Hostel with a natural sanctuary setting. Owners Mike and Michelle were very friendly and they briefed us on Port Stephens and the activities that we could do before checking us in.

The place was utterly clean and quiet, and I'm a sucker for wild animals. We often saw wild furry creatures crawling and birds flying (or talking) to us while we were showering. Definitely a unique experience. From what I know, Mike and Michelle also do animal rescue and that's how they adopted the baby kangaroo, Josephine. And there are also wild koalas perched sleepily on Melaleuca trees.

As we were from Singapore, we were quite uncomfortable when we came to know that we cannot lock our doors. It was only a sliding door. Michelle assured us that there has not been any theft committed in their hostel before. For the first night, all of us had to deal with the fear of people opening our doors. Throughout the 2 nights stay, it was all peaceful and one of the best Australia's experiences.

The houses were built with logs and wooden planks. Very sturdy and there wasn't much shrieking sounds coming from the planks. Surprisingly, it was very cosy and only 1 small heater was required. Quilts were sufficient to keep us warm thru the night.

Kitchen was very clean with all the necessary cooking items and utensils required.

Night time at the sanctuary was a little dark for me as the place was only lit by orange bulbs. I have a bit of phobia for darkness so I always kept a touch light with me. But for those who have been though National Service especially guys, would not find it a problem at all.

It was a very unique experience for city-dwellers like me who has seemed to lose touch with nature. I loved this place and hope to return again.

Thats what I can say about the people at Melaleuca, I was with a group of friend and was only able to stay just 1 night, definently not enough time to explore all what is on offer in the area.
The accommodation at Melaleuca was well worth the money, situated in beautiful surroundings and only a 5min walk to the beach.Will definently be back for a much longer time..soon I hope.

AMBIANCE: Backpackers/camp sites set amongst bush, with delightful raised wooden pathways between buildings. Tame, resident kangaroo. Lots of birds and crickets and possums. Lovely. //STAFF: Friendly managers. //OVERCROWDING: It felt overcrowded when we were there - difficult to find a car park, had to wait to use single female shower in our block, tiny lounge always packed, noisey at night (past midnight every night), hard to find an available table at dinner time: we ate outside on the covered deck, next to chain smokers. However there were always sufficient kitchen implements, cook tops etc //HYGEINE: Cleanliness of communal toilets, showers & kitchens left alot to be desired, probably because of the number of people. Shower often muddy, sinks scummy, bad smell from sanitary disposal system drifted to our room! Two sinks in kitchen blocked on one night. Stench of rotting food came from over-crowded communal fridge, which barely kept food chilled. // NO FRILLS: Pretty sparse facilities - eg only 1 female toilet in our block, no soap at toilet sinks so we noticed that many hands didn't get washed, no power point for hair dryer in ladies toilet (never mind actual dryers), no chairs inside cabins...// ROOMS: Deluxe Tents came with double air mattress (pretty comfortable), bedding, outside table & chairs and lantern. $70 per night. We were very comfortable there.// Cabin came with bedding, fridge/freezer (useful as main kitchen fridge was full), fan, light, power points (great for charging phones etc), deck with table & chairs and two bunks - one with a double bed on the bottom. Hubby smacked his head on the top bunk several times and it was claustrophobic. As there was a bunk on top, you couldn't sit up in bed to read. Lighting in the room was too dim to do so anyway. There was lots of empty space in the room - the single bed/top bunk would have been better off placed separately. AU$100 a night. // LOCATION: Beautiful grounds, 5 min walk across road & down lane to a patrolled surf beach. Nice. A bit isolated from amenities though. Without a car I'm not sure how we would have gotten to the supermarket on the first night. Apparently there were push bikes for use // PORT STEPHENS: Recommend this area to the max. It was gorgeous and there were many many things to do! My highlight - we took a little boat out for a few hours and wild dolphins swam around us. Main beach/shop areas were crowded with tourists and restaurants very very pricey, so it was good that we could buy and cook our own food - a real benefit of staying in a backpackers. Had a lovely holiday and overall were happy with our picturesque choice of accom. If it had been less busy the same problems may not have been encountered.

I've covered the length and breadth of Australia both as a backpacker and now as a occasional holidaymaker, and this place takes the gold medal for this type of accommodation.

Superb facilities, superb staff and superb surroundings. Didn't meet all 4 owners, but Mick and Michelle are truly the nicest, warmest hosts who are there if you need them, but not in the slightest over-bearing. Lots of respect too for Michelle for the awesome work she does with injured and displaced native wildlife. Only chatted with her briefly on a couple of occasions, but suffice to say the wild animals of Port Stephens have their very own Florence Nightingale on hand, should they ever need her.

Josie the resident kangaroo is gorgeous, and keep an eye out for the wild koalas who live in and all around the grounds - especially the big fella who say by my tent in the moonlight on my last night there, grunting like a beast possessed!

Oh, and it really is just a 5 minute walk from One Mile Beach, and you've got some of the finest other beaches in NSW within 15 minutes in various directions, including the amazing vistas of Stockton Beach to the south and the lovely Shoal Bay to the north.

Go here.

PS - Blokes, watch out for the baby possums who spy on you from the rafters when you're in the shower. Perverts.