Timbertown

We loved Timbertown. What a magical place! The moment you step through the entrance you feel catapulted into another time and place. Set in lush bushland, you enter the world of the colonial era of a sawmill village. There is so much to see and do, we could have spent the whole day there and the kids and adults would have had no dull moment. We couldn’t understand the negative feedback re run down or too expensive. A family of 4 costs $96 and you don’t just get to see how people lived in that era in real life but it also includes the heritage train ride, mini steam train, horse and tractor rides, paddle boats, gold panning, animals everywhere, an operating saw mill, old school house and bell to ring, a large playground, winery (try the alcohol free grape sparkling vine as it is amazing). They also have a great selection of souvenirs, honey from the region, timber and hand crafted items. The fudge and cafe is very reasonable priced too. We honestly loved it and so did our kids ranging from 6-14 years old. All the staff there were very friendly and knowledgeable too. We will be back!

A must visit place if you are a tourist. Just to go back many years ago, how the British established the town, the houses they lived in, the bed, the crocheted works, the poems of the fireman, the IMPORTANCE of their wives, the duties of the teachers their pay scale, the varieties of saw cutters, the fireplace & so many heart touching things. The types of trains their quaint size & power of the steam engine all things to watch & go back the memory lane. How my two sons went hunting for gold or precious stones, my two daughter in laws admiring the animals. Loved every moment of my visit.

It was a nice little old style town half an hour drive away from Port Macquarie. We didn’t get to ride the chariots because it was too hot and the horses would have had a difficult time. Still, we had a great time.

Another lovely visit to Timbertown! The steam train is always a delight, we are so lucky to have people dedicated to keeping our steam history alive. Thank you to the Engineer for taking the time to chat to us after our ride. Hubby was plied with some port to taste at the cellars, and it was so good he in fact did not require any arm twisting at all and promptly bought three different bottles. Our thanks to the fortified winemaker for sharing his knowledge, and especially for pouring a bottle of Grandfather Port for hubby direct from the barrel. Angus and his friendly coach driver gave a lovely carriage ride around the park. We love buying local handmade goods from the arts and crafts shop, so much nicer than generic tourist items. Despite being a heatwave, the park was still so pleasant thanks to the canopy of trees and nice breeze. We finished with lunch at the Whistlestop Cafe just outside the park - the pulled pork burger was fresh made and delicious, just what we needed. Thank you to all for working on such a hot day, your efforts were very much appreciated!

Loved it, I'm so happy you're still going. I was here over 35 years ago and I wanted to bring my son. I missed the bullocks but otherwise fantastic. Best part was the steam train ride at the end thanks so much

I thought hard about this review. On the one hand, I only wanted to give Timbertown a few stars, as each time I visit, it just looks more run-down and must be a public liability claim waiting to happen. But on the other hand, I wanted to give 5 stars to encourage people to visit and keep this place alive.

Positives:
-Educational
-Entertaining
-Potential (has the bones of a good selection of attractions, though many are now not working)
-Must cost a fortune to keep running. I take my hat off to the owners and staff for staying open.

Negatives:
-Lady serving tickets was abrupt and not the greatest at welcoming (unlike the lady in the winery that was a blast and very entertaining)
-Lack of maintenance. Many of the buildings had timber floors and structures rotting and/or termites. Fences falling apart. Little theatre room has TV and seats, but nothing is being presented. Many of the displays are dusty and lifeless or not working. A bit of a rake of leaves and sticks along the main paths would go a long way to looking more presentable.
-Blacksmith and Bullock team are no longer operating (I'm guessing it's hard to find these skills these days).

The Australiana Poineer Village of Wilberforce is a good example of a similar run historical village that seems like it has a successful model working for it. On another scale is Sovereign Hill in Ballarat that is the pinnacle to strive for. Both these venues encourage and rely on volunteers for their operations.

Hopefully it's not another Old Sydney Town story where it was left to run into the ground and the owner then saying it didn't work, supposedly with the intention of redeveloping the site for other use.

Through personal experience of volunteering at a historical museum, I like to think I have pretty good tolerance and a pretty good common-sense approach to venues such as this. But I'm not sure that the general public would be so tolerant.

I hope on my next visit that there are noticeable improvements.

Wow.. my 2 year old and 12 year old had a blast. What an authentic experience. No frills and fakness. We loved how natural it was. Pram and Wheelchair friendly. But not on steamtrain rides. Once you go to the reception you will get an itinerary of activities and timings for steam train, horse and truck carriages etc.

We had such a lovely day, wonderful rides included in the price, beautifully scenery and a step into history. We were saddened to see that the town is suffering due to lack of volunteers as so much is in disrepair and closed. I hope next time we come they will have been more successful finding staff to support this amazing place!

Having grown up visiting Port Macquarie for holidays, I have a soft spot for Timbertown, and today's visit was bittersweet. My kids loved it, and had a whole lot of fun exploring the town, panning for gold and other stones/gems. They had wonderful rides on horse drawn cart rides, tractor rides, and interactions with the lovely staff.
What was bittersweet was seeing it as it is now and remembering what it once was.
I love the historical Australiana and learning about the different methods our ancestors used to get by.
A number of the displays and talks that I recall seeing are not there any more. I guess it's progress and the changing landscape of what will entertain and captivate people, a decline in visitors resulting in a lack of financial support to sustain some of the wonderful and informative shows they put on.

Like the long closed down Old Sydney Town on the Central Coast, it's a part of living history that seems to be dying off.

I would encourage everyone one to go and visit. Support it, engage with the staff and learn what you can. It's a piece of our history that is worth hanging on to.

Pack snacks or lunch as there are limited refreshments inside the place. There is a small store with drinks and ice creams, and there are toilets and plenty of places to sit and take in the scenery.
They are quite stroller friendly, with pathways around for easy access to most buildings.

It’s definitely value for money, and staff are so nice 👍🏻 , each staff we’ve met are very approachable and friendly. The steam train is fun, and the miniature train. Absolutely will visit again next time in town.

Great place to go see with families, lots to do and understand the lifestyle back in that era. Meet Casper the cockatoo, ride the horse that carries the cart, ride the paddle boats, gold panning not 100% sure the gold specks are real gold though great fun for the kids to try, and the steam train is a must do. Overall a must do when your at PM.

P.S. In regards to the gold panning according to the info online about it, they pepper it weekly with 24carat gold so i guess its the real deal.

What a neat place! Just love the history. We enjoyed the steam train rine very much. This is a fantastic place to bring the kids.

Good half day experience. Do visit if you are passing by.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Absolutely a great tourist park to see & great for kids of all ages. Other than the entry fee which is great value, everything is included (free), inclusive of a steam train ride, horse & carriage ride, tractor ride, mini train ride, paddle boats, Gold (jem) panning and attractions.
If you want to see the olden days of everything about timber & old town living, this is a definite to go & visit.

Great place for children and adults alike. Steam train and all rides included in the low entry fee and only 21mins drive from the centre of Port Macquarie. Wonderful place, with steam train rides, tractor rides, horse and carriage rides, working sawmill, paddle boats, turn of the century school, church, cottages, barber, fire station and even a Winery !

We loved every experience here - our 6 year old son had a ball on the mini trains, the steam train, gold panning and the pedal boats. A trip back in time … educational, authentic and felt the time and effort and energy invested by the staff. Highly recommend for families. The BBQ a must !!

Awesome exoerience. Grear value for $$ considering all the attractions. Blacksmith was great, even had him make a personalised steel loveheart with our names. Recommend bringing cash as it is preferred for the shops inside and blacksmith had no eftpos so had to go to the front entry to pay and go back to collect our item. Overall a fun day out, recommend bringing own food and drinks as options were limited. Steam train ride was the highlight!!

Nice place for kids and family to have fun, immersive experience of a old cultural town. A lot of activity included in the entry ticket, reasonable price. A few animals are available for watching, other exhibitions include such as old car, treehouse and working tools. Took a few rides and were very interesting. Easy to book as well. Since we are on a relatively unpredictable roadtrip with lots of last minute decisions, this place is one of the easiest one to book if you can’t plan ahead.

I went here when I was a little boy near 20 years ago and recently returned. We had the most enjoyable day and the place is similar 20 years later. They offer so many things scheduled throughout the day to keep everyone busy from children through to adults. Today we attended near all of them from gold mining to whip cracking wine and port tasting live music and our favourite the train which is the highlight of the park a beautiful old fashioned locomotive. Highly recommended to anyone within reach or driving through.

Love Timbertown! We went during the week of the school holidays, it was very quiet but the kids absolutely loved it. We spent a whole day wandering and exploring the old town. Hardly any staff around due to shortages however it wasn't an issue.