Known for its subtropical climate, the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales is a lush, culturally rich area in the far northeast of the state, stretching from the Queensland border down to the Clarence River basin between Grafton and Coffs Harbour. The regions is named after the three major river systems that define its landscape: the Tweed, Richmond, and Clarence Rivers.

Lismore

Utilizing the Lismore showgrounds as our base for the week, our time spent in Lismore lent a meaningful appreciation of the devastating Lismore floods of 2022. This important and resilient city, with a population of about 44,000, has made an astonishing recovery and is a lovely place to explore. The picture below shows the water level in Molesworth Street (near Wilsons River) at the peak of the 2022 flood.

Although built on a hill, St Carthage’s Cathedral was inundated.

And the pubs offered no place of refuge either. Pictured below submerged is the Gollan Hotel which accommodated Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh during their tour of the Commonwealth in 1954.

A highlight of the week was catching up with Jack’s cousin Don Watson who has lived in Lismore for fifty years.

Nimbin

After the cedar forests were cleared, the Nimbin region thrived as a dairy farming area until the industry began declining around 1961. The region’s population of about 6000 was then steadily reduced and by 2006 was about 400 where it remains nowadays.

The 1973 Aquarius Festival organized by the Australian Students Union began the transformation of Nimbin to an alternative lifestyle “counterculture” community where today the main street  is a throwback to the hippy culture of the 1970s. We were both offered marijuana (for sale) within minutes of arriving!

Cape Byron

Blessed with a magnificent day, a visit to Cape Bryon left us awestruck. Reaching the most easterly part of mainland Australia below the Cape Byron Lighthouse is a very pleasant walk with stunning 360 degree views.

Perfect weather and beautiful scenery call for a picnic! Thanks for joining us, Meme!

A couple of hours looking around the tourist resort town of Byron Bay completed our visit.

A short video of Cape Byron is below:

Tweed Heads Area

Using the Ingenia Holiday Park in Chinderah, N.S.W as our base, we endured the mostly overcast weather to explored Kingscliff, Fingal Heads, Tweed Heads, Coolangatta and Surfers Paradise.

Nearby Fingal Head, a beautiful quiet area away from maddening crowd, was a lovely place to enjoy a coastal walk.

And a popular place for fishing too.

Surfers Paradise

Unexpectedly, blessed again with fine sunny weather, a day trip to Surfers Paradise on Queensland’s Gold Coast revealed how highly develop and busy this region is today.

A lovely lunch at the Surf Life Saving Club shall forever embed the experience into our memories. Nowadays, Surfers Paradise has fabulous foreshore streetscaping enhancing the naturally beautiful beach. Of course, being a major holiday destination there are countless restaurant and cafes and lots and lots of shopping.

Kingscliff where’s that?

Kingscliff is quiet coastal town and holiday resort of about 9,000 only about 20 minutes south from the Tweed Heads/Gold Coast bustle and hustle. A lovely beach for surfing, swimming, fishing and walking. Lots of shops, cafes, bars, churches a very good shopping centre including a large Woolworth Supermarket. The two caravan parks, the Bowls Club and the Surf Lifesaving Club all overlook the ocean. Definitely our favorite location in the area!

Coming up: Queensland, here we come…..