How does this place sound?
One and a half hours to Sydney, forty five minutes to Newcastle, larger towns at 4km, 15km and 30km (the latter with a Westfield Shopping Centre). Railway station withing walking distance so can leave the car at home for shopping or air port. This town has eight doctors, chemist, x ray, pathology, dentists, hairdressers, butcher, newsagency, fruit shop, take away shop, clothing shop, post office, bottle shop, new restaurant (stone grill), real estate agent, workers club, fish shop, general store, fuel station, curves, gym, squash courts, two boat ramps. The terrain is flat so excellent for walking along a beautiful river front reserve. Anyone who likes water - you have the river, the largest inland tidal salt water lake in Australia and can go to sea if you wish. The development happening within a few km of this town is a huge Marina complex, new Coles and Woolworths and other specialty shops also Bunnings Hardware. You can still buy a waterfront property here for under $500,000 and others in the low two hundreds which are still only a few minutes walk to the water.