Port Macquarie: koalas and dolphins on the New South…

A former British penal colony, Port Macquarie today overlooks Australia's southeastern coast with beaches populated by dolphins and a hospital dedicated to koalas.

A car is useful to explore the New South Wales coast, among koalas and dolphins.

The Koala Hospital, the world's only hospital dedicated exclusively to caring for injured koalas, allows visitors to observe the animals' rehabilitation process.

A few minutes away, Town Beach, popular among surfers, regularly hosts dolphin sightings close to shore.

Following the coast, you walk the Port Macquarie Coastal Trail, which connects various beaches through coastal forests and ocean overlooks.

As evening arrives, the Tacking Point Lighthouse, among Australia's smallest, offers an excellent spot to observe whales during their seasonal migration.

The Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, founded in 1973, treats hundreds of koalas injured by traffic accidents, forest fires, and disease each year, reintroducing them to the wild when possible.

Port Macquarie was founded in 1821 as a penal colony for recidivist convicts deemed too dangerous for Sydney, a colonial history now told in museums and the remains of the original prison buildings.