The on-site camp kitchen and BBQ areas are the heart of beautiful evenings here. We loved cooking up a fresh feed after a day on the river, then carrying plates a few steps down to the lagoon edge to watch the colour drain out of the sky. The seasonal community firepit is a quiet bonus when the cooler months roll in, and the village is so close that ducking out for milk, bread or a takeaway coffee feels effortless.

For breakfast and a serious caffeine fix, we kept finding ourselves at Liberty Providores on Bowra Street. Dark Arts coffee, properly built jaffles and a fridge full of local goodies make it a brilliant first stop of the day, and we ended up grabbing supplies for a riverside picnic more than once.

For dinner with a view, Anchors Wharf sits right on the south bank of the Kalang River and is the local fine-ish dining favourite. The modern Australian menu has a Thai twist running through it, and the seafood leans hard on what's been landed nearby. Book ahead in summer because it fills quickly with weekenders.

Pub night is best at the Ocean View Hotel, the white timber pub up on the hill with bistro classics, a kid-friendly grassed beer garden and the kind of slow Sunday afternoon energy that makes you forget you have a check-out time. If you've got the car, the short drive north to North Beach General Store at Mylestom is well worth it for fish and chips by the Bellinger River, and Friday nights bring live music and dinner with locals.

The lagoon is the park's quiet superpower. We grabbed one of the on-site kayaks and paddled out into water so clear we could watch fish drift underneath us. The kids will likely make a beeline for the playground and pedal karts, while the adjoining grass runs straight down to the water for swimming, casting a line or just dragging a chair into the shallows.

The legendary Urunga Boardwalk starts on your doorstep and runs a kilometre out across the lagoon to the surf beach, with a jumping pontoon at the river mouth that becomes very popular with kids on hot afternoons. It is fully wheelchair accessible the whole way, and we spotted dolphins, stingrays and eastern grey kangaroos grazing on the mudflats. Five minutes south, Hungry Head Beach delivers consistent, uncrowded waves and a gorgeous coastal walk through the headland reserve.

Inland calls just as loudly. The Waterfall Way climbs west from town, and within thirty minutes you are wandering the streets of Bellingen, browsing bookshops, op shops and providores. Try to time your visit with the Bellingen Community Markets on the third Saturday of the month, where 250-plus stalls fill the showground with produce, makers and live music. We left with sourdough, native honey and a small case of buyer's remorse over a ceramic bowl we should have grabbed.

Push another forty minutes north to Dorrigo National Park and the world heritage rainforest opens up. The Skywalk lookout puts you on a platform above the canopy with views all the way back to the coast, and the Walk With the Birds boardwalk and Crystal Shower Falls are both achievable in a half day. On the way home, swing into The Honey Place at Urunga for tastings, ice cream and a peek at the working observation hive.

We loved that mornings on the boardwalk almost always turned up dolphins working the river mouth, so we made a habit of grabbing a coffee and walking the lagoon before breakfast.