Tea Gardens

Tea Gardens offers a variety of ways to plan a trip: daily ferry services, changing art exhibitions and activities on the Myall River. When choosing a holiday rental, it may therefore be important to consider whether you would most like to focus on a trip on the water, art or being active. Hawks Nest is another nearby place to consider for experiences in the area.

Ferry between Nelson Bay and Tea Gardens

The Original Tea Gardens Ferry offers daily return trips between Nelson Bay and Tea Gardens. The fleet consists of historic vessels. The journey offers views and the chance to spot dolphins, dingoes and seabirds. The ferry trip itself can therefore become an outing—an appealing option for travellers who want to combine a connection between two places with an experience on the water. The trip can also be a focus of the day’s itinerary if you enjoy taking in the views and watching for wildlife.

Art in Tea Gardens

The Gallery in Tea Gardens presents changing exhibitions featuring works by artists from the Tea Gardens, Hawks Nest and Myall Coast communities. The changing exhibition format is one way to include art in your trip while discovering a range of different works. The Gallery offers paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics and jewellery for sale. The selection therefore includes a variety of forms—from pictures and three-dimensional works to ceramics and jewellery.

Another art-related attraction is the Myall Riverside Art Walk: new installations are celebrated each year in October at the Myall River Festival. If you are interested in art, you can take this annual event into account when planning your trip. The festival adds a special October event to a visit to the changing exhibitions at The Gallery.

Activities on the water and on land

On the calm waters of the Myall River, Lazy Paddles offers kayaking tours for dolphin watching. The tours are suitable for all age groups. For families or travel groups with people of different ages, this is a specific point to consider when choosing an activity to enjoy together. You can also choose between different kinds of experiences on the water: the ferry trip, with the chance to spot dolphins, dingoes and seabirds, or a kayaking tour focused on dolphin watching.

The Tea Gardens Skate Park offers skating opportunities for beginners of all ages. This adds an on-land activity to the excursions on the water. If skating interests your travel group, you can include the park as a separate item on your itinerary; the facilities are explicitly also aimed at people who are just starting to skate.

Hawks Nest and Moira Parade Reserve

Moira Parade Reserve in Hawks Nest is close to Tea Gardens. Located on the foreshore at Hawks Nest, the reserve has a playground, barbecue area, picnic shelter and public toilets. There is also a boat ramp with access to Myall Lake. The different facilities make the reserve suitable for a range of ways to spend your time: families can use the playground, while the barbecue area and picnic shelter provide a place to take a break. If you would like to take a boat onto Myall Lake, the boat ramp also provides access.

When choosing where to stay, you can use your interests as a guide: if ferry trips or The Gallery are your main priorities, include Tea Gardens in your search; for Moira Parade Reserve, Hawks Nest is one of the relevant location options. This lets you align your holiday rental search with the experiences that matter to you, without combining every activity into a single itinerary.

For more travel ideas, you can also discover Boolambayte, Charlotte Bay, Bulahdelah, Elizabeth Beach, Forster and Blueys Beach.

For the wider travel overview: Great Lakes Council.