Port Macquarie originated as a convict settlement so it has some interesting buildings dotted about and a gruesome history. Just the sort of thing that makes for a good walking night tour or the city. Sadly, many of the older buildings were demolished to make way for new ones but you can still see some of the history about the town. Primarily, these days it is a tourist town and it is situated 420 kilometres (260 miles) North of Sydney. Click here for History and Local Guide for restaurants, tours and accommodation.
Port Macquarie is a nice place, the coastline is very picturesque and it is a nice enough place to be interesting.
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My friend Jan lives in Port Macquarie so I pop down a couple fo time a year to visit her. This time around we decided to do the Port Macquarie historical night walking tour which was a lot of fun. As well as learning about the history of the area Bruce Thompson, the tour guide, regaled us with strange but true tales of the district as well as some of the origins of expressions such as "one for the road" and "on the wagon".
The picture above shows some of our group, the man choking the woman is Bruce Thompson. Don't worry, he is pretty harmless and entertaining too. We went to haunted areas on the tour and I did find two areas where I felt a presence but we had to move on so I didn't linger. We went back the next day so I could take some day time photos of points of interest to add to this page. That is Sir Edmund Barton in the middle, he was Australia's first Prime Minister. Jan is on the left behind him and her daughter Broni is on the right of the picture. If youa re heading to Port Macquarie and want to do a tour ring Bruce on Port by Night tours 0412 217 060. For more information visit http://portbynighttours.blogspot.com/
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The walk was very interesting, informative and historical but there were some good local stories in the mix as we walked from one point of interest to the other. We visited the historical cemetery in the dead of night but we did not appear to be joined by anyone from the other world. The picture at left is a convict built well, the bricks are stamped with the familiar arrow and the background is a close up shot of this. We visited the courthouse, a restaurant where some paranormal experiences had been reported (that was one of my hot spots) and I would tell you the story that Bruce told us but then you wouldn't bother going on his tour then would you? We went to a house reported to have a ghost where wierd things happen and even Bruce has has some experiences there too. The address of the house is 104 Horton Street and that is a photo of it below left in the day time. We were peering into the windows at night when Bruce touched someone on the shoulder and they shrieked. Despite the racket the spirit occupant didnt bother to show herself. |
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This is the old Court House, trust me to be the one locked up and Jan the one to be the judge. She did let me though, had to really otherwise she would have had to have lunch on her own. The courthouse was fun as they let you touch things and put the wig and gown on. Nothing was roped off and you were free to roam about. There were some original record books you could look through to see what court actions had taken place and the outcome. Although they ask you to be careful with them I have never seen such records on open access to the public before. |
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At right above is The Glass House which is a controversial building because of how much it cost. The whole council got thrown out and a new one elected over the fiasco. At left and the pics below are the Port Macquarie Museum. |
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The Museum was well stocked and very well laid out. It covered from the convict era right through to the 60's but the emphasis was on the olded implements and costumed. The round well like thing in the picture above is a Victorian water reservoir which were common in those days. Thee were primitive impelements and more modern ones too and some implements of torture used when Port Macquarie was still a penal settlement.
The modern building inthe photo above is "The Glasshouse" a very expensive and controversial building in Port Macquarie which ultimately brought down the council responsible for building it
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Above is St Agnes Catholic Church built around 1940 so not of great age but a nice building nonetheless.
Below is St.Thomas Anglican Church, convict build between 1824 and 1828. It is undergoing extensive renovations at the moment so I could not go into the main area of the church but I was allowed to go up the tower and onto the roof. It is a lovely church and the pews are of the style with gates on them where people used to pay an annual fee to have them on a permanent basis. The court house records showed proceedings being take against people who failed to pay rent on their family pews.
At right is the old Sergeants house with the lock up behind it
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Above is the view from the church tower, it was raining so on a nice sunny day would be spectacular |
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This is Jan with her grandson Colton at Jan's mother's place in a retirement village. We stayed there because Jan was homeless at the time, having just moved out, and because her mother was away anyway so there was plenty of room. Good practice for me, living in retirement accommodation. It is a nice place, as you can see Kangaroos roam all around the place as do rabbits. They do eat the plants in the garden beds which drives everyone made but Jan's mum discovered that neither the kangaroos or the rabbits like geraniums. Port Macquarie is amazing with its wildlife, all through suburbia there are koala bears because Port has the right kind of gum trees. The koalas walk along fence lines to get from one tree to another. We also saw three tawny frog mouth owls trying to sleep in a tree next to a suburban road. In the night you hear strange noises and it is the kangaroos as they meander between the houses eating the grass, thumbing their tails on the sides of buildings and garden beds and munching away quite noisily. |
That is about it for Port Macquarie and me on this trip. We might do something else next time I go. If you pop in to Port don't forget to do the ghost walk with Bruce. |
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Hawaii |
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Hilo, Hawaiian Tropical Botanic Gardens,
Honomu Village, Night Flight over Volcano, Day flight over
volcano, Mauna Kea observatories, native village and Holualoa |
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Holualoa, Kailua Kona, Kilauea Iki, Pu'ukohola
Heiau |
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Lahaina, The Road to Hana and some beautiful
sunsets |
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The Chicken Island - Oops I mean the garden
isle |
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I spent 6 days on Oahu and in Waikiki and
2 days on the way out |
Asia |
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I spent 10 days here having fun with Martha
and Jan |
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A stopover on my way to and from England |
Australia |
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Historic and Ghost walk and some shots of the City, Port Macquarie is a nice holiday kind of place |
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In the Hinterland north of Brisbane |
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Crikey !! The Late Steve Irwin's Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland |
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The Village in The Rainforest |
England, Ireland Scotland and Wales |
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Radley Oxford, Abingdon, Cheltenham, Belas
Knapp, Cotswolds, Guiting Power, Oxford Castle Medieval Fair |
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Bus lotto in London, the Tower of London,
Trafalgar and Hen racing at the Radley Fete, |
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Oxford City, St Mary The Virgin Church,
Christchurch College, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Bourton
on the Water |
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The Forest is just beautiful. Soudley,
Coleford, Rhaglan Castle, Newent Gloucestershire, The Shambles
Victorian Village, Chepstow, Symonds Yat, Monmouth, Tintern |
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Journey to Ireland and the adventures of
two mad women on the loose. Corwen, Betws y Coed, Snowdonia
mountains, Anglesey,
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
better known as Llanfair pg, Dublin, Amagh, Port Rush, Giants
Causeway |
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Boyle, Mullaghroe, Tobercurry, Gorteen
County Sligo, Drumanone Dolmen, Arigna Mine. Ballina, Ceide
Fields County Mayo, Killala, Strokestown, Tulsk, Elphin Windmill,
Mullingar, Roscommon Town, Lough Key |
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From top to bottom what a maginficent place.
Galway, Cnoc Suan, Spidall, Ailwee Caves, The Burren, Listowel,
Valentia, Portmagee, Skellig Michael, Waterford Crystal, Wexford |
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Martha and Adam did a charity walk along
an ancient route, I played chauffeur, did some sightseeing
and got stuck in Swindon. West Wycome, Wayland Smithy, Barbury
Castle, Avebury |
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Cardiff Castle, St Fagans |
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Newquay, Boscastle, Museum of Witchcraft,
Tintagel, Lands End, Minack Theatre, Mousehole,
Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor |
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Banbury Cross, Coventry City and Cathedral,
Spon Street, Lady Godiva, Althorpe (Lady Dianna Spencer's
home) and Manchester |
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Ing near Kendall, Lake Windemere, Gretna
Green, Glencoe, Inchcree, Invergary, Loch Duich, Kyle of Lochalsh,
Portree, Isle of Skye, Kilmuir, Uig, Dunvegan, Dumnadrochit,
Loch Ness, Corrimony Cairn |
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Inverness, Cullodden Battlefield ,Brora,
John O'Groats, Orkney Islands, Flotta, Burwall, Stromness,
Skara Brae, Ring of Brodgar, Standing Stones of Stenness,
Kirkwall, Edinburgh Castle, Cheviot Mountains, Newcastle,
Segedunum, Hadrians Wall, Sandford Loch, London airport, Singapore |
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Contact
Details |
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Mobile Telephone is 0438 318 180 |
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Home telephone number is : 07 4031 8181 (61 is country code) |
Address:
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