Destination Port Stephens

Samantha here. Port Stephens is home to not only some of the world’s most beautiful beaches but also some of my earliest and favourite childhood holiday memories, having visited not long after we immigrated from Scotland. The white sandy beaches and crystal clear warm water about as far removed from the sea side I’d known back in the UK.

So when the opportunity to promote the area came up a few weeks back I jumped at it, Ben thought it would be fun and came along, staying nearby though he worked so much that he barely left the hotel, however it was nice for us to spend the nights together.

This was my first time working on a shoot and I was lucky to be joined by an experienced team, we were asked to provide our own costumes and make-up to suit and below you can see some of the options I took along.

Fun fact: I had to buy some of these clothes specifically for the shoot as I had barely any after years of travelling with just a back-pack.

The brief: A Three-day shoot to capture images and video for Destination Port Stephens. Joined by the crew and team from DPS there was usually about 10 of us on site each day.

Day 1 was at The Anchorage Resort and Spa, where I was involved in seven different scenes.

Including attending a conferencing, checking into the hotel and spa as well as yoga and a sunset dinner on the lawn

My fellow actors were Angela, Tom and Simon, all had lots of experience and I followed their lead. We had a great vibe and Director Emily and Todd our talented camera man gave excellent easy to follow and clear direction.

Day 2 started nice and early at Murrook Cultural Centre, Smoking Ceremony

The second day started at Murrock Education Centre, quad biking, helmet on and off, walk to bike, get on and off

Fro there we visited Murray’s Brewery, Shoal Bay Convention Centre and finished the day paddle-boarding and kayaking in Shoal Bay.

Our final day started at Nelson Bay Golf Club, somewhere I worked many years ago when I spent a summer living in the area. That was before the fire and refurbishment so it was great to see.

From there it was another outfit change and down to the marina for lunch, then on-board the Moonshadow dolphin cruise where we saw resident dolphins including one known as Nikki, an elderly dolphin along with two calf’s, the youngest one estimated to be only a week old.