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Non-Reciprocal exchange
21 nights
Kirsty
Verified
We had the pleasure of a 3 week exchange for a globe at Marg and Nick’s beautiful Bellingen home. We had the most wonderful experience, and I can’t recommend them as swap partners highly enough.
Marg and Nick are incredible hosts. From our first contact and video call, I felt so at ease with them and knew we would be a great match. We finalised quite a while before the exchange took place and I enjoyed regular messaging with Marg in the interim. We ended up having some changes to dates and Marg was super accommodating and flexible. On arrival, we were so grateful that Marg and Nick picked us up from the airport (in two cars so we would fit!) and took us to their home for a guided tour. They had left us a meal for lunch, as well as dinner which was so thoughtful after our 2 days of travelling – definitely above and beyond.
Marg and I chatted regularly throughout our stay and I appreciated all her recommendations and sharing updates about what we were doing. As they were staying nearby we were also able to catch up one evening for a drink and a chat which was lovely, and not something I have been able to do with any host before. We were able to invite a couple of friends to stay over a night, which was lovely for us all. On top of all this, Marg and Nick were kind enough to take us back to the airport when we left! You could not ask for nicer people, or better hosts.
A car was offered to us as part of the exchange which was absolutely fantastic. Given it was a longer stay, we would not have been able to do if we had had to pay for a car rental as well. So grateful!
The home itself is nestled among the treetops on the edge of the gorgeous town of Bellingen. You are surrounded by bush and bird song, and can enjoy all of this (plus epic stars at night!) from the wraparound deck. It is only a few mins drive from the main street of Bellingen which has shops, groceries, pubs and restaurants.
It’s a 3 bedroom home (one with an en suite) with comfortable and cosy beds. Plenty of room for us all, and our belongings. We were there in winter (which is very mild) and were always comfortable thanks to the heating and also the wood stove (which we rarely used as did not need to). The kitchen has everything you can need, including a great espresso machine which is actually incredibly easy to use (if I can do it, you can too!). Great laundry with washer and drye. Comfy sofa for us all to relax and watch some TV in the evening. Did I mention the hot tub? Nothing quite like relaxing in the tub looking at the gum trees and hearing kookaburras and other native birds. Its chemical free which I had not seen before, but its SO much nicer than the regular spas. Showers are great!
The chickens are a lovely bonus – my son enjoyed collecting the fresh eggs each morning, and feeding them is a great way to use up food scraps!
If you have not been to this part of Australia – you should visit! You can barely sneeze without stumbling onto a gorgeous, secluded beach, amazing hinterland or a stunning river. Some of our favourites were: Boambee Beach, Nambucca North Head, A stroll over to Muttonbird Island (great fish and chips and ice cream in the area you park in there too), Urunga boardwalk, the Promised Land/Never Never river (park at Promised Land bridge), Sawtell beach.
For food we enjoyed: dinner at Charlies, lunch at the Butter Factory, fish and chips at Coffs Harbour jetty, burgers at Coastal Harvest and a fancier lunch at Mie Mie’s. And so much more!
