Murwillumbah, NSW

If you’re visiting Queensland’s Gold Coast and don’t want to pay those high tourist accommodation charges, Murwillumbah Showgrounds is an excellent place to stay. It is a short easy drive up the freeway to Tweed Heads and the border. With power and water, old but spotless amenities, and solitude at night you couldn’t do better. Sites must be booked in advance, and stays are limited to one week. On our last visit our site was about 3 caravan lengths behind us to the fence of a cane farm with breathtaking views of Mt Warning. The Mt Warning caldera is among the largest of its type in the world and the feature is obvious here as an embracing arc of range to the south to the west and east to Tweed Heads.

Murwillumbah has much to explore. When fire destroyed the CBD in 1907 it was rebuilt in an art deco style that has been so successful it has been retained. M/Arts, is an art studio precinct in the heart of town and I can highly recommend The Yellow Brick Studio art supply store upstairs and nearby. And on an arty theme, it’s only a short drive to the Tweed Valley Regional Gallery and renowned artist Margaret Olley’s relocated studio. Margaret grew up in this region and part of her studio was moved piece by piece from Sydney after her death. If you’re not entranced by the gallery then the view will have you gobsmacked. The housing around Murwillumbah is in the Northern NSW style of Queenslander and there are plenty of them, timber homes, up on stilts, loads of fretwork, and each one unique. Further afield, and also on the Tweed River, is the hamlet of Uki at the foot of the range and Tumbulgum with an inviting pub overlooking the river, that we’re yet to sample. And one more…the Murwillumbah Market has great produce and sets up in the showgrounds.

Alstonville, NSW

Alstonville Showgrounds are centrally located if you’re exploring the Byron Bay coast. It’s a short drive to Ballina for prawns, Lennox Head and Byron Bay for people and whale watching. In the hills, the Bangalow Market is a must for its colour and eccentricity and the pub isn’t bad either. Further inland, Lismore isn’t far away but keep your breakfast small because Lismore’s Pie Cart has some of the best pies you’ll ever taste. We’ve even been known to go back for seconds.

Evans Head, NSW

Evans Head is a small town with a huge caravan park wedged between the shops, the river and the beach. It’s a town where you can ditch the car for a week and just walk. There’s a fish co-op just across the river and it’s a funny sight to see everyone queuing in the dark for fish n chips for their dinner. The beach is a broad swathe of white sand and there’s a long breakwater out to the mouth of the river. When it comes to wildlife there is a bat colony to be seen or should I say heard on the walkway and water dragons sun themselves on the river rocks. There’s a bowls club bordering the caravan park and the butcher…well, without a doubt, he has the most succulent meat in the state of New South Wales.

Coraki, NSW

Huh? This one isn’t on any tourist trail, but Coraki won our hearts. this pretty little town is on the often-flooded Richmond River where it meets the also often flooded Wilson River and if the last floods didn’t wash everything away there’s a great pub and a general store about 6 steps from your van door, as the caravan park is on the riverbank. This is one of those places where there’s nothing to see or do but you just can’t help extending your stay. The grow Ti Tree around this region for the production of essential oils.