Then there is the Port's lesser known surfing culture that continues to attract thousands of holidaymakers, searching for that adrenaline rush at any of the various surf beaches that stretch from Anna Bay to Fingal Bay.

But Port Stephens has become more than just a surfing destination for wave seekers, it has also seen a percentage of people settle here just for the surf.

One such person is Mick Kershler, known by the local surfing fraternity as 'Beachcomber Mick', who moved with wife Bonnie (nee Eagleton and a descendant of Cecily Banks) into Anna Bay 46 years ago.

At 66, Mick still surfs the breaks of One Mile and Buribi. He is a founding and life member of the Bay Area Boardriders club and has made several lifelong friends surfing up and down the east coast of Australia and overseas.

But outside of the tight knit surfing community few people are aware of Mick's treasure trove of surfing memorabilia the equivalent of a mini surfing museum, hidden behind the facade of his Pacific Drive home.

Mick began his surfboard collection more than 30 years ago.

"I've lost count of the number of boards I have accrued in that time but let's say in excess of 250."

The boards are of all different makes and sizes, dating back to a 1934 canvas deck.

"Back in those days there was no wax, instead they covered the board in canvas and when the canvas rotted they would undo the beading and replace it with a new one."

His longest board is 10ft 6in (320cm) and while the majority were manufactured here in Australia, there are also Hawaiian and US made surfboards.

But Mick's surfing memorabilia extends beyond surfboards. There are a range of skate and boogie boards, surfing magazines and movies dating back to the early 1960s, surf hats and beanies, t-shirts and an album full of stickers. Bonnie's contribution to the mini museum is the vast array of sea shells.

The collection began quite by accident.

"A few years ago while on one of our surfing trips up the east coast of Australia we had called into Scott Dillon's Legend Surf Museum at Coffs Harbour and it was his suggestion that I publicly display my collection."

With a lack of space and resources, Mick was reluctant to open up a museum but his collection grew as more people both inside and outside of the surfing world learned of his mounting treasure.

In more recent times word of Beachcomber Mick's collection has spread and he has received both local and worldwide attention.

He has been featured in surfing magazines and on the television travel show Getaway, but it was a chance meeting with an American couple at a Birubi surfing carnival a few years ago which gave him international notoriety.

"I had met the couple who told me they were interested in surf design at the Anna Bay shops and invited them to view my collection. They were quite impressed and the next day I had a crew of five people filming for a television documentary."

Now a grandfather, Mick said that his love for surfing and the culture had provided he and wife Bonnie with nearly 50 years of happy memories and countless lifelong friends.

"For me surfing is more than the adrenaline rush you get riding a wave. It is the mateship you develop with fellow surfers," he said.

"On our travels both here in Australia and in places like Fiji and Bali, we run into friends we only ever encounter on the road."

He said another uplifting aspect of the sport was the health attributes to both mind and body. "There is no greater feeling than when you are out in the surf."

As for his lifetime collection of surfing paraphernalia, Mick says he will continue to collect items until there is either no more room to display them or his understanding wife of 46 years ceases to be so understanding.