Designed by James Barnett and built in 1879, Tacking Point Lighthouse is the thirteenth oldest lighthouse in Australia. With its own small carpark and located only 9km from Port Macquarie, it’s easy to get to.
Only a small building, the blue and white lighthouse looks over the Pacific Ocean from its rocky outcrop. From here, we had excellent views up and down the coast.
Lighthouse Beach to the south is nice and sandy and was very popular with visitors. To the north, Little Bay was not as popular because it is rocky with little sand to relax on. However, there are steps down to it, so we went to investigate. The waves and surf crashing on the rocks was interesting, but the best part was the view looking back up at the lighthouse.
An interesting place to visit if you are in Port Macquarie, especially for the coastal views.
Tacking Point LighthouseRear of the LighthouseLighthouse BeachLittle Bay Below the LighthouseLittle Bay Below the LighthouseThe Lighthouse at the Top of its rocky outcrop
To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.
A favourite with locals and tourists, Port Macquarie’s Ricardoes Tomatoes and Strawberries is a fun place to pick your own fresh produce. Located only 20 minutes from the Port Macquarie CBD on the New South Wales mid-north coast, it’s a must-see place for visitors.
A large car park caters to the many visitors. On arrival you are greeted by koala painted in strawberry leaves, flowers and fruit. These koalas are a feature around Port Macquarie, being places outside many businesses and decorated to reflect their location.
After saying hello to the koala, we went inside to get a bucket and scissors and a few instructions including which greenhouse to go to. It was then off to collect our strawberries. At the end you pay before leaving for the weight of the strawberry’s that you have picked.
Ricardoes grow their tomatoes and strawberries hydroponically in greenhouses. Only certain ones are open to the public at a time because the others are either undergoing maintenance or not ready to harvest.
We spent some time picking strawberries, making sure to pick ripe ones. Signs tell you that the best ones are at the back, because most people go to the front rows of plants first. Once our buckets were full, we returned to the entrance to pay for them.
Café and Shop
Inside the main building, a display room has other products for sale, and we bought some strawberry jam. A café also sold Devonshire tea, so we finished off the morning with coffee, and scones with jam and cream.
This was a fun morning out, with strawberries to eat on the way home.
Entrance to RicardoesKoala outside the entranceInside the greenhouseRow of hydroponic strawberriesStrawberriesBucket of picked strawberriesTomatoes for sale
To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.
Recent rain in March 2022 has caused floods along the east coast of Australia, actually the whole summer of 2021/22 has been wet. The resulting damage has been extensive to many communities. Of course, this has followed on from drought, bushfires and low dam levels in previous years. The local Glennies Creek Dam which supplies Singleton dropped to under 35% full at one stage and was back up to 75% in February. The flooding rain has pushed this up to 96% which will be a great relief to everyone in the area, despite the damage caused.
History of Glennies Creek Dam
Due to increasing demand, Glennies Creek was constructed to supplement the Upper Hunter’s water supply from Glenbawn Dam. Glennies Creek Dam is a curved rock-fill embankment wall with a concrete slab on the upstream face. The wall is 535 metres long and 67 metres high.
The dam’s small 233 square kilometre catchment includes the Mount Royal National Park. In comparison, Glenbawn Dam has a catchment of 1,300 square kilometres although it has a capacity of 750GL compared to Glennies’ 283GL.
The water stored behind the dam is called Lake St. Claire.
Photos of the dam and lake in March 2022
Located 25 minutes from Singleton in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, Lake St Claire is popular with locals for boating, camping and fishing. Because of its proximity to Singleton it is a great day trip.
The landscape around Singleton is very green for this time of year. Usually, the end of summer sees the landscape looking dull brown and dead . This year however, because of the rain everything is a lush green.
Driving to the dam wall, we parked at the small carpark and went exploring. You are able to walk over the dam wall to the far side of the lake. This is great as you can take pictures from lots of different angles.
Further along the road is a camping ground and boat ramp, which has become very popular as the water level has risen.
Countryside around Lake St ClaireGlennies Creek Dam WallLooking over Glennies Creek Dam WallGlennies Creek Dam WallLake St ClaireLake St Claire
