Guidebook for Gleniffer and the Bellinger Valley

Kirsty
Guidebook for Gleniffer and the Bellinger Valley

Essentials

Closest town to Gleniffer with provisions and doctors and a hospital. Local families run most businesses in Town. Monthly markets are huge with out of town stallholders competing for space. Bi-annual plant fairs and music festivals are great to plan around as are weekly farmers markets at Bellingen's Showgrounds. The town goes to bed early (most of the time). So book your evening meal so you don't miss out. Very social mix of locals and visitors. Lazing down by Bellinger River on a sunny (not too hot) day is one of life's great pleasures. Be aware the river also floods and to stay well away (particularly with our children) until floods have receded as logs and other debris hurtling along post floods and or stuck below, can hurt you. Never dive into it. Again, superb local voluntary Landcare regeneration work near waterways and feature trees planted 50 years ago, add to the town's beauty along with the preservation of facades and interiors like Hammond & Wheatley. A slow walking, wandering sort of Town with a vibrant and well run Bellingen Youth Centre and most basic services like our friendly Post Office plus endless cafes and shopping and even, a gelato bar!
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Bellingen
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Closest town to Gleniffer with provisions and doctors and a hospital. Local families run most businesses in Town. Monthly markets are huge with out of town stallholders competing for space. Bi-annual plant fairs and music festivals are great to plan around as are weekly farmers markets at Bellingen's Showgrounds. The town goes to bed early (most of the time). So book your evening meal so you don't miss out. Very social mix of locals and visitors. Lazing down by Bellinger River on a sunny (not too hot) day is one of life's great pleasures. Be aware the river also floods and to stay well away (particularly with our children) until floods have receded as logs and other debris hurtling along post floods and or stuck below, can hurt you. Never dive into it. Again, superb local voluntary Landcare regeneration work near waterways and feature trees planted 50 years ago, add to the town's beauty along with the preservation of facades and interiors like Hammond & Wheatley. A slow walking, wandering sort of Town with a vibrant and well run Bellingen Youth Centre and most basic services like our friendly Post Office plus endless cafes and shopping and even, a gelato bar!
How lucky are we to have this place. And if you are keen to eat wholesome fresh food and source quality ingredients and groceries, find Kombu.
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Kombu Wholefoods
1 Church St
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How lucky are we to have this place. And if you are keen to eat wholesome fresh food and source quality ingredients and groceries, find Kombu.

Drinks & Nightlife

Close to home or adventuring through our region, we are served by wonderful owner hosts. Just checking gig advertisements and opening and closing times as here in the country, things change almost as much as the weather!
Italian extended family. Excellent wine list. Good value pizza-wine bar or trattoria-style food by chef Stefano. Atmospheric. Beach closeby. Five minutes drive from Coffs Harbour Airport.
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Fiasco Ristorante + Bar
22 Orlando St
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Italian extended family. Excellent wine list. Good value pizza-wine bar or trattoria-style food by chef Stefano. Atmospheric. Beach closeby. Five minutes drive from Coffs Harbour Airport.
Born and bred and next generation locals own and operate this place and they care about the same things as us. They've created a wonderful aesthetic with their own hands here. We wish them well. Always good music whether live or recorded/spun. And wood fired pizza for an easy and yummy meal. Kids welcome. Relaxed.
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The Bellingen Brewery
5 Church St
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Born and bred and next generation locals own and operate this place and they care about the same things as us. They've created a wonderful aesthetic with their own hands here. We wish them well. Always good music whether live or recorded/spun. And wood fired pizza for an easy and yummy meal. Kids welcome. Relaxed.

Food Scene

Everyone is different so we all don't like the same things. We keep our recommendations short. We know you will google! We know some of the local places, not all of them. For a country area, we are fortunately served for enthusiastic cafe and restaurant owners and chefs. But ourselves, we cook at home more than go out, blessed with beautiful atmospherics. So we have limited our recommendations to places we know you can rely upon because when we venture out, we always enjoy the places listed. But discover...adventure (even google) and you may find something we don't already know! Let us know if you do.
Centrally located in Bellingen, this huge,comfortable space is stylishly outfitted, run by locals and perfect for congregating with your family or friends and consuming a reliable coffee (and snack).
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HYDE Bellingen
62 Hyde St
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Centrally located in Bellingen, this huge,comfortable space is stylishly outfitted, run by locals and perfect for congregating with your family or friends and consuming a reliable coffee (and snack).
Every day is a fresh day in this newish Bello middle eastern kitchen with owners and staff who have moved to our Valley from their Israeli homes. This main street cafe is always busy. We usually bring our food home. And they cater with ease when we have a big mob here for holidays.
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Za'atar Bellingen
66 Hyde St
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Every day is a fresh day in this newish Bello middle eastern kitchen with owners and staff who have moved to our Valley from their Israeli homes. This main street cafe is always busy. We usually bring our food home. And they cater with ease when we have a big mob here for holidays.
Newish, stylish and dedicated fresh and reliable breakfast, lunch or dinner if you're surfing or swimming or going to the local cinema in Sawtell
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The Hilltop Store
114 First Ave
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Newish, stylish and dedicated fresh and reliable breakfast, lunch or dinner if you're surfing or swimming or going to the local cinema in Sawtell
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Bruno's Mediterranean Kitchen
2 Oak Street
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Lovingly crafted coffee and light food and yummy cakes
H&S Cafe
85a Hyde Street
Lovingly crafted coffee and light food and yummy cakes
Three Blue Ducks Bellingen
Eden

Shopping

Hand made toys and clothing including Steiner-specific art supplies and gifts. Always buy something for family and friends here. Supports locals and quality toy makers. Cards, candles, knitted items, clothing (new and old).
Weave Bellingen
42 Hyde Street
Hand made toys and clothing including Steiner-specific art supplies and gifts. Always buy something for family and friends here. Supports locals and quality toy makers. Cards, candles, knitted items, clothing (new and old).

Everything Else

Wonderful facilities for families including films and books. Walks for all age groups. Guided walks during vacations. Waterholes with waterfalls. Cool in the summer heat.
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Dorrigo National Park
Lyrebird Link
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Wonderful facilities for families including films and books. Walks for all age groups. Guided walks during vacations. Waterholes with waterfalls. Cool in the summer heat.
What's not to recommend about any shire library where you can read to your hearts content and have an outlook over Council gardens and Bellinger River (and wifi)
Bellingen Shire Council
33-39 Hyde St
What's not to recommend about any shire library where you can read to your hearts content and have an outlook over Council gardens and Bellinger River (and wifi)
Huge. Friendly. Diverse. Live Music. Stuff of legend (more than 20 years) and during high season producers, artists and sellers come from far away, not just local store holders.
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Bellingen Community Markets
Church Street
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Huge. Friendly. Diverse. Live Music. Stuff of legend (more than 20 years) and during high season producers, artists and sellers come from far away, not just local store holders.
Body, mind and soul range of health practitioners in the most beautifully designed building. Sell quality range of herbs and minerals etc Thoughtfully managed.
Alchemy in Bellingen
5 Hyde St
Body, mind and soul range of health practitioners in the most beautifully designed building. Sell quality range of herbs and minerals etc Thoughtfully managed.
Long term locals, dedicated teachers and thus full of devoted students and Maratana is best body therapist.
Bellingen Yoga Studio
8 Crown St
Long term locals, dedicated teachers and thus full of devoted students and Maratana is best body therapist.

Neighborhoods

North and south beaches for surfing and long beaches for walking with a cafe on its headland and another close to the Highway. Options! A morning destination for locals especially on a Sunday. Nothing much else there but its beautiful coastline. But speedy trip from Bellingen if you're in need of the salt air given our new Pacific Highway.
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Valla Beach
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North and south beaches for surfing and long beaches for walking with a cafe on its headland and another close to the Highway. Options! A morning destination for locals especially on a Sunday. Nothing much else there but its beautiful coastline. But speedy trip from Bellingen if you're in need of the salt air given our new Pacific Highway.
You'd never find it if we didn't suggest it as it's off the main highway and across a river and down a long road that curves around to the beach, North Beach. You can walk for hours. And local cafe is full of locals, fishermen and a few speedsters who ski the river.
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Mylestom
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You'd never find it if we didn't suggest it as it's off the main highway and across a river and down a long road that curves around to the beach, North Beach. You can walk for hours. And local cafe is full of locals, fishermen and a few speedsters who ski the river.
This is where you are...a rural area but now few farmers of animals -- more land custodians with many dedicated owners ensuring weed doesn't infest our properties and the river remains healthy and thus clean. Historically, Tallowood Point has been the wettest place in NSW. We have more than 40 members of our Landcare group. Our small Gleniffer Hall and Church are all that's left of a once thriving agricultural community which also included a local school. Perfect for cycling on bicycles and walking the Promised Land Loop road, we are below a significant water catchment owned by Forestry NSW and continue to broker with them for the health and welfare of our Never Never River. So tread lightly. We have a largely native tree environment with mostly warm weather and enough rainfall that our Valley rivers never run dry. Enjoy your swim but don't linger because you and your family need to return to Town for ablution (toilets) or to our place if you're lucky enough to be staying in Gleniffer. The area is bereft of public facilities, just nature here.
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Promised Land Road
Promised Land Road
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This is where you are...a rural area but now few farmers of animals -- more land custodians with many dedicated owners ensuring weed doesn't infest our properties and the river remains healthy and thus clean. Historically, Tallowood Point has been the wettest place in NSW. We have more than 40 members of our Landcare group. Our small Gleniffer Hall and Church are all that's left of a once thriving agricultural community which also included a local school. Perfect for cycling on bicycles and walking the Promised Land Loop road, we are below a significant water catchment owned by Forestry NSW and continue to broker with them for the health and welfare of our Never Never River. So tread lightly. We have a largely native tree environment with mostly warm weather and enough rainfall that our Valley rivers never run dry. Enjoy your swim but don't linger because you and your family need to return to Town for ablution (toilets) or to our place if you're lucky enough to be staying in Gleniffer. The area is bereft of public facilities, just nature here.

Sightseeing

Where to start?! We live in a Valley of Valleys -- Bellinger Valley has Kalang, Thora, Gleniffer, Brierfield river valleys below the Dorrigo plateau and sources of fresh and clear water, especially those rivers where locals and government have collaborated on Landcare regeneration projects. This is hard but rewarding work and has resulted in many parts of our Valleys being returned to natural bush from the decimation of logging and animal farming. Grazing continues on some rivers but is now discouraged because the health of our rivers, depends on a healthy riparian zone. A riparian zone is a place where nature is in balance with vegetation stabilizing the river banks and Australian bird and animal life thriving on these plants and the healthy rivers. Thus cars and even human traffic on our river banks is also potentially destructive to our these water catchments because of soil compaction. Seeds dropped by birds cannot fertilise and grow new plants if the soil is hardened. Thus our recommendation for walking is the various NSW National Parks who have safe and extensive walks (with waterfalls) on the Coast (Boambee) and Dorrigo, Ebor, Nymboida and beyond. There's responsible canoeing in the region via businesses like Bellingen Canoes (logs in rivers can be potentially dangerous if you don't know your way so we always recommend using a local guide). You can easily spend a week exploring the area on top of staying "home" and enjoying our fortunate access to the Never Never River and its regenerated environment on our doorstep. Go for a ten minute walk to the first bridge from our place and you find waterholes made popular by social media ....if you go early, you have these to yourself but on hot days, they are swamped with visitors seeking cool relief under the trees and in the water. It's social and friendly and flat riverbanks make it easy to access (for young children or older people especially) but you might then retire back to ours and a dive into the waterhole from our pontoon or enjoy a swim/walk up our river. We also love walking the local coastline but check the weather forecast before you go for winds that may make a rainforest walk in Dorrigo more appealing, especially on a hot day.
Wonderful collaborative project to revive a damaged environment. Transformative. Contemplative place. Moody and particularly so at sunset. Easy walking.
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Urunga Wetlands Boardwalk
1 Hillside Dr
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Wonderful collaborative project to revive a damaged environment. Transformative. Contemplative place. Moody and particularly so at sunset. Easy walking.
Watch out for sandflies at sunset but the preserved coastal mangrove system is its greatest asset...glorious stroll (especially in fine weather) from township across the water to the ocean and continue along the local beach.
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Набережная Урунга
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Watch out for sandflies at sunset but the preserved coastal mangrove system is its greatest asset...glorious stroll (especially in fine weather) from township across the water to the ocean and continue along the local beach.
Safe, extensive walking. the centre has a great range of shopping for all things animal, native Australian and natural sciences. Waterholes in hot weather if you are happy to walk a few kilometres. Guidebooks and maps and human guides for regional information about other locations for waterfalls and walks and accommodation.
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Dorrigo Rainforest Centre
142 Dome Rd
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Safe, extensive walking. the centre has a great range of shopping for all things animal, native Australian and natural sciences. Waterholes in hot weather if you are happy to walk a few kilometres. Guidebooks and maps and human guides for regional information about other locations for waterfalls and walks and accommodation.