Koalas that have been attacked by dogs, injured in motoring accidents or have caught chlamydia are all looked after at the world’s only Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie. Here visitors can learn more about the furry marsupials and see them up close with a free tour of the hospital and its facilities.
It’s just one of a litany of attractions on the Pacific Coast Touring Route, explained Russell Mills, international marketing specialist for the regional tourism board, at Corroboree in May.
“The journey between Sydney and Brisbane is some 560 miles,” he said. Rather than driving long distances at a time Mills suggested the route is best suited to a leisurely pace. “I’d recommend a trip of six days and seven nights,” he said. “That way you’re not driving more than three hours a day, and you can get up late and leave lots of time unplanned. It’s always a challenge to get people to do a chunk of Australia and to do it well, but it’s about allowing for the unplanned and telling clients ‘you’re going to meet people and hear about things you didn’t know before’.”
The leisurely approach befits the laidback lifestyle of this stretch of coastline, Mills added. “Byron Bay has a mystical, hippy trippy lifestyle,” he said. “There’s lots of emphasis on surf culture and the arts, plus there’s a blues festival and a film festival. It’s also a great people watching destination and there’s little commercial development there. It’s a good two-night stop.”
There’s also Nimbin – a local legend of a town which is known as a bastion of alternative living in Australia. But it’s not just offbeat destinations that line the route: there’s also the Hunter Valley, which is home to 180 wineries and is the oldest wine growing region in Australia, plus the glitzy Gold Coast, which boasts casinos, plenty of fine dining and the Palazzo Versace hotel.
Agents with little knowledge of the region can use the Pacific Coast website, which has a customised itinerary builder that helps you build a route based on theme or place, or alternatively you can choose one of the ready-made itineraries.
While Victoria’s Great Ocean Road might be a more well-trodden track it’s some 410 miles shorter than the Pacific Coast Touring Route, and naturally a lot more crowded. And it’s also lacking a koala hospital.
