About the Area

Bellingen

The heart of the Bellinger Valley is the township of Bellingen. It has been a thriving little community of hippies and musicians and has a lot to offer in food, drink and culture for its modest size.

Bellingen has plenty of options for food from the new Bellingen Brewing Co. with woodfired pizza to fine dining at Qudo Cafe & Sake. Blueberry damper rolls at The Swiss Patisserie are Leanna’s favourite! There is also a Woodfired Bakery selling fresh breads, pies, lunches and coffee. Ants vote is for Hyde as the best spot in town for coffee.

No. 5 Church St is a place we love, selling meals made from local produce and has live music on weekends. (They make great chips and garlic aioli). No. 5 backs onto the brewery so you can also order food here and then have it delivered to the Brewery to eat.

The Hammond & Wheatley Emporium sells clothing and giftware. The original building was built in 1900 and added to in 1908. We love it as much of the original interior is still there in the pressed metal ceilings and the style of the timber.

If you're interested in getting onto the river, kayaks and tours are available for hire from Bellingen Canoe Adventures.

Accommodation in Bellingen >

Dorrigo

Anthony loves this spot and it is definitely worth a trip if you can. After a very steep windy drive up the mountain about 30minutes from Bellingen you reach the plateau of Dorrigo.
Visit The Skywalk lookout where you can see all the way back to the coast. Shortly before you reach Dorrigo you can stop at The Glade car park for a 1-2 hour walk on the bush track to the waterfall of Crystal Shower Falls. Dangar Falls is easy to access with parking close by and a 5min walk to the waterfall.

Promised Land

Close by to Gleniffer Church the Promised Land on the Never Never River is a a beautiful area and worth a drive around the loop road as it goes close to the base of the mountains and crosses the river a couple of times. Great spot to swim too but can be pretty cool at this time of year!

Coffs Harbour

Lea’s hometown! If you are planning on spending time in Coffs then Coffs Harbour Marina and The Jetty are great places to start. Keep an eye out for sea turtles, rays and dolphins as they are frequent visitors to to the marina. Here you can buy fresh fish and chips from the Co-op or tasty burgers from The Galley.

The Macauleys headland walk over to Digger’s Beach is nice even if the weather isn’t hot enough for swimming. Charlesworth Bay is a magical spot to check out too. Forest Sky Pier on Sealy Lookout Drive provide an amazing view back to the coast.

May is the start of the whale migration from the colder southern waters to the warmer Queensland waters for their breeding season. So from May til November they can easily be seen from our headlands. You can take a boat trip from Jetty Dive and see them up nice and close!

Hope you have a whale of a time... ;)

Food and Drink:

Great coffee: Supply (Our all time favourite) or Salute on Jetty Beach

Club Brunch: Park Beach Surf Club with a view of the ocean

Lunch: Shearwater Restaurant is a great spot for lunch on the creek or of course Fish and Chips from the Co-Op

Dinner (takeaway): So many Thai options or for amazing Ethiopian try Mana Chita

Dining out: the Jetty strip on Harbour Drive has a wide variety of restaurants

Sawtell

Sawtell has patrolled surf beach and a café at the surf club, with great views of the ocean. Drive to the end of the road that veers left just at the southern end of the shops and it winds around to a lookout over the ocean and past an inlet to Bonville Lake on the right.

63 Sawtell Avenue is another café which we like. Selling fresh meals and Beer and Cider from The Bellingen Brewery.

Urunga

The sleepy fishing town of Urunga is where we got engaged :) The 1km boardwalk is a nice stroll out to the ocean and you may spot a whale from here too.

Anchor’s Wharf is a good spot for lunch as it’s right on the water on the way into town. Our favourite place to go for a bite is Pomegranate Cafe and just next door Urunga Bakery is one of those amazing classic small town bakeries with traditional Aussie pies. Naturally fish and chips are never too far away at Urunga Take Away.

We took this photograph from the Urunga boardwalk sunrise on the morning we got engaged...

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Nestled in the Bellinger Valley, the town of Bellingen is surrounded by natural beauty. From rivers to mountains and waterfalls the area has a lot to explore if you have time to spend either side of the big day. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

For anyone who hasn't been to the area before we've included a few details Coffs Coast below to help with your planning!