Three Blue Ducks BellingenCredit: Steven Woodburn, Three Blue Ducks
Three Blue Ducks, Belligen
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Tucked within the Coffs Coast hinterland, Bellingen is a tiny town offering big adventures and big flavours – even more so now with the opening of the Three Blue Ducks’ fifth restaurant. For owners Sam Reid-Boquist, Chris Sorrell, Jeff Bennett, Mark LaBrooy, Andy Allen and Darren Robertson, Bellingen ticks all the boxes: amazing local produce to cook with, waterways perfect for fishing and nearby surf beaches for days off. Here are the Ducks’ top picks for a trip to ‘Bello’.
Where to eat
Surrounded by misty mountains, utopian valleys, verdant countryside and crystal-clear waterways, the bohemian town of Bellingen has a natural bounty at its doorstep – and it shows in the town’s many dining options. The Three Blue Ducks’ eating ethos centres around paddock-to-plate cooking, and besides their own Bellingen restaurant, the guys have a long list of favourite places in town. Black Bear Cafe offers expertly brewed Botero coffee from Northern NSW and a delicious menu using local and sustainable produce. Around the corner, 5 Church St, a cafe by day and live-music venue by night, also champions local and organic ingredients on its menu. To get your hands a little dirty and see exactly where your food comes from, the guys recommend a farm tour or Paddock to Plate Dinner at Levenvale Farm. Three Blue Ducks uses the farm’s Bello Beef in their menu – 100% grass-fed and -finished beef grown in a chemical-free environment and using regenerative agricultural practices.
For a casual dinner, the Ducks recommend heading to Bellingen Brewing Co for wood-fired pizzas, local craft beer and organic wine. Charlie’s at Church is another suggestion from the guys who say you can’t miss a plate of their handmade pasta and a scoop of their “cracking” tiramisu. Bruno’s is another restaurant with a Mediterranean-inspired fine-dining menu and thoughtfully curated wine list. For dessert Bellingen Gelato is a Ducks favourite – the eco-friendly ice creamery uses natural, locally sourced ingredients in their gelato; LED lights in the shop; biodegradable gelato cups and wooden spoons; and ice-cream machines that can be cooled using recycled water.
Three Blue Ducks Bellingen Credit: Steven Woodburn, Three Blue Ducks
Three Blue Ducks, Belligen
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Three Blue Ducks Bellingen Credit: Steven Woodburn, Three Blue Ducks
Three Blue Ducks, Belligen
Three Blue Ducks Bellingen Credit: Steven Woodburn, Three Blue Ducks
Three Blue Ducks, Belligen
#feelnsw
Three Blue Ducks Bellingen Credit: Steven Woodburn, Three Blue Ducks
Three Blue Ducks, Belligen
Where to play
Whether you want a peaceful paddle on the river or to go chasing waterfalls in the region’s ancient rainforests, Bellingen’s natural wonders offer the perfect playground for outdoor lovers. The Three Blue Ducks team love a surf, and their favourite break is at Sawtell Beach. Sawtell is also a great spot for non-waveriders, with the guys suggesting a walk to Boambee Lookout before a swim in Boambee Creek and a picnic by the water is the perfect family day out. More great views can be found at Griffith Lookout – on a clear day you can see the entire Coffs Coast, from the Great Dividing Range to the Pacific Ocean and right down to Kempsey.
Just half an hour from Bellingen, Dorrigo National Park is a not-to-be-missed spot on a trip to the region. The World Heritage-listed Gondwana rainforest offers stunning scenery with cascading waterfalls, lush hikes and elevated views from the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre’s Skywalk Lookout, which walks right over the forest’s canopy.
Where to stay
The Three Blue Ducks’ Bellingen outpost is housed within The Lodge, a luxury 30-room property on 16 acres of land and with 360-degree mountain views. The Lodge offers everything from two-bedroom suites to cosy studios and comfortable glamping tents, plus there’s a pool, spa and alpaca farm perfect for families.
You’ll feel like royalty at Evermoore Retreat, a European-style chateau hidden at the base of Old Man Dreaming mountain where the Ducks recently stayed. The guys loved the property’s grand interiors, incredible banquet room and access to a private beach at Never Never River, a hidden gem with turquoise swimming holes, rope swings to splash into the water and great white-water rafting during winter.
The Ducks also recommend a stay at Levenvale Farm. After you’ve toured the cattle yards and explored the property, you can bed down in a range of cosy off-grid accommodation – from a tiny house to a glamping tent to a rustic hut.
Dorrigo Skywalk, Dorrigo Credit: Destination NSW
Aerial overlooking the Dorrigo Skywalk attraction in Dorrigo National Park.
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Dorrigo Skywalk, Dorrigo Credit: Destination NSW
Aerial overlooking the Dorrigo Skywalk attraction in Dorrigo National Park.
Bellingen Brewing Co, Bellingen Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying a drink at the Bellingen Brewing Co, Bellingen
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Bellingen Brewing Co, Bellingen Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying a drink at the Bellingen Brewing Co, Bellingen
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.
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Cool off with an adventure: NSW is a watersports playground
Mulwala Water Ski Club, Mulwala Credit: Destination NSW
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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Navigate Expeditions, Kalaru Credit: Destination NSW
Guests on a walking tour with Navigate Expeditions in Kalaru