| Surrounded
by forest, the pretty little village of WAUCHOPE (pronounced
War-hope), 22km west of Port Macquarie,
makes an enjoyable contrast to the coast. Through working exhibits, the
open-air museum of Timbertown, 3km from the village (daily
9.30am–3.30pm; $16), depicts life as it must have been in the isolated
timber settlements 150 years ago. Timber logs are pulled over muddy roads
to saw-pits, where they are cut and shaped, the bakery bakes and sells
bread fresh from the oven, and many other aspects of Victorian life are
re-enacted. North of Wauchope, the Wilson River Rainforest Reserve’s
picnic grounds are a popular destination for day-trips from Port
Macquarie. Another feature of Wauchope is the large separatist lesbian
community that lives in the vicinity – something strangely absent from
the tourist literature. |
|
| Basic
pub accommodation and counter meals can be had at the Hastings
Hotel, on the corner of High and Cameron streets. The delightful Mount
Seaview Resort, on the Oxley Highway towards Tamworth, a cattle
station on the Hastings River, offers farmstays and campsites as well as
rooms; there’s a bar, restaurant and tennis court, and the resort
organizes very popular cross-country horse-riding (available also for
non-guests; 9am daily; $15 per hour) and 4WD tours. You can also swim in
the river here. They will pick up guests from Wauchope train station or
Port Macquarie airport.
You can get to Wauchope daily on Steinhardt’s
Port Macquarie Bus Service (tel 02/6583 2161); on weekdays the 9.20am
service goes directly to Timbertown, returning at 2.30pm (around $5). |