Heading Up The Mid North Coast

White surf beaches and lush hinterland make up much of the NSW Mid North Coast, while further inland the Northern Tablelands and World Heritage national parks dominate.

Small picturesque towns dot the coastline north of the Hunter Valley as it winds up towards the regional centres of Taree and Port Macquarie. The region offers some of the last littoral rainforest on the east coast, along with deserted sandy beaches, crystal clear lakes and several national parks.

Boomerang Beach, just over three hours drive north of Sydney, gains popularity during the annual whale migration, with large pods spending days at a time playing just offshore.



After three years of development and two of operation, Mobys Beachside Retreat at Boomerang Beach is now complete. The 2.4 hectare site, just 50 metres from the beach, was home to a popular caravan park in the 1960s.

Mobys now has a total of 75 one, two and three bedroom beach houses to accommodate 330 guests. Mobys Restaurant, a 120 seat restaurant and cocktail bar, and state-of-the-art conference facilities for up to 150 people, were added in 2004. In late 2005, Ambience @ Mobys opened, offering massages, facials, make-up, nails, tinting and waxing.

The retreat also has a tennis court, heated swimming pool and spa, gymnasium and health spa. Memorabilia, including old surfboards, kayaks, photos and paintings from past days, are on show in the conference centre.

>> Look for Mid North Coast conference venues

CLEANSED CLIENTS
National sales manager, Samantha Blake, says the conference facilities, luxury self-contained accommodation, premium location and specialised catering, provided essential ingredients for unique and successful events. “They have proven to appeal to an extremely broad market, from corporate and government, to medical and surf companies,” she says.

Mobys hosted Quiksilver’s executive management team in a week of conferencing, liver cleansing and yoga late last year. Quiksilver took its own yoga instructor/masseuse/dietitian to guide the team through yoga, remedial massage and surprisingly tasty Zen liver-cleansing meals.

INTERIOR GEMS
Heading inland, the New England district has superb mountains, pristine national parks and rich pastures surrounding the regional centres of Armidale and Tamworth. Known as the nation’s Country Music Capital, Tamworth is considered the Australian equivalent of Nashville in the USA. But the region has more than country-music appeal. It is one of the biggest gemstone fossicking regions in NSW, and its gold history begs exploration of the areas around Nundle and Barraba. It also harbours a world paragliding mecca at Manilla, set to host the Paragliding World Championships in 2007.

Tamworth is on the New England Highway between Sydney and Brisbane, with major links to the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Port Macquarie and Adelaide. It is the hub of the state’s regional airline network, has fast Explorer train services to and from Sydney, and there are long-distance coach connections in all directions.

Tamworth’s leading 5 star Quality Hotel Powerhouse deservedly won a 2005 Hotel Motel and Accommodation Association Award for Excellence. Having undergone a $2.5 million refurbishment, the hotel took out the Best Luxury Accommodation NSW award. Its executive housekeeper, Sharon Groombridge, was also named Housekeeping Employee of the Year.



“These awards are most definitely very meaningful, as the HMAA is the peak body in the accommodation industry in Australia. To win such an award is judgement from your peers within the industry,” general manager Mr Gary Ray says.

The upmarket hotel has the latest in-room technology, including cable TV in all guestrooms, suites and apartments. Five meetings rooms with wireless broadband Internet connections allow delegates to use their laptops in the restaurants, coffee shop, pool area, foyer, function space and rooms.