We love the Northern Rivers of NSW, especially up towards the Queensland Border. We had stayed at Cabarita Beach before and loved it, but this time we were there in the tail end of an East Coast Low. Initially at least there was a lot of rain. Fingal Head was our big surprise – discovering a mini Giants Causeway. And for us, a trip to this part of the world must be accompanied with a visit to the beautiful Snapper Rock.
We visited this pocket of the Northern Rivers in February 2020. We had a week there between 7th to 13th
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
Getting There
We were staying at the Tamarind Sands Resort, in the middle of Cabarita. For us it was a 824km drive up the Pacific Highway. The road is getting better all the time but the section between Grafton and Ballina is always slow with lots of 60-80kms/hr sections.
We have stayed at the Tamarind Sands Resort previously. The apartments are spacious and clean and we were overlooking the pool area. Really well set up too with everything you need for a week’s holiday.
History
Prior to European settlement in the nineteenth century, the region was home to the Bundjalung people, and the Gumbaynggirr and Yaegl peoples to the south, for tens of thousands of years. The Bundjalung people are a large nation, a federation of a number of groups of clans which occupy the land from Grafton in NSW, to Ipswich and the Beaudesert in southern Queensland, and down around the other side of the Great Dividing Range and back to Grafton. In pre-colonial times, Bundjalung Nation encompassed some of the richest hunting and fishing grounds anywhere on the Australian continent.
The northernmost part of the Northern Rivers contains Mount Warning and the surrounding remnants of the long-extinct Tweed Volcano, portions of which extend into southern Queensland.
The early farming settlements began in the late 1830s with holdings owned rather than leased, but limited to the small areas suitable for grazing. After its beginnings in the 1840s, the expanding pastoral industry formed the basis for several towns such as Casino and Kempsey along the north coast.
The discovery of gold, silver and copper at fields in the north west of the area in the 1880s saw the short term establishment of various mines.
The major towns of the area developed at the navigable heads of the local river systems (Murwillumbah on the Tweed, Lismore on the Wilsons – a tributary of the Richmond – and Grafton on the Clarence) rather than on the coast, in order to be able to transport the valuable timber products (in particular the Australian red cedar, Toona ciliata) to markets interstate and overseas.
Much of the land in the region was unsuitable for grazing and so experimental crops were tried. Of these, maize and sugarcane were most successful although maize was worth little, often being fed to pigs. After rapid expansion of the sugarcane industry through the 1860s and 1870s, crops were struck by disease in the 1890s, at which point many farmers turned to dairying.
Despite early seasonal problems, the dairy industry became highly successful towards the turn of the century, gradually expanding from the floodplains in the direction of the beef cattle lands further inland, and then to the basaltic plateaus above the river valleys. Dairying began in the north around the Richmond River, but progressed further south with time, remaining successful beyond the 1920s.
Dairy production in the region remained viable up until the 1970s and many towns in the area retain their dairy processing plants (“butter factories”) from that era. The beef cattle industry continued, and now occupies much of the former dairying land. The hills with their red volcanic soils inland from Byron Bay provide Australia’s main region for the cultivation of macadamia trees, which provide both raw nuts and macadamia oil. Ballina is a key fishing port and was a centre for Australia’s east coast offshore prawn industry, although boat numbers have declined in recent years, while additional vessels operate out of Iluka and Yamba.
The region as a whole includes a significant component of New South Wales’ state forests and national parks. The tourism industry accelerated in the 1960s and remains prolific, especially in Tweed Heads – which is effectively a southern extension of the Gold Coast – and Byron Bay. The area has become a popular target for retirees who, along with younger people, have moved to the area to experience a more relaxed lifestyle than that seen in the cities.
Cabarita Beach occupies a thin strip of beach-side land along the Coral Sea coast, east of Tweed Coast Road, near the Tweed Heads suburb of Bogangar. The locality adjoins Hastings Point to the south and Casuarina to the north. As at the 2016 census Cabarita Beach had a population of 103.
Time at Cabarita Beach
After the wide-spread and long lasting drought, the appalling bush fires, the smoke that hung over Sydney for weeks, we drove up to Cabarita Beach on the day that Sydney got a real drenching from an East Coast low. Wild winds, wild surf and persistent rain well and truely broke the drought in Sydney. There was extensive local flooding, severe coastal erosion and falling trees. One of these brought down the power lines at our home in Newport, leaving it without power for a week.
The wild weather that hit Sydney had also hit the north Coast a few days before – lots of rain, strong winds, wild surf and local flooding. When we turned off the M1 for Cabarita Beach on Clothiers Creek Road, we came to a flooded section of road – longish but shallow. We drove through slowly keeping to the crown of the road and got there without any problems.
The next morning we walked to the beach (a few hundred metres from the resort) on a cloudy and wild day. It is a long beach but the a cloudy mist hides the northern section.
We walked on to Norries Headland along the coastal track – a spectacular walk that morning with the seas pounding the coastal headlands. There were many surfers out there taking advantage.
From the Headland – which is a great whale spotting place in season – there is a great view of the southern beach down to Hastings Point. I walked onto the beach for a picture looking back to Norries.
There was heavy rain overnight resulting in much local flooding. We heard later that Caberita Beash had 550mm of rain, the highest in the State. My morning walk took me back Clothiers Creek Rd where the road was well and truely under water. The walk was also past a series of wooded wetlands next to the road.
The next day the weather had cleared a bit, although the seas were still very strong.
On the last morning the beach was brilliant, although lined with foam.
Fingal Head
We only drove up to Fingal Headland out of curiosity, having no knowledge of the Giants Causeway. We were delightfully surprised. But first we had a look at a very cute lighthouse.
The Giants Causeway – presumably named after the similar structure in Northern Ireland – is quite dramatic.
There are also great views to a near-shore island and down the southern beaches.
On the way home we stopped at Faulks Park at Kingscliff. The difference in colours between the very full Cudgen Ck and the ocean.
Snapper Rock
We have been to Snapper Rock a few times, particularly to the eat at the restaurant on the upper level of the Rainbow Beach surf club – good food and magnificent views. But as we passed the club we saw a sign saying that the kitchen was closed that week for renovations. Timing is everything.
We drove around to Coolangatta and South Tweed surf club and had lunch at the Greenmount Club on the upper level of the surf club. After that we walked around the headland to Snapper Rock – a lovely walk, especially with the ocean pounding. There were so many surfers out there, they could have done with a ticketing scheme to go for a wave. This is best seen in the video for this post.
To see photos from this post, click here
To see video from this post, click here