See & Do
Make the most of your getaway
At Jerrapark...
Jerrapark is an ideal place to stay as a base camp.
You can bushwalk through our beautiful property, all the way to our glorious little waterfall and alongside the creek, pick fruits from our orchards, exercise yourself to identify the numerous varieties of trees, swim in one of our 2 dams or just observe wildlife.
The relaxing environment is perfect for experiencing various arts such as painting or music.
Christine is a Nia dance teacher and will be very happy to initiate you to this amazing sensory based movement practice.
For those of you who are medium to experienced horse riders, there is also a possibility for a great country ride in and around our property.
... and a bit further
In the heart of an overwhelming nature you can explore the Rainbow Region, the National Parks or join organized tours from local tour providers.
The Border Ranges National Park is only footsteps away for those of you who desire a more robust bushwalk experience. Beautiful swimming holes with crystal clear, clean water invites you for a swim. Exploring the summit of Mt. Warning (Wollumbin) and his National Park, Mebbin National Park, Protesters Falls, Minyon Falls or the Nightcap National Park are challenging day excursions to reconnect with nature and feather your imagination. Giving you an idea for the country with his lost ancient rainforests.
Everywhere you can feel the spirit of the Bundjalung People our Australian aunt sisters.
Feel like discovering the Rainbow Region?
Jerrapark is located close to many touristic towns
20MIN FROM NIMBIN
20 MIN FROM UKI
50 MIN FROM LISMORE
50 MIN FROM MURWILLUMBAH
1h FROM BRUNSWICK HEADS
1h30 FROM BYRON BAY, BALLINA & GOLD COAST
2h15 FROM BRISBANE
Activities & Experiences not to be missed
The Northern Rivers is one of the epicentres for alternative beliefs arounds health and well-being. If you are interested in experiencing the counter culture you can tap into a myriad of different modalities.
UNIQUE EXPERIENCE
Esotericism, Shamanic Healing, Card Reading...
Within a 20 -30 kilometre radius there are practitioners that offer access to esotericism and mysticism…channelling, past life regression, shamanic healing, card reading...
HEMP EMBASSY
And your trip to Nimbin would not be complete without visiting the Hemp Embassy…the slightly ramshackle iconoclastic building where the fight for marijuana reform has germinated over the last 30 years. You can’t miss the building as it is festooned with images of the mystical marijuana plant…and subversive slogans trumpeting the virtues of THC and lampooning the sluggish move toward legalising or at least decriminalising the plant in Australia. A plant with so many attributes… medical, recreational and ecological.
And if you are here in May don’t miss the riotous, joyous and totally way-out Mardi Grass festival…usually attended by thousands. A loud and provocative celebration to Free the Weed.
Wander down the street a little further and you have the Nimbin Apothecary for a natural remedy and Happy High Herbs, a virtual emporium of alternative books, paraphernalia and potions to both calm or transcendentalise your day.
HERBS & POTIONS
MASSAGE, YOGA, TAI CHI
At Birth and Beyond in Nimbin in the main street there is regular Tai Chi classes and yoga …across the road at the Green Bank there is Kahuna massage, a Polynesian style full body treatment that is incredibly relaxing and rejuvenating.
Local Villages we Love
Blue Knob Saturday markets in neighbouring Lillian Rock is an arts, crafts and foodies get-together invariably populated by a wonderful patchwork of local hippies and eccentrics where you can source locally grown produce and attend talks on permaculture, sustainable living, composting toilets and the wonders of hemp and marijuana cultivation.
You can also get coffee and locally produced cakes. Sit on the verandah and listen to the rotating talents of visiting musicians entertaining the crowd.
BLUE KNOB
Twenty minutes down the road on the way to Murwillumbah is the small historic town of Uki (pronounced yook-eye ). It’s a peaceful village at the foot of Wollumbin the aboriginal name for Mount Warning and sits on the Southern arm of the Tweed River. The river meanders alongside the township but when it is in flood it is a sight to behold.
Uki was originally founded on timber-getting in the rugged hinterland and later dairying…now there is a thriving community of artisans and farmers who are very protective of the history of the town’s buildings which date back to the late 1800’s.
There is the original convent, the old bank and the butter factory now affectionately known as The Buttery. On the weekends there is a farmer’s market and once a month a bazaar to showcase arts, crafts, memorabilia recycled clothing and jewelry. There’s always a pop-up coffee stall serving freshly ground local coffee and local breads and sweets.
UKI
20 minutes drive back towards the coast is Nimbin. The epicentre of drug culture activism in Australia. If you are here in early May you can watch bemused at the annual Mardi Grass parade that attracts thousands every year as they thumb their nose at the authorities, light up all kinds of marijuana smoking paraphernalia and watch and cheer the colourful participants chanting, singing and banging drums headed by the columns of semi naked Gunja Fairies. They make their way through town…usually to taunt the local police and then onto the oval for addresses on cannabis law reform and later the hilarious Hemp Olympics.
It was the 1973 Aquarius Festival that really established Nimbin’s place at the heart of Australia’s counter culture…it brought thousands of young people searching for a different way of life…and after the festival many stayed and set up communes or Multiple Occupancies in the hills around the town.
NIMBIN
Their anti-establishment, New Age bohemian lifestyle lives on with tie-dye clothing and colourfully painted buildings often with indigenous motifs in the main street…many of which are owned collectively by the community…
Nimbin also boasts a thriving arts and cultural calendar… there’s the Nimbin Poetry World Cup…a battle of wordsmiths in September and also the Roots Festival…a three day celebration of roots, blues and folk rock which is usually heavily booked also in September.
On a Friday night most months of the year there is the throbbing beat of drums as the locals get together with djembe , bongos, congas violins harmonicas and didgeridoos in the main street. As a spectator it wont take long before you are enchanted and carried off by the rythmns. The drumming is a tribute and a recognition of the town’s indigenous heritage and our own ineffable and timeless connection to the land and our tribe.
Heading East out of Nimbin you can take the Tuntable Falls road which winds through amazing timbered flanks of parts of the Nightcap range…you will pass
Tuntable Falls… possibly one of the the largest shared occupancy communities in Australia. The commune grew out of the Aquarius festival and is now a thriving collective which often stage music, acrobatic displays and talks on self sufficiency, mud brick building and of course the many uses of hemp and medical cannabis.
TUNTABLE FALLS
And then onto The Channon, on the second Sunday of the month this small village grows exponentially as the local oval is transformed into a pageantry of tents and exotically decorated food caravans.
Thousands of people pass through the gates to search out a seeming Alladin’s cave of bespoke jewelry and clothing, mouth-watering food delights, bric a brac and to mingle with the vibrant crowd. The markets started back in 1976 with a strong “ make it, bake it and grow it “ ethos. It will be difficult to do a circuit here without being tempted to take something home. Haggling is also part of the fun.
THE CHANNON
Natural Wonders for Nature Lovers
Jerrapark is the perfect base to explore many of the wonders of the Northern Rivers and the scenic rim. The farm is nestled in the belly of a giant volcanic caldera…the soil is rich and productive…so we are surrounded by farms producing fabulous salads, vegetables cheese honey and breads. The property grows delicious mangoes, there is a forest of pecan trees and a large orchard of olive trees that are close to bearing fruit.
Just ten minutes drive is the gateway to the Border Ranges National Park…part of the World Heritage listed Gondwana rainforests. Here is a primal forest with towering stands of Antarctic Beech trees that take you back in time to stand beneath them.
The Border Ranges is a biodiversity hotspot with a number of endemic but rare endangered species. The Hastings River Mouse has been rediscovered after being thought to be extinct…you may also sight the rare Albert’s lyrebird.
More likely to come across red-necked wallabies and Eastern Grey kangaroos and high in the eucalypts … a colony of koalas.
Perhaps also a fleeting glimpse of the elusive and fast moving Pademelon..a small marsupial that looks like a miniature wallaby. The strange sounding name comes from the word badimaliyan from the Dharuk Aboriginal language once prevalent around Port Jackson in Sydney.
A day trip or a longer stay in the Border Ranges is not to be missed.
BORDER RANGES
HANGING ROCK
If the weather is warm you can take a short drive down Williams Road and head to the Hanging Rock Falls.
The nearby creeks pass over the granite boulders into a swimming hole that is extremely deep in places. The site has few amenities and remains pretty much the way it was for perhaps a thousand years…if you’re quiet and contemplative you can feel the spirit of the aboriginal tribes that have made their way here for water and ceremony for centuries.
Be wary though…the rocks can be slippery and once in the water it can be quite difficult to get out…be careful also from the antics of adrenaline junkies taking high dives off the cliff face…stay on the other side of the pool and avoid them.
NIMBIN ROCKS
Nimbin is ringed by rugged escarpments and just on the outskirts is the famed Nimbin Rocks.
Towering remnants of the massive volcanic eruption that gave birth to the caldera 20 millions years ago, it is a fitting signpost to a town and an area that is still largely untamed.
MINYON FALLS
Minyon Falls walking track offers the opportunity to experience a range of forests,
Pristine creeks and a spectacular waterfall in Nightcap National Park. winding through Nightcap escarpment, in northern NSW, this beautiful track will challenge and delight bushwalking fans in equal measure.