Stockton Beach, Coastal beach in Stockton, New South Wales
Stockton Beach is a long stretch of coast in New South Wales with pale sand and high dunes that run for about 32 kilometers between Newcastle and Port Stephens. The dunes reach over 30 meters (100 feet) in some places and form a rolling landscape that extends from the flat beach into the interior.
Several ships ran aground here over the past centuries, including the sloop Norfolk in 1798 and the cargo vessel MV Sygna, which grounded during a storm in 1974. Parts of these wrecks still lie scattered in the sand and are sometimes uncovered by the shifting dunes.
The Worimi people, who first lived along this coast, called the beach Burrabihngarn and came here to catch fish when schools of mullet passed through. Today you can still see anglers standing at the water's edge, spending their time along the shore much as their predecessors did for generations.
You can reach the beach through access points at Lavis Lane and Anna Bay, with four-wheel drive vehicles needing a permit to drive on certain sections. Most visitors come on foot or park at the edge and walk from there, as the terrain is often soft and uneven.
The dunes move constantly through wind and waves, sometimes uncovering old objects or remains that have been hidden for decades. You occasionally find pieces of shipwrecks or other traces from the past that come back to the surface.
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