We met in Melbourne in the late 1990s, when we were both in our early forties. Agnes relocated to Melbourne from Geelong, where she had spent most of her life, and we bought a house together in the inner suburb of Thornbury.
Geoff’s career was spent working in media and marketing for the Victorian government, mainly for conservation and tourism agencies, while Agnes has many years experience working in fashion and lighting design, as well as retail management.
Increasingly tired of the stresses of city life, we decided that the next chapter of our lives would be to own and manage a small tourist accommodation business in a beautiful part of Australia. After lots of research and visiting many regions along the east coast, we both felt that Bellingen would be the perfect place to realize our future dreams.
Halfway between Sydney and Brisbane and only thirty minutes from Coffs Harbour, it’s a vibrant and fascinating country village in a lush and picturesque river valley.
A short drive to the west leads to the World Heritage rainforest and waterfalls of the Dorrigo plateau and twenty minutes east brings you to the unspoilt surf beaches of the Coffs Coast.