Send flowers to Nelson Bay and the Tomaree Peninsula

Nelson Bay sits at the tip of the Tomaree Peninsula, where Port Stephens opens to the sea beneath Tomaree Head. The town itself had 6,141 residents at the 2021 census, but it is the shopping and medical centre for a string of bayside suburbs and for the 75,276 people of the Port Stephens council area, and in summer and on long weekends the population multiplies with holidaymakers. It is 60 kilometres north-east of Newcastle and 207 kilometres from Sydney, close enough that many of the flowers sent here come from children and grandchildren down the motorway. We pass your order to a florist serving Port Stephens, who makes it up fresh and delivers it to the door.

Which bayside suburbs we deliver to

Delivery covers Nelson Bay and its neighbours along the bay: Shoal Bay and Fingal Bay to the east, Corlette, Salamander Bay and Soldiers Point to the west, and Anna Bay, Boat Harbour and One Mile on the ocean side of the peninsula. Taylors Beach, Salt Ash and Bobs Farm along Nelson Bay Road are covered, as are Lemon Tree Passage, Tanilba Bay and Mallabula on the Tilligerry side, Medowie and Williamtown, though the further from Nelson Bay the later in the run the delivery may be. Many recipients here live in retirement villages, over-55 communities and holiday apartment blocks with a locked foyer, so add the unit or villa number and a mobile number; for a holiday rental, say which days the person is there.

Same-day cut-off and the summer clock

Same-day delivery runs Monday to Saturday when the order is in before 2pm on a weekday or 10am on a Saturday, Nelson Bay time. There is no Sunday delivery. New South Wales uses daylight saving from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April, which matters if you are ordering from Queensland: in those months Brisbane is an hour behind, so the 2pm Nelson Bay cut-off is 1pm Brisbane time and the Saturday 10am cut-off is 9am. From Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart the clocks move together, so the cut-off is 2pm all year, and from Adelaide 1.30pm. From Perth it is noon in winter and 11am in summer; from Darwin 12.30pm in winter and 11.30am in summer. Orders after the deadline are delivered the next working day.

Get-well flowers to Tomaree Hospital

Tomaree Hospital is at 2 Trevally Street, Nelson Bay, a small public hospital with an emergency department, aged-care beds and outpatient clinics. Ring the ward before you order, because intensive care and some wards take no fresh flowers, and give the patient's full name and the ward. Anyone needing surgery or specialist care is usually transferred to Newcastle, so check where the person actually is before the flowers go out; if they have been moved, the family home is the reliable address.

Whale season, holidays and the busiest flower days

Humpback whales pass Tomaree Head between May and November, and the summit walk, 161 metres above the entrance to Port Stephens, is the local lookout; the whale months and the school holidays are when Nelson Bay is fullest and florists busiest. Mother's Day, the second Sunday in May, is 9 May 2027: flowers go out on Saturday 8 May because there is no Sunday run, with a 10am cut-off, and it is the biggest flower day of the year in a town with so many grandmothers. Father's Day is 5 September 2027. Valentine's Day, 14 February, is warm and humid on the coast, so have roses delivered where they can be put in water at once. On Anzac Day, 25 April, Port Stephens turns out for dawn services with rosemary on the lapel and wreaths at the memorials, not bouquets.

Coastal seasons and the New South Wales waratah

Nelson Bay has a mild, maritime climate: January days average 27.3 degrees, July nights 9 degrees, and 1,349 millimetres of rain falls in a year, so there is no real off-season for flowers. Spring brings the waratah, the state's floral emblem, which flowers from August in the north of its range to November and lasts 10 to 14 days in a vase, along with stock, sweet pea, poppies and ranunculus. Summer is roses, lilies, gerberas, sunflowers and carnations; autumn means dahlias and chrysanthemums; winter is the season for natives such as proteas, banksia and leucadendron, plus poppies, iris and daffodils. A seasonal bouquet gives the florist freedom to pick the freshest stems that morning.

Cemeteries on the peninsula and flowers for a loss

Port Stephens Council runs the two cemeteries on the peninsula, Anna Bay Lawn Cemetery and Nelson Bay Cemetery, also known as Carumbah Memorial Gardens. Casket sprays, wreaths and sheaves for a service are ordered through the funeral director or a florist two to three days ahead; delivery to the service itself is never guaranteed, so give the family's home as a second address. For a cremation in Newcastle, the family home is again the reliable address. A sympathy bouquet to the house can be sent at once or in the quieter weeks that follow.

Prices, delivery fee and card

Hand-tied bouquets start at AUD 75. The delivery fee for the suburb is added at checkout, and a card carrying your message is included with every order.

Did you know? Did you know? Humpback whales pass Tomaree Head, 161 metres above the entrance to Port Stephens, between May and November each year.