Activities
Adventure
• Sky Dive at Ballina or Byron Bay
• Take a Helicopter ride from Ballina
• Hanglide at Byron Bay or Lennox Head.
• Hot Air Balloon at Byron Bay
• Scuba Dive at Byron Bay or Tweed Heads.
• Mountain Bike Ride through the rainforest (depart Byron Bay)
• Take a high performance jet-boat tour at Tweed Heads
• Visit one of region’s town skate parks (for the young with wheels)
• White water rafting on the Nymboida river
• Abseiling or rock climbing near Grafton
• Windsurfing and Blokarts fun on the beach at Iluka
• Aerobatic flights from South Grafton airstrip.
Relax and Reconnect
The Northern Rivers region is renowned for its health spas and spiritual retreats. You can find masseurs, naturopaths, alternative therapists and pampering practitioners to soothe body and soul in most towns and villages throughout the region.
Some of the more unique experiences include:
• Three kilometres west of Mt Warning, just outside Uki Village is a six acre Hare Krishna Ashram, Sri Govinda Dham, the headquarters of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Australia. All are welcome to join devotees for a feast every Sunday afternoon, whilst special festivals are celebrated on all major holy days.
• At Tullera five minutes from Lismore, is Bodhi Tree Forest Monastery and Buddhist Retreat Centre
• The venue for Life Force Retreats is ’Sangsurya’. Located on a tree lined ridge on the outskirts of Byron Bay, Australia.
Cultural
• Visit an art gallery – regional art galleries are located at Grafton, Lismore and Murwillumbah, however there are many small galleries in the towns and villages throughout the Northern Rivers.
• Visit a weekend market – markets are held on every weekend throughout the region.
• Visit the Aboriginal Bora Ring at Tucki Tucki near Lismore. Pick up a brochure at Grafton Visitor Centre to do the Lower Clarence Aboriginal Tourist Site Drive.
• Indigenous kayaking tour at Tweed Heads.
• Visit a museum – Ballina Naval Museum, New Italy Museum (near Woodburn), Tweed Historical Society Museum (Tweed Heads), Richmond River Historical Society Museum (Lismore), Nimbin Museum (commemorating the Aquarius Festival of 1973), Glenreagh Memorial Museum, Glenreagh Mountain Railway (near Grafton), Kyogle Museum, Crawford House (Alstonville), Schaeffer House in Grafton hosting the Clarence Valley Historical Society.
• Take a trip on the Mini-rail at Casino. Our trains leave North Casino station and wind through the beautiful Jabiru Geneebeinga Wetlands. Our steam and diesel loco’s skirt the Casino Golf Course and farmland before arriving at the old Casino Station, which has been developed into a railway museum. Here the passengers can disembark and get a glimpse of the days of Casino’s railroading past. • Visit the Keith Cameron Artworks and Sculpture Park near Tabulam.
• National Parks & Wildlife Discovery Tours – in school holidays.
Coastal & Water Activities
• Learn to Surf at Evans Head, Lennox Head, Byron Bay or the new Tweed Coast
• Kayak – sea kayaking or river kayaking. Sea Kayak with the dolphins at Byron Bay. River kayak at Yamba, Evans Head, Brunswick Heads or Tweed Heads.
• Deep sea fishing tours leave from Yamba, Evans Head, Brunswick Heads or Tweed Heads.
• Whale Watching tours leave from Byron Bay, Ballina or Tweed Heads.
• River & Recreational fishing – you can fish in one of the region’s many rivers (this isn’t called the Northern Rivers for nothing!) or try beach or rock fishing on the coast. Bag bream, flathead or monster Jewfish in the Brunswick, battle the bass in Clarrie Hall Dam or snag a snapper at Iluka. Be aware of the Cape Byron Marine Park restrictions on recreational fishing.
• Walk on the reef at Lennox Head, exploring rock pools
• Walk along one of the many pristine beaches in the region. You can stroll for hours on the new Tweed Coast beach, Seven Mile Beach at Lennox Head, Broadwater National Park beach, Bundjalung National Park beach or Yuraygir National Park beach.
• Visit a waterfall – Minyon Falls in Nightcap National Park via Rosebank, Protesters Falls in Nightcap National Park via The Channon. If you have time, the Gorge Station in the Clarence Valley has access to The Gorge which is an enormous waterfall over a gorge in the Clarence River.
• Visit a lighthouse – Byron Bay, Yamba, Fingal Head (Tweed), Ballina.
• Picnic on a headland – Razorback lookout at Evans Head, Pat Moreton Lookout at Lennox Head, St Helena lookout at Byron Bay or Point Danger Lookout at Tweed Heads.
• The Clarence River has many islands in the river – some accessible by car, many only accessible by boat.
Visit the unique Angourie Blue Pools (near Yamba)
• Spy a Platypus in the twilight hours of the day at Nymboida (near Grafton), Casino or in the Upper Clarence River.
• Sail a catamaran on Lake Ainsworth at Lennox Head.
• Cruise the one of the big rivers – the Tweed, Richmond or Clarence. Tours available, or hire a house boat.
• Go whitewater rafting at Nymboida (near Grafton)
• Go horseriding on the beach in Ballina or Byron Bay.
Driving & Hinterland Activities
• Take a Trike & Bike Tour (based in Ballina)
• Hire a bicycle, towns with excellent bike tracks include Grafton, Yamba/Iluka (catch the ferry between), Ballina, new Tweed Coast.
• Do a tourist drive, visit hinterland villages and find hidden treasures such as art galleries and coffee shops, or drive one of the loops of the Rainforest Way to visit rainforest.
• Do a walk through a rainforest in one of the many National Parks, including 14 World Heritage listed parks.
• Picnic at one of the many picturesque spots around the region, for example, Rocky Creek Dam near Lismore, on the Upper Clarence River there are many great picnic spots (ask at the Casino Visitors Centre).
• River & Recreational fishing – you can fish in one of the region’s many rivers (this isn’t called the Northern Rivers for nothing!) Toonumbar Dam is located near Kyogle and is a fantastic destination for bass fishing.
• Spy a Platypus in the twilight hours of the day at Nymboida (near Grafton), Casino, in the Upper Clarence River or Uki in the Tweed.
• Walk along The Wilsons River Experience Walk at Lismore for an interpretive walk through Lismore’s history.
• Visit the Glenreagh Mountain Railway, an old steam railway at Glenreagh, near Grafton.
• Take a trip on the Mini-rail at Casino. Our trains leave North Casino station and wind through the beautiful Jabiru Geneebeinga Wetlands. Our steam and diesel loco’s skirt the Casino Golf Course and farmland before arriving at the old Casino Station, which has been developed into a railway museum. Here the passengers can disembark and get a glimpse of the days of Casino’s railroading past.
• Take a drive to a country restaurant for lunch, for example, the Eltham Valley Pantry, Mallanganee (west of Casino), Ulmurra (the historic riverport town on the Clarence River), Lennox Head, Tumbulgum Pub (Tweed Valley), The Buttery Tavern at The Channon, or Mavis’ Kitchen near Mt Warning.
• Saddle up on a working cattle property in the Tweed, explore the high country on horseback
• Pick up a Bird Watching brochure at the local Visitor Information Centre and head off with your binoculars.
• Pan for gold at historic Jackadgery (near Grafton)
• Take a horse trail ride through the countryside.
• Casino Regional Livestock Selling Centre to see cattle auctioneering.
• Go 4WDriving in an adventure park on the Upper Clarence River.
• Go Quad bike riding at Lanitza near Grafton.
