North Coast of NSW

The Mid North Coast sits between the better-marketed destinations either side of it, which suits the people who've discovered it perfectly. Port Macquarie is the hub — a solid, friendly coastal town where the Hastings River meets the Tasman Sea, with an extraordinary concentration of koalas in the urban fringe, an operational koala hospital open to visitors, and good surf at Town Beach and Flynn's Beach.

North of Port Macquarie, the coast becomes more textured — estuaries backed by hinterland ridges, fishing villages with excellent boat ramps, and the kind of uncrowded beaches that require local knowledge to find. Crescent Head is a world-famous longboard surfing destination, understated and seriously committed to the craft. Hat Head National Park protects a remote stretch of coastal wallum heath, dunes and lagoons where camping feels genuinely off-grid.

The mountains come close to the coast here — the Werrikimbe and New England national parks on the escarpment above Wauchope and Kempsey hold sub-tropical rainforest with walks that few people from outside the region bother to do. Wollomombi Falls in the New England tablelands above is one of Australia's highest waterfalls, accessible by a short walk from the road, and somehow still not on the tourist map.