Today we made our way to Caves Beach in NSW to explore the sea caves, before heading back to the Central Coast for a family seafood feast.

We woke to another great breakfast from cousin Dan and spoke about our amazing boat trip to Lobster Beach yesterday.

About mid-morning, myself, Hayley, Uncle John, Dan and his son Liam set off in the car to Swansea, NSW.

On the way, I read that our destination is not only a beach, but also a village on the Swansea peninsula between Lake Macquarie and the Pacific Ocean. Around 4,000 people call this place home.

Blue-tongued lizard

The journey up the M1 Pacific Motorway took around 60 minutes, where we once again drove through Swansea, NSW.

Once we arrived at Caves Beach, we parked the car and I immediately spotted what looked like a lizard lurking in the grass.

On closer inspection, John identified this creature as a blue-tongued lizard, another example of Australia’s indigenous wildlife.

As the name suggests these lizards have a very large blue tongue. They mainly feast on beetles and can often be found in backyards across New South Wales.

Coastal walk at Caves Beach, NSW

Leaving the blue-tongued reptile behind us, we strolled along the coastal walk at Caves Beach.

This was emotional as we were going to see the place where Hayley’s Grandmother Rene and Grandfather Bill had their ashes scattered.

Hayley was quite teary with the experience, but it was nice to see that her grandparents were scattered in such a beautiful place.

As Hayley’s Grandmother was born in Swansea, Wales, it was really fitting that her Australian family chose Swansea in NSW to say goodbye to Rene and Bill.

The sea caves

Getting back into the car, John drove us down to visit Caves Beach. It seemed quite a few people had the same idea as the car park was more or less full.

Walking onto the beach, Dan thought it was a great opportunity to see the sea caves on the southern side of the beach.

With my awful balance, I surprisingly managed to stay on my feet as we walked across the rocks to the caves. It is worth noting that these rocks did not trouble Hayley, Dan or his 18-month-old son at all.

It was worth the walk too, the network of caves were so impressive. One cave was so imposing with its large opening facing out onto the Pacific Ocean.

Another cave was so narrow that only one person could walk through at a time. This smaller cave led to another section of the beach.

Tackling the waves at Caves Beach, NSW

With the tide coming in, we made our way back to the sandy section of Caves Beach. Again I kept my balance and did not fall. Hayley could not work out why I was so impressed with this achievement.

We then decided to have a dip in the sea. I could not believe the size of the waves here, so myself and Hayley decided to try and jump into them.

This wave jumping turned out to be quite humorous, we both had a few mouthfuls of saltwater and stumbled a few times. Once we emerged from the water we had attracted quite a bit of seaweed too.

We were really impressed with Caves Beach and could see why it attracted a great deal of sunbathers, swimmers and surfers.

Lunch at Caves Coastal Bar and return to Central Coast

For our lunch we made our way to the nearby Caves Coastal Bar which overlooks the beach.

I opted for a delicious roasted lamb salad with hummus, babaganoush, sun-dried tomato and toasted flatbread. Hayley decided on one of the home-made pizzas.

With food consumed and a cold beer sipped, we made our way back to the Central Coast in John’s car.

A family seafood feast

Once we arrived back in the Central Coast we had a couple of hours to talk and enjoy the company with our Australian family.

We then made our way back to Dan’s house where the family gathered for a sumptuous sea-food feast. Dan and his wife Shari prepared a variety of creatures from the sea including king prawns and oysters from Sydney Rocks.

All the food was sensational. I had never tried oysters before but I was so impressed with them. I also picked up how to properly peel a king prawn.

After the meal, we said our goodbyes to Dan, Shari and their children Ava and Liam and returned to John and Viv’s house.

Here we spent the evening drinking John’s amazing home-brewed beer and talking about family, Australia and life back in Wales.

We had such an amazing time with our family on the Central Coast and wished we had booked extra time in Australia. Life seems so relaxed up here and the coastline and beaches are so magnificent.

Tomorrow we are heading back to Sydney for a day before heading home on Saturday.

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