Port Macquarie Landscaping

About Port Macquarie

Port Macquarie, locally nicknamed Port, is a coastal city in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about 390 km (242 mi) north of Sydney, and 570 km (354 mi) south of Brisbane. The city is located on the Tasman Sea coast, at the mouth of the Hastings River, and at the eastern end of the Oxley Highway (B56). The city with its suburbs had a population of 47,973 in June 2018 and an estimated population of 50,307 in June 2023. == History == === Indigenous === Port Macquarie sits within Birpai (Biripi, Bripi, Biripai, Birrbay) country, and the Birpai people are recognised as the traditional custodians of the land on which Port Macquarie is located. Port Macquarie was long known to the Birpai people as Guruk. The Birpai Local Aboriginal Land Council provides positive support, information and responsible governance for the Aboriginal community, while also cultivating strong links with the broader community.Before British colonisation, large clans of Birpai people resided in and around Port Macquarie, particularly at places such as King's Creek, Blackman's Point, Camden Haven and Rolland's Plains. They lived in large domed huts which provided protection against the region's heavy rains and were capable of accommodating up to ten people. === British exploration === The first documented visit to the site of Port Macquarie by the British was in 1818 when an expedition led by John Oxley reached the Pacific Ocean from the interior, after his journey to explore inland New South Wales. Oxley named the location after the Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie.Oxley noted that "the natives in the vicinity of the port appeared very numerous...were all handsome, well-made men, stout in their persons, and showing evident signs of good living...were evidently acquainted with the use of firearms...their dread of its appearance", and that "the port abounds with fish, the sharks were larger and more numerous than I have ever before observed...the forest hills and rising grounds abounded with large kangaroos and the marshes afford shelter and support to innumerable wildfowl.