12^th December 2016 (Monday – Gosford to Port Macquarie

 

Gosford to Port Macquarie

We started the journey along the coastline north to Lake Macquarie. The route passed through areas with quality looking holiday homes and residential houses but was very slow with speed limits of 60km/h.  At Budgewoi we stopped to sample the ocean water temperature, which was 19C, very warm compared with UK water temperatures but with an air temperature of 27-29C the water felt chilly. 

Mike sampling the water in Budgewoi

We headed right around the north side of the lake and caught up with the M1 motorway, which was the last section running north and relatively short leading on to the Pacific Highway (A1). This route allowed us to skirt around Newcastle.

The highway north of Newcastle was fast but with very few stops on the highway for petrol.  The car navigation system indicated the next turning was over 200km away! As for most of the highways in Australia there are plenty of signs warning of tiredness causing deaths, with signs mentioning “Powernaps” and Micronaps”, on this route there was one that said “Numb Bum or Beach Bum”, I was certainly suffering with a numb bum.  

We took a slight detour to fill up with petrol and get a sandwich for lunch in Tahlee, a very small village with no more than a dozen houses. The sandwich was impressively large with multiple layers.

We eventually arrived in Port Macquarie a beautiful coastal port with quite a well-protected harbour. We were staying at the “Waters Edge”, a pleasant boutique accommodation.

In the evening we went for a walk along the inner harbour section, partly to get some exercise but also to look for a restaurant. The rocks on the walk by the shore were painted with individual messages.  

Rock paintings

We took dinner at “The Grill” on the seafront, where the cruise trip boats moored, and had a great view from the balcony. 

Sheila at The Grill

I selected barramundi. This is an interesting fish, which travels down-stream to the sea to spawn.  The salt water triggers a change of sex!  The larvae remain in the mangrove or tidal habitats until the end of the wet season. The juvenile fish then migrate into rivers and freshwater billabongs, where they develop into adults over the course of three or four years. If they don’t have access to freshwater they stay in coastal and estuarine areas.