Day 28 – Port Macquarie – 12 October 2017

Yamba to Port Macquarie was a fairly long and mostly inland drive, and we didn’t stop all that often. The weather was still a but grey and overcast but not particularly bad or rainy. We stopped off at Coffs Harbour for a quick walk around the harbour area but didn’t stop in the town centre itself, though it looked like a very popular holiday destination with a lots of shops and very busy. The driving was pretty slow for most of the trip as the Pacific Highway varies from wide open, two lane motorways to meandering through towns (like Coffs Harbor) with multiple stops at traffic lights that takes ages. There’s also roadworks everywhere as they are upgrading the road – and it clearly needs it as it is very well used!

Once again the drive was beautiful and green, but our stop at Nambucca Heads must count as one of the most spectacular places to stop on the coast. My pictures really do Nambucca Heads no justice, but the views from Nambucca’s Captain Cook Lookout were simply amazing. You get great sea views from the clifftop, but also mountain views looking back inland, and everything is just so GREEN and tropical!

At Port Macquarie we found our motel (Port Aloha Motel) for the night before doing the obligatory tour of the town’s beaches and sights! As it turns out Port Macquarie has loads of amazing beaches and views, and though we tried I’m sure we didn’t get to see all of them in the end. We took in Tacking Point Lighthouse, Harry’s Lookout, Nobby Beach and Flynn’s Beach before calling it a day.

The evening followed our usual routine of walking around (me furiously interrogating Google Maps) to find somewhere interesting to eat and drink. The town has a busy town centre, with a nice looking waterfront and LOTS of options for food and drink. The prices and options for eating were definitely a bit more upmarket than some of our recent stops and we had a drink at Chop’n Chill and The Beach House before grabbing a very good burger at The Burger Rebellion. They have some very interesting options and I loved the onion rings and half/half of potato and sweet potato fries.