Soulgirl

Nelson Bay is a beautiful town to live in. It's not uncommon to see dolphins in the bay as you walk along the pristine sandy white beach. The night life is a bit quiet but we do get popular bands visiting and lots of local and Newcastle talent to entertain us and we have the "Whale" watching season and various festivals throughout the year. There are dog friendly beaches/parks and lots of places to walk for exercise. The ocean is fabulous and extremely clean. There is a marina and a floating restaurant "Moonshadow" and a catamaran called "Imagine" plus many other boats for trips and dolphin and whale watching excursions. Fresh seafood abounds at the Nelson Bay Marina too.
The schools are good quality - government, catholic and a Christian school. There are a few good playgrounds (we could use more!) and while we pay more for our petrol and groceries you can always buy these just out of town at cheaper prices if you need to. The tourist season swells the population, so if you don't like crowds or get cranky when you can't find a parking space or have to put up with drivers who have no schedule and meander around the road then you'll love living here.....we actually like the way that it feels like we're on a holiday all the time and we also enjoy having all the extra people in town as it adds to the atmosphere.
We feel safe living here in Nelson Bay and while we like to visit Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne etc it's always nice to drive back into the Bay where we are happy to be home!