In this blog, we explore many new areas on the New South Wales Central Coast and revisit a few old favourites, as we head towards Sydney.
Just over an hour south of Coffs Harbour, is the Arakoon National Park. The main attraction in this park is the Trial Bay Gaol, completed in 1886. The Jail was closed in 1903, but was briefly reused in World War I before finally being decommissioned.
It is impressive that this structure, with its tall watchtowers, is still intact after almost 130 years on this rugged coast.
Just around the corner from the Trial Bay Gaol campground is the Hat Head National Park, with the Smokey Cape Lighthouse towering above.
Walking around the lighthouse felt like stepping onto the Mamma Mia (2008) movie set.
Hat Head National Park had various bush-walks starting from the Gap Beach Carpark in Kemps Headland. We had the beach to ourselves.
We had a quick stop at Horseshoe Bay in South West Rocks. It was a great caravan park, with a fantastic view on the surfers and beach.
For those that are more adventurous, there is an opportunity to jump off the Back Creek pedestrian bridge.
Our next stop was Port Macquarie. Entering the town from the highway, you are greeted by this massive sculpture created by Rick Reynolds. This sets the scene for what was ahead: lots of “big things”.
After we parked the van, we went straight to the painted rocks on the boardwalk next to the waterway. This boardwalk is lined with a few hundred painted rocks. It felt like anybody with an idea and a paintbrush could claim a rock, and paint whatever they desire. How do you walk past these friendly mushrooms?
The Big Spindle is on the old Windmill Hill. This site used to be home to an old windmill grinding grain.
Not too far down the road was the Big Bowling Ball at Lake Cathie and the Big Axe in Kew.
On our way back from Lake Cathie to visit a mural, we came across this caravan of camels on the beach.
Next, we spent an hour or two on the Hello Koala Sculpture trail. This trail was a multi-award-winning marketing and art initiative. The trail consists of 83 one meter high fiberglass koalas. They were painted by local artists and strategically placed around Port Macquarie and the surrounding towns. You could find them at emergency services, historic buildings, tourist attractions and some local businesses, to name a few.
We spotted at least 32 koalas and photographed it as we went. We were very surprised that the local kids recognised the koalas, and called them out by name. Following this trail, as a tourist, provided an excellent insight into the local area. The last koala we saw was 2.5m tall and located in the Cowarra State Forest.
We started exploring the west of Port Macquarie, towards the Manning River region. Our first walk was to Ellenborough Waterfall. This is the tallest single drop waterfall in New South Wales. To get down to the bottom of this fall, you need to navigate 641 steps. The reward at the end is getting to look up at the 200m straight drop of the waterfall.
On the way back, we saw a signpost to the Rawson Falls in the Boorganna Nature Reserve. We decided to have a look and ended up walking to these falls too. It was a bit slippery and steep in places, but well worthwhile.
While exploring the west of Port Macquarie, we based ourselves at Wauchope Showground. While in the caravan, we heard police sirens and trucks hooting very close to us. We jumped out of the van and saw more than 30 trucks, with “Aussie Hay Runners” banners, rolling into the showground.
They started unloading hay off the trucks with four tractors until late that night. Our car and caravan was parked just left of the buildings, as shown in the photo below.
After a quick Google search, we learned about the Aussie Hay Runners, a charitable organisation helping farmers affected by drought or fire with hay donations to save their stock. This incredible organisation rely on donations of hay, trucks, volunteers and money, to assist farmers in need.
The next morning, the thankful farmers started rolling in with their trucks and tractors to collect the donations. What a great cause!
We also did a day-trip to Taree and drove past The Big Oyster.
We crossed the bridge into Forster to get to our next stop: Elim Campground.
Elim is wedged between Wallis Lake and the South Pacific Ocean. We spent six days here and explored the Booti Booti National Park and surrounding areas.
We had a few great sunsets over Lake Wallis.
We did the Lakes Way Drive and stopped at the Sandbar Holiday Park, where these retired surfboards formed the fence.
On the way back to Elim, we stopped at Greenpoint where these fishermen were out on their boats, ready for action.
Our next stop was Nubiac, which is home to the National Motorcycle museum. Before even getting to the 1050 motorbikes, you pass through a shop and a few displays with antique toys.
The whole Smurf Family was on display!
The floor and walls were stacked with older motorbikes.
The oldest bike we saw was from 1911. There were many bikes from this era.
It is not a great feeling to see your first motorbike in a museum…
There were also more than 30 vintage cars on display. This 1903 Orient Buckboard was the oldest car we could find.
Our next stop was Kurri Kurri. This town advertise themselves as the Town of Murals. Walking through the main street, is was easy to see why.
We even stumbled across The Big Kookaburra in the Town Centre.
While in Kurri Kurri, we visited Maitland and had lunch at the parks of Walka Water Works. The lake at the waterworks apparently has 140 different bird species. The old building is still in good nick for an 1887s building.
Thornton is close to Maitland and we wanted to see the birthplace of the UGG boot. Mortels Sheepskin UGG Boots Factory can bee seen from a mile, with The Big UGG Boots towering above the building.
Inside, there were more shapes and sizes of UGG boots on display, than we have ever seen. Next to the factory, was also a museum explaining the sheepskin history. It was interesting to learn that the Aussie-made UGG boot was embroiled in various national and international court cases against companies trying to monetise by using the UGG name on knock-offs.
We decided to spend a day at Nelson Bay, and stopped at the Royal Australian Air Force Aviation Heritage Centre in Williamtown.
The first stop in Nelson Bay was at The Gan Gan Hill Lookout. This lookout provides a great vantage point over Port Stevens and beyond.
We came across this shy fella in one of the National Parks. For us, the echidna is not a common sight.
On the way back, we scrambled the rocks at Boat Harbour Whale Lookout at Port Stephens to get to the Whale Watching Platform. Climbing the rocks provided a view to the rock beaches below as well as some spectacular rock formations.
A few kilometers west, was Anna Bay and Birubi Beach. It feels like you are stepping into the desert. This beach attracts dune-boarders and 4x4s enthusiasts. We saw another caravan of camels going up the dunes.
Our next day was our most expensive day so far. We visited the Hunter Valley, just north of Sydney. This Valley is renowned as one of the primary wine regions in New South Wales.
We started off at the information center, where the door was wide open to visitors, ready to experience the valley.
We got a picnic pack with cheese, bikkies and other local produce from Binnorie Diary in Lovedale.
Then it was straight to the cellar doors.
We visited the Hunter Valley Garden for lunch. What a great spot!
We found the Big Wine Bottle, but we were unable to take this one home.
The Roche Estate showcases many of the local produce in a single location.
We couldn’t think of a better way to end the day than with a visit to the Hunter Valley Chocolate Factory.
That concluded this leg of our journey, next we’ll be heading over the Blue Mountains to Central New South Wales.
