Rolling on the river: Family holiday at Forster-Tuncurry
It’s the little things that make a difference in holiday stays. Our two-bedroom cabin at NRMA Forster Tuncurry Holiday Park, number 28, ticks them off like items on a grocery list. The shower has a proper shelf on which to put soap and shampoo. The vanity is small but the park managers have added some shelving below to accommodate more than one or two toiletry bags. My wife Kellie is elated to find a proper hair dryer and face washers supplied. The wardrobe in our bedroom has had the door removed, which means we can use the large shelf within as a suitcase stand and there’s even a little dressing table with a mirror and a power point where Kellie can plug in her hair straightener. All this in a dog-friendly cabin with laminate floors, a lounge that can be wiped over, and an outdoor bin for disposal of dog waste.
Yes, after taking our labradoodle on a freezing pet-friendly journey through central NSW (see Open Road Sept/Oct 2023), we’ve decided to forgo the dog sitter and take Maple on the road again. Cabin 28 is located at ‘Doodle Corner’ – across from us is another labradoodle and one door down from that resides a spoodle. From the deck we chat to our neighbours until gun-metal clouds start moving in across the lake, prompting us to scoot down to Flamin’ Pizzas, a pop-up shack on the foreshore. We have just enough time to eat dinner on the deck before the rain falls and a coastal breeze sends it in sideways.
The next morning my daughter Chloe and I put Maple in a harness and set off to explore our surroundings. We follow Point Road along the Coolongolook River and, on a jetty near the bridge between Tuncurry and Forster, Chloe spots a dolphin investigating a red buoy. The river empties into the ocean just beyond the bridge and this inlet teems with fish and the creatures that eat them, including dolphins and sharks.
We backtrack and pop in at the Great Lakes Café, which is on-site at the holiday park. It’s really the only café in the vicinity unless you want to walk the kilometre and a bit into town, so it’s fortunate the barista knows her stuff. The morning grows hot and humid, often par for the course in this part of the world during the warmer months, and our thoughts immediately turn to cooling off.
Tuncurry is a pet-friendly town and off-leash dog options are numerous. We start out at Tuncurry Dog Park, which has expansive grassed areas for general frolicking and an obstacle course of ramps, hurdles and tunnels for the more working-minded canine. Maple gets acquainted with a few of the locals before we drive around the corner to Nine Mile Beach, where both 4WDs and four-legged friends are welcome. We introduce Maple to waves for the first time and she burns off some energy pursuing seagulls while the kids slosh around in the shallows.
Forster-Tuncurry’s geography is such that its waterways never feel busy unless it’s at the absolute summer peak. Aside from the seemingly endless arc of Nine Mile Beach, which stretches from Tuncurry to Black Head, there is Forster Beach, One Mile Beach, Burgess Beach, and countless coves and shores around the Coolongolook River inlet area.
We return to the holiday park and make use of the free dog-washing facility, which includes a ramp up to the bath for dogs too large to be picked up (or who don’t like being picked up). With Maple’s curly coat cleansed of salt and sand, our thoughts turn to lunch. We head over the bridge into Forster to Beach Bums Café, which overlooks Forster Beach. Pets are welcome and it has ample seating, even on a warm day like this when the beach is buzzing. The menu sits somewhere between modern café and beach kiosk, and I order a hamburger while my wife gets a fish salad. The coffee, a blend unique to Beach Bums, is a revelation – strong and chocolatey and made to perfection.
We enjoy a couple of quiet hours back at our cabin before venturing out to the sound of live music carrying up from the shore of Ohmas Bay (which is so still of a morning it’s more like a lake). Our destination is The Coastal Brewing Company, secreted away in Forster’s industrial area. It’s an inviting space and games of Jenga, noughts and crosses and Connect Four are provided so kids can amuse themselves while the adults try the bevies on offer. I’m showing my age in that I don’t care for the fruitier craft beers, but the menu includes a draught, a lager and a couple of bold stouts that suit my palate. The tasting paddle is shaped like a surfboard and the brewery’s tagline is ‘Beer that fits the bill’ with a pic of a pelican. Maple is most welcome and owner Helen Black brings her a fresh bowl of water so she doesn’t feel left out while I’m sampling the beers.
We go Mexican for dinner at Si Señorita Forster (outdoor seating is limited and very popular, so a booking is essential) and afterwards take a sunset walk along Gregory Reserve, dolphin spotting as we go. On such a gorgeous evening it seems half the town has the same idea, with locals and tourists alike filling the Coolongolook River foreshore. Up the hill is the trendiest bar and food scene in Forster and every restaurant is packed – on a Thursday, no less. It makes me realise Forster and Tuncurry, while twin seaside towns, are certainly not identical twins. Tuncurry remains relatively quiet, a more traditional Australian holiday location, while Forster is inching towards Gold Coast glitz and glamour.
We see out the night at a carnival, which runs most evenings during the high season, set up at the foot of the Tuncurry end of the bridge. We mistakenly assume it welcomes pets and, much to our chagrin, Kellie and I wind up taking turns loitering outside while the kids enjoy the games and rides. When we return to our cabin, I notice Maple carrying her back leg as if she’s picked up a bindy, but I can’t find a culprit and so we turn in for the night.
Maple and I walk up to the café for a coffee in the morning and I again notice she’s favouring her back leg. With the benefit of bright morning light, I see one of the toenails pointing sideways. Emitting a groan, I pick up the pet-related information the holiday park supplied on check-in and find the number for Midcoast Animal Hospital. I call and take the only booking available, 5pm. Various grand plans, such as hiring a boat, are put on hold for more ‘sedate’ activities such as clothes shopping (another groan). We duly front up at the vet and it only takes a flick of the wrist with a special pair of pliers to despatch the troublesome nail. This really is the full ‘travelling with pets’ experience.
We resume our delayed adventures the next day, hiring a half-cabin boat from Aussie Boatshed Forster. I spent a good deal of my childhood boating along Sydney’s Georges River and the various bays at its mouth and I feel like I’ve come home as I navigate our bright yellow boat around Miles Island and up a few of the narrow channels surrounding it. Kellie and the kids sit at the back, dipping their hands in the water and dolphin spotting, or just enjoying the perfect boating clime that has blessed the day.
With salty skin and lingering smiles we set out in search of lunch. Forster’s slow march towards becoming NSW’s Surfers Paradise means it has a slew of bars and eateries to choose from. We sate our hunger at Plunge, one in a cluster of inviting little shops across the road from the Forster Tuncurry Golf Club, and later walk off some calories on the One Mile Beach boardwalk.
Our return to Forster’s town centre delivers us to Wharf St Distillery Restaurant where Kellie is eager to try the gin tasting palette. It’s right up her alley with fruits, ice and tonic water to mix with each gin, plus tasting notes on little cards. I’m just pleased to find Coopers lager on tap amid the trendy alcoholic ginger beer and more fruity IPAs. Wharf St has live music on Saturday afternoons and today the entertainment is Good Habits from the UK. Their jazzy folk-music stylings provide a cheery background to our afternoon tipples and they end their set with rousing renditions of ‘Bulletproof’ by La Roux and ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles. Even the girl behind the bar dances along, a cocktail shaker in each hand.
That night we enjoy authentic Italian at The Sicilian as Maple sleeps beneath my chair and a coastal breeze tousles our hair, but our hearts are heavy. We’re not ready to head home tomorrow.
It says a lot about Forster-Tuncurry that, even when you’re encumbered with a dog, four nights is nowhere near enough.
Where can I take my pet?
Forster Tuncurry Holiday Park is one of 36 pet-friendly NRMA holiday parks around Australia, including 16 in NSW alone. To discover which ones welcome your pooch, visit nrmaparksandresorts.com.au and click the ‘Find a park’ tab, or call 1300 414 448.
