The first in a series about Bellingen, New South Wales, the beautiful country town near the sea which is permanently cool these days – despite being sub-tropical hot in November-February.

It’s been 15 years since I first recorded a podcast about Bellingen for Holiday Goddess and I was surprised to go back to my old town, to find it had become quietly (very) cool.

The Australian Formula

Despite this, especially in spring, it’s not crowded with visitors.

Bellingen also has that classic Australian country town formula: water bowls for dogs, good coffee, a monthly market, several really great bookshops; an excellent retro/vintage shop and a big, outdoorsy pub with chef’s kiss seafood.

There is a small stage for a local band in the pub, a local hall for bigger bands and New Year’s Eve – and the local High School music students play Smoke on the Water, on their recorders, at school assembly.

They’ve always loved music here.

Stunning beaches at Urunga are a short drive or bus trip away and the nearest big town, Coffs Harbour – has miles of clean, soft sand and clear blue waves.

Australia never really had a formula, of course. It is a lucky country. It just happened. But these coastal sea-change/tree-change places all know what they’re doing.

Bellingen’s Just Too Hip, Baby

When I bought my house and land here with the proceeds of my first two-book advance it was affordable. Like so many others, back in the good old days, I paid cash.

Don’t even ask what houses on five acres in Bellingen go for now, but rest assured, the boom in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne arrivals with fistfuls of dollars, has ensured Bellingen now has a book festival. And chefs.

It also has tours from Dave Graney, Clare Moore and the Coral Snakes – and a Wine and Food Escape festival.

The Town Where Everything Grows

Drop most things from the compost heap onto the grass in your garden here and it will all grow. Bellingen is a lush, slow, meditative, relaxed place where people actually do cultivate seedlings with spectacular results.

In spring and summer the streets are pink, purple, gold, green and white. All those seeds, pay off.

Old-School Sixties Country Town

Bellingen still has an old-school 1950’s-1960’s atmosphere.

The tea is Bushell’s. And there are still older residents who remember the 1950 Sara quads, born here. Betty Sara gave birth to four children in Bellingen, which briefly made the town Australian Women’s Weekly-famous.

The boutiques today are full of pricey, gorgeous Melbourne and Sydney fashion – but you can still find those old rectangular nylon hot summer frocks for North Coast lady teachers (circa 1975) in the town’s enormous op shop.

There are nanna flowers in vases on café tables and streets full of jacarandas draw visitors with mobiles poised, for shimmering, ultra-violet floral selfies.

The Promised Land, is still The Promised Land. It has rock pools and a clear stream. And that stream really is known as Never Never Creek.

Jonny Melon has an excellent guide to The Promised Land, a short drive out of town.

Vegetarians, Yoga and Steiner Schools

There are sheep all around, but locals tend to go for the wool, not the lamb chops. It’s vegan/vegetarian heaven. It’s also a Steiner school town. The real deal.

Osteria Fiume is a gourmet restaurant for the meat-free, much loved in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.

Elsewhere, you can find excellent Funghi Pizza, with truffle oil, at The Bellingen Brewing Company.

No Plastic

There is a plastic lamb, guarding The Old Butter Factory, but that’s about the extent of the plastic here.

Everything (shops, cafes, restaurants, bars) is as it should be – all lined up along one main drag – Hyde Street. Walk up one end, walk down the other end.

Stevie Nicks Wasn’t Here

Stevie Nicks wasn’t here, but her cream lace gowns and feathers certainly are.

Bellingen did once have a genuinely famous visitor, though, in the shape of Tom Cruise, who pulled up outside The Federal Hotel with Russell Crowe, on unfeasibly large motorbikes.

People still kick themselves that they didn’t run through town to see it.

Hammond and Wheatley (now The Emporium, Bellingen) has Stevie Nicks hovering in spirit from L.A. on two floors.

This is the beautifully maintained, original old department store from the days when everybody had a moustache, including the men. The floors are hardwood and the ceiling is pressed metal. The interior is cedar, rosewood and hoop pine. And yes, you can still buy shoes and boots, as they did back when it opened in 1909.

Heritage Listed Shopping

This grand, two-storey department store dominates the town and also preserves its proud spirit. Maintained, conserved, loved, preserved, cherished, fiercely defended against corporations and floods. No McDonalds. No Hungry Jacks.

Upstairs at the Emporium you will find Indian boho paradise, with ceramic numbers for your house and turquoise crystal door handles to take home.

Exotic rugs and cushions, bells and bangles provide everybody with little take-home treats you won’t be able to buy outside Goa.

If you are self-catering in an Air BnB, the one and only Bellingen supermarket is outstanding. It’s the IGA, steps away from Hammond and Wheatley. In fact, it has won awards. Pick up picnic ingredients in the delicatessen.

Noticeboard Town

Like all great Australian towns, Bellingen has a noticeboard on every other wall and it’s heaving with things to do. Art classes. The inevitable yoga. Eco warrior gatherings.

It’s not a bad idea to check the events guide first and build your holiday around it.

There is more drumming in the Thora Valley than Keith Moon could shake a stick at. My tip would be the Bellingen Agricultural Show, usually in May.

The Bellingen Community Markets are held every third Saturday. Do not miss.

I once held a stall there and sold my old wooden filing cabinet. I think I got it there in a taxi. Along the way I mentioned to my driver, Smokey, that I’d seen a snake in the garden. He offered to get rid of it for me, with a spade and a rug thrown over it, after he’d finished his show at the local radio station.

This is not a normal town.

Oh. Look. Snake.

Bellingen is an ‘Oh. Look. Snake’ place so be cautious out in the bush.

The Never Never Land is famous for its stunning natural wild swimming holes, not to mention the fact that it was a favourite with David Helfgott – but you may in fact see something best avoided.

I have fond memories of David Helfgott and his partner Gillian, who was an astrologer, like me. He was fond of mini Mars Bars. I recall he was psychic, too.

But, back to snakes.

R.M. Williams or Blundstone boots are a good idea, if you are tramping through the grass in hot weather (local women wear theirs with frocks and socks).

Also – Bellingen undeniably smells of flying fox wee vapour sometimes, particularly on the river. And that river floods, and can cut the town off from Coffs Harbour too, so check the weather.

Locals call the flying foxes, bats.

Bat Island is the nickname for Bellingen Island. They are little furry draculas, all of them. However, they also have sweet little faces and big eyes. They also make a lot of noise. A bit like the high school students playing Smoke on the Water on their recorders, at school assembly.

Gelato on a Bicycle

There’s a permanent holiday feel to Bello, as locals call it. You can ride around on a vintage bicycle, eating gelato.

It takes about three days to lose your usual Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne timing and to sink into Bellingen Mode. Slow down. No, that’s still too fast. Slow down again. No traffic lights. Yes, lounging around on an old 1970s sofa, in what used to be a service station.

Going to Urunga

Urunga with its lovely beach, wetlands and boardwalk – and great old-fashioned waterfront pub, the nicely preserved Ocean View Hotel – is fifteen minutes by car or local taxi.

The bus still has teenagers with dreadlocks, beads and surfboards under their arms, just as it did 15 years ago.

Unless they are time-travellers who have found some kind of portal outside the bus stop, absolutely nothing has changed.

Bus information for Bellingen, Urunga and Coffs Harbour is here since I left. At least on the back of the bus, anyway.

Getting Here

I flew from Sydney to Coffs Harbour with Rex, one-way, for $175. You can hire a car at the airport or take a taxi/Uber to Bellingen from around $70.

It’s a five hour, 45 minute drive from Sydney, or eight hours, 45 minutes by train. Bring a good book.

If you’re driving down from Brisbane it’s about four-and-a-half hours on the road. Virgin flies Brisbane to Coffs Harbour, one-way from around $160.

Where to Stay

I stayed in the Air BnB ‘Central modern cottage’ owned by Superhost Jillian which is in the top 1% of homes on the website.

It’s in a quiet lane in the centre of town and is luxurious, large, generously stocked with fruit, breakfast cereals, chocolate, tea and coffee – and it has not one, but two outdoor seating areas for two people.

The shampoo is botanical, the bathroom is enormous, the bed is instant-sleep comfortable and when I left a little bag behind me, it was posted back to Tasmania. No charge.

Book well ahead for this one, because the ‘perfect cottage’ that reviewers describe on Air BnB, has a lot of repeat visits from its fans.

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