Around 30 minutes south of Byron Bay, Ballina Shire is a playground for beach lovers, surfers, boaties, anglers and eco-adventurers. The area is blessed with great bio-diversity, wide variations in climate, altitude and landforms.
Although much-larger Alstonville is only a few minutes drive away, the township of Wollongbar has its own distinctive identity thanks to the agricultural research of the Wollongbar Field Station and the large new TAFE which draws students from the whole district for a wide range of courses including agriculture and tourism. …
The sturdy Meccano-style construction of the Wardell Lift span Bridge across the Richmond River marks this little township in many driver’s minds. Back in the 1850’s, Wardell was a cedar-getter’s settlement known as Blackwall, and it boomed on the fabulous timbers which were the gold of this region. Sailing vessels …
The surfers know Lennox Head for its internationally famous right hand point break, and the hang-gliders love the place for the sensational views when they take off from Pat Morton Lookout and many generations of children will know the tea tree freshwater lake which formed the nucleus of so many …
The rapidly increasing demand for furniture in the growing middle classes of Victorian England was one of the prime causes of the development of the town of Ballina! The Richmond Valley had become the main source of the prized ‘red gold’ of cedar, and although the colonials used it for …
By mid-March each year, the roads leading into and around this pretty country town are a purple haze with the flowering of the distinctive purple-toned tibouchinas, Alstonville‘s signature tree. Bred from the native lasiandra decades ago by a local man, the late Ken Dunstan, the tibouchina thrives on the rich …