The North Coast of NSW

Growing up at Hallidays Point, just 20 minutes north of Forster on the mid-north coast of NSW, I've spent my share of time on this part of the world's beautiful beaches and explored the quaint coastal townships that are scattered between Sydney and the QLD boarder. On this road trip, we decided to only take a night or two on our way to sunny Queensland, so we could use our time to discover those places we hadn't been to before.

Woolooglah was our first stop, mostly because of it being a very convenient mid-point to the QLD boarder from Newcastle. Anyone with little ones knows that car trips to the local shops can be testing at times, so strapping the kids into their carseats for hours and hours on end can only result in A) Tears and tantrums from the back seat, or even more likely B) Tears and tantrums from us oldies up front as a result of A). In short, it ain't fun. This long trip, I came overly prepared with enough snacks bulging out of my tote bag shoved at my feet to keep a small army nourished, a bunch of kids audio books from the likes of Julia Donaldson (mostly because I like The Gruffalo's Child even more than my children...), paper, pencils, colouring in books, small toys wrapped in foil so eager hands could unwrap a new "surprise" every once in a while and this time, an impressively stocked party-bag each from our nephew's 6th birthday party the day before and even though I've never been a fan of in-car DVD players, knowing the kms we hoped to drive, this time I surrendered and I must say the USB port meant my eldest could sit in bliss watching his favourite TV show, Mr Bean in uninterrupted peace (yes, you read right, my six year old is obsessed with the original Mr Bean series. HUGE Rowan Atinkson fan, but who isn't, right?).

But all the travelling-with-young-kids tricks in the book can still only get you so far, so this trip we planned to drive shorter distances between stays, to guarantee a better experience for all.

Woolgoolah is a pretty beachside town about 20minutes north of Coffs Harbour - its a great option if you're looking for a more low-key accommodation option than staying right in Coffs. There are two great caravan parks, one literally right on the main beach and the other around the corner on the Woolgoolgah Creek - both are great but we stayed at Woolgoolgah Beach Caravan park which gave us our first real, "Ah, this is why we decided to pack our kids up and hit the road!" moment. After we had set up camp (which truthfully we are still getting the hang of - I'm just glad Luke is doing the caravan reversing and parking because there's always a plethora of caravanning "experts" patrolling the parks with their tinnie or glass of chardy ever ready to give their advice or tips on a newbie's set-up), the kids rode their bikes down to the beach, sun setting and tide on low. Watching the delight on the faces of our three, as they flew on their bikes up and down on the wet, hard sand, we couldn't help but smile and let everything else go and be in that moment also. It's these moments and these memories we so hoped to find.

Our next stop was Lennox Head, a relatively new holiday favourite, after my cousin and her new husband moved there a couple of years back. You really can't beat the laid-back, surfie vibe of this place and the casual-cool that exudes from every local who calls this place home.

You're spoilt for choice with a bunch of amazing cafes and restaurants that successfully mix beachy/hippie/trendy styles to create something that just works (Lennox Gelato & Coffee Co does the best coffee in town BTW), the beaches and tea-tree lake are natural wonders, it's a great alternative to the hustle and bustle of Byron which is just a hop, skip and a jump up the road and for kids, there's a top little playground in the middle of the main street strip, where I did have an encounter with famous local Chris Hemsworth and his three littlies on our last visit (by encounter I mean one of Hemsworth's twins bumped his head on the bubbler where I happened to be standing with my 2-year-old and started bawling and instead of me consoling his poor, blubbering child, I was trying to explain under my breath to my Hollywood oblivious husband who his Thor-look-alike father was...). So there - Lennox Head - two thumbs up! Next stop, Queensland!