Mark 'Strawny' Strachan to retire from breakfast presenting with Southern Cross Austereo

Those are just three things Mark 'Strawny' Strachan is looking forward to doing after his 33-year on-air breakfast presence on the Mid North Coast ends on December 23.

His routine 3am alarm will be pushed back a couple of hours to allow for a different routine to start before he tucks his surfboard under his arm and tackles the waves at Flynns Beach.

"There will be no more very ordinary onshore winds and crappy surf in the afternoon," Strachan said.

"I reckon I'll sleep in until 5.30am and I'll be over here (at the beach) at a quarter to six having a surf."

Strachan acknowledged it was a privilege to have been invited into people's homes, cars or be in their ears during their morning walks over the last three decades.

But a change is as good as a holiday - and he says there will be plenty of those.

Strachan never set out to be controversial or be a presenter who was full of his own opinions. He hopes he has achieved that.

"I always wanted to give people a happy start to the day and tell them what's going on, but have a bit of fun too," he said.

"You learn off the great ones like Lawsy that no matter what you're doing, you have to make it entertaining. I've enjoyed living here so much and to have been involved with the community.

"I've just been a voice that hopefully people can trust."

Strachan left school as a 15-year-old before he received his first job as an 18-year-old where he worked six or seven days a week.

He admitted the pandemic had provided the opportunity to take stock, reflect and figure out whether he wanted to continue with that busy lifestyle or take a step back.

In the end it was an easy decision to make.

"I'm going to have 12 months of not doing anything and I've had 31 great years in the [Port Macquarie] surf club [but] my proficiency ends on December 31," he said.

Fifteen years of rowing surfboats and having a life ruled by a 3am alarm ultimately took its toll when the 57-year-old realised there was the opportunity to not work weekends.

"I never thought I'd retire; I just thought I'd work and work because I really love my work, but when COVID came I really enjoyed it," he said.

"When we were forced to have time where you couldn't go out... at 57 I went 'hang on, how long has this Saturday/Sunday off business been going on'?"

While Strachan admits he will miss the people, one of the highlights in his career was an April Fools Day joke he played which "got" almost everyone on the Mid North Coast.

It was described early in the morning on the airwaves as a man-eating shark which had washed up on Town Beach.

From there, the story gained traction as people woke up.

"You had to give the story a semblance of credibility but as the morning went on it got sillier and sillier and ended up like a cartoon," Strachan recalled.

"I said I had heard helicopters flying overhead and then had staged callers ringing up saying they heard them fly over Kempsey and were heading south.

"We set up a tent [at Town Beach] which faced out to sea so you couldn't see inside unless you went down to the water's edge. When you got down there it was the bloke from Mike's Seafood eating shark, so it was a man eating shark."

Strachan said he still got a laugh out of reporter Nathan Edwards who was seen running across the beach with three camera crews.

"He abused me in a nice way afterwards and goes 'no-one ever got me in all my years in Sydney'," Strachan laughed.

Strawny's Brekky Show will continue in 2023 with son Alex announced as the incoming presenter.

Strachan said it was a proud moment for the family to have still been able to keep the name on the airwaves.

"Everyone thinks I own the joint because I have the brekky show, but it was a pretty big achievement (for Alex) to make the last few, let alone get the job," he said.

"I'm sure he's going to enjoy it as much as I have, but I've already had a mate who's contacted me saying I'm the new Kim Jong-un and the dynasty is there like North Korea, but it was never planned."

Alex has spent many years overseas and has returned home where he will start on January 16.

"I'm stoked he's inspired about radio the same way I was when I started and particularly in this part of the coast," Strachan said.

"He's lived in a lot of other different places; he knows, like I do, this is the best place."

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