High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Lake Macquarie is Australia`s largest coastal salt water lake, covering an area of 110 square kilometres (42.5 sq mi) in the Hunter Region of New South Wales with most of the City of Lake Macquarie`s residents living near its shores. It is connected to the Tasman Sea by a short channel. Lake Macquarie is twice as large as Sydney Harbour and is the largest permanent salt water lake in the southern hemisphere. However, it is slightly smaller than Port Stephens, which is about 43 kilometres (27 mi) to the northeast of the lake.