Homeward Bound

The final two stops on our journey home from Ballina proved to be a hit and a miss.  Our first stop was the Harrington River Lodge overlooking the expansive Harrington River.  Garry and I stopped here several years ago and were duly impressed by the burgeoning planned community taking shape along the river bank. We were curious to see if our first impressions would hold up during a second visit.

I'm delighted to say that Harrington continues to impress us.  The community continues to flourish and the facilities have been well maintained.  We spent two relaxing nights here.  The sunset on the first night was undoubtedly a real highlight of our vacation.  Once again we were entertained by dolphins frolicking in the river's tranquil waters and pelicans balancing delicately on local street lamps.

However, the surprise highlight on our journey south was Nambucca Heads.  On a whim, we decided to take a brief detour and visit this seaside town.  The vista that greeted us as we pulled into a lookout on the headlands simply took our breath away. The town sits on the mouth of a picturesque river, punctuated by sweeping white sand bars. The headlands also include a small, sheltered lake nestled behind a coastal breakwater.  All in all, it was an impressive location.  We've decided we'll sneak back here soon for a long weekend.

Our final stop on our way to Sydney was Bannisters in Port Stephens.  Rick Steins has a popular seafood restaurant here and the hotel's review are punctuated by images of sublime coastal views.  However, our stay at this pricey upmarket motel-style resort proved disappointing. It was our most expensive accommodation yet delivered the least impressive experience. I honestly felt royally ripped off and was rather embarrassed I’d gifted Garry the cost of our stay for Christmas.

First, our ocean view room wasn't located on the building’s ocean-facing facade. Instead, we found ourselves sharing a barren marble clad balcony with three other rooms.  This meant the room offered limited privacy and our view of the neighbouring park’s trees wasn't worth the premium price we paid.  

Second, the hospitality staff’s service varied from excellent to downright mediocre. The service at breakfast both mornings was particularly woeful. We had to chase down the staff to get a coffee and cutlery. Identical meals arrived with missing accoutrements. The toast we ordered never arrived. In all honesty the breakfast we enjoyed in the mountains at Dorrigo was street ahead of Bannisters.

However, there were a few memorable highlights. Dinner at Rick Steins was superb, as was our lunch at the Point Restaurant in nearby Solider's Point. However, these culinary treats won’t tempt us back to Bannisters any time soon.

Dorrigo National Park

Garry and I have spent the first week of the new year making our way home after a much-needed Summer vacation in Ballina.  Our return journey has been broken into three separate scenic stops.  Our first stop takes us inland to Dorrigo National Park. This tranquil location sits on the popular Waterfall Way, a scenic highway that winds its way over the Great Dividing Range between Coffs Harbour and Armidale.

We based ourselves for two nights at the Lost Mountain Resort a few kilometres east of Dorrigo township.  This proved to be a superb venue.  The resort's cafe served an awesome breakfast. The surrounding mountain views and local birdlife were equally sublime. However, the region is best known for its spectacular waterfalls.

During our stay, we visited the impressive Dangar Falls, walked the Wonga Track to the equally impressive Crystal Shower Falls and stopped to admire two smaller falls that cascade down the slopes and pass directly under the local highway. 

The Wonga Walk proved to be a real highlight.  We saw plenty of birdlife along the way including a male Bush Turkey building an enormous nesting mount, King Parrots and some adorable finches.  The Crystal Shower Falls were well worth the 3km round trip hike. 

The approach to the falls is marked by a suspension bridge that carries walkers across the valley in front of the falls.  From here a short side track takes you behind the falls where you can look through the cascading veil of water.

The National Park's Rainforest Centre also featured an impressive Skywalk. This cantilevered gangway stretches out over the canopy rewarding visitors with an uninterrupted view across the National Park's scenic valleys.

Ballina Bliss

2020 has been one heck of a rollercoaster ride for everyone. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen our lives turned upside down in more ways than one.  Garry and I have fared better than most.  Our business ultimately boomed during the year. Sales grew an extraordinary 74% as house-bound parents strived to keep their children entertained and bring a little joy in the midst of chaos.

However, the growth took its toll. We found ourselves working long hours, weekends and public holidays in an effort to keep on top of day-to-day tasks. We also took advance of the unique economic conditions to hire new staff and relocate the business into some superb new premises. These strategic investments all took their own toll on our sanity.

As Christmas approached, we were both in desperate need of a real down-time vacation. As a result, decided to book a two-week Summer break on the New South Wales north coast. In the COVID era, domestic travel is fraught with its own risks and challenges. As intermittent virus outbreaks continue, State Governments are opening and shutting their borders with little warning. This invariably complicates the planning of any vacation.

Garry and I decided to limit ourselves to travelling within the state to keep things stress-free. We ultimately booked seven nights at the Ramada Resort in Ballina after a coveted roof-top corner suite suddenly became available. We've stayed at the Ramada twice before (but never in the corner suite) and have always said we'd return. Then, to complete the return home, we'll work our way back down the coast, breaking the journey with three scenic stops overnight.

We started our road trip early on Boxing Day. A 7am departure saw us miss the worst of Sydney’s holiday traffic. We then broke up the drive to Ballina with an overnight stop in Port Macquarie.  This small regional city proved to be an unexpected highlight with its stunning harbour and coastal scenery, retail and dining options. The town is also famous for its Koala Hospital where injured animals are nursed back to health.

Further north, our journey was made easier thanks to the recent opening of a final section of “missing” dual carriageway on the Pacific Highway. You can now travel between Sydney and Brisbane without the notorious traffic bottlenecks and accident zones the highway has long been known for.  There are now just two remaining sections where traffic doesn't flow uninterrupted; Hexham/Raymond Terrace near Newcastle and Coffs Harbour.  However, construction is about to start on a by-pass around Coffs Harbour and funding has been approved for the missing Hexham link.

Garry and I spent seven glorious days in Ballina enjoying the uninterrupted river and coastal views from our penthouse suite. During our stay, we were entertained by soaring pelicans, dolphins plying the river, a green sea turtle and dive-bombing gulls. We did absolutely nothing and yet the days seemed to fly by.

Mudgee

Mudgee has got to be one of New South Wales’ best-kept secrets. This vibrant country town nestled in the foothills of the Goulburn River National Park proved to be an unexpected highlight on our recent inland road trip. Garry and I spent two nights here enjoying many of its popular attractions.

The town’s first highlight was our accommodation. We booked ourselves into a boutique B&B hotel called Hanger House. This modern building sits on the edge of the local airport’s runway. It features a dramatic curving roofline that encompasses a working aircraft hangar and five luxuriously appointed bedroom suites. It’s probably the only hotel we’ve ever stayed at where you fly in and park your plane inside the building.

We later learned from the owners that the hotel was originally built to house a flying school. However, this venture failed before it was launched. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. It was refreshing to sit on the balcony of our room, the Constellation Suite, and look out over the runway threshold and surrounding farmland.

The bulk of our stay was spent doing a private, full-day, wine tour of the Mudgee region with a small outfit called Country Escape Tours. I had no idea the area was filled with so many established wineries before planning our road trip. We sampled some impressive wines, including a sparkling wine called The Lucky Find. This unexpected find is aptly named. We felt it was equal to anything produced by a top French champagne house. 

We also dined one evening at the highly-rated Pipeclay Pumphouse. This fine dining restaurant located in the Robert Stein Vineyard & Winery served up an impressive meal. Our table looked out over a picturesque reed-fringed dam running along one side of the building. It was easily the best meal we experienced on our entire road trip.

The final night of our road trip saw us make our way over the Blue Mountains via Lake Windamere to Medlow Bath. Here we stopped overnight at the recently restored Hydro Majestic Hotel. We enjoyed a high tea in the main lounge shortly after checking in. This proved a fitting end to our inland travel adventure. I doubt we’d have planned such a thoroughly enjoyable holiday had the borders not been closed between New South Wales and neighbouring states. Perhaps the pandemic has a silver lining after all?

Western Plains Zoo

We’ve made a return visit to Dubbo’s Western Plains Zoo. Garry and I last visited in March 2005. At the time we took advantage of some cheap Qantas airfares, flew to Dubbo, and hired a car. I recall that our itinerary included a comprehensive visit to the Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran. The complex was hosting an open day that gave us a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at several observatories including the massive Anglo-Australian Telescope.

This time around, our visit to Dubbo was all about the Zoo. For starters, we booked accommodation in the Zoo’s Savannah Cottages located on the edge of its African grasslands exhibit. The cottages are set on a hill outside the boundaries of the Zoo so it wasn’t quite the immersive experience we’d hoped it would be. There is a lodge within the grounds that you can stay at, but it operates more like a hotel. Garry and I wanted something a little more self-contained, so we opted for one of the free-standing apartment-style cottages.

We booked two nights in Dubbo. The first evening ended up devoted to business. We spent the afternoon interviewing for a warehouse manager role our 3PL provider wanted to fill. By the time we were done, we’d spent more than four hours hosting a video call and subsequent debrief session. The shortlisted candidate we met didn’t impress us, so we felt we’d wasted half a day of annual leave.

The following day was spent almost entirely based at the Zoo. We drove from exhibit to exhibit, taking our time to soak up the scenery, spot the animals and enjoy their antics. Highlights included watching the giraffes and rhinos feed, getting up close and personal with the meerkats, and being entertained by the hyper-active otter families.

We then spent our final morning in town revisiting a few of our favourite animal exhibits at the Zoo before making our way to Mudgee via the historic gold-mining town of Gulgong. I’d never heard of this town before researching our road trip. 

Gulgong is the childhood home of bush poet Henry Lawson. Its narrow, winding streets are lined with dozens and dozens of beautifully preserved heritage-listed buildings. We spent an hour or so wandering through this 19th Century time capsule of town. I later read that around 130 buildings in Gulgone are listed on the National Trust’s register.

Finally, a quick shout-out to the famous Nyngan helicopter.  This unique display outside the defunct railway station in the centre of town memorializes dramatic rescues conducted by the Australian Air Force during record-breaking floods in April 1990.  At the height of the floods, more than 2,500 stranded residents had to be evacuated by helicopter from the railway station, the highest and only unflooded place in town. For us, the station was a handy pitstop on the long - and unbelievably straight - road between Bourke and Dubbo.

Out the back of Bourke

I can finally say that I’ve literally “been out the back of Bourke”. This classic Australian colloquialism typically refers to extremely remote locations. The term is very apt. I can testify that getting to Bourke is quite a journey. It took four days driving from Port Macquarie for Garry and I to finally reach this far-flung town.

 

I booked us into the Bourke Bridge Inn, a boutique hotel offering some smartly appointed semi-detached rooms in North Bourke. The nearby namesake bridge is the only crossing on the Darling River for more than 100km. The hotel sits on the edge of North Bourke overlooking the river and its original trestle-clad lift bridge that’s no longer in use.

 

Bourke proved a real highlight of our inland road trip. The town has a surprising number of tourist attractions including the impressive Back O' Bourke Information & Exhibition Centre. The centre houses a series of exhibits that bring to life the Outback and its history. We spent a couple of hours here discovering stories of early exploration, bush poets, local bush rangers, the grazing industry, outback legends, and conflicts.

We also went cruising the Darling River on the PV Jandra Paddleboat. The boat conveniently departed from a wharf upstream from our hotel. As a result, we got to see our hotel glide by while experiencing the historic lift bridge from a skipper’s vantage point. Cruising through the outback with a cold drink to hand was an incredibly relaxing way to spend an afternoon.

In its heyday, Bourke was a thriving inland port handling wool bound for world markets via the Darling River. At one time it was the world’s largest inland port. Three wharves originally stood where a current replica now stands. We spent a leisurely afternoon exploring this impressive multiple-level wooden structure and the neighbouring river park.

In a shed on the edge of the park, we came across a restored Crossley Engine on display and were lucky enough to see it in operation. This an excellent example of an early water-cooled four-stroke diesel-type engine that superseded the steam era. This particular engine was initially used from 1923 to 1938 in the Sydney Power House to generate electricity for Australia’s largest city.

However, this wasn’t the most extraordinary historical sight of significance we visited. On our way into Bourke, we stopped in Brewarrina to look at its Aboriginal fish traps. Known locally as Baiame’s Ngunnhu, these traps were built by the Ngemba people alongside neighbouring nations like the Weilwan. This extraordinary system consists of river stones arranged to form intricate channels along a 500-metre tiered section of the Barwon River.

The structure’s dry-stone walls strategically direct migrating fish into 12 distinct, teardrop-shaped holding pools, allowing them to be harvested sustainably without depleting local populations. According to Australian scientist Corey Tutt, the entire structure operates on a sophisticated, deeply embedded understanding of river hydraulics, fish behaviour, seasonal water flows, and long-term resource management.

The age of the fish traps is currently unknown. However, a growing number of scientists historians speculate that they may be the oldest human construction in the world. Some claim that the traps are at least 40,000 years old and thus the oldest surviving human-made structure in the world.