Tathra Wharf, TathraCredit: Destination NSW
Tathra Wharf, Sapphire Coast
#newsouthwales #feelnsw
Make your next special occasion a truly memorable one with an escape to southern New South Wales. Celebrate an anniversary in romantic Southern Highlands, gather your inner friendship circle in the Snowy Mountains or make your next birthday a family affair with an idyllic beach holiday on the NSW South Coast.
Elevate your beach holiday in Gerringong
Enjoy the best of both worlds when you celebrate a special occasion in Gerringong, a beachside holiday town with easy access to the Shoalhaven wine region just a 90-minute drive from Sydney on the South Coast.
Gather the tribe at the boutique guesthouse Soul of Gerringong – the farmhouse, which sleeps 16, and cottage, which sleeps seven, are both decked out in coastal country style, with fireplaces and open living-dining areas. Or feel instantly more calm as you discover the expansive views of the ocean at Dovecote’s two-bedroom Range or four-bedroom Headland properties commanding a headland above Gerringong.
Gaze over the vineyard and farm from the restaurant at nearby Crooked River Wines, where the focus on seafood celebrates the South Coast, as you savour a two-course menu featuring local oysters, tiger prawns and ocean trout. Take yourself out of the ordinary as you cuddle a goat during a Goat Therapy Farm Tour or sign up for a cooking workshop at Buena Vista Farm, a family farm just outside of Gerringong town. And watch the shadows lengthen across Gerringong’s Werri Beach from your perch at Gather By The Hill as you nibble on the bar’s Asian-inspired small and large plates.
Immerse in nature in Jervis Bay
You’ll feel a world away from the everyday as you walk along one of the many pretty beaches in Jervis Bay, 2.5 hours south of Sydney, with your loved one or your crew. Join a cruise with Dolphin Watch Cruises Jervis Bay or Jervis Bay Wild from the port town of Huskisson to spot the many resident dolphins and seals in the sheltered bay – you may also encounter humpback whales during their annual migration from May to November.
Retreat to a country-cool cottage or a glamping bell tent at The Woods Farm, a few minutes’ drive inland, and explore the property on foot or on bikes, dive into the pool or simply relax with a glass of wine beside your private fire pit. Or check into an elevated safari-style luxury tent at Paperbark Camp and savour a three-course set menu served by candlelight in a peaceful bush setting at its The Gunyah restaurant.
Dovecote, Gerringong Credit: @dovecote @alexsprichard
Dovecote, Gerringong.
#feelnsw
Dovecote, Gerringong Credit: @dovecote @alexsprichard
Dovecote, Gerringong.
Murrays Beach, Jervis Bay Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoy a walk along Murrays Beach at Jervis Bay, NSW
#newsouthwales #feelnsw
Murrays Beach, Jervis Bay Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoy a walk along Murrays Beach at Jervis Bay, NSW
Feel free on the far South Coast
Revel in a shared sense of adventure as you seek out hidden gems on the Sapphire Coast. Feel a million miles from anywhere in one of the beautifully restored Green Cape Lightstation Keeper’s Cottages jutting from a peninsula in the southern section of Beowa National Park, near the town of Eden. Gaze out to sea from the open verandahs and cook up a storm to enjoy overlooking the water – when you’re not hiking through rainforest or along the clifftops in the national park.
Looking for something even more secluded? Cosy up during a relaxed stay in the Barn Studio at Sugar Rock Ranch, on the fringe of the northern section of Beowa National Park. After a day of bushwalking through the national park, fire up the barbecue on the deck or build a blaze in your fire pit and let the sound of the wind in the trees complete the peaceful scene.
Wind down in Berrima
Whisk away that special someone for a romantic getaway in the historic town of Berrima, a 90-minute drive southwest of Sydney in the Southern Highlands. Make your way to your luxe cottage overlooking vineyards, manicured gardens and a lake at Bendooley Estate, a short drive outside of Berrima. Make memories with an atmospheric dinner at the estate’s beautiful cellar door space, or head back into Berrima for dinner at award-winning Eschalot, where much of the produce featured on the thoughtful menus is grown by the owners or sourced from local purveyors.
Start the next day with a decadent breakfast – including a glass of bubbly – with the Sparkling Breakfast Experience at PepperGreen Estate’s cellar door in Berrima, or come at lunchtime for a three-course Wine and Dine Experience featuring a hosted wine tasting.
After you’re recharged your batteries at your Bendooley Estate cottage, venture beyond Berrima to explore the other wineries across the Southern Highlands and charming towns such as Bowral and the foodie magnet that is Robertson, a 25-minute drive from Bowral.
Bendooley Estate, Berrima Credit: Destination NSW
Autumn at Bendooley Estate, Berrima.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Bendooley Estate, Berrima Credit: Destination NSW
Autumn at Bendooley Estate, Berrima.
Pinnacles Loop Walking Track, Eden Credit: Destination NSW
Pinnacles Loop Walking Track, Eden
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Pinnacles Loop Walking Track, Eden Credit: Destination NSW
Pinnacles Loop Walking Track, Eden
Reconnect in the Snowy Mountains
Bring together up to 12 of your closest friends or family members for a memorable stay at Forty Nine Post Office Lane in the Snowy Mountains, around a five-hour drive southwest of Sydney. Feel right at home in the private luxury homestead in Crackenback, five minutes from Kosciuszko National Park for warm-weather hiking, or equally close to Perisher’s Skitube if you’re keen to hit the slopes. Or soak up the solitude and seclusion with your partner at the off-grid Crafters Cabin, looking out over bushland on the Alpine Way between Crackenback and Jindabyne.
While both properties feature fully equipped kitchens for conjuring up hearty meals, you’ll want to savour the French farmhouse-style meals served in a cosy setting at Crackenback Farm Restaurant; everything is made with local ingredients, including homegrown herbs and vegetables.
Wine and dine in Wagga Wagga
Work up an appetite as you drive past the orchards, farms and vineyards of the NSW Riverina – you’ll find plenty of great places to sample super-fresh regional produce in Wagga Wagga. Soak up the historic atmosphere of The Houston, a luxury boutique hotel set in the impeccably restored neo-gothic Belmore House in the heart of town, as you get ready for a night of gourmet treats.
Indulge in three-, five- or seven-course tasting menus of Riverina goodness at The Charles Dining Room at The Charles boutique hotel, feast on prime Junee lamb at The Oakroom restaurant at the Townhouse hotel, or relish regional cuisine and wines at Magpies Nest restaurant, set in a charming stone stables around a 10-minute drive out of town.
Dreamily recall the previous night’s feasting as you stroll through olive groves on a tasting tour of fine oils at Wollundry Grove Olives, 10 minutes north of town. Or bond over a cooking class as Food I Am helps you discover the art of preparing everything from pasta and tapas to Vietnamese favourites and Thai specialties.
Backcountry, Kosciuszko National Park Credit: Destination NSW
Woman enjoying the scenic views across Kosciuszko National Park.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Backcountry, Kosciuszko National Park Credit: Destination NSW
Woman enjoying the scenic views across Kosciuszko National Park.
Food I Am, Wagga Wagga Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoying a long lunch with scenic views at Food I Am, Wagga Wagga.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Food I Am, Wagga Wagga Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoying a long lunch with scenic views at Food I Am, Wagga Wagga.
More Inspirational Stories
Mulwala Water Ski Club, MulwalaCredit: Destination NSW
Mulwala Water Ski Club located in the Riverina Murray region in Mulwala, offers an outdoor bar and casual relaxed dining overlooking Lake Mulwala. Learn to water ski on a world-class, private, twin lake the Max Kirwan Ski Park.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Cool off with an adventure: NSW is a watersports playground
Mulwala Water Ski Club, Mulwala Credit: Destination NSW
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Hot sands, wild rivers, bays with towers of coral and waves that curl like a rockabilly quiff – NSW is a paradise for adventure on and under the water. For adrenaline-chasers, there are world-class waves and whitewater runs, foils and jet boats built for speed, and reefs home to sharks and turtles. For the quiet adventurers, try paddleboard expeditions, fishing for rainbow trout and bass in pristine rivers, and colourful snorkelling spots.
Your next adrenaline hit
Surfing may be the famous action-hero of the NSW watersports scene, but the state’s rivers, lakes, bays and beaches also host a huge diversity of aquatic adventures to get the heart racing. Take in Sydney Harbour’s icons, while spinning, splashing and thundering past in a jet boat with Oz Jet Boating or Thunder Jet Boat. In Western Sydney, Penrith is a hub for adventure. Penrith Whitewater Stadium, purpose-built for the 2000 Olympics, is uniquely set up for both beginner paddling and intense raft adventures, as well as kayak courses where you can test yourself against Olympic times; Cables Wake Park teaches you to wakeboard via zipline (jumps and obstacles included); and Jet Pack Adventures lets you feel like a water-powered Iron Man.
In Brooklyn, on the Hawkesbury River, Jet Ski Safaris will take you around the bends of the river at 30 knots, while Fliteschool Manly and OzFoiling (with multiple locations on the Mid North Coast) will teach you how to cruise the coastline via eFoil, a motorised surfboard that glides above the water like an elegant seabird. Outside of Sydney, on the Murray River, encounter one of the greatest and oldest waterski clubs in the world at Mulwala Water Ski Club.
Find a wave
With reliable breaks on some of the world’s most picturesque beaches, NSW is a premium spot on the international surf circuit. Surfers with their own board and years of experience behind them can find world-class waves all up the coast while newbies can join in on a surfing lesson, all you have to do is choose which one and which beach. You can also practice on a perfectly shaped, perfectly reliable wave (with multiple options suitable for beginners or experts) at URBNSURF, Olympic Park’s surf park, and finish off with a meal at RAFI, the onsite Applejack-run restaurant and bar that overlooks the waves.
URBNSURF Sydney Credit: Applejack_Sandy’s_URBNSURF Sydney
URBNSURF Sydney
#feelnewsydney
URBNSURF Sydney Credit: Applejack_Sandy’s_URBNSURF Sydney
URBNSURF Sydney
Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
#feelnewsydney
Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
Explore NSW’s coral reefs
The pristine, ecologically rich seas of NSW have seen the development of 10 protected marine parks covering more than 100,000 square kilometres, offering a haven to wildly diverse range of sea life. Beyond those areas, in the harbour and the bays of the coastal cities, there are also vibrant ecosystems ripe for snorkel or scuba dive trips. Self-guided snorkelling can be done in most places along the coast and, provided you have the equipment and training, so can diving. Or learn the ropes with a tour. Woebegone Expeditions and Courses will teach you how to explore the reefs of the South Coast with safe, freediving techniques; Region X Snorkel Tours has you jumping off a kayak with a snorkel around Batemans Bay; and Ecotreasures fits in a headland walk between time in the aquatic reserve around Manly. For new divers, you can explore the lower North Coast with Jetty Dive Centre or the tropical far North Coast with Cooly Eco Adventures. While Sydney Underwater Scooters will set you up with a handheld swim-assister and show you the clear waters and underwater fauna of Sydney’s Gordon’s Bay.
Paddling sunrise to sunset
Every river, bay and lake has a different scene and a different story, and cruising on a kayak, canoe or stand-up paddleboard (SUP) lets you discover at your own pace. NSW is also full of explorers and local experts ready to guide you along the way. In Sydney, Sydney Harbour Kayaks and Sydney by Kayak will introduce you to the harbour at its multicolour best with dawn and dusk paddles. Manly Kayak Centre has both hire and guided options for kayaks and SUP, as well as giving you the opportunity to try your hand at SUPBALL, which is like polo but replaces the horse with a SUP. Cronulla SUP and Balmoral Paddlesurf let you explore less famous, but no less beautiful, beaches of Sydney’s south and north respectively.
On the Sapphire Coast combine your next river adventure with a story, like on Navigate Expeditions’ Aboriginal Culture Tour, where you journey into the land’s Indigenous heritage, or a Kayak and Shuck Tour where you visit the oyster farms. On the North Coast, social enterprise and SUP tour guides Wajaana Yaam Adventure Tours offers cultural eco-tourism on a paddleboard around the pristine waters of Solitary Island Marine Park. Not far away in The Tweed, Watersports Guru offers SUP lessons and hire, allowing you to cruise the waters Cudgen Creek while taking in the local birdlife – if you’re lucky you may even see a pod of dolphins.
Reel in a new experience
With pristine rivers and wild oceans, NSW is a dream for fishing for both newbies and those looking for the next big catch. Out on the oceans of the South Coast Kiama Charter Service will help you pull in your first deep-sea fish (go for blue-eye trevalla, gemfish or hapuka). While Port Macquarie Fishing Charters, Reel Ocean Adventures (in Tuncurry) and Evans Head Deep Sea Fishing Charters, provide the boats, deep-sea equipment and vibes on the North Coast. Inland, learn traditional yabbying in the bush at Narrabri Fish Farm, or set up your own line on NSW’s most epic jetties at Coffs Harbour, Lake Macquarie and Lake St Clair in the Hunter Valley. If you know the ways of a fly fisher, the Snowy Mountains and Blue Mountains are the hot spots.
Kayaking, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoying a day of kayaking on Sydney Harbour.
#feelnewsydney
Kayaking, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoying a day of kayaking on Sydney Harbour.
Navigate Expeditions, Kalaru Credit: Destination NSW
Guests on a walking tour with Navigate Expeditions in Kalaru
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Navigate Expeditions, Kalaru Credit: Destination NSW
Guests on a walking tour with Navigate Expeditions in Kalaru