22 Exciting Things to Do in Port Macquarie, NSW

I grew up holidaying successful Port Macquarie and person fond puerility memories of camping astatine the Breakwall Caravan Park and having endless amusive astatine the beach.

We loved those trips to Port Macquarie – it was a large getaway from our location adjacent Sydney and each members of my household enjoyed visiting clip and clip again due to the fact that determination are endless things to bash successful Port Macquarie.

Pilots Beach

It was truthful breathtaking to revisit Port Macquarie with my ain kids and amusement them places from my ain childhood, arsenic good arsenic research much of the Greater Port Macquarie portion and observe immoderate hidden gems.

Since I was a child, truthful galore much attractions had opened up successful Port Macquarie, up successful the hinterland, and astir the Camden Haven region.

If you’re not definite what to bash successful Port Macquerie, past beryllium definite to cheque retired the beneath unmissable attractions.

1. Catch sunrise astatine Town Beach

It’s worthy getting retired of furniture aboriginal for sunrise successful Port Macquarie.

Several radical suggested the Tacking Point Lighthouse is awesome astatine sunrise, and I’m definite it is.

But I opted for Town Beach and the breakwall arsenic I could locomotion determination from our apartment, and it meant getting up conscionable a wee spot later.

The archetypal sunrise changeable I took was from the formation utilizing a lifeguards operation for immoderate foreground interest, past from the extremity of the iconic breakwall arsenic a section fisherman went astir catching his lunch.

As I was shooting distant galore radical were pulling into the car parkland and heading disconnected by foot. My conjecture is they were starting the fashionable Coastal Walk.

2. Visit Billabong Koala Wildlife Park

We arrived astatine the Billabong Koala Wildlife Park conscionable successful clip to spot “Shrek” the monster croc get fed.

At 4.6 metres long, he’s an intimidating fella erstwhile bare and this is arsenic adjacent arsenic I ever privation to get to a croc.

After spending months travelling astir North Queensland and the Top End of Australia, I’m each for tourists learning astir the behaviour of these dinosaurs and the respect we request to amusement them successful bid to support ourselves safe, and them from becoming extinct.

There’s besides the cuter mentation of Shrek astatine Billabong Zoo that Kalyra and Savannah were blessed to touch.

This parkland is simply a world-renowned breeding centre for koalas and offers the accidental to get up adjacent and idiosyncratic with immoderate of Australia’s favourite wildlife.

You tin ne'er favored excessively galore koalas, conscionable inquire my kids who conscionable privation to cuddle them and bring them home. Especially a babe koala who was snuggling with mum up the gum tree.

Feeding the kangaroos and wallabies is ever a item for the girls, their bedewed mouths nibbling distant astatine the nutrient successful the thenar of your hand. And a fewer if them had small joeys successful their pouches!!

Love the photograph weaponry successful this one!

Not lone is determination Aussie wildlife connected show here, but we enjoyed checking retired the Snow Leopards and Red Pandas, who by the mode were highly progressive playing peek-a-boo with maine arsenic I tried to drawback a pic. I yet got him successful the tree.

Snow Leopard

Whilst there, drawback a wound to devour astatine the Billabong Cafe, which comes with each parent’s imagination – a play country for the kids to support them entertained whilst you bask immoderate down time.

Billabong Koala Park is unfastened each time but Christmas Day.

To larn each astir what’s connected connection sojourn their website.

3. Wander on the Breakwall

I utilized to thrust my motorcycle and food disconnected the iconic breakwall arsenic a kid, and it’s the archetypal happening that comes to caput erstwhile I deliberation of Port.

This time, it was bully to spot my ain kids enjoying a stroll from Town Green to Town Beach checking retired each the brightly painted rocks.

There’s immoderate chill artwork from locals and visitors alike and if you’re fortunate you mightiness spot dolphins playing successful the Hastings River during your walk.

At the Town Beach end, there’s a boogie committee statue claiming Port arsenic the boogie committee superior of Australia, plus a skate parkland and playground.

4. Watch the sunset

We took successful sunset during our locomotion on the breakwall earlier heading to meal successful town.

Other large viewing spots are Town Green adjacent Lady Nelson Wharf, oregon however astir enjoying sunset with a acold portion astatine The Beach House pub which has uninterrupted views of the Hastings River.

Sunsets present tin acceptable the entity alight arsenic they dip beneath the upland connected the banks of the river.

5. Visit Town Green & Lady Nelson Wharf

Lady Nelson Wharf is named aft 1 of the 3 ships that arrived astatine this constituent successful 1821 to found the penal colony of Port Macquarie.

This wharf is simply a fashionable sportfishing spot by day, arsenic is the Town Green area, but we enjoyed the twilight country conscionable aft sunset arsenic the lights came on.

There’s a playground astatine Town Green and plentifulness of writer country to tally astir oregon person a picnic astatine 1 of the picnic areas.

6. Eat astatine The Beach House

The earlier mentioned Beach House is my kinda pub. Prime presumption connected the waterfront, an outdoor brew plot benignant country with a signifier for unrecorded music, bully enactment of brew connected tap, kid affable and a caller paper consisting of American benignant grub.

After chatting with manager Brent and Canadian cook George, I opted for the Philly Cheese Steak – that classical sandwich from Philadelphia successful the US.

And what a feast it was. Tasty and BIG, and I washed it down with a Blonde Ale made locally by the folks astatine Black Duck Brewery.

Caz enjoyed her Blackened Silver Dory Salad, which for seafood lovers we would highly recommend. The kids were kept blessed with their cheeseburger and nuggets.

No wonderment this is simply a fashionable spot for the locals to bent out. It would beryllium my section too.

7. Walk the Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail

This is cool. Dotted astir the Port Macquarie scenery are 50 one-metre gangly hand-painted koala sculptures made of fibreglass.

From the mountains to the sea, they make the Hello Koalas Public Sculpture Trail.

I snapped this chill looking dude successful Town Green.

8. Walk the Port Macquarie Coastal Walk

We didn’t person clip to bash the 9km Coastal Walk connected this trip, but we’ve done a conception of it antecedently and if you’re successful municipality with capable time, I highly urge it arsenic a happening to bash successful Port Macquarie.

Start from Town Beach and caput southbound to Tacking Point Lighthouse.

You’ll travel crossed household affable Flynns Beach and tiny inlets bordered by rocky headlands that pb you to the flatter and wider sands of Shelly Beach, past done the protected Sea Nature reserve and down to the chaotic and unsmooth pounding waves of Lighthouse Beach.

The locomotion is spectacular and peaceful and compared to say, the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk, astir empty.

9. Take the kids to play astatine Livvi’s Place Playgrounds

Looking for a playground your younger kids tin pain disconnected immoderate vigor for fractional an hour?

Livvi’s Place is simply a h2o playground astatine Westport Park with a carousel, h2o play, histrion house, quality play and swings, close connected the Hastings River.

10. Check retired the Wauchope Farmers Market

Every 4th Saturday of each period is the section Wauchope Farmers Market.

Wherever we unrecorded oregon places we sojourn we ever effort and drawback our caller nutrient from the farmers marketplace and enactment the section growers.

We stopped successful present connected our mode retired to our Farm Stay to banal up connected supplies for meal and meal by grabbing immoderate eggs, effect and veg, and wherever there’s a punnet of strawberries connected connection you’ll beryllium definite to find Savannah!

11. Relax astatine Waterman’s Cafe

Whilst successful Wauchope we deed up the fashionable Waterman’s Cafe, which overlooks the parkland and kids playground and has a bully seating country extracurricular successful the sun.

The kids entertained themselves astatine the parkland whilst I downed a chai latte, 1 of the champion I’ve ever had! Win – win.

12. Walk the Wauchope Riverwalk

There’s a beauteous boardwalk on the riverfront successful Wauchope, conscionable a five-minute thrust retired of town.

We took vantage of this peaceful mounting to agelong our legs and locomotion disconnected our luncheon and coffees from Watermans.

13. Visit Old Bottlebutt successful Burrawan State Forest

We’re ever up for a quality way and a locomotion successful the wood truthful the casual 600-metre way successful the Burrawan State Forest adjacent Wauchope was connected our to do list.

There we laid eyes connected the largest Red Bloodwood tree successful the confederate hemisphere, a staggering 52-metres precocious and 16-metres wide astatine its base.

It’s an awesome looking histrion astatine 200 years old. Try wrapping your arms astir this aged fella!

The ‘Old Bottle butt’ is 1 of Port Macquarie’s champion kept secrets and if you’re successful the country travel accidental hi.

14. Take connected the Bago Maze and Winery

The Bago Maze successful Port Macquarie is awesome! The proprietor of Bogo Vineyards, 1 of the champion wineries successful Port Macquarie, is simply a genius for combining a maze with a winery.

Splitting up into pairs, we had a batch of amusive getting mislaid among the lilly-pilly hedge and taking connected the situation of uncovering our mode to the 2 towers cleverly placed successful the maze truthful that you could spot them, but reaching them was different matter.

We crossed implicit bridges, discovered hidden gnomes, and played philharmonic instruments.

Team Caz and Savannah came retired winners, and I indispensable accidental Kalyra kept america successful the hunt arsenic my navigation skills had america walking astir successful circles haha.

Bago Maze is the largest hedge maze successful New South Wales with 2,000 metres of pathways covering 10,000 quadrate metres.

Once you’ve solved it, footwear backmost with a food sheet and a solid of vino nether the pergola astatine Cellar Door, overlooking the jacaranda trees and vale below.

15. Stay astatine Ewetopia Farm Stay

As overmuch arsenic we emotion surviving connected the North coast, escaping to the state and spending immoderate clip connected a moving workplace is thing we each bask arsenic a family.

We met Ian and Jill, the owners of Ewetopia Farm successful Ellenborough earlier successful the time astatine the Wauchope Farmers Market, they’re the region’s apical food makers and merchantability milk, yoghurt, labne, and are renowned for their halloumi.

We checked successful conscionable successful clip for sunset and sat connected our expansive platform perched connected the elevation overlooking the workplace entranceway and vale beneath with our caller neighbours adjacent by, sheep and jersey cows.

Just anterior to our sojourn 7 small lambs entered the satellite which our kids conscionable adored (lambs are calved each twelvemonth during spring) and they came up for pats and followed them astir the workplace similar agelong mislaid friends – is determination thing cuter than this?!

We cooked a bully repast successful our self-contained 3 chamber cottage and enjoyed waking up to the crisp caller aerial of state living, the sounds of workplace animals and the mist lifting to commencement a caller day.

The saltwater excavation with gazebo and BBQ country attached looks inviting for the warmer months, and the summertime is erstwhile they besides beverage their flock of dairy sheep that nutrient feta and halloumi.

The 130-acre farmstay is little than an hours thrust westbound of Port Macquarie and you tin bash arsenic much, oregon arsenic little, arsenic you please.

And don’t ya conscionable emotion the name, Ewetopia?

16. Drive to Camden Haven (via Lorne and Kendall)

Leaving Ellenborough we drove crossed the spectacular hinterland ranges via the towns of Lorne and Kendall before ending up backmost connected the seashore successful Camden Haven.

Depending connected however overmuch clip you have, this scenic thrust offers the accidental to spell bushwalking, birding, and hiking to waterfalls, with Ellenborough Falls and Rawson Falls being the stars of the amusement erstwhile flowing.

We were pushed for clip but enjoyed the thrust to the apical of the hinterland ranges of Comboyne earlier descending to the colony of Kendall, and present we suggest stopping successful for greeting beverage astatine Miss Nellies Cafe.

17. Drive to the apical of North Brother Mountain

It wasn’t the champion upwind and clip of time for photos erstwhile we stopped here, but the thrust up to Laurieton Lookout connected North Brother Mountain provided stunning views implicit Queens Lake and the seaside towns of Laurieton, North Haven and Dunbogan.

Easily 1 of the astir scenic views we’ve seen successful NSW. Would beryllium spectacular connected a wide day!

18. Hunt for waterfalls successful Boorganna Nature Reserve

Just extracurricular Comboyne Village, is Boorganna Nature Reserve. Here you tin spell for a locomotion done the rainforest and travel retired astatine a scenic waterfall, Rawson Falls.

It’s a abbreviated 5km hike that should instrumentality astir 1.5-2.5 hours, but it considered moderately challenging.

Pack plentifulness of h2o and enactment determination whitethorn beryllium leeche connected the trail.

19. Visit Pilots Beach

Again we weren’t visiting astatine the champion clip of twelvemonth for a time astatine the beach, but Pilots Beach is 1 to retrieve for erstwhile we instrumentality again successful the warmer months.

It sits astatine the rima of the Camden Haven River and is known arsenic the astir protected and safest formation successful the region, particularly bully for families with the gentle waves.

It had conscionable stopped raining erstwhile we arrived and the colours that came retired were striking.

20. Check Out The Dunbogan Boatshed

On the cruise, the locals suggested we halt successful astatine the Dunbogan Boatshed for a bully cupful of coffee.

It’s a peaceful mounting connected the stream and present your kids tin provender the affable bream food who bent retired down below.

Ours girls got a footwear retired of it but since it had been raining visibility successful the h2o was rather low.

21. Take the kids to Laurieton United Services Club

We timed our sojourn close to instrumentality vantage of Sunday roast nighttime astatine the Laurieton United Services Club, who’s not up for that?!

We were impressed with the size of this nine and the friendliness of the people, and if you’re determination successful the daytime the views of Camden River would beryllium an added bonus.

Oh, and they’ve thought of the children too, with 2 kiddie play areas successful the bistro and main amusement area. Winning again!

22. Drive The Ocean & Pacific Drive

Overlooking Rainbow Beach

Heading backmost to Port Macquarie from Camden Haven, instrumentality the Ocean Drive and Pacific Drive way on the seashore and cheque retired the region’s champion beaches via Bonnie Hills and Lake Cathie.

For our play getaway successful Port Mazquarie, we had amusive cruising astir successful a caller Jeep supplied by the guys astatine Miedecke Motors.

I’ve ne'er driven a Jeep earlier and would person loved to person taken the doors and extortion off. Next time!

23. Explore Sea Acres Rainforest Centre

For much outdoor adventures, caput to the Sea Acres Rainforest Centre, a visitant centre nestled successful the Sea Acres National Park.

Here you volition statesman your adventures into the 76-hectare rainforest, and wherever you volition find the 1.3-kilometre Sea Acres Rainforest Boardwalk on the seaside rainforest.

The visitant centre is wherever you tin find accusation astir self-guided bush tucker tours, publication find tours, oregon instrumentality portion successful a monthly rainforest mediation session.

It besides has a beauteous acquisition store for picking up souvenirs and a cafe.

24. Lighthouse Beach

So galore of our readers reached retired to america and said we had to sojourn Lighthouse Beach.

It’s a good known whale watching (from June to November) and dolphin spotting hub, positive you tin instrumentality camel rides on the sands.

There are besides waves here, which you tin surf if you person your ain board.

25. Pick your ain effect astatine Ricardoes Tomatoes & Strawberries

We’re immense fans of U-Pick farms, we person a fewer of them astir our location successful Raleigh. They are a amusive enactment for kids and a large mode to thatch them astir wherever their nutrient comes from.

Ricardoes is simply a 10 infinitesimal thrust northbound of Port Macquarie and uses computerised exertion to power its 2 acre greenhouses filled with tomatoes and strawberries.

They power everything from the irrigation strategy to nutrient application, truthful volition find plentifulness of deliciously succulent effect to pick!

Where to enactment successful Port Macquarie

In Port Macquarie, we stayed astatine the centrally located Ki-ea Apartments, which were an casual stroll to Town Beach, the Breakwall and the Town Centre.

We had a self-contained 2 chamber flat and connected tract was a heated excavation and spa, BBQ area, theatre country and complimentary parking. And the rooftop BBQ country has this awesome presumption implicit Port:

In Camden Haven, we stayed astatine the Pelican H2O Apartments successful a 2-bed flat close connected the waterfront of Camden Haven stream with manicured gardens and an abundance of wildlife.

Perfect for families oregon a romanticist escape.

Final thoughts

If you’re a household you’ll emotion Port Macquarie. If not, you’ll emotion it too!

There’s plentifulness to bash for each ages whether you’re looking for that memorable household vacation you crave, a romanticist couples getaway oregon you’re travelling solo.

After roadworthy tripping astir the state for 18 months, I tin confidently accidental that Port Macquarie is up determination with the champion beach-side towns successful Australia. I couldn’t urge it highly capable for immoderate benignant of traveller.

Be warned, though. People person been known to sojourn for a weekend, and stayed for a while!

Tours successful Port Macquarie

More North Coast NSW Travel Tips

Planning connected visiting different parts of the North Coast of New South Wales? Here are immoderate different adjuvant resources:

• Best Things to Do successful Coffs Harbour
• A Stay At The Historic Seal Rocks Lighthouse Cottages, NSW [Review]
• Caravan Parks successful South West Rocks NSW
• Guide To Visiting Yamba NSW: Is this Australia’s champion kept secret?
• The Ultimate Sydney to Brisbane Road Trip Itinerary

Pin To Save It On Pinterest