Port Macquarie is a large town on the mid-North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, located about 390 km north of Sydney, and 570km south of Brisbane. The town is located on the coast, at the mouth of the Hastings River. The nearest railway town is Wauchope about 19 kilometres to the west. Port Macquarie is an Australian coastal town on the New South Wales coast, approximately 400 km north of Sydney.
Much of the land used to build the town’s shopping centres and other structures in recent years was originally owned by the Roman Catholic Church, who many claim are in large part responsible for the town’s growth and development.
Port Macquarie is a popular retirement location and popular tourist destination, It is known for its extensive beaches and waterways. The town is also known for its koala population, being the home the Billabong Koala Park, and the Koala Preservation Society’s Koala Hospital, caring for koalas injured through bushfire, dog attacks and collisions with vehicles.
In recent times, real estate developments have led to clashes with residents, in particular the Rydges Hotel (formerly Four Points by Sheraton) built opposite the Town Green. The Post Office on the Town Green was demolished to make way for a new apartment block, a development that saw the controversial removal of several large fig trees and subsequent debate in the community about the value of public space.
The residential suburbs stretch to Lighthouse Beach in the south, Thrumster to the west and to the so-called “North Shore” on the north bank of the river. Settlement Point has a new canal development, being one of the most expensive real estate developments in the town. More recently, Sovereign Hills (Area 13) has begun development in the west. It will include new schools, shopping facilities and residential areas.
In the 2006 Census the wider area of the Hastings Valley had a total population of 68,429 up 9.5% from the 2001 Census. In the last two years the Newcastle Jets have played one of their Pre-Season Cup matches at the Port Macquarie Regional Stadium.
Beaches include (in order from north to south): North Shore, Town Beach, Oxley Beach, Rocky Beach, Flynns Beach, Nobbys Beach, Shelly Beach, Miners Beach and Lighthouse Beach. Only Town, Flynns and Lighthouse Beaches are manned by Surf Life Saving Clubs and Lighthouse is only watched at the north end. There is an active surf culture with the beaches being the main tourist attraction.
Qantaslink provides up to 3 flights per day from Kingsford Smith International Airport, on Dash 8 (or similar Turboprop driven) aircraft. The flight to or from Sydney takes between 50 minutes to an hour.
From Brisbane, Brindabella Airlines airlines provide two flight per day on weekdays and one flight per day on weekends, via Coffs Harbour, which takes approximately 2 hours.
Bookins for both can be handled at most Qantas offices or online, and check-in for Brindabella flights is at Qantas desks. During the middle of the year, and out of school holiday times, flights into and out of Port Macquarie are quite easy to get seats on, however, early bookings are highly recommended for flights in school holidays, and especially the summer break.
Flights to other regional or capital cities are not currently available direct from Port Macquarie, however connecting flights are very easy to get in both Sydney and Brisbane.
Both Greyhound and Premier Motor Service run multiple daily bus services to and from Port Macquarie to and from Sydney and Brisbane.
Sydney buses arrive and depart Central Railway Station in Central Sydney, and take approximately 8 hours to travel between Port Macquarie and Sydney. Brisbane buses depart and arrive at the Roma St Transit Centre in Central Brisbane and take approximately 10 hours to cover the distance.
In Port Macquarie, all buses drop off at the Port Macquarie Coach Station on the southern side of the Central Business District (CBD). The main shopping area is located withing easy walking distance from this station, and some hostels, hotels and a caravan park are located within a distance that you could walk if you didn’t have much luggage. If you’d prefer not to walk, the coach station has a public phone to call a taxi, or hotel for pick-up, but most hotel owners and taxi drivers know when the buses arrive, and will be waiting for you anyway.
Port Macquarie does not have a railway station, however located approximately 20 minutes west of Port Macquarie is Wauchope, which is serviced by the North Coast Railway Line. Services to Wauchope originate at Central Station in Sydney and take around 7 hours. Wauchope is serviced by three trains a day from Sydney. One train terminates at Grafton, another at Casino, and one runs through to Brisbane.
CountryLink Rail Services arriving or departing during the day, and early afternoon are connected to Port Macqaurie by bus, which must be booked at the same time as booking your rail ticket. (This bus drops off at Port Macquarie Coach Station).
Services departing or arriving early in the morning or late at night are more of a challenge, as this connection is not availble, and no public transport services Wauchope at this time. In this event, you will be forced to decide between staying in Wauchope (some cheap hotels are located west of the station, and some motor inns are located several Km’s further west as well) or getting a taxi back to Port Macqaurie, which can be extremely expensive. For this reason, arrival by rail at these times is not recommended.
Port Macquarie is located to the east of the Pacific Highway, which is the major north-south highway in NSW. When travelling from the south (Sydney) you will see an exit sign pointing to Wauchope/Walcha/Port Macquarie on the left hand side of the road. Take this exit, and turn RIGHT at the large round-a-bout (called “The Doughnut” by locals) and follow this road (Oxley HWY) into all the way into central Port Macquarie where it terminates.
When travelling from the north you will enter an 80Km/h zone and cross the Hastings River over a bridge signposted as Dennis Bridge. After crossing the bridge, the exit is located immediately to the LEFT. Follow this road (Hastings River Drive) all the way into town.
Note that an alternative route from the south is available which is quite scenic. When travelling from Sydney, turn RIGHT at the set of traffic lights in the small town on the highway called Kew. Follow this road for about 10 minutes until you see a sign pointing LEFT, saying “Port Macquarie”. Follow this road into town. This route takes aboute 45 minutes to get to Port Macquarie, however it is worth it for the scenery including North Brother Mountain, Middle Rock Beach & The Christmas Bell Plains. A tourist information board is located in Kew for you to check this route & confirm it before taking it. You should also avoid taking this road after dark, as it is notorious for wildlife on the road, and numerous accidents have been caused by kangaroos jumping in front of cars.
Port Macquarie is linked by daily air services to both Sydney and Brisbane. Road access is via the Pacific and Oxley Highways. The Pacific Highway lies between Port Macquarie and Wauchope, and is the main road for tourists travelling from coastal areas. Improvements to the Oxley and Pacific Highway has seen steady improvements in travel times between Sydney and the mid-north coast region from 6 hours to just 4 hours.
Unfortunately, Port Macquarie does not have a reliable or useful public transport system which can make getting around difficult. While buses may run to most places, they often run at odd times, and terminate early in the day. The most useful bus route is the Shelly Beach – Town Centre route, which seems to run quite regularly, and is the best way of those without a car getting to the beaches and lighthouse. Other than this, don’t bother with the public transport, it isn’t worth the aggravation.
Fortunately, Port Macquarie has a great many places to walk to from the Town Centre. From here you can quite easily walk to many beaches and some attractions. Because it has such a compact CBD, you won’t have to walk far to get to restaurants, shops and pubs if you stay in town, or nearby.
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