Finding somewhere to stay on the NSW Mid North Coast during school holidays is never easy. Throw a long weekend in the middle and choices become even more limited🤦♀️. After a bit of research, we found Stuarts Point. 😁
It’s a quiet riverside village situated behind a long golden ocean beach on the arm of the Macleay River near where it flows into the Pacific Ocean. The weather was not the best, but we can certainly see why people enjoy coming here especially if you have a boat or love fishing.
You can choose to either go river fishing or take the walk across the timber footbridge to the beach. We were lucky to have one sunny day 🌞 where we were able to enjoy a one hour walk along the beach towards Grassy Head.
Stuarts Point was once the first port of call for vessels which entered the Macleay River beside Grassy Head, the old river entrance. John Stuart was a shipbuilder who built ships near the old entrance in the days of the Cedar trade on the river. Hence the name of the village Stuarts Point. This quiet river was once a busy place with schooners, ketches and small steamers with vessels loading and unloading.
Bullock teams would bring in hardwood logs from the surrounding forests to the wharf, which was adjacent to Hennessy’s sawmill, unfortunately none of which remains today. But you can read about the history on the information board as you walk along the foreshore.
The village which is within walking distance from the park has a grocery and liquor store, a pharmacy, butcher and take-away café store. There’s also a tavern a little further down the road.
The park had everything we required, but without the crowds. Ssssh don’t tell anyone as we were quite surprised it wasn’t full of holiday makers. Although we believe it gets a little busier over Christmas. But this is a park we would be happy to come back to and stay for a week or two.
The park provided a free bacon and egg roll on Sunday morning which was staffed by the local CWA who volunteered to make our delicious rolls. Thank you. The CWA had preserves and cakes for sale and we bought a delicious lime and ginger marmalade.
📍Powered sites
📍Cabins
📍Two amenity blocks
📍Camp Kitchen
📍Dump point
📍TV/Telstra reception
📍Pet friendly
👉Just along the road from Stuarts Point is Grassy Head and Scotts Head, so we decided to take a drive and check it out. Wow we are so glad we did not stay in those parks as they were both full to the brim.
I don’t know what all the hype is about Grassy Head, and I must admit some of those with caravans obviously did a contortionist act backing into their sites.
👉Scotts Head is a busy and obviously an extremely popular surfing spot. The village has a great coastal vibe about it. The Scotts Head caravan park although busy is one that we could spend a few days at during the ‘low season’. The village has a bakery, butcher, grocer, and a couple of cafes.
But we were so impressed with Stuarts Point that it will be a ‘must do’ 👍again for another day.
Cheers
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Happy Aussie Caravanning Lifestyle
Dixie and Graeme 🥂☺️