PORT MACQUARIE

Port Macquarie is a Large and attractive holiday destination on the Mid North Coast. Port Macquarie must be one of the best tourist destinations on the NSW coast. It has everything: a history which dates back to convict times, superb nature reserves in the area, some interesting historical buildings, lovely beaches with good surfing and excellent fishing opportunities, a fine museum, beautiful walking tracks around the headlands and beaches, lots of amusements for the kids; even a koala hospital. And, of course, it has every kind of accommodation imaginable.

Port Macquarie is located 395 km north-east of Sydney and 17 metres above sea-level at the mouth of the Hastings River. With over 42 000 residents, it is the largest town on the NSW coast between Newcastle and Tweed Heads. It is, moreover, a rapidly expanding centre which serves as a regional capital to other resorts of the south such as Camden Haven. Tourism is obviously central to the local economy, although fishing, oyster farming, manufacturing and mineral processing are also important.

In historic terms, Port Macquarie is the most significant town between Newcastle and the Queensland border. Prior to European settlement, the area is thought to have been occupied by the Kattang Aborigines. Captain Cook sailed past this section of the coast in 1770, as did Matthew Flinders in 1802. However, the first to investigate the Hastings River Valley was John Oxley who followed the river during an overland trek from the Tamworth district in 1818. He named the river after the governor-general of India and, when he arrived at its estuary, he named the site Port Macquarie after the governor of NSW, Lachlan Macquarie, who initiated the expedition.

Tourist Information
The Port Macquarie Visitors' Centre is located at the Glass House in Clarence Street

You can contact them for details relating to scuba diving, yachting, boat hire, fishing charters, local fishing locations, sailboarding, windsurfing, houseboats, jet-skis, canoe safaris, scenic and charter aeroplane flights, river cruises, parasailing and skydiving, 4WD and motorcycle tours, hang-gliding, horse riding, golf and eco-tours.

Tacking Point Lighthouse
As Pacific Drive veers westwards; Lighthouse Rd

Tacking Point was named by Matthew Flinders in July 1802. He was presumably tacking up the coastline at the time. The lighthouse is the third-oldest in the country. It was built in 1879 to warn ships of the rocks near the shore and was converted to automatic operation in 1919. Apart from the interest of the lighthouse itself, Tacking Point, with its elevation above the surrounding coastline, offers superb views to both the north and the south.

Walks
There are seven scenic walks outlined on a map available from the visitors' centre. They explore the waterfront from the marina area south to Lighthouse Beach, taking in the break wall, some fine lookouts, spectacular scenery, beautiful beaches, rainforest areas and Tacking Point Lighthouse.

Gaol Point Lookout
Just off Stewart St (near the Lord St corner) is Gaol Point Lookout from whence there are pleasant views over the river mouth, the harbour and Town Beach. It is located on the northern edge of the site whereupon a brick gaol was built by convict labour between 1837 and 1840. Three men and a woman were hung there in 1844 and an Aboriginal man was hung outside the gaol walls in 1848. It was demolished in 1920.

Port Macquarie Observatory
The Observatory is located a little further along Lord St, on the other side of the road. There is a planetarium and telescope. It is open on Wednesday and Sunday evenings from 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. When daylight savings are in operation, the hours are 8.15 p.m. to 10.00 p.m.

Port Macquarie Museum and Courthouse
Head down Clarence St. Between Murray St and Hay St is the Port Macquarie Museum which is housed in a convict-built store erected c.1836 (there were extensions in the 1880s and in 1968 when it became a museum). It contains numerous historical documents and artefacts. In the courtyard are recreations of 19th-century shopfronts. Other features are a Victorian parlour, colonial farm equipment and sugar mill crushing machinery from the mid-19th-century. It is open Monday to Saturday from 9.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. and Sundays from 1.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m., tel: (02) 6583 1108.

St Thomas's Anglican Church
Turn left into Hay St and proceed south for one block to the William St intersection where you will see St Thomas's Anglican Church. Australia's third-oldest remaining church, it is a Georgian structure built by convict labour between 1824 and 1828. The walls are of hand-made brick, one metre thick, and glued with mortar produced by burning oyster shells from Limeburners Creek. The square nails and spikes were forged by female convicts.

Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park
Head west along William St for one block, turn left into Horton St and proceed south to the Gordon St intersection. On the southern side of the roundabout there are rows of weathered tombstones bearing the names of convicts and free settlers the earliest interment dates from 1824. Here now are flower beds, expansive lawns and shady trees which form a part of Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park - a 50-ha site redeveloped to present an area of natural bushland. There are 3 km of walking trails and several bird-watching platforms (the reserve contains some 130 species). The reserve also contains some koalas. Maps are available at most entry points and from the visitors' centre.

Koala Hospital and Port Macquarie Nature Reserve
Roto House is surrounded by Port Macquarie Nature Reserve - a 12-ha section of wet sclerophyll forest which is essentially a treatment and relocation centre for koalas displaced by urban expansion. The focal point is the Koala Hospital which is a short distance from Roto House. The public are not allowed into the hospital itself but when the animals have been treated they are initially placed in the yard where there are two permanent marsupial residents along with other sundry visitors. A good time to visit is during feeding which takes place publicly from 8.00 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. and from 3.00 p.m. to 3.3.0 p.m. daily. There is also an associated shop, tel: (02) 6584 1522.

Flagstaff Maritime Museum
The Maritime Museum focuses on local maritime history and is open from 11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. every day but Sunday. It is located at 6 William St which is appropriately by Flagstaff Hill, named after the signal station and beacon established there in 1821, tel: (02) 6583 1866.

Sea Acres Rainforest Centre
A little further south is the Sea Acres sanctuary. A NSW Tourism Award Winner, this National Parks and Wildlife Service venture preserves 72 hectares of rare coastal lowland rainforest adjacent Shelly Beach and Miners Beach. There are 1.3 kilometres of elevated boardwalk, guided tours, an enviro theatre and ecology display, a rainforest cafe and gift shop. Access is off Pacific Drive. It is open daily from 9.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., tel: (02) 6582 3355.