More from Port Mac

Yesterday dawned sunny and clear, perfect for our morning walk and coffee at Flynns Beach - always a great way to start the day at "the Port".

We were lucky enough to be invited to our friends Barry and Dorothy's house for lunch yesterday. Barry cooked a fabulous meal: sorrel (from his garden) soup and a tender slow cooked beef cheek dish. Dorothy made one of her quince tartines for dessert. 

We met Barry and Dorothy when we first moved to Canberra - we found them inspiring then with their creativity, love of food, art & travel and zest for life ... and they haven't changed a bit in the years since.......

We went for a walk together after lunch through the golf course adjoining their block and then skirting around the wetlands you can see as the backdrop to this rather regal portrait of Barry and Dorothy.

We took away some great memories, plant cuttings, recipes and inspiring images of Dorothy's writing and art work from our lunch - what a wonderful couple they are!

The skies didn't look as clear this morning when we woke, but on our last day at the Port we were pretty keen to do the final stage of the "famous Port Mac 9klm Coast Walk" from Shelly Beach to the lighthouse at Tacking Point. We got started, parking the car at Shelly Beach and set off - around the first rocky headland ....

I love a healthy coastal pandanus plant - it always reminds me of happy times at the Sunshine Coast........

Looking south to Miners Beach....

walking through the edge of the Sea Acres Nature Reserve ..........

..and looking back to Miners Beach (an unofficial nude bathing beach apparently but no nude bathers today - it's TOO COLD!!)

....... then deeper into the beautiful Sea Acres Nature Reserve ......

... finally emerging at Little Bay and Tacking Point and the lighthouse beyond.

We love the beach rocks at Port Mac.

And this little lighthouse (only 8 metres high) is an absolute charmer!!

Built in (VR) 1879 it is Australia's 13th oldest lighthouse. However this has been a wonderful whale watching spot for thousands of years before that! We tried as hard as we could today - but still no whale or dolphin sightings for us this visit!

 Coastal Walk mission completed .....

 

 It started raining on our 2.7klm walk back to Shelly Beach and the day has deteriorated further since then. We only attempted the short sprint from the back of our apartment block to the next door Bowlo Club - through howling wind and freezing rain - for a delicious lunch at the club's Drift Bar Cafe. Those local oysters (from the Hastings River) were truly memorable!

 We have really enjoyed our change of plans stay at Port Macquarie. The walks have been stunning, there is so much variety in the landscape, food has been great (mostly) - and we have loved being close to the Pacific Ocean again. It's been a real mood uplifter after the last few difficult months of the "new normal". We would love to come back!