North Haven  New South Wales

If you like your fishing and your boating, not to mention surfing, North Haven presents virtual paradise about half way up the NSW coast, 30 km south of Port Macquarie. At this noted fishing resort, where the sea gives up a bounty of oysters, lobsters, crabs, bream and flathead, a couple of extensive lakes - Queens Lake and Watson Taylors - filter into the South Pacific Ocean, so there are plenty of fish habitats and sheltered nooks and crannies where you can hide from the madding crowd and lap up the gorgeous weather. All around there are state forests and national parks. Pride of the local green belt is Crowdy Bay National Park, which is a haven for more than 100 bird species and a wide range of animal and native plant life are scattered through the rocky outcrops and pools, forests, spectacular headlands and beaches. Stretching over 9938 coastal hectares from Harrington and the mouth of the Manning River in the south to Lake Watson Taylor in the north, the park was a favourite stamping ground of celebrated author Kylie Tennant who often retreated to her Diamond Head cottage for inspiration.