Tag: koalas

Port Macquarie

After years of sailing on our schedule, it’s challenging to be stuck for weeks with no progress on fixing Go. Yes, we have been stuck in worse places so we’re trying to make the best of our down time. Here’s how we’ve been having fun and staying busy in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, known in Aussie lingo as “Port”.

About Port Macquarie

A town in the Mid-North Coast region of New South Wales, Port is located almost 400km north of Sydney. Located at the mouth of the Port Hastings River, its known for beaches, koalas, and convicts, not necessarily in that order.

Port Macquarie on a map east coast Australia
Port Macquarie on a map on the east coast of Australia

The town has a population of around 50,000, many of whom are retirees. We also see a lot of young families mingling with the retirees at cafes and on the waterfront paths. This town is busy on weekends and holidays, when families and vacationers fill the caravan parks and hotels. What are they coming for?

Continue reading “Port Macquarie”

Animals of Australia’s East Coast

One of my favorite pleasures when visiting new places is encountering the local wildlife. Not at zoos or in cages, we like to see the animals in the wild! And we’ve had a great time spending time with the animals of Australia’s East Coast. Picture the animals you can only see in Australia and we’ve been fortunate to get up close to a lot of them! Here are some of our best sightings and places to see animals of Australia’s East Coast.

Kangaroo Animals of Queensland Australia
Kangaroo in North Stradbroke Island

Australia’s East Coast

We spent almost four months in the state of Queensland, the second largest and third most populous state in Australia. For reference, Queensland is 7 times larger than the United Kingdom, and is home to 5.5 million people.

Queensland occupies the northeast coast of Australia, from Gold Coast up to Cairns. We sailed from Gold Coast up to Townsville, with plans to make it to Cairns next year.

Highlights of Queensland include beaches and coastlines, beautiful islands in the Coral Sea, the capital city of Brisbane, The Great Barrier Reef, and awesome animals. Although we did have a few issues with the boat in Queensland, we loved all the great sights and amenities.

Queensland in Australia map
Map of Australia with Queensland highlighted

Other than Queensland, we’ve seen animals of Australia’s East Coast in New South Wales, from Coffs Harbor down to Sydney. We’ve only been in about half of Coastal NSW, but we’ve seen a lot of wildlife.

Koalas

australians and koalas

Continue reading “Animals of Australia’s East Coast”

Magical Magnetic Island

One of the top things to do if you make it to Townsville, Queensland is a trip to nearby magical Magnetic Island. It’s an ideal destination if you like beaches, parks, swimming, fishing, hiking or wildlife.

Getting to Magnetic Island

I accidentally called it Magical Island a couple of times because it really felt that way to me. The locals call it “Maggie” so maybe that’s why I got confused. We anchored in Horseshoe Bay for two nights, and sailed to Townsville in a couple of hours, but the ferry is even quicker. It runs regularly from the Townsville waterfront and takes about 30 minutes. Once you’re on Magnetic Island, there’s so much to see and do!

Horseshoe Bay in Magical Magnetic Island
Horseshoe Bay Anchorage in Magnetic Island

Amenities on Magnetic Island

Continue reading “Magical Magnetic Island”