Port Macquarie

New South Wales (Northern NSW)

Port Macquarie

Situated at the mouth of the Hastings River a population explosion in the 1970s turned this once small town which relied on trade and commerce into a major holiday resort and retirement area.

Originally a settlement for convicts banished for crimes committed in NSW much of its early heritage has now disappeared. St Thomas' Church is one reminder of those early days constructed in 1824 entirely by convicts it is one of the first churches built in Australia. By the late 1820s, however, the spread of population meant that this was no longer an isolated outpost, so the penal settlement was closed and the area was opened up to free settlers. The convicts who were still considered incorrigible were sent off to either Moreton Bay in the Brisbane area, or to remote Norfolk Island.

As with many other northern coastal ports, the harbour was unreliable and its approaches difficult, so for more than a century the town failed to live up to its early promise of commercial success. Prosperity and expansion finally came only with the tourism boom, which started in the early 1970s and shows no signs of abating; with a population of about thirty thousand. Port Macquarie is now one of the fastest-growing towns on the north coast of New South Wales, particularly popular with older people from the southern cities who want to spend their retirement years in a sunny place with a moderate climate.

The result is that much of “The Port” has the featureless look of just another Australian suburb; more accurately, you might say it’s a series of suburbs sprawling along the beaches, forever encroaching further on the bush.

Excellent displays of the evolution of the town and surrounding region can be found at the Hastings District Historical Museum and the Sea Acres Rainforest Centre has an outstanding nature display with a boardwalk through the rainforest. The punt across the river to the north of the town takes you to some unspoilt and deserted beaches along the rough gravel road to Crescent Head.

For visitors, in addition to the obvious scenic attractions – long, sandy beaches that start right in town and extend far along the coast, and forests and mountains in the hinterland – there’s also plenty laid on in and around the town itself: amusement parks, mini-zoos, nature parks, cruises on the Hastings River and connecting waterways, horse-riding, and, above all, water sports and fishing.

The town and around

Port Macquarie has a history of destroying reminders of its past. The only surviving remnants are St Thomas’ Church (1824–28) on Hay Street; the courthouse on Clarence Street (Mon–Fri 10am–3pm; free), built in 1869 and refurbished accordingly; the Historical Museum opposite (Mon–Sat 9.30am–4.30pm, Sun 1.30–4.30pm; $4), which has an extensive and well-presented collection of documents and memorabilia dealing with the history of the Hastings River area; and there’s also a Maritime Museum at 6 William St (Mon–Sat 11am–3pm $2) with model ships, nautical paintings and artefacts. The 1890s Pilots Boatshed Museum at Town Wharf (Tues–Sat 10am–2pm; $1) also has a small collection covering the history of maritime and river wrecks. Several river cruises leave from the Fishermen’s Co-op at the beach end of Clarence Street. The river foreshore provides a pleasant place for a peaceful sunset stroll and you can watch the pelican colony begging for tiddlers from the local anglers.

Perhaps the best of the attractions is the Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park, a large bushland reserve remarkably close to the town centre. From the entrance at the corner of Horton and Gordon streets, you step onto trails among casuarinas, mangroves and eucalypts, or sweat through a small patch of rainforest, and it’s amazingly easy to believe that you’re lost in the wilderness of the Australian bush, rather than minutes from the main road. The eastern part of the nature reserve is accessible to wheelchairs, and at the old cemetery near the main entrance a few graves of pioneer settlers have been preserved.

On the ocean-facing side of town, Port Macquarie’s three flagged, patrolled beaches are Town Beach, Flynn’s and Lighthouse. The Sea Acres Rainforest Centre (daily 9am–4.30pm; $8.50, $22 family; free guided walks every 45min), south of the town on Pacific Drive, is impressive, conveying an urgent environmental message about the fast-disappearing coastal rainforest of New South Wales which you can learn about in the ecology display room and enviro-theatre. The centre comprises three different types of rainforest, which can be inspected at close quarters from a boardwalk (again wheelchair-accessible).

Back towards the town centre, on Lord Street, Roto is a fine nineteenth-century homestead, with Australia’s only koala hospital in its grounds (both open daily 9am–5pm; free, donations welcome; check feeding times on tel 02/6584 1522). Run and financed by volunteers, the hospital takes in disease-stricken koalas, as well as road casualties – a sad consequence of Port Macquarie’s suburban sprawl.

If you’ve not had your fill of cuddly animals, the Billabong Koala & Wildlife Park, 233 Oxley Highway (daily 9.30am–4.30pm; $7.50), advertises cute kangaroos that can be hand-fed and koalas that can be patted and embraced. There’s also the Kingfisher Conservation Park, on Kingfisher Road (daily 9am–5pm; $7), home to over four hundred animals, some of which are threatened by extinction. Peppermint Park, corner of Pacific Drive and Ocean Street (Tues–Sun 10am–5pm, daily during school holidays; $11.90 adult or child, $39.80 family), is a typical amusement park, with giant waterslides, a mini-golf course and a roller-skating rink; the admission fee is high, but includes all attractions.

Getting there and around

As a popular resort, Port Macquarie is well served by transport from Sydney, Tamworth and Brisbane, although not all buses make the detour from the Pacific Highway, so check carefully. Buses drop you off outside the tourist information office. Trains stop in Wauchope, 22km west, from where there’s a Countrylink bus connection with Port Macquarie Bus (tel 02/6583 3079). You can also fly into Port Macquarie from Sydney with Eastern Australian (tel 13 1313).

Horton Street is the main downtown street, running north to the Hastings River. The helpful and friendly tourist information office (Mon–Fri 8.30am–5pm, Sat & Sun 9am–4pm; tel 02/6583 1293, accommodation and tour bookings free tel 1800/025 935), on Clarence Street paralleling the river, will also mind your bags free of charge if you’ve time to kill.

The town’s attractions and beaches are far flung, and transport isn’t the best. You can get around town on Port Macquarie Bus Service (tel 02/6583 2161), which has eleven different routes running mainly in the daytime Monday to Friday, with some services on Saturday. Only bus #334 to Wauchope runs daily. Waits are long between buses (often an hour or more), so a timetable – available from the tourist information office – is vital. Otherwise the best option is cycling.

Eating, drinking and nightlife

As you’d expect in a resort of this size, there are plenty of places to eat, and particularly fast-food outlets: not surprisingly, seafood and fish predominate and the local oysters really must be tried. Macquarie Seafoods, centrally located on the corner of Clarence and Short streets, is the best place for takeaway fish and chips. You can also buy fresh fish and seafood from the Fishermen’s Co-op at the end of Clarence Street in the town wharf area and cook it yourself. Scampi’s, at the Marina on Park Street, just west of the town centre (BYO; nightly dinner plus lunch in summer), is one of the most enjoyable of several seafood restaurants. Sassies, in the Shores City Mall on nearby Bay Street (BYO; closed Mon lunch & Sun), is a café-restaurant specializing in innovatively prepared local produce. Toro’s Mexican Cantina at 22 Murray St (tel 02/6583 4340) has build-your-own burritos and tacos in the evenings only, while Spicy Kruthai on the corner of Clarence and Hay streets (tel 02/6583 9043) has reasonably priced Thai seafood and stir-fries.

One above the other at 74 Clarence St on the waterfront, is Crays Seafood Restaurant, a pricey establishment although it does have decent lunchtime deals, and Al Dente Italian (tel 02/6584 1422) open for lunch and dinner offering risottos and seafood chowders. The Port Central Shopping Centre, behind the tourist information office on Clarence Street, has an excellent food court on the second floor; choices include fresh, healthy fare from the Pure and Natural Food Co, and excellent coffee and cakes at The Coffee Club – both open daily. The new Cosmopolitan Caffe, on the corner of Clarence and Short streets is a sidewalk café with an extensive list of flavoured coffees plus lunchtime nachos and sandwiches, while nearby Café 66 at 66 Clarence St (tel 02/6583 7885) has pasta and focaccia at lunchtime and a patio popular with evening diners. For a taste of the tacky, Carz is a car-theme restaurant serving American-inspired food, from burgers to bugtails (free tel 1800/022 088).

The Macquarie Hotel, opposite the tourist information office, on the corner of Clarence and Horton streets, is a good drinking spot with a riverfront location and lots of different bars; bands play here Wednesday and Saturday. The attached nightclub, Lachlan’s, has a pool competition on Wednesday, dance parties on Thursday and Friday, and live bands on Saturday. Other nightclubs are TC’s, on William Street, popular with the 18–25 set; and Down Under, on Short Street next to Coles supermarket, a tiny underground place for the over-thirties.

There are now a few wineries in the area: Cassegrain Winery, on the Hastings River on Fernbank Creek Road off the Pacific Highway south of town (daily 9am–5pm), has a particularly pleasant restaurant on a verandah overlooking the vineyards.

Accommodation

With sixty motels and holiday apartments in town, you’re not going to be hard-pressed to find somewhere to stay; the cheaper, older motels are mostly found on Gordon Street, with the average double going for $50.

Events

Port Maquarie Square Dance Festival in April