In this month’s Your Town column Move To More blogger and Eugowra local, Cassie Gates, chats with Rob Bryant about his life in the northern NSW coastal town of Lennox Head.
What’s your Lennox Head story Rob?
We moved just over 3 years ago from the Blue Mountains, but before that we have lived in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and Utrecht in the Netherlands. Originally the move to the mountains was because it was more affordable. But there was always the thought of moving to the Netherlands for my wife, Inge, to be with her family and so we did that dragging the kids with us and stayed for a few years before moving back to the Mountains again. It wasn’t long though before we realised we weren’t really ‘Mountains’ people. There wasn’t anywhere to kayak! We knew we wanted to live somewhere affordable, somewhere nice and we had broken away from the mindset of living in a city. We looked everywhere, all over Australia. It was on a trip to Byron Bay where we discovered we liked the area, the climate was great, but we couldn’t afford the houses until we saw a property online in Lennox Head! The beaches are incredible here, the community is really nice and there are no traffic lights. The landscape is simply beautiful with hills and macadamia farms and rainforest nearby. It has a few shops, a very relaxed lifestyle, we really love it!
What is life REALLY like in Lennox?
It’s a great place to bring up a family. An ideal lifestyle, the kids rarely wear shoes! There are several beaches to choose from and they are all stunning. We have a tea tree lake here as well, surrounded by paperbark trees, it’s freshwater and always incredibly warm water in summer. Many streets are cul-de-sacs which are safe for the kids to play. It really is a safe environment for bringing up children and there are some good schools around too. A brand-new primary school is being built in Lennox. One of my daughters goes to Byron Bay High School, a 25-minute bus ride away and it’s right next to a National Park and the beach, so sport is usually played on the beach! There are lots of choices for schools in the area which is great. We are so close yet away if you know what I mean. The airport is just 15 minutes with connections to Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne and Dubbo and Brisbane which is less than 2hrs drive up the road. The demographic is a real mix of ages although just recently a lot of young families have moved into the area. It’s a beautiful community.
What sort of jobs are available in Lennox?
A lot of people have brought their jobs with them to the region, they work online or have set up a business. I’ve brought my design business with me, Trebor Design. Plenty of hospitality work is available with restaurants, bars and hotels. Ballina has work especially in the service industry. With the airport so close many people commute to the city for a couple of days, for meetings, and the rest of the week work from home. There are millions of tradies around! There is so much work for them here!
What do you do on the weekend for fun?
The beach is a must. We have a dog, a golden retriever, so after a walk on the dog beach we go to the café for a coffee, it’s right on the beach. There is a beautiful snorkeling spot, Bream Hole, behind the reef break. So much sea life to see there. There is an old railway line which has been turned into a magnificent cycle trail from Crabbes Creek to Murwillumbah, it’s 45kms long at the moment but there’s plans to extend it back to Casino. There’s lots of cafes and accommodation popping up along the way.
What is on offer entertainment wise, I did notice there is a yearly Festival, Love Lennox, what is that all about?
The Love Lennox Festival is in June and is all about Loving Lennox! The main street is closed for street stalls with local food, crafts and businesses. There’s a couple of stages and a dog show to show off the millions of dogs that live the best life you can imagine hanging out on their own long dog beach each day here in Lennox. We also have a monthly market with music, vegies and many stalls that appear at all the markets in the region. We also have a Community Centre that has some events and concerts, the library is in the same building. By the way, the main street has recently been upgraded by Ballina Council, it’s been a tricky time for the businesses whilst the work was done but the end result is much better with an upgraded park and street scape.
Is there a sporting culture in Lennox or is it all just surfing and beach vibes?
There is a Touch Football Association in Ballina, with an amazing 1300 participants. There’s Footy, Cricket in summer is big. Surfing is huge of course with our beautiful beaches. There is lots of yoga, Pilates and those kinds of activities both on and off the beach. Oh, and bootcamps on the beach too!
Is Lennox easy to get to and around if you don’t drive?
There are buses around town and the kids use school buses. Lots of cycleways around the place and the main village is flat.
What is the housing situation like in the region?
The prices have gone up quite a lot in the last 3 years, building blocks used to be around $600k six years ago and now a decent sized block is around $1M and the place is growing really fast. At the moment you can only build a 2 story house but I imagine that will change as it fills up and this won’t make everyone happy! There are many new estates being built and the houses all have white walls and roofs!
Can you get in to see a doctor? Where is the nearest hospital?
Yes, there is a new doctor’s surgery in EPIQ Marketplace where there’s a new shopping centre with a supermarket. There is another surgery in Lennox and a local hospital in Ballina and a newer hospital in Byron and I’ve heard the service is really good. Lismore Base Hospital, 35 mins away, has 280 beds and has more facilities.
Ok. Here’s your time to pitch! If you had to give someone one reason to move to the Lennox Head region, what would it be?
Move to Lennox if you want to live somewhere you love and get reminded of it every day. It’s one of those places where you can go down the beach and just go ‘Wow, I’m so lucky to live here!’ Everyone I meet also thinks the same. It’s a great community, is safe, has outstanding nature, consistently nice weather (no big crazy temperatures), it’s close to the Gold Coast and Brisbane for the city fix, close to an airport (15mins), heaps of options for things to do from fishing, surfing, cycling, bushwalking, whale watching, swimming and just doing nothing. Why live in a busy city?
