Let's go Sandboarding at Port Stephens! 沙丘上单板滑沙

Snowboarding has become a pretty popular sport for the past decade or so. But what about sandboarding? Have you heard of it? Sandboarding is essentially riding a board down a sand dune, and as you can imagine, when the sand dune is massive, sandboarding becomes an exhilarating experience. Last time we went to Port Stephens, we had the chance to visit the Stockton Sand Dunes, where we had our first encounter with sand boarding.

大家对单板滑雪肯定很熟悉了。那么单板滑沙呢？单板滑沙基本上就是在沙丘上坐着一个特制的滑沙板滑下来。可以想像如果沙丘很高的话，还是挺刺激的。我们上次去Port Stephens时就去了Stockton Sand Dunes 尝试了一下单板滑沙。

The Stockton Sand Dunes is the largest sand dunes in the Southern hemisphere, and most of the sand dunes are only accessible by 4WD, or by camels. A lot of different tour operators offer 4WD, Quad Bike, or camel tours to explore the sand dunes. We joined one which was specialised in sandboarding. We gathered at the main carpark at Anna Bay off Birubi Beach to wait for our tour guide. Here, you can already experience the vastness of the sand dunes, with sand stretching to the horizon and beyond. We can also see these triangular pyramidal structure, which apparently was put here as tank deterrents during the second world war to prevent the Japanese army from landing on the beach and driving their tanks down south.

Stockton Dunes 是南半球最大的沙丘群，沙丘群的很多地方只能乘4WD四驱车或骑骆驼才能到达。这里有很多旅行团会带游客坐四驱车，全地形车（Quad Bike）或骆驼到沙丘群里玩，而我们就参加了一个专门滑沙的团。我们在Birubi 海滩旁的停车场等待着导游。在这里已经可以感受到这沙丘群的庞大。一望无际的沙，恍如在沙漠里一般。我们还看到了一排像小型金字塔的东西。这是二战时为了防止日军在这里登陆攻打悉尼，用来拦截坦克的装置。

From here, we boarded a 4WD mini bus which took us to the inner sand dunes for sand boarding. On the way, we could see more of the scenic views of the Stockton Dunes. Unlike in a desert where it is just endless sand and dryness, here, because of its proximity from the ocean, we could often see large ponds and puddles of sea water that found its way in the middle of the sand dunes through creeks and canals. A very interesting landscape indeed.

在这里我们登上了一辆四驱车，带领我们深入沙丘群内。在窗外我们看到了这里的沙丘地貌。因为离海很近，这里和干涸的沙漠不一样，到处都可以看到海水积成的池塘，十分特别。

Eventually, we reached our destination – A large sand dune that was about 20 meters high, smooth bot not too steep. We were given each a black riding board the size of a snowboard, and a quick safety briefing, and off we went to do some sand boarding. We followed the rest of the group walking up the sand dune with our boards. On the top of the dune, we had two options – a gentle slope on our left, and a steep slope on our right. J chose the gentler slope. To sandboard, you put the board down onto the sand, sat on the board with legs slightly bend, pushing on the end of the board, and hands in the sand to stop the board from sliding. Once you are ready, you let your hands go and wait for gravity to do its magic. While you are sliding down, you can control the speed by brushing your hands lightly on the sand to slow down. While the dune might not look very sloppy from the bottom, it is actually quite a thrill riding down these dunes, especially towards the bottom when you are at full speed. I tried the steeper slope and it was just exhilarating, like sliding down a giant, steep slide. It was so much fun!

过了不久，我们到达了我们的目的地:一个大约二十米高，看上去光滑而不太陡的沙丘。导游给了我们一人一个滑沙板，讲解了一下滑沙的要诀，然后就开始了。我们跟着大队爬到上了沙丘。沙丘顶上的左手边是比较缓的滑道，右手边是比较陡的滑道。J选择了左手边。开始滑沙时，滑沙板放地上，整个人坐在板上，双腿弯曲，脚蹭着板，手放在沙子里防止滑板滑动。准备好了才放手，让引力把人和板带下去。滑行时可以用手轻拂沙子去减速。虽然沙丘看上去不陡，可是真正滑下去时还是挺快挺刺激的。我还尝试了右手边的滑道，可以说是非常的惊险有趣。

In between rides down the slope we also took this opportunity to do some shoots with the sand dunes. It is not everyday you get to feel like you are in the middle of the desert you know.

我们在空闲的时间还用沙丘做背景摆拍了几张，毕竟像沙漠一般的景色是十分难得的啊！

The half day sandboarding tour was fun and worth it. We got to see parts of the sand dune en route, and the sandboarding itself was just super fun. So if you are heading to Port Stephens next time, give it a go! You will like it!

这个单板滑沙半天团真的物有所值，不但享受到一路上沙丘群的漂亮景色，而且在沙丘上尽情地滑了一个上午，十分好玩。如果你有机会去Port Stephens 玩，记得抽空试试啊!

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