Port Macquarie goes down as probably our top Airbnb experience of the trip. This was due to the combined friendliness of the hosts and the vast array of girl/age appropriate toys available to play with, including a trampoline in the garden. Smoke in the air was very noticeable however, the fires were not far away. We drove along roads that had recently seen fire activity and later heard of more occurring on our route.

We did manage a bit of time on the beach, spurred on by our Airbnb hosts Ben and Laura leaving out boogie boards for the girls – Joanna even enjoyed it for a while.

A visit to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital was an eye-opening experience and the best way to learn about these incredibly vulnerable creatures. I am sure we caught the place just before their busiest ever time, as the bush fires got stronger and stronger and helpless Koala’s became a major victim.

As we arrived a woman rushed in with a Koala under her arms, she had found it on the side of the road after suffering bad burns. We learnt that a Koala’s name in the centre was made up of the location it was found and the name of the person who rescued it. This was Barrington Xavier.

The first ever and only hospital for Koala’s in the world, since opening in 1973 it has grown due to the help of countless volunteers and donations. We went on a tour at 3pm, meeting several of their longer stay Koala’s and learning a lot about their eating, feeding and characteristics.

We also enjoyed spotting sculptures which are part of the ‘hello koala’ initiative, dotted across the neighbouring park and town.

Upon a recommendation of our friends we met in Airlie Beach we had a dinner in Burger Rebellion, very surprised that owner Matt had worked at the Admirable Crichton with Tom and I back in 2004-5. As his wife was a celiac, we all managed to enjoy quite possibly our best burgers of all time in his small casual restaurant and took home a hot sauce to try (still our go-to pizza topping in 2022!).

Lunch the next day was also courtesy of a chef friend, Sergei who had worked at Royal Meridien and had been a paddler in Marina Monsters, now heading up ‘Oysters on the Bay’ in Nelson Bay.

After a delicious meal of oysters and roasted snapper we had the energy to climb nearby Tomaree Mountain. It was a bit of a spontaneous long walk, done in flip flops with no water, but we survived and it was worth it for the spectacular views of the entire peninsula.

After that, it was time to hit Sydney in time for sunset!