Port Macquarie

I arrived at Port Macquarie at 2.30am so straight to bed for me after the faff of trying to get hold of security to let me into my accommodation which is a tourist campsite/sheds/convenient backpackers dorms about a minute from the beach. Considering it's Christmas it's been pretty quiet on the backpacker side of things and i've had 3 nights of an empty dorm which has actually been nice.

Port Macquarie is small but there is a lot to do- weather depending. It's not been the greatest weather with the majority of days being a little on the cool side and rain so I have not done a lot. Port Mac is home to a koala hospital which I went to see the koalas being fed and a guided tour. The hospital is volunteer run and does a great job at getting the rescued koalas who have suffered bush fires, hit by cars or attacked by dogs back into the wild. It was really interesting tour and I learnt lots about koalas.

Christmas Day was spent doing absolutely nothing. It rained and there wasn't anything going on. Thankfully Boxing Day the weather improved and I went for a walk 9km down the coast to a lighthouse and then back again. The path went over some deserted beaches, cliffs, and rain forest and it was a really enjoyable day, if a little tiring and far too humid for walking! I saw lots of lizards on the path side- skinks, various dragons and a huge monitor type thing and also a bush turkey!

Yesterday I headed to the historic cemetery. Port Mac seems to take pride in its convict history and there are signs outside of everything saying that it was built by convicts in the 19th Century. The cemetery was actually kind of cool as buried there are a lot of convicts and people such as soldiers, sailor and police officers who helped form the early town. A lot of them were British or Irish. Behind the cemetery is Kooloonbung Creek Nature Reserve which has nice boardwalk through mangrove swamps. It was nice to have a walk around but was a lot smaller than I thought (no need for the picnic lunch!). Highlights again were the wildlife as I saw lots of bright orange crabs in the mud, water dragons, turtles and lots of fruit bats in the trees, one of which pooed on my leg! In the afternoon I had a quick visit to the beach and saw dolphins swimming just behind the surf which was pretty cool.

You can go kayaking with dolphins and learn to surf here, both of which I want to do but I'm going to save it until further up the coast and after the kids holidays are finished when it's less busy. I have 2 days left in Port Mac but it's cold and rainy today so I'm hoping it will brighten up tomorrow.