The Central Coast of New South Wales is an hour drive north of Sydney. Here you can enjoy an alluring mix of bays, inlets and lakes, and golden and white sandy beaches. Delightful villages on the Central Coast, such as Pearl Beach, Avoca and Terrigal, offer a range of activities in a very laid back setting. Swimming, fishing surfing are always popular. A must visit is Bouddi National Park, located near the town of Gosford. You’ll find walks for all fitness levels, as well as opportunities for camping, swimming and fishing. The park is home to countless attractions, including significant Aboriginal sites.

I went on a magical morning walk through the park with a guide from Girri Girra Aboriginal Experiences. The tour began with an aboriginal creation story. From there, I was guided through the park to significant indigenous sites. It was a pretty special and humbling experience viewing rock carvings, thought to be several hundred years old, hearing ancient stories and participating in a smoking ceremony to ‘protect and cleanse the mind and body rock carvings.’ Among other things to do on the Central Coast is a visit to The Australian Reptile Park, located at Somersby. It’s home to the massive saltwater crocodile Elvis, a grumpy five-metre saltwater crocodile who made international headlines in 2011 for trying to eat a lawnmower. He’s also useless on the dating scene after eating two of his girlfriends. You can meet and feed Hugo, a Galapagos tortoise thought to be 64 years of age. The park is beautiful and the animals here look well looked after. You can tell the live the good life. A highlight was seeing a handful of American Alligators in the lagoon and hearing them bellow and roar at one another. Their bellow is pretty loud and throaty, and can be heard across the park. I also got up close with other native Australian wildlife including kangaroos, koalas, and the scary and hypoactive Tasmanian devils.