Kempsey is an elegant town on the banks oftheMacleay River, 350km north of Sydney. The town is on the North Coast railway line with daily services to Brisbane and Sydney. By car,Kempsey is a 45-minute drive along the Pacific Highway from Port Macquarie and its airport.
Kempsey is perhaps best known for two things; floods and the Australian country music icon Slim Dusty. Kempsey’s location in a loop of the fast-flowing Macleay River has led to major floods in six of the last 70 years. Despite this, the river is a definite draw for tourists and the lush forests and old-world villages of the Macleay Valley are worth exploring by car or canoe.
Slim Dusty was born in nearby Nulla Nulla Creek. He was the first Australian to score an international Number 1 hit with his song ‘A Pub with No Beer’. The pub mentioned in the song is in Taylors Arm, a village not far from Kempsey, and is now called Lees Hotel. Slightly more accessible is the Slim Dusty Centre, a museum dedicated to the singer located off the Pacific Highway.
