"THE BELLINGEN JAZZ FESTIVAL happens every year" Bellingen by unravelau

Bellingen Travel Guide: 11 reviews and 23 photos

Bellingen is famous for a number of reasons.

Bellingen is situated in the Bellingen Valley, North West of Sydney about 500 kilometres by road. To get there you can fly to Coffs Harbour (a bit over an hour from Sydney) and bus out to Bellingen (a further 35-40 minutes. If you drive from Sydney, you can take the coast road turning left off the highway at Raleigh (about 3 kms past Urunga. Bellingen is then about 12 or 13 kms away.
Thank you Laurie (Australia 2) for alerting me to the fact that I hadn't told anyone where Bellingen was.

One reason that Bellingen is interesting is because of the Jazz festival that is held
every year check this link for details, www.bellingenjazzfestival.com.au/ and the other is because of its beauty.

I lived in Bellingen for about 6 years a long time ago now. I gave birth to my three children in the hospital where the Sara Quads were born (yep, Bellingen Hospital).............that happened a long time before my children though.

While Bellingen is a beautiful place that has a wonderful community spirit, in summer I found the heat unbearable and unfortunately I left all of that beauty for the seaside type of life in Coffs many moons ago.

I don't visit Bellingen much now-a-days....I don't have much reason to be there but over Easter 2010, I went there to visit a couple of friends from way back. We had a wonderful lunch while there ....blow it, I didn't take my camera.....anyway. I have written a little review of the restaurant and suggest that if you go to Bellingen you pay this restaurant a visit. 'AVE' is the name to look for. Mind you I believe that another restaurant there has a one hat rating but I haven't eaten there yet.

Some black faced sheep.........enjoying breakfast.

No doubt you have heard that story about ....there once was a girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead............when she was good, she was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid - sad to say but this sums up Bellingen pretty much for me.

I was living in Bellingen many years ago when the river flooded. There was/is nothing unusual about that, it still does flood. The time that I am referring to though was called the hundred year flood. The water broke its banks in the caravan park and flooded a number of homes in North Bellingen. Mine was one of them.

So Bellingen is a peaceful, beautiful place that is mostly very, very good.

The name of the property here is Misty Mountain.

The Bellingen flats.

Areas like in this photo...........i.e. the flat areas on the approaches to Bellingen still regularly 'go under', but usually only for a few hours at a time.

Some time ago it was decided to lift the bridge between north and south Bellingen.............I thought, terrific........., but it (the bridge) is still below the flood level that destroyed my home.

Pros and Cons

Pros:It is a really beautiful valley with a great community
Cons:Far too hot in summer (for me that is)
In a nutshell:A simply beautiful place to visit.

Last visit to Bellingen: Apr 2010
Intro Updated Jan 3, 2011
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Reviews (11)

Found this interesting site. Hotels (1)

I haven't stayed here of course but I thought that someone might be interested in this opportunity. More information... more travel advice

The countryside is so lush and the river... Favorites (2)

beautiful, I would just have to take them for a drive around .............. over the bridge to north Bellingen, around... more travel advice

The higher bridge over Bellingen River. - Bellingen

A boat was often used to transport... Transportation (2)

the river when it was in flood. It used to flow so hard that the boat would have to start way upstream to land people... more travel advice

The bridge link between North and South... Transportation (2)

If there has been a lot of rain in Bellingen or further west, after a few days you might find the Bellingen River in... more travel advice

Travelogues (1)

Written May 3, 2003

2 photos

The Beautiful Bellingen Valley.

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Comments (27)

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iandsmith May 4, 2007 at 3:15 PM

Interesting flood story. I saw it once after one of the floods - scary! I must return
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tiabunna Apr 5, 2006 at 9:57 PM

An enjoyable page on what looks a very pleasant area. It's the community spirit that really makes these smaller places - not easy to pick it up on a page, but you've done it here.
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luckyzen Feb 16, 2006 at 8:29 AM

Hi Carole, Agreat place to get away and reflect.:~)) I like the little bridge......alot! Weekend's just around the corner. Have a good one!
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JosM Oct 27, 2005 at 3:27 PM

Nice description of a rural area. Would like to visit!
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pepples46 Oct 22, 2005 at 12:15 PM

the sweetness of the australian countryside and people,( I won't mention the snakes ) thanks Carole
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TheWanderingCamel Jul 22, 2005 at 8:12 PM

And you should see the movie of O and L -filmed all around Bellingen. It's beautiful there -The Promised Land is just that. Nice photos/tips/stories here. leyle
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MEdelmann May 22, 2005 at 3:50 AM

Sounds very german, a wonderful area. Hope you are fine, greetings from Austria, Manfred
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deecat Sep 10, 2004 at 6:41 PM

Wonderful introduction..your home at one time...how interesting. Such nice story about the people helping you. Concise, thorough, interesting, even humorous at times. Strong photographs to match excellent text.
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KristaB Aug 26, 2004 at 4:11 AM

Mixed feelings, but you still wrote a lovely personal story. Your kind of place. Thank you for sharing!
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sim1 Feb 20, 2004 at 1:33 PM

The Bellingen Valley looks beautiful! I love to discover these kind of off the beaten path places! :-))