We have spent a week in Port Macquarie, its a lovely town and well worth visiting. We spent a couple of days exploring the history of the place.

We spent Tuesday in the town centre visited. 
Wesleyan Chapel, the old Courthouse

and while I wandered thru the Museum Fred went for a walk and looked at the water and found people to chat to. 

Stopped for a coffee in the shopping centre before going on to St Thomas’s Church

which was built by convict labor, the church was really lovely and quite unusual in that the pews are all fenced in little areas where the worshipers can’t see each other, it was built this way so that the hierarchy couldn’t see or be seen by the convicts.

They even allowed people to climb up into the belltower where we had a really great view of the whole of Port Macquarie.

I had to fight my inner devil not to pull on the ropes and ring the bell.
I have been really impressed by the enthusiasm and friendliness of all the volunteers everywhere we went.

Tuesday 

This morning we explored the Old Town Cemetery

and did the nature walk around Kooloonbung Creek and Nature Reserve. The walk was 5km thru bushland around the creeks.

It was a combination of boardwalks and well formed track.

Then drove out and had a look at Settlement Point then onward to the Old Hibbard Boatyard where enthusiast are restoring old wooden boats

and a bit of nostalgia taking us back to Tumbulgum when we used to cross the river by ferry as we watched a small ferry taking cars across the river.

 

Wednesday

Today we went to Tacking Point Lighthouse saw a few Whales and a pod of Dolphins.

Next stop was SeaAcres Nature Reserve we didn’t bother doing the Forest boardwalk at $7 per person we figured we have walked thru enough wetland tracks for free and seen similar flora and fauna. 
From there we went to Nobby’s Obelisk which was a really nice walking track to a memorial Obelisk out on Nobby’s Point and great views of the coastline.

On to Macquarie Nature Reserve where we had a look thru Roto House which is a restored homestead of one of Port Macquarie’s early settlers.

The reserve is also home to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital which you can walk around and look at the facility and any koala’s they have in residence.

Also had a very pleasant picnic lunch here.

Then went to Lilypond Reserve to do another walk this one was a bit disappointing only took 5 minutes as it was a small park, sounded much bigger in the brochure.

From there to Flagstaff Hill and a walk out to the point.

ScottsHead

Hi All
We are back on the road for a few weeks so will restart my travel blog
Our first stop was Scotts Head, what a gorgeous place to spend a week. Not a lot to do tourist wise but perfect for rest and relaxation.

 
 Lots of walks along the beach and on the tracks around the headlands. We watched Dolphins play everyday and most importantly for Fred he caught a couple of meals of fish.

We did go out scenic driving one day, it didn't go quite according to plan. We left Scotts Head intending to go via back roads thru the forrest and lookouts in Ingalba and Collambitti State Forests but my navigation skills (or lack of) let us down and we got hopelessly lost so back tracked to the highway and went to Taylors Arm on the tarred road from Macksville to have a look at the 

"Pub with No Beer" and surprise surprise they sold beer.

 We had a lovely lunch and nice chat with a couple of old locals propping up the bar. On the drive home stopped and picked a bag of bush lemons as there were trees loaded with fruit all along the road.

Hat Head

We spent a really enjoyable week at Hat Head which is a small seaside village on the edge of the Hat Head National Park. There's not a lot there other than a handful of houses, caravan park, bowling club and a small shop/post office.
There is a river that runs out into the ocean and it is excellent area for swimming, surfing, fishing, boating and snorkelling.

foot bridge across river at low tide

the surf beach

foot bridge at high tide

a just because I like the reflections

While we were a Hat Head we went for a drive to South West Rocks to have a look at Smoky Cape Lighthouse and Trial Bay Gaol which were both interesting and worth the drive.

The Lighthouse

The Gaol

more gaol

and more gaol

Forster/Tuncurry

We spent a week in Forster/Tuncurry not overly sure weather or not to recommend staying here.
The town itself was quite busy, reminded me a little of a small Gold Coast without the hustle and bustle. A confusing description I know but the best I can come up with. The ocean and lakes were stunning but not a lot to explore as far as bush walks etc go.
The van park we stayed at had a lovely bush area at the back with a boat ramp and a walking track around the edge of the lake.

On Wednesday we had a day of scenic touring today, drove down to Seal Rocks and the Myall Lakes National Park. As per usual we had trouble reading maps and signs so had a extra drive which took us to a track down on to the beach. Retraced our tracks and went the right way to the Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse Carpark. 

Had a steep uphill climb to the lighthouse but well worth the effort as the views were stunning.

From there we drove to Nernie Headland Picnic and Camping area. 

Had lunch here and I walked up to the old cemetery 

and headland lookout while Fred chattered to the rangers that had stopped for lunch.

Retraced our way towards Forster stopping to look at Smiths Lake Village and the Ruins Campground in Booti Booti National Park.

Got home just in time to get the washing in before a storm hit.

Saturday we drove out to Cape Hawke and walked up to the lookout, 

it was only a short walk up to the lookout and then you climbed up to a viewing platform that gave a fantastic view back to Forster and out across the lakes towards the Myall Lakes area.

Robertson and Bundanoon

Wednesday 12th February

Got up drizzly rain this morning but decided to go out sight seeing anyway.

We did the Tourist Drive 15 which took us to Bowral then thru Robertson to Carrington Falls

 we drove thru really thick fog most of the way but the falls were clear. 

Then back thru Robertson to Belmore Falls,once again we drove thru thick fog but the falls were clear and fine

Both falls were good but Belmore the more dramatic.

Back to Robertson for lunch, trust us to pick the worst coffee shop in the place only had weird and expensive things on the menu so just had a coffee. From there we drove to Moss Vale didn’t stop there just drove thru back to Bowral. Stopped at the Sir Donald Bradman Museum but only walked around the grounds didn't go into the museum as it was quite pricey and I'm not that interested in cricket.

Fred then checked out the bowls club before we returned home via another scenic drive around Mt Gibraltar.

Thursday 13th

Today we went to Bundanoon and Morton National Park. First stop was Erith Coal Mine, 

a steep walk down to the remains of a coal mine from the 1860’s, was really beautiful when we got there, 

a beautiful pool, small waterfall and the fenced off entrance to the coal mine. It boggles my mind that anyone actually found the coal seam, let alone mined it in such an inaccessible spot.

From there we drove to Echo Point, not sure why its called this as there was no echo. There were a couple of women sitting underneath the viewing platform, so of course Fred has to climb over the safety fence and join them for a chat. 
Then walked to Mt Carnavan Lookout returned to the car and had our lunch. 2014 has gotten off to a good start didn’t forget any of the picnic

.

After eating we drove on to Bonnie View Lookout which was a bonnie view then on to Beauchamps Cliffs, Grand Canyon, Sunrise Point and Tooths Lookout which were all viewing spots looking out over the Illawarra Escarpment from slightly different angles.

Next it was on to Fairy Bower Falls, a very steep walk down to a viewing platform at the top of the falls, the walk down to the bottom of the falls were closed, it was very steep and rough so we probably wouldn’t have walked down even if it was open.

From there it was in the car and onward to the Riverview and Mark Morton Lookouts showing the river at the botton of the gorge.

We stopped in Bundanoon for a well earned Iced Coffee and wander up the street before heading for home. Stopped in Exter to have a look at St Aidens Church.

Mildura

We spent the Australia Day Weekend in Mildura with my daughter Krista and her family. We stayed at the Golden River Caravan Park which was really kid friendly with pool, games room, tv room and a volly ball court as well as go-cart hire which was a big hit with the kids.

We went to Wentworth for a day to visit the Perry Sandhills which are about 6kms from Wentworth. They cover about 400 acres and are formed from wind erosion and are constantly changing. The kids had a ball running, slipping and sliding up and down the dunes.

The grown-ups were intrigued by the giant gum trees growing up thru the sand. They are supposed to be about 500 years old.

From there we went where the Murray and Darling Rivers meet and converge into one, there is a viewing tower you can climb for a birds eye view.

We had a picnic lunch here and Fred and Alex had a fish while the rest of us relaxed and watched the wildlife before going back to Mildura.

While in Mildura we checked out the wharf and Loch 11 we were lucky enough to be at the Loch when it was being opened which was fascinating to watch and nothing like I had imagined it to be.

We also visited the Inland Botanic Gardens this was a little disappointing as it was a little unkept but considering it is run by volunteers they are probably doing the best they can but in saying that there were some lovely plants.