Thongs are de rigeur at the beach, in Coles, in fact everywhere in Port Macquarie, and if you don’t wear thongs you’re a wanker. And who knows when you might end up on the beach. After all, the town is more or less surrounded by water

. . unless you’re a contractor in which case you can wear steel-toed mongrel boots and fluorescent vests

Dogs are compulsory. You have at least one dog, preferably a Kelpie (the r&r icon), or other working dog, a Golden Retriever or Labrador, or a green-collared greyhound. Rescue dogs are highly regarded. You meet other dog-owners daily at Lighthouse Beach or Nobby’s

Eight out of 10 motor vehicles in Port Macquarie are 4WD and a man (or family) without a truck, a van, or a ute, is . . well, unusual?

 Port Macquarie men are decent, friendly and often understated. (This alone separates them from Sydney men). They don’t go anywhere without their cap. They have an excellent dry sense of humour. Young men are tall and buff and ride surfboards all day.  
How they say hullo: “How’s it goin’ ” How they say goodbye: “Have a good one!”

Port Macquarie’s wonder-women are engaging, friendly, fun, socially skilled and confident, know how to listen and enjoy engaging in interesting conversations. They look you in the eye. Young women are tall and fit.
How they say hullo: “Hullo”, with a smile
How they say goodbye: “Enjoy your evening!”

PMQians are more relaxed, less stressed and less unnecessarily competitive than people in the big smoke. Also, and importantly, they have a really good sense of humour. Especially the women.
Port Macquarie people are honest. We know this because we can leave our thongs at the beach for hours and no-one will ever steal them,
But the richest thing about PMQ is its strong sense of belonging and community. I’ve seen this in Tamworth and Armidale of course, and PMQ proves it’s true when the stakes are high. It’s a very warm feeling that you don’t find in capitol cities.

Port Macquarie drivers wave “thank-you” if you let them in. This also now separates PMQ from Sydney
On the down side, though, standard procedure when turning is to wait until you are exactly at the turning point and only then to indicate your intention to turn left or right

Port Macquarie people greet complete strangers, sometimes with “g’day” but usually “how’s it goin'”, or “how’re you going”, or with a wave. This is just standard practice for the PMQian, but for the fragile newbie it’s a very warm welcome

Port Macquarie is basically a sprawling tropical rain forest, surrounded by mountains, seas, rivers and streams everywhere, with houses dotted here and there that can’t see each other, and winding country roads throughout the suburbs, right up to the edge of the CBD. You wouldn’t be surprised if you suddenly met Robin Hood

PMQians are serious about their lawns which they groom at least fortnightly. They have to because climate. Sydney can get away with monthly but in Port Macquarie the lawn starts to look shabby and unkempt the next day. That’s why there are more lawn-mowing businesses here than a riot of Kookaburras laughing at sunset.
The truth is it’s the ants that own the gardens and build their clay palaces all over the lawns and nature strips, as well as invading the homes

Port Macquarie Bin nights are strange to southerners and westerners where it’s the Red Bin that goes out every week. So why is the green one the King Bin in PMQ? Because see above!  Also, the lawns and gardens here are much more expansive. So the green Bin needs putting out every week

PMQians seem to take Dolphins and Whales in their stride. They seem common-place and everyday and ho-hum (although the locals were a bit surprised by the seal/sealion(?) that recently literally rolled up onto Lighthouse Beach). Of course the southerners don’t understand this at all. Down there almost nobody sees whales and the only dolphins they see are in a zoo. Here they can’t get out their cameras fast enough.
The thing is that up here there is so much and such diverse wildlife. Everywhere. All the time. It’s just natural. It’s real nature, like the brush turkeys who wander casually across busy roads as if they owned the place (they do) and were protected (they are)

There’s so much more still to discover!