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Nambucca Heads
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The casual resort town of
NAMBUCCA HEADS
makes a good base for trips to the rivers, mountains and forests of the hinterland; it's also a great place to break the long haul from Sydney to Brisbane - whether you're travelling by car, bus or train (the train station is on Bowra St, about 3km from the centre). From the headlands near the town centre there are fantastic views of the mouth of Nambucca River, and of the seemingly endless sweep of sandy beaches that stretch both north and south from here. There's fishing, windsurfing and canoeing available to take advantage of the gentler waters at the river mouth, and some excellent surf on the ocean beaches. From vantage points at
Scotts Head
, a popular surfing spot, whales can sometimes be sighted during their southern migration (Aug-Oct).
For information on these and other activities around town (including white-water rafting and horse riding), call in at the visitor information centre on the Pacific Highway at the southern entrance to town (daily 9am-5pm; tel 02/6568 6954, www.here.com.au ). You can book accommodation here; motels and apartments are generally better value here than in Port Macquarie or Coffs Harbour. Perhaps the cosiest place of all to stay is Beilby's Beach House at 1 Ocean St (tel 02/6568 6466, www.midcoast.com.au/~beilbys ; $50-70), a great, homely B&B with a pool, good-value rooms and a great location overlooking the dramatic coastline, just a ten-minute walk from the shops. Alternatively, try the renovated family-run Scotts Guesthouse , 4 Wellington Drive (tel 02/6568 6386, fax 6569 4169, http://nnsw.worldtourism.com.au/ScottsHeadBB ; en-suite B&B $50-90), or the attractively located White Albatross Holiday Centre , Wellington Drive (tel 02/6568 6468; cabins $35-50, on-site vans $20-35), with a tennis court, tavern, cafe and children's playground. The cheapest option is the pleasant Nambucca Backpackers , 3 Newman St (tel & fax 02/6568 6360 or free call 1800 630 633; rooms $35-50, dorms under $20), a small, cosy, family-run hostel with free use of boogie-boards, snorkelling and fishing gear, and free pick-up from the bus terminal or train station. A good place to eat is Johnny's Pizza , in the town centre on Kent Street, serving delicious gourmet hot dogs, salad sandwiches and pizzas, while Nirvana Sawadee , next door to the tourist office, is a traditional Thai restaurant that makes good use of fresh local seafood. The coolest place in town is the licensed V-Wall Tavern on Wellington Drive (tel 02/6568 6344), which serves great coffee and gourmet city cafe fare. Singapore-Malay and Chinese dishes are on offer at Ken Leong's at the Nambucca League's Club by Coronation Park (tel 02/6568 7415). Nambucca Heads is on the main Sydney-Brisbane bus and train routes; Kings Bus Service (tel 02/6562 4724) runs to Port Macquarie or Tamworth and back three times a week. Local buses leave from Bowra Street outside the police station: Newman's Coaches (tel 02/6568 1296) operates Monday to Friday only between Nambucca Heads and Coffs Harbour via Bowraville; Jessups Bus Service (tel 02/6653 4552) goes on schooldays only to Coffs Harbour via Urunga and Bellingen; and Joyce's (tel 02/6655 6330) goes to Urunga, again on schooldays only.
Heading inland from Nambucca, it's about half an hour's drive to the picturesque former timber town of
BOWRAVILLE
, where you can rest up in the old pub, now renovated to its former glory, and browse in a few arts-and-crafts shops and the jumble of Gleeson's Second Hand Store.
The Phoenix Gallery & Tea Rooms
is a pleasant refreshment stop. From here, you can travel on unsealed forest roads to the small, alternative town of Bellingen, although it's more easily reached on the sealed road which turns off the Pacific Highway after Urunga. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Australia,
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