Ballina, Byron, Port Macquarie, Yamba - What to do..

[Mr Invisible]

Planning a holiday soon and since I've barely checked out these places, was thinking of doing so.

BUT

Is there anything actually to do in these placs, as there isn't a whole lot coming up online, and I need to determine how long (if at all) to stay in these places.

Cheers

 

[south of heaven]

Ngaru village yamba .
Birpai Local Aboriginal Land Council .port Macquarie.
Bunjum Aboriginal Co Ballina
Planet Corroboree.. Byron

Have fun

 

[Alan79]

One of the adds that runs locally tells me Ricardo's tomatoes had been voted the best tourist destination in port Macquarie the years running. So if you want to see how they grow tomatoes and strawberries in glasshouse conditions I'd pencil that one in for an hour of your trip.

 

[Mr Invisible]

I probably should have said what we like doing.

I'm looking for attractions mainly, although we do a bit of bushwalking in National Parks, so that will be on the list.

I've heard people talk about these areas before, but eager to find out exactly why. Maybe it's the beaches during summer?

Kingscliff is another option around that area too.

One of the adds that runs locally tells me Ricardo's tomatoes had been voted the best tourist destination in port Macquarie the years running. So if you want to see how they grow tomatoes and strawberries in glasshouse conditions I'd pencil that one in for an hour of your trip.

Nice !!! Will have to check that out (and wander out feeling sorry for myself due to over indulgence).

Ngaru village yamba .
Have fun

I should have stated somewhere where I won't get stabbed.

 

[Hacky McAxe]

The locals mainly do drugs. Other than that...

 

[Hacky McAxe]

One of my friends lives in Ballina. Went to visit her and she took me to the most raging nightclub in the city. Friday night and there were two other people there.

 

[The DoggFather]

Fuck all in Port Macquarie, except the strawberry farm where you can pick your own berries.

They tell you don't eat them before you pay bit it's impossible lol

 

[CroydonDog]

Go see the Big Thnigs, like the Big Banana and the Big Prawn.

 

[GTOWN]

Most of the decent bush walking is either Mt Warning up north or around Ebor/Dorrigo to the west of coffs harbour... although both are a decent drive inland, worth a look if you dont intend on staying on the coast
Full moon paddle with Yamba Kayaks is worth looking at
Big Banana at coffs
Bonville golf course if your into that sort of thing
Drugs aplenty in Nimbin
Evans Head fishing charters (theres a nice little RAAF museum in evans with an F111 as well)
Im sure theres more...
and the Grafton Services Club for the best beers in Grafton (not guaranteed)

 

[habs]

Yamba. Decent camping spots, trecking and fishing.

 

[Mr Invisible]

Done most of those things (mentioned around Coffs) already as I've extensively hammered Coffs during a number of holidays as well as during WRC Rally Australia. Big Banana, etc etc.. Big Prawn is demolished I believe. We don't do golf or fishing, and me and camping don't work lol.

We've ditched the idea of Byron, Ballina and Port Mac due to F All to do there.

Yamba we'll probably head to Angourie.

Plan is now Armidale > Ebor > Dorrigo/Bellingen > Yamba > Surfers Paradise

 

[Alan79]

There are a couple of good waterfall walks near Armidale. Wollomombi falls and dangarsleigh falls. Dangarsleigh falls has a range of trails of varying length and difficulty. There's also a good walking trail at the blue hole where a hydroelectric station used to run. Ebor falls is also quite nice. Pretty close to Wollomombi falls is a trout hatchery you can visit. Never been there myself but if you check out the falls it's probably worth a trip there too. If you are interested the NERAM art gallery is also ok and th here used to be a good cafe there that's mate of mine managed, I don't know if its still open but my mate didn't run it these days. Armidale has some very decorative churches if you like that kind of thing as well I'm an Armidale local, if you want I'll head down to the visitor info centre and get a list of other activities since That's about all I can think of right now.

I think there is another interesting walk called the skywalk near Dorrigo too, buy don't quote me on that.

 

[Wahesh]

I've been to Port Macquarie and I don't recall too much being up there. It's mainly a nice coastal town but not much else. It's probably better to head 2 hours further north to Coffs Harbour.

In terms of beaches, it's pretty much got beaches similar to Port Macquarie. It wins you over with the Big Banana though. That amusement park has:

• Water Slide
• Giant Slide
• Putt Putt Golf
• Ice Skating
• Laser Tag
• Toboggan
• Theatre
• Cafes and Gift Shops

Heaps of fun for couples and young families.

From one big thing to another, if you're going to Ballina, you must visit the Big Prawn.

Look I'll be honest, I've been up there, and there's not a hole lot. You can look out the window through the eyes of the prawn but that's about it. It's just an icon of the town itself.

 

[Alan79]

Done most of those things (mentioned around Coffs) already as I've extensively hammered Coffs during a number of holidays as well as during WRC Rally Australia. Big Banana, etc etc.. Big Prawn is demolished I believe. We don't do golf or fishing, and me and camping don't work lol.

We've ditched the idea of Byron, Ballina and Port Mac due to F All to do there.

Yamba we'll probably head to Angourie.

Plan is now Armidale > Ebor > Dorrigo/Bellingen > Yamba > Surfers Paradise

Take a look at tripadvisor.com.au MrI. It's got a list of 28 things to do in and around Armidale and I dare say it will list the activities of most places you could think of to visit.

Edit. If you decide to visit the pine forest which is listed there they've been building some nice trails for mountain biking over the last couple of years. Some are adventurous, some are very beginner friendly. You could hire some mountain bikes from sport UNE and explore them if you enjoy that kind of thing. If you are dragging your pooch along for this trip the pine forest is a really popular dog walking area too.

 

[CroydonDog]

Take a look at tripadvisor.com.au MrI. It's got a list of 28 things to do in and around Armidale and I dare say it will list the activities of most places you could think of to visit.

Edit. If you decide to visit the pine forest which is listed there they've been building some nice trails for mountain biking over the last couple of years. Some are adventurous, some are very beginner friendly. You could hire some mountain bikes from sport UNE and explore them if you enjoy that kind of thing. If you are dragging your pooch along for this trip the pine forest is a really popular dog walking area too.

Armidale is bloody cold.

On the way up, if you are going through Uralla, there is a nice little brewery there called New England Brewing Co.

 

[Alan79]

Armidale is bloody cold.

On the way up, if you are going through Uralla, there is a nice little brewery there called New England Brewing Co.

Amen about it being bloody cold. Uralla also has the thunderbolt museum which is worth a look at. It's built in the building where the Uralla mill used to operate. It's got a pretty big variety of historical info, a nice collection of memorabilia like old tools, a couple of bits of sporting memorabilia and the basement has a nice collection of antique machinery.

 

[CroydonDog]

Amen about it being bloody cold. Uralla also has the thunderbolt museum which is worth a look at. It's built in the building where the Uralla mill used to operate. It's got a pretty big variety of historical info, a nice collection of memorabilia like old tools, a couple of bits of sporting memorabilia and the basement has a nice collection of antique machinery.

I stayed a night in a tent at the Caravan park at Tenterfield a couple weeks ago. It got down to about zero - not ideal in a tent!

 

[Alan79]

I stayed a night in a tent at the Caravan park at Tenterfield a couple weeks ago. It got down to about zero - not ideal in a tent!

You are braver than me. I just won't camp round here in the colder months. Hope you didn't fall victim to the Tentrefield tummy bug. Their water used to make most visitors sick. It was supposed to be the worst drinking water in nsw. It may have improved in the 8 years since I had any family living there, but we used to only drink boiled or bottled water in Tenterfield

 

[CroydonDog]

You are braver than me. I just won't camp round here in the colder months. Hope you didn't fall victim to the Tentrefield tummy bug. Their water used to make most visitors sick. It was supposed to be the worst drinking water in nsw. It may have improved in the 8 years since I had any family living there, but we used to only drink boiled or bottled water in Tenterfield

I had a bottle of rum to keep me warm. but it probably had the opposite effect. The Thai food in the main street wasn't bad for a little country town place that tries to cater to western/country pallettes.

 

[Alan79]

I had a bottle of rum to keep me warm. but it probably had the opposite effect. The Thai food in the main street wasn't bad for a little country town place that tries to cater to western/country pallettes.

The rum probably helped to counteract the terrible bacteria filled water. I don't recall the name of the place, but they used to have a little cafe near the tenterfield saddlery that made bigger burgers than I've seen elsewhere in my life. That's about the only food I recall eating there that wasn't a family BBQ or hot chips. The one Thai restaurant I've eaten at in Armidale made every dish with coconut milk which I find disgusting. The dad thing is that it was bloody expensive.