History of the Alma Doepel
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If you are staying in one of the famous Port Macquerie resorts while you are on holiday, then you will be spoiled by the elegant surroundings and impeccable service they offer. When you need a dose of reality, a history lesson is a good way to come back to the “real world”. A visit to the Alma Doepel mixes reality and history in a most excellent way.
The Alma Doepel is a ship, and what a ship! You just don’t see vessels like this anymore. This is a topsail schooner with not one, not two, but three masts! It is one of the oldest ships of this type in the world. The Alma Doepel was built in Bellingen, NSW, and finished in 1903. Her history is a fascinating and colourful one.
Fly with Akuna Seaplanes
When you are booking your accommodation in Port Macquarie for your upcoming holiday, don’t forget to choose a place that will be in close proximity to the many attractions in the area. Not only will this make it easier for you to get an early start in the mornings and fill your day with fun, but it will also mean you will not have to travel as far in the evenings to get back to your “home away from home.” There are so many fun things to do in Port Macquarie that you will probably have a difficult time deciding just what you want to experience each day!
Take Akuna Seaplanes for example. This business specializes in air tours such as Scenic and Adventure flights, plus Fishing and Restaurant tours, Romantic flights, Picnic flights, “Surfaris” and private charters. Their base of operations is in Port Macquarie, right on the town wharf, and as you will see when you go there, some of the planes that they use are a bit different from most. These are float planes, or what some call amphibian planes. They both take off and land on the water! One is an Amphibious 5 passenger 206, and another is a 3 passenger Cessna 172 floatplane. Akuna Seaplanes also has other sizes of these type of aircraft, one of which should satisfy even the most white-knuckled flyer.
Get Ready for Fun at Emerald Downs Golf Course
It is always a smart move to plan your activities for holiday while you are still at home. In this way, you can leisurely decide what you would most like to do while you are away from your regular daily activity. If you are a golf lover who is planning your next fun and relaxing holiday, make sure that your Port Macquarie holiday accommodation is in the vicinity of the Emerald Downs Golf Course.
Why the Emerald Downs? Well, if you are looking to play 9 or 18 holes of golf on a course that is billed as the kind of environment where “You play in harmony with nature” and where there is “Social Play Every Day.” This attraction is open to the public, but is situated in a lovely residential area that is very easy to find for anyone who is not familiar with the area.
Dolphin and Whale Watching Cruises
If you have come to Port Macquarie, Australia on holiday, you may be interested in the dolphin and whale watching cruises that have become so popular with those who travel here. What an awesome, joyful thing it is to be able to admire these creatures of the sea in such a personal manner! This is something that many people wish to do, but are never in the right location to experience. So, if you have the chance to participate in one of these cruises, don’t pass up your chance.
There are several different establishments in the area which offer dolphin and whale watching. One out of a grouping of the best cruises is Port Macquarie Cruise Adventures. What happens on a dolphin and whale watching cruise? Obviously, you are going out on a boat in order to hopefully see these marine life favourites, but there is much more to a cruise that goes on behind the scenes that you probably never even knew about. Most of these establishments pay careful attention to keeping those who choose to take advantage of their services just as safe as possible.
Check Out Cowarra Dam Public Art Project
The Cowarra Dam Public Art Project got its start when a 10,000 megalitre storage dam was constructed in Port Macquarie. The dam’s purpose is to ensure that the water supply for the people of the area would be adequate for quite a long time to come. Since the population seems to increase so quickly in this region, it was determined that a facility like this was very much needed to insure that the future of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council area would not have to worry so much about a drought. It was also done to keep the stunning waterways in the region healthy, along with the protecting the biological diversity of the many species of animals and plants, microorganisms and fungi that depend on the water to live.
Once the project had been conceived, those in charge of it had to agree on just what kind of art was needed. They decided to request artwork from the indigenous peoples in the area, and not just any kind of artwork, either. What was wanted had to match a few guidelines. First of all, the work was to be seen by the public, as it would be displayed in a public access area of the dam. Second, the art must in some way express recognition and also respect of the cultural heritage of the Australian aborigines. Third, the artistic creations must in some way give evidence of how essential water is for sustaining life in a community.
Camden Haven Golf Club
Are you planning your holiday to the lovely little town of Port Macquarie? Perhaps you will be staying in one of the holiday apartments Port Macquerie is famous for, and think that this is as good as it gets. But, your time off in this area can be made even better if you enjoy golf and golfing. There is a jewel of a golf course called the Camden Haven Golf Club that will make you feel as if you are playing on your own home course. Yes, it’s that good! You will feel right at home with the friendly staff anticipating your needs, and the club members are wonderfully welcome, too.
Camden Haven is known to be a fairly challenging course. Located a bit out in the country, in the Camden Haven area known as Kendall, a bit more than 30 minutes away from Port Macquarie. You’ll enjoy beautiful scenery while you are playing a social game of golf. Don’t worry if you do not have your golf gear with you, for you can rent clubs, carts, and buggies right at Camden Haven. The green fee is quite reasonable as well, and if you need anything else other than what is supplied in order to help your game, there is a wonderful proshop here with a helpful, courteous staff who are very glad to help you find what you need.
Aquatic Blue Charters
If you are planning a stay in one of the fine Port Macquarie hotels while on holiday, you owe it to yourself to take advantage of one of the area’s main tourist attractions, which is Aquatic Blue Charters. You may be wondering just how a boat charter service could manage to be a highly popular place for both visitors and locals to enjoy. Well, Aquatic Blue Charters is a rather different sort of charter service. If you have ever had the desire to go whale watching, do they have a boat trip for you!
The boat used for the trip is actually called the “Whale Watcher”, and is a beautiful 50 foot catamaran that can hold 46 whale-curious passengers. You can move freely around the decks, one a wrap around deck that goes all the way around the boat, an “undercover” deck, and the other located at the top of the boat. The view is excellent from the top deck! Or, you can make yourself comfortable inside the cabin, where you can still observe all the action from the windows which go all the way around it.
Try Soul Surfing
If you are a beach lover, then you probably made sure that your Port Macquarie accommodation was as close to the beach as humanly possible. There are so many fun things to do on a beach, and the warm sand plus the captivating sounds of the surf is a downright relaxing place for those of us who relish the chance to get away from the rat race of life for a little while.
You’ll have lots of sand, as there are a total of eight separate beaches in Port Macquarie which means you have your choice of walking along the edge of the ocean while enjoying the view, enjoying some great fishing, swimming, having a picnic or barbecue (careful of the sand!) or doing some surfing.
Timbertown Winery – Erwin Cellars
You may find yourself on holiday and staying in one of the very nice apartments Port Macquarie does so well, or perhaps you booked accommodations in advance and have a room in a hotel Port Macquarie style, which translates to mean elegant and efficient. But, no matter where you end up staying while you are visiting Port Macquarie, there are some tourist attractions in this area that you most definitely don’t want to miss. One of these is the Timbertown Winery-Erwin Cellars.
Whether you are a wine connoisseur or a teetotaller, you will thoroughly enjoy a day trip to Timbertown! Its location makes not only the winery, but also everything around it a pleasure to visit. The winery gets its name from this location, which is of course, called Timbertown – Timbertown Heritage Theme Park Village. It is a village that has been recreated to show people the things that the pioneers of Australia had to go through when they first arrived in this country, and how they worked together to help make this country what it is today. Two million people have visited here since the village opened in 1976.
Sea Acres Nature Reserve and Rainforest Centre
If you are a beach lover, nature lover, rainforest lover… or perhaps all three… then you are in for an enjoyable day or afternoon at Sea Acres Nature Reserve and Rainforest Centre. Open daily from 9 AM until 4:30 PM, there is much to see and do here! This compelling destination is a New South Wales Tourism Award Winner, so you can expect to have quite a good time on your Port Macquarie holiday. Hopefully, your accommodations at one of the lovely Port Macquarie resorts are near enough to Sea Acres so you can take advantage of its beauty more than just once!
The Rainforest Centre portion of Sea Acres is an actual rainforest, and not a man-made one. It isn’t often that you can experience three different types of rainforest in one location that is near two beaches, and even less often that such a natural setting can be found in the midst of a city such as Port Macquarie. The rainforest runs right down to the beach! Make sure to take a mental snapshot of this wonder when you visit, so that you can always remember it, even years from now.