Three ships, the Lady Nelson, Prince Regent and the Mermaid arrived in April 1821 with 60 convicts and 40 soldiers to start the penal settlement. The first 60 convicts were promised freedom after 18 months if they worked hard building huts and preparing for the next batch of "second offenders". Walking around Port Macquarie today you can still see evidence of its early convict days.
Near the current day Lady Nelson Wharf is where the 60 convicts and 40 soldiers landed.
This is a piece of public art located in the nearby park area ... I don't know anything about it but I liked it.
The historic Court House was built in 1869 and was in use up to 1986. It is the only early Government building remaining in Port Macquarie.
What is now the Port Macquarie Historical Museum is one of only two buildings remaining from the convict days (St. Thomas' Church is the other). It was built in 1836 and was originally a residence and a shop. It is a simple two-storey structure of an Old Georgian style, built of hand made bricks and demonstrates the form. scale and style of development that took place in Port Macquarie when free settlement was permitted from 1830.
This historic well was used by the women in the Female Factory - a fancy name for a gaol for females.
At the top of Allman Hill is the settlement's first burying ground. There are 28 graves on the hill but only four headstones remain today.
Two cannons were placed at the top of Gaol Point to guard the entrance/exit into/out of Port Macquarie. They were fired at convicts escaping on the captured Isabella, but the shot fell short and the convicts escaped.
The site of what is currently a motel was originally a large gaol, built in 1840. The old gaol well is still there, located in a breezeway between two of the motel buildings. I was really interested in the markings you can see on the convict made bricks.
The southern breakwall covers an historic rock - the rock that damaged all three ships of Port Macquarie's "First Fleet". The Prince Regent and the Mermaid were damaged on the way in and the Lady Nelson was damaged on the way out.
This monument marks the place where John Oxley camped in 1818. The tall part of the monument is the original compass stand from the HMAS Sydney.
These three buildings were the original Pilot Houses, built between 1896 and 1937. They are now the Maritime Museum.
St. Thomas' Anglican Church was built by convict labour under military supervision and is the oldest church building in Australia outside of Sydney. Commandant Gillman wanted bricks for a gaol, but the higher authorities in England said that a church was more important for the convicts' redemption so the church was built instead. The foundation stone was laid in 1824 and the first service held in 1828. (The gaol didn't get built until 1840.) The worshippers in those days consisted of the Chaplain, Camp Commandant, soldiers and prisoners. The latter, well guarded, stood at the west end of the nave. In time, as free settlers continued to arrive, they erected for themselves and occupied the box type pews peculiar to that period of church architecture, and for which parishioners continued to pay rent until the system was abolished in 1905.
Beneath the floor of the front pew is the grave of Captain Rollands, who died of sunstroke in 1824.
The 1856 Walker Pipe Organ with a mechanical action containing 33 hymns on 3 studded barrels, is the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
Behind the church is a chapel that was built in 1822. Originally it was the doctor's dispensary.
While only about 50 headstones remain, there were 1500 convicts, soldiers, shopkeepers and farmers buried in the Historic Cemetery. This is the second burying ground in Port Macquarie, the first being at Allman's Hill. The first burial was held here in 1824 and the cemetery was officially closed in 1886 though further burials were reported after this date.
Isn't this a great tree?
The end of my walking tour today was at the Royal Hotel. The original hotel was built in 1840 but burnt down in 1886 and was rebuilt on the same site in 1887.
The Hastings River rises in the Great Dividing Range and flows generally south, southeast and east, joined by seven tributaries before reaching its mouth, flowing into the Tasman Sea at Port Macquarie. The river descends 1040 metres over its 180 kilometres course. There are two vehicle ferries which cross the Hastings River; the Settlement Point and the Hibbard ferry. First we crossed over on the Settlement Point ferry
Or you could take your tractor on the ferry...
north for 16 kms.
Crossing back on the Hibbard ferry
and then we went to a place called Ricardoes Tomatoes and Strawberries which features award winning tomatoes and pick-your-own strawberries grown on vertical "walls" of fruit. How weird, and wonderful, was this - picking strawberries without having to bend down to the ground?!?
To finish off my day I went to a winery! I didn't know, but there are 6 wineries located in this immediate area, known as the Hastings River Wine Region. I went to Cassegrain winery and had some lovely tastings before heading 'home' to end my day.
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