More on the Mid North Coast Maritime Museum
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Perhaps one of the most interesting of all attractions in the Port Macquarie NSW area is the Mid North Coast Maritime Museum. Visitors of all ages are sure to enjoy the many exhibits in this museum that showcase and explain some of the many shipwrecks that have taken place in and around the western Australian coast. The maritime history that is a part of Australia’s past has a home here in this beautiful facility. History buffs as well as children studying the history of this country will all find something here to enthrall them. Exhibits change often throughout the year, so there is always a good reason for a repeat visit!
The Mid North Coast Maritime is known as a world class museum, and is well worth the small admission charge 0f $10.00 for adults and $3.00 for children. There is also a Family Entry fee that admits up to 2 adults and 4 children for $22.00. Visitors are able to enjoy the various shipwreck galleries, some of which have wreckage that goes back as far as the 17th century.
What can you see at the Mid North Coast Maritime Museum? To start, there are large exhibitions for Naval Defense, which tells you more about the actual role of naval protection in Australia.
Lake Innes Ruins
Port Macquarie, Australia has many attractions and venues for visitors to the area. If you are a history buff, you’ll definitely want to add a trip to the Lake Innes Ruins to your list of activities to visit. The Lake Innes house was the home of entrepreneur Major Archibald Clunes Innes, who was an influential settler in this area. Innes spent some time stationed at the Port Macquarie penal settlement, and had also purchased quite a lot of land in the area as well as a few businesses. He felt that he was really a part of the community. Since he liked the Port Macquarie area, in 1880 he decided to use the 1039 hectares of land that he had received in a land grant, and have himself a lovely home built on part of it.
But, Innes’ decision to settle here was not without some crafty business sense. Innes had given some thought to what Port Macquarie would be like in the future, and thought that it would be in his best interests to live prominently in the area. He was sure that Port Macquarie would become an important connection to the coastal regions nearby, particularly the Hastings River and New England areas. Obviously, Major Innes wanted to be close to the action, and to be a part of it, too.
The house was built over a period of time that ranged from 1831 to 1843. Innes decided to use convict labor to build his house, and at one point in 1837 during the construction, there were 85 convicts working to complete his home for him. With 22 rooms in all, the Lake Innes house was a very imposing structure, as befit a man of Major Innes’ importance. However, Innes and his wife did not get to enjoy their new and expansive home for very long at all.
Kattang Nature Reserve
A visit to Kattang Nature Reserve will be fondly remembered by you and your family for years to come. While on holiday at one of the immaculate Port Macquarie hotels, you will definitely want to make the time to check out this shining gem of the NSW coast. Kattang Nature Reserve is 58 hectares of rugged beauty, and this area was made into a reserve in 1983 by the Save the Headland Action Group for the purpose of maintaining the scenic nature of each hectare. It is proudly listed on the Australian Register of the National Estate.
What can you expect to see when you visit the Kattang Nature Reserve? First of all, the views are just stunning. A case in point is the unbelievably awesome Perpendicular Point, which is the standout feature of the entire nature reserve. Situated in the middle of the reserve, it juts out like an arm or leg into the sea. It is difficult to express in words the beauty and majesty of the Point’s vertical cliff faces that drop 40 meters to the sea below.
All around the reserve you will find some incredible rock formations and platforms, all carefully molded by nature. You’ll see sturdy, uneven headlands all over Kattang, as well as several types of land. Study the differences between dry heathland, wet heathland, headland complexes, and the littoral type of rainforest. Keep a eye open for the various types of wildlife that are common to the Kattang Nature Reserve, such as the koala, and many different species of birds.
Dooragan National Park
Dooragan National Park is one of the most popular attractions in Port Macquarie NSW for visitors and their families. Local folklore asserts that three brothers were killed, and each of them was buried in the area where the mountains are standing, one brother per mountain. The youngest brother to be buried beneath the north mountain went by the name of Dooragan, and it was he who the park was named after. In the year 1770, the explorer Captain Cook gave these mountains the name of Three Brothers without knowing of the tale of the three brothers buried there. This nickname is still used at times today.
In 1892, this area became a timber reserve, and it wasn’t too long before it had been given the name of Camden Haven State Forest. As the years passed, parts of the mountain were used for logging, but there were also parts that remained untouched. It was not until the year 1970 that a road was built that would go all the way up to the mountain’s summit.
North Brother Mountain sits almost directly in the middle of Dooragan National Park. The mountain and the area around it comprise Dooragan National Park. The park is noted by conservationists as an environment where old growth forest, including areas of rainforest, has been preserved.
Crowdy Bay National Park
Crowdy Bay National Park is located in New South Wales, and quite near to Port Macquarie. This area gets quite a few visitors, in part because of the close proximity to the park. Crowdy Bay is a good sized park of around 8022 hectares, and includes some of almost every type of scenery and landscape that Mother Nature has supplied to the earth. A volcanic crater, better known as Diamond Head, is one of the most noticeable landscape features. Also, the restored writing hut of Australian author Kylie Tennant is nestled at the base of Diamond Head. This history behind this hut is fascinating, and the structure is considered to be a cultural attraction of some importance.
Nature lovers, get ready! At Crowdy Bay National Park, you’ll be able to appreciate a wide range of animals, including the koala, wallabies, pygmy possum, grey kangaroo, and the rufous betong. Several varieties of snakes, lizards, and tortoises also live in the park. You’ll find many beautiful wild flowers as well as scattered clumps of forest that include melaleuca, turpentine, rosewood and black wattle trees.
Over 100 different varieties of birds call Crowdy Bay National Park home, including the rare black cockatoo. It is not unusual to see an eagle, falcon, or harrier flying overhead. The heathland all over the park attracts bird varieties whose diet is nectar, and you’ll also see birds who are just as happy on land as in the air, such as the quail.
More on the Boorganna Nature Reserve
If you are like most travellers, during your stay in Port Macquarie, you’ll more than likely go in search of something fun and interesting to do . You’ll find there are many attractions and venues in the area that you will want to make certain to visit. One of these is the Boorganna Nature Reserve. A tour of this lovely setting is a perfect way for visitors to spend a morning or afternoon feeling at one with nature.
The Boorganna Nature Reserve is the second oldest of its kind in all of New South Wales. The name Boorganna is an old one indeed. No one is quite sure exactly where the name came from, as the Aboriginal natives who once lived here left no clues as to its meaning. Those who have studied this area agree that the name was apparently taken from two varieties of trees that grow freely here.
Boorganna Nature Reserve was once a part of a large rainforest that spread over the entire Comboyne Plateau. A small patch of land around the Rawson waterfalls was dedicated to preserving both the native flora and public recreation. The settlers who came here from Europe during 1900 began to clear the land in Comboyne for their own use, and this went on for around 25 years. While the clearing of the area was going on, some logging was taking place as well in the nature reserve. Red cedar trees, along with rosewood trees, were chopped down and sold. Evidence of this remains in the form of tree stumps, which can be seen as you walk to the lookout at Rawson Falls. Other than the removal of a few trees, the Boorganna Nature Reserve is in a natural state.
There is a lot to see in the Boorganna Nature Reserve. It is a sanctuary for five different types of forest. You’ll find dry sclerophyll forest, subtropical rainforest, warm temperate rainforest, and dry rainforest here. Also, eucalyptus forests grow and flourish here as well as the typical lush rainforest. Many visitors are amazed to discover that there are 13 different species of rare trees growing here. This area also contains many ferns, rock lilies, and epiphytes.
St. Thomas’ Church
On your next Port Macquarie holiday, take the time to check out St. Thomas. The St. Thomas Anglican Church of Australia is nestled atop a hill, where it can overlook the town of Port Macquarie. No matter where you are in Port Macquarie, you can see this church, which is one of the most historical buildings in the town. It has served as a landmark in Port Macquarie since it was built, and is the fifth oldest Anglican Church that is still in use by a congregation.
Construction of St. Thomas started in 1824, and was finished in April of 1828. The church is a Georgian architectural structure, built by convict labour, which was overseen by the military. It is almost overwhelming to imagine the work that went into the construction of St. Thomas, as most of the work was done by hand. The bricks, all 365,000 of them, were handmade. If you look closely, you can see a fingerprint as well as some other marks on these bricks. These identifiers were used to help keep count of how many bricks each convict made.
Mortar for the bricks was made by hand as well, from oyster shells that the convicts gathered from Limeburger’s Creek in Port Macquarie. These were burnt to create a substance that acted as mortar. In the nave alone, the walls are three feet thick, and it is said that they are even thicker on the inside of the tower. Spikes and the old-fashioned type of square nails were needed in the construction of St. Thomas, and even these were hand forged by the female convicts.
The Mid North Coast Maritime Museum
Anyone who has an interest in maritime history will thoroughly enjoy themselves on a visit to the Mid North Coast Maritime Museum. Volunteers launched the museum in 1988. Since its inception, the museum has been lovingly nurtured and moulded into the extensive collection of artefacts, relics, and photos that are now on display at the three distinct locations for the exhibits that make up the museum. The Pilot Cottages Museum, located on William Street, and the Hibbard Boatshed, which is located on the riverside at the Hibbard Ferry. The original Pilot Boatshed and the MV Wentworth are both located on Clarence Street, adjoining the wharf.
The MV Wentworth is a ship that was once used as a port services vessel. From 1948 until 1992, the MV Wentworth was used almost on a non-stop basis, servicing Port Kembia, Sydney Harbor, and Botany Bay. When the idea arose to use the 59-year-old MV Wentworth as both a display and a part of the museum, it was discovered that the vessel needed extensive restoration to bring it back to its former glory. The cost of this work was covered with the aid of contributions by the people of Port Macquarie and other folks in nearby cities.
Visitors to Port Macquarie can take a guided river cruise tour on the Hastings aboard the MV Wentworth. It is not too often that one has the opportunity to be aboard a historical ship of this age. This is a lovely way to see the waterways of Port Macquarie for yourself. In fact, taking this heritage river tour before you enjoy the exhibits in the museum can help you to understand more about how the rich maritime history happened.
Tacking Point Lighthouse
Whale watchers and other visitors to Tacking Point Lighthouse agree on one thing; this lighthouse is well worth a visit when your travels take you to Port Macquarie, Australia! Tacking Point Lighthouse, the third oldest lighthouse in Australia, was built in 1879. It still stands, a little the worse for wear, on the same rocky promontory where it was constructed so long ago. If this lighthouse could talk, just imagine the stories it could tell!
A lighthouse was sorely needed here in the early and mid 19th century. This was because there were no roads, and the railways were in their infancy. The only pathway for goods and services seemed to be the sea. More than twenty ships ended up wrecking because there was no light to guide them to shore.
With all of this in mind, two men with the last names of Shepard and Mortley constructed Tacking Point Lighthouse in 1879. James Barnet was known for his lighthouse designs, and Tacking Point was the fourth in a group of five lighthouses that were constructed by using his design. The design created a small lighthouse, but one that was large enough to accomplish the task for which it was intended.
Since the Tacking Point building site was situated on a hill, it was already so high that the lighthouse only needed to stand around eight meters. Cement rendered bricks were used in part to improve the water resistance of the lighthouse, and because this method of construction tends to be quite strong.
Boorganna Nature Reserve
When you are reading over a list of Port Macquarie hotels, attempting to make up your mind just where you want to stay, you should always keep in mind the venues and attractions in which you are most interested. If your accommodations are located in a central location, you will find it much easier to see all of the sights that are most popular with visitors to Port Macquarie.
Boorganna Nature Reserve, the second oldest nature reserve in all of New South Wales is one of those sights. You will carry the memories of the wonders of nature revealed to you here for a very long time. The Boorganna Nature Reserve joined the Preservation of Native Flora and Public Recreation in 1904. In 1954, it was named the second faunal reserve in New South Wales. The name Boorganna Nature Reserve was given to this area in 1967
Boorganna Nature Reserve is located on the edge of the beautiful Comboyne Plateau, and very close to the Comboyne village. Comboyne is a derivative of the word Komboi, which means “the place of kangaroos”. These delightful animals call this spectacular landscape their home, and you may be lucky enough to see some of them in their natural habitat even before you enter the nature reserve.
What makes the Boorganna Nature Reserve special? It is around 400 hectares of what remains of the once widespread rainforest of Comboyne. The soil in the reserve is full of volcanic ash, which helps to explain the lush, verdant plants and trees that grow here. However, there is more here than just a rainforest. There are actually six types of rainforests in the Boorganna Nature Reserve. They are the sub-tropical rainforest, the gully rainforest, the warm temperate rainforest, the dry rainforest, and the wet and the dry sclerophyll rainforests.