WALK THE FULL LENGTH OF THIS BEAUTIFUL TRACK OR DO SECTIONS INDIVIDUALLY
Town Beach from breakwater
The Walk
The Port Macquarie Coastal Walk was developed over many years and completed in August 2009. It comprises a well-developed bush track, paved sections, beach walks and some steps.
The full length of the Coastal Walk from Tacking Point Lighthouse to Westport Park is 9.1 km but there are plenty of exit and entry points. Caches in our series can be tackled individually, or the entire track can be walked south-to-north so you can collect several in one stroll. [NOTE: This is our seventh Section. The first Section can be found at GC39ERW "Coastal Walk #1: Beautiful Lighthouse Beach". Please refer to this first cache for public transport information and advice, and status of other caches in the series, should you wish to do the whole Coastal Walk]. You will pass other people's caches along the way, so get these too if you have not done so already. Most people of reasonable fitness should be able to do the full walk, or manage all sections individually.
The locale
This section starts at the red navigation beacon on the south breakwall of the Hastings River. This wall was first built between 1897 and 1902 but has been extended several times. The northern breakwall was built in 1933/34, during the Great Depression.
The Breakwall, with its ever-changing painted rocks, telling many a story of love & lust, happiness & sadness as well as just plain joie-de-vivre, whimsy and holiday fun, is well known to locals and visitors.
As you walk along the Breakwall towards the cache, you will pass Town Green, the wharf and several tourist operators' premises which offer a range of activities such as whale watching, fishing, river trips and scenic flights.
Don't miss the statue of Sir Edmund Barton, Australia's first Prime Minister and member for Hastings and Macleay at the time of Federation.
The "CBD" premises of the Maritime Museum is also worth a visit.
The Coastal Walk is popular with locals and visitors alike and cachers will sometimes need stealth and patience to make their find.
The cache
This is a simple offset cache.
At the red navigation light, you will notice that there are a number of welded brackets into which the maintenance staff place little steps in order to service the lamp. When I was last here, there were a couple of these steps in place, up high, maybe left there out of reach or just rusted in place.
How many welded brackets are there? = A
The cache is at S31° 25.[A][A-2][A+1] E152° 54.[A-5][A-5][A-2].
If you are continuing the Coastal Walk series, the next cache "CW #8 Westport Park" CG3BGKO starts nearby.