|
|
Mount Warning from Tweed Heads, northernmost town of N.S.W.'s North Coast. | ||||
|
The core of the Northern Rivers region is from Nambucca to the Tweed River but we will cover some of the more southerly rivers of the mid North Coast. So let's look at this region extending from midpoint between Sydney and Brisbane (which are ca 600 miles or 960 kms apart), to as far as the Queensland border. Waterwise, from Sydney to Brisbane might be divided into two distinct regions: predominantly lakes from Sydney to Forster/Tuncurry (about 200 miles or 300 kms) and rivers from Taree to the Tweed (350 miles/550 kms). This makes an aquatic playground stretching over 800 kms, of large lakes and about 8 big rivers. The climate, particularly in the north, is sub-tropical, and locations such as Byron Bay and Coffs Harbour, the former popular with cockroaches (the human kind) from across the border, are relatively warm in winter and cool in summer. This is pretty much the opposite of a city such as Brisbane, which is unbearably hot and sticky in summer and almost as cold as Sydney in winter, thus resulting in the aforementioned stream of cockroaches (don't blame me; I didn't invent the terminology) from sweaty, overdeveloped south-east Queensland to the more pristine, verdant environment of northern New South Wales.Don't get me wrong; Brisbane is a city of currently, just the right size, in a scenic river environment which is very pleasant to visit around May or September. The negatives would be living there all year round in a less than ideal climate in close contact with Queenslanders. The Australian holiday season starts revving up in late November with stuvacs (students going wild after exams) and tapers off in February with people returning to work and students enrolling for the new academic year. This means that Queensland's Gold Coast region at the top end of the northern rivers is crammed with obnoxious teenage students determined to make their insignificant presence felt. For you yanks, think of Florida spring break.Byron Bay is almost as bad, but, as well, it has the aforementioned cockroaches. So, the pleasant time of year to visit is spring and autumn. Winter is when the roads are chockers with slow-moving Victorian geriatrics heading for Rockhampton and Cairns or anywhere that's warmer than Melbourne. | |||
 As mentioned, travel times by train are slow; I did it recently but had learned my lesson from the trip down by sleeper, getting very little sleep; thus on the way back northwards I broke the journey at Coffs Harbour for a couple of nights, availing myself of the great bistro at Coffs R.S.L. The ideal climate of the Northern Rivers is represented by the toothsome trio: Port Macquarie, Coffs and Byron Bay. Being most northerly, Byron is the warmest and most socially active. Ideal climate is defined in terms not too hot a summer and not too cool in winter. | ||||
Physical Activities. White water Rafting, Surfing, Horse Riding, Touring, Fishing, Whale-Watching. | Cultural Activities. Beer Drinking, Jazz Festivals, Marijuana Demos, and the occasional musical and theatrical performance. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
My choice for eating is Ballina RSL where the evening view onto the river from the bistro is wont to include fisherman in tinnies and the odd dolphin gliding by. Some motels: Colonial, Ballina 9/10 standard 8/10 value. Blue Waters, Kingscliff 7/10 standard 7/10 value. Commercial, Broadwater 5/10 standard 7/10 value. Golden Glow, Coffs Harbour 6/10 standard 6/10 value. Links onwards and outwards. Page 2. Last page (under construction). OS - Some More Travel. Page 2. Last page (under construction). Witchery - Garment | ||||
Transport and Communications.