The Great Lakes area is a comfortable two and a half hour drive north
of Sydney along the Pacific Highway. The area stretches over
145 kilometres of shoreline from Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest
on Port Stephens, to the tidal lakes and beaches of Forster
and Tuncurry in the north. Barrington Tops' wilderness, in the west
overlooks verdant farmland while the elegant town of Stroud conserves
a convict-built townscape. Within that area lie relics of a mining
and timber cutting past, scenic lookouts, thousands of hectares
of State Forests and National Parks, bright rivers and the lakes
that give the region its name.
The Great Lakes brims with holiday adventure:
surfing on excellent waves, swimming in crystal clear rock pools
and bays, canoeing on tidal lakes, watching for dolphins and whales.


Tea Gardens/Hawks Nest: Koala Reserve, diving, dolphin watching.
Bulahdelah: Myall Lakes, Bulahdelah Mountain Park, Alum Mountain.
Seal Rocks: Dolphin and whale watching, scuba diving.
Pacific Palms: Green Cathedral, Smiths Lake.
Forster/Tuncurry: Surfing beaches, diving with sharks, Wallis Lake,
Pelican Island.
Nabiac: Art & Craft, Wallamba River.
Stroud: One of the finest collections of convict history in Australia.
Myall Lakes National Park: State's largest fresh brackish lake system,
40 kms of beaches, littoral rainforest.
Booti Booti National Park: Coastal strip between Cape Hake
and Charlotte Head, protects over 200 species of birds, lookouts,
surf beaches, rainforest walks.
Barrington Tops National Park: A subtropical rainforest and eucalypt forest.
Tops to Myall Heritage Trail: Joins Barrington Tops and Myall Lakes
National Parks.