Authorities will resume the search for two European tourists who have gone missing at a beach near Port Macquarie on NSW's mid-north coast.
Personal items belonging to Hugo Palmer and Erwan Ferrieux, both aged 20, were found by walkers on Shelley Beach at sunrise on Monday.
NSW Police say the large-scale ground and water search for the pair will resume first thing this morning after being temporarily suspended on Tuesday night.
One local said they saw the towels and gear belonging to Mr Palmer and Mr Ferrieux on the sand late on Sunday afternoon, raising questions about when the pair arrived at the beach.
"There was no sight of them anywhere then," the man wrote on Facebook on Tuesday as search crews scoured the coast.
The tourists' rental car was found in the Shelly Beach car park. It contained a number of other belongings including travel documents.
Mr Palmer, an Englishman, and Mr Ferrieux, a Frenchman, have been close friends for years, according to their Facebook pages.
They both appear to have attended Sackville School, south of London.
Police have been in contact with Mr Palmer's family in Britain and have been updating French consular officials about Mr Ferrieux, the ABC reported on Tuesday night.
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