serving solely the best fish and shellfish – unbelievable seafood merely ready. After the success of Mollymook and a need to develop their operations in Australia, Rick, his spouse Sarah and Peter Cosgrove turned to Bannisters Port Stephens.
Perched on a cliff, the resort is grand in measurement however boutique in vibe. A glowing makeover imbued with design parts similar to floor-to-ceiling glass, protected whites and ethereal blue tones, picket particulars and loads of greenery; one way or the other respiratory new life into the house whereas retaining the character of Salamander’s former days. Canine and kids are welcome, and there are even pet-friendly rooms. The workers is tremendous pleasant and one way or the other has a knack for reaching good service with out the drama. The infinity pool appears to be like down on the identical public pier the place I as soon as discovered to fish and the place affected person fathers and excited kids nonetheless cling fishing strains. The resort has 80 rooms, together with 4 luxurious suites and a penthouse, all of which have a view of the ocean or the bushes. There are just a few totally different choices relating to eating – a cavernous downstairs bar referred to as Cheeky Canine, good for pizza, pool and big-screen sports activities, and Julio’s Mexican Cantina, with bay views, Mexican meals and margaritas. However the perfect by far, indisputably, is Rick Stein’s, a superb eating restaurant with a relaxed, vacation ambiance.
When superstar chef Rick Stein takes the helm, you already know you are in good fingers, added revolutionary govt chef Mitchell Turner, whose ardour for cooking started at an early age, and the ensuing menu shines a light-weight on the area’s best seafood. The standard of the native seafood and the proximity to the Hunter Valley and its wines made Stein the place to be for a restaurant. King prawns, sand prawns, snapper and blue trevally star, whereas Sydney oysters come from native farmers simply 600 meters away. You may’t get extra native than that.
Port Stephens is residence to among the greatest seafood on the east coast of Australia and the menu displays this. It begins with a number of recent seafood – assume grilled scallops and freshly shucked oysters. Adopted by an appetizer of native yellowfin tuna sashimi or maybe native lobster and dirt crab linguine. For the principle course I selected a tremendous native Sri Lankan swordfish curry, whereas my son determined to forego the seafood and go for the Tasmanian wagyu sirloin. Desserts are decadently wealthy, and mine is divine chocolate fondant. No matter you select, the elements are freshly caught or procured and fantastically ready, and mixed with an intensive wine listing that enhances every dish, you actually cannot go flawed.
Early the subsequent morning, the rising solar illuminates the gum bushes and glistens on the water within the calm, clear bay that stretches towards the distant headlands of Yaccaba and Tomaree. A pre-breakfast stroll to the pier and alongside the seashore could not be extra good than this. Port Stephens is a magical coastal vacation spot, the place you possibly can change off, immerse your self within the pure atmosphere and take a break from on a regular basis life.
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