About Woolgoolga
Everyone who travels north along the Pacific Highway knows Woolgoolga because it is “that town with the Indian temples”. The traveller, noting the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple on one side of the road would be forgiven for thinking they were not in the New South Wales northern rivers district but in part of the Punjab. It is also, although few people stop and spend time, a pleasant seaside town which spreads from the hills down to the beach and headland. The region’s real bonus is that Ocean View Beach at Arrawarra Headland, just 9 km north of Woolgoolga, has some of the finest Aboriginal stone fish traps in the country (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Getting there
It was back onto the notorious Pacific Motorway (M1) for the 291kms trip south from the Gold Coast to Woolgoolga in NSW. We’ve driven this route so many times over the years and it is totally inconceivable to understand hwy they are still re-building the highway between Surfers Paradise and the NSW border – one probably of the worst examples of project planning and excessive cost blow outs in our countries history. Once through the border it was a fantastic drive south to our destination (route map)
Accommodation
Woolgoolga is another of our favourite places to visit and the Woolgoolga Beach Holiday Park (maplink) would always be our choice of accommodation. The park is right on the beach and the town is right next to it, so you can leave your car behind and walk everywhere.
The only piece of advice would be to try and not get a site next to the very large playground as it can get pretty noisy.
Bluebottles for Lunch
You absolutely must visit the Bluebottles Brasserie for breakfast and/or lunch (maplink). We’ve actually detoured off the M1 just to stop here for lunch. The food is exceptional and the owners, Dan & Renée, along with their staff are extra friendly and helpful. One of our faves is the Corn Fritters – YUMMO!
Every day there’s a quiz put up on the chalk-board for visitors to solve. It’s a great conversation starter too.
Beach Walk
The Woolgoolga beach always reminds us of our favourite beach back home, called Ocean Grove, as it’s a “flat beach” and great to walk along and to swim at. A lot of the beaches along the NSW coast are fairly steep and not so easy to walk or swim.
We did notice that they must have had some large ocean swells recently as a lot of the beach at been washed away on the northern end.
In April 2021 a large storm exposed the remains of the ship-wrecked “Buster” – a 310-tonne timber barquentine which got stranded on the northern section of Woolgoolga’s main beach in 1893. We were fortunate to also get to see it as it continually gets re-buried by the sand.
Summing up…
- Accommodation – Woolgoolga Beach Holiday Park (02) 6648 4711
- Cost per night – $61.00 (@ 27-Sep-2022)
- Stayed for – 3 nights
- Facilities – Really need an update – especially for such a nice looking CP
- CP Location – 12 Wharf St, Woolgoolga
- Our rating/score – 8/10
- Was it a nice town to visit? – Yes – love Woopie!
- Activities & places of interest – not much – a great ‘chill’ place
- Tourist info centre? – 35 Beach St, Woolgoolga (02) 6654 8080
- Would we return? – Definitely
- We rate the town – 9/10
- Overall thoughts – This is another one of our favourite stop-over locations.