Urunga may only be a 20 minute drive south of the well known coastal town of Coffs Harbour but after our recent experience we feel it’s a hidden gem visitors to the region often miss. We were fortunate to be staying in the sleepy town and loved every minute. While the main street of the town is quiet, the boardwalk is not. Urunga Boardwalk is a meeting place for locals and visitors in the know. It’s a terrific reason to visit but we were lucky enough to stay and I’m sharing the accessible cabin and holiday park here. We think the combination of the two is a convincing reason to choose to stay at Urunga.
It was a short stroll from our Easy Access Cabin at North Coast Holiday Parks Urunga Heads to the boardwalk. We found it such a lovely walk we started and finished each day there. I’ve spoken before about accessible walks often being short and uninspiring but the Urunga Boardwalk is a satisfying kilometer long and the perfect vantage point for spotting wildlife.
The original footbridge was built in 1908, replaced in 1940 with a more substantial structure and extended several times over many years. The final extension was made in 2010.
A low level boardwalk runs off to the side of the main boardwalk which allows visitors to explore the Urunga Lagoon and take a closer look at the mangroves.
Animal life is in abundance with a range of birds calling the mangroves home. There’s such a variety of birds in the Urunga area the tourist information centre has a free brochure available (Birds in Urunga and surrounds) to help you identify them. BJ enjoyed being so close to the action on the water.
I was content with the birdlife and sea life I could spot from the boardwalk but was particularly thrilled to spot a kangaroo grazing on the grass.
The sunsets weren’t particularly spectacular during our stay but it was pretty seeing the shades of pink and orange putting a hue to the fluffy clouds on the skyline.
It made for a lovely scene with the reflections mirrored in the water.
Even the seagulls came out in force to watch sunset.
Low tide was a fascinating time to be on the boardwalk to watch the crabs make their way across the sand. Families excitedly pointing and leaning over the railing was the first signal something interesting was happening on the shore.
As you can imagine, children were fascinated by the amount of wildlife they could check out while on the walk including the crabs, water dragons, birds and if really lucky a stingray.
The oldest part of the boardwalk is narrow with just enough room for someone to pass by BJ’s wheelchair but the entire boardwalk is accessible. BJ loved the social interactions with everyone seemingly in friendly and relaxed mode. It’s so nice to get a “Good morning”, “Hi” and “How you doing?” as you pass by.
This area was our front yard while staying at Urunga and we loved having such easy access to a spectacular walk with lots to keep us entertained each time we strolled along it.
Hello 😊 we love the blog on Urunga.
Urunga and the bellingen shire has changes a lot over the past few years. We now offer many more accessible paths and an additional accessible board walk over a nature reserve. There have also been many accessible upgrades and additions in Dorrigo.
Riverside Holiday Resort Urunga are very proud to offer exceptional wheelchair accessible & accessible accommodation, we have won gold 2 years in a row at the NSW Tourism Awards for ‘Excellence In accessible tourism’ we have also been awarded a ‘Hall of fame’ for ‘Self contained accommodation’ category & won Bronze at the Australian Tourism
Awards in 2021 awards.
We are so proud to offer accommodation to our guests and know that they can enjoy their holiday, regardless of their abilities.
We would be very happy to host your team at our resort if you wanted to do an up-to-date Blog on Urunga? xxx