Tag: restaurants

Port Macquarie

After years of sailing on our schedule, I am finding it challenging to be stuck for weeks making no progress on fixing Go. But, we have been stuck in worse places than Port Macquarie, and we are trying to make the best of our time here. Here’s what we’re doing to have fun and stay busy in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, also known in Aussie lingo as “Port”.

About Port Macquarie

A town in the Mid-North Coast region of New South Wales, Port is located at the mouth of the Hastings River almost 400km north of Sydney. It’s known for its beaches and convict history. The town has a population of about 50,000, many of whom are retirees relaxing in the cafes and on the waterfront. Port is also home to a healthy mix of young families and college students.

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Best of Sydney

We loved Sydney. After sailing there for the holidays, and extending our stay a few times, it was hard to leave. I miss the city’s clean streets, happy residents, busy bars and restaurants, excellent museums, and fun festivals. After two months in The Harbour City, here’s what we loved the most. The best of Sydney ranges from cool music venues to funky neighborhoods to free art galleries and hikes.

Best Anchorage: Glebe Bay

My list of the best of Sydney wouldn’t be complete without talking about where we spent most of our time on the boat. In many of the cities we’ve sailed to, like Auckland and Cartagena, we’ve stayed in marinas because that was the best choice. Sydney is the opposite, fortunately, as it has a lot of boats and a lot of great anchorages. Plus, it’s easy to move around as long as you avoid the ferries. You can find good anchorages close to great beaches and others convenient for the fireworks. For us, the best bay for provisioning and sightseeing was Glebe, which has three anchorages.

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Touring Townsville

We loved Townsville, in the northern part of Queensland, Australia. Having good friends who live there certainly helped us love this tropical town, but that wasn’t the only reason. Townsville has miles of cycling and walking trails, an excellent selection of bars and restaurants, art and museums! We spent a few weeks touring Townsville and have recommendations if you visit. If you’re sailing Australia’s east coast, it’s likely you will.

mural, street art, Townsville
Cool art in downtown Townsville

Where Is Townsville?

Townsville is as far north as we sailed in Australia before cyclone season. It’s located on the coast in northeastern Queensland, 900 miles north of Brisbane. With a population over 170,000, Townsville is the largest settlement in North Queensland. We found a lot to do and enjoyed our time touring Townsville.

Townsville Queensland on a map of Australia
Townsville in the northeast of Australia

When to Visit Townsville

As it is part of the tropical zone of Australia, Townsville’s climate is warm. We arrived in August, wintertime, the ideal season to visit Townsville. Days are warm in winter, but still comfortable, think low 20s C (70F). We left our boat there for our trip to North America and when we returned in October, springtime in Australia, the days were hot. It gets even hotter in summer into the mid 30sC (90F).

Touring Townsville Must: The Strand

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