Port Macquarie could do worse than have British music legend Petula Clark as an ambassador. The octogenarian insisted on having some down time to spend in what is one of her favourite places.
      "Is the sweet shop still next to the theatre?" she asks. When I answer in the affirmative she expresses her delight and says: "Oh good, I shall be there".
      Clark also has a favourite pelican, loves the Indian restaurants here and loves to walk along the breakwall. "It's such a pretty place."
      The non-stop songbird is squeezing this fleeting stopover in between other tours. "I suppose it's [my life] is hectic, but I get such pleasure out of it. Some bits are tiring, like the travel, but performing is my life."
      The down-to-earth pop princess of the '60s and beyond is bringing only her musical director from New York, which is where she is calling from, after running through the songs for her Australian concerts.
     "I have Australian musicians and I stopped straightening my hair ages ago. I do bring a lot of clothes, but I still iron them myself before I go on stage."
      Having had 159 Top 40 hits around the world, been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and honoured by Queen Elizabeth II as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire is there something this dynamo wants to achieve but hasn't.
      "Not really," is her honest answer. "I have been an achiever, never had a dream. Really my career has been a series of incidents, things that have happened. Yes I've worked hard, but people offer me things, and I turn down more than I accept.
      "I'm very good at doing nothing. I love nature and I have three [grown up] kids." Her daughters are based in Paris and New York and her son works in California. "A lot of my time when I am not touring is spent rushing around the globe to see them."
      The singer whose hits include Downtown, I Know a Place, Colour My World, A Sign of the times, Kiss Me Goodbye, The Other Man's Grass, I Couldn't Live Without Your Love, This is My Song and of course Don't Sleep in the Subway, admits to being pretty lucky.
      "I was sort of ashamed when I was doing [Andrew Lloyd Webber's] Sunset Boulevard in London. I would hear the rest of the cast warming up, and think maybe I should be doing some warm-up exercises."
      Clark was never formally trained, but her crystal clear vocals remain as sweet today as in her heyday. "I never forget the lyrics, but I will do some rehearsal [with the musicians] when I get to Melbourne.
      Apart from the "old friends" [her hits], Clark will perform songs from new album From Now On. The first single Sacrifice My Heart is as contemporary as it gets. "It [the album] was written mostly with young people. I like songs that are fresh and exciting."