HAPPENINGS ON THE COAST

WORDS MEGAN ARKINSTALL

Bouddi Music Festival,

Wagstaffe Hall – June 11, 12

The Bouddi Society is staging its first music festival with two world class performances. Singer-songwriter Melissa Schneider presents ‘Love Songs’ an intimate and soulful concert that spans 40 years of music to songs from her 15th album, yet-to-be-released. June 11 at 7.30 pm.

Shakespearian actor and director, John Bell, and pianist, Simon Tedeschi, combine in ‘Words and Music’, sharing backstage tales, poetry, classical and jazz music – from Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Keats and Scott Fitzgerald. June 12 at 2.00 pm.

Tickets $69 each. bouddisociety.org.au/music-festival.html

© L SPIROVSKI

PEARL BEACH ARBORETUM EPHEMERAL ART TRAIL

Pearl Beach, 11 June – 17 July

Returning for a second year, the Pearl Beach Arboretum Ephemeral Art Trail combines nature and art in the most organic way. The five-hectare botanical garden – which comprises open forest, wetlands, pockets of temperate rainforest and is home to rare plants and hundreds of bird species – will become an open-air gallery with 20 temporary artworks and five community installations. The 2022 collection will follow the theme ‘Only One Earth’, to promote nature conservation. Visitors to the trail can vote for their favourite artwork, with a people’s choice prize being given as well as an official first prize.

pearlbeacharboretum.org.au/ephemeral-art-trail

HARVEST FESTIVAL

VARIOUS HINTERLAND LOCATIONS, 11 – 12 JUNE

Spend the June long weekend in our gorgeous hinterland area for this year’s Harvest Festival. The jam-packed schedule will include fresh food and country markets, pick-your-own fruit and veggie experiences, bush tucker tours and more. Visitors can tour local farms such as Grace Springs and The Giving Farm to see how they operate and to meet their animals, taste local produce, and enjoy live music and free entertainment at the event hubs, including Glenworth Grazing Food & Wine Festival, which has a massive musical line-up and a host of gourmet stalls.

centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/harvestfestival

5 Lands Walk

Macmasters Beach to Terrigal, 25 June

This spectacular 10-kilometre walking festival promises to not only be a physical journey, but also a spiritual and cultural one. Thousands of likeminded people annually strap on their walking shoes to trace the coastline from Macmasters Beach to Terrigal, via Copacabana, Avoca and North Avoca. Held close to the winter solstice, when whales – a totem of the Darkinjung people – are migrating north, there will also be ocean tours and whale watching, arts and cultural displays such as traditional weaving and dance, live music in all five villages, and family-friendly activities. The festival has partnered with Take 3 for the Sea this year, encouraging all participants to pick up at least three pieces of rubbish throughout the walk, aiming to make a real difference to the local environment.

Bay to Bay Running Festival

Woy Woy to Gosford, 19 June

© ABBEY DIGITAL If you enjoy pounding the pavement, then you’ll love the Central Coast’s premier running festival. Dedicated runners can choose from a 12-kilometre run or 21-kilometre half marathon: both start in Woy Woy, journey along the Brisbane Water foreshore, and end at Gosford’s Central Coast Stadium. Or there’s a shorter fivekilometre fun run/walk, which starts in Adcock Park in Donnison St, West Gosford and ends at the stadium. Kids aged seven to 12 can also join in with a two-kilometre run. The event raises money for local charities The Glen and Camp Breakaway.

baytobay.org.au

Horses Birthday Kids Festival

Glenworth Valley, 30 – 31 July

Little people are in for a treat at this year’s Horses Birthday Festival, which celebrates the international birthday of our equine friends. Held in the sprawling hinterland grounds of Glenworth Valley, an entry ticket will gain kids unlimited free rides and entertainment – that includes an inflatable obstacle course, petting farm, circus workshops, pony rides, reptile shows, magic shows, laser skirmish and more (phew!). There will be food trucks to feed rumbly tummies and a bar and live music for adults to relax in amongst the fun, too.

glenworth.com.au/horses-birthday-kids-festival

WATCH THE LEVIATHANS OF THE DEEP

– ALL ALONG THE COAST, MAY TO JULY, AND AUGUST TO OCTOBER

We’re fortunate to have access to spectacular views from our coastal lookouts and, for closer views, on whale-watching boats as 35,000 humpback whales migrate north (and then back south again) with exuberant displays of breaching, tail-slapping, spyhopping, lob-tailing, and fin-slapping.

THE BEST LAND-BASED WHALE-WATCHING VANTAGE POINTS ON THE CENTRAL COAST INCLUDE:

Gerrin Point Lookout, Bouddi National Park, Bouddi Marie Byles Lookout, Killcare Heights (easy car access but further from the ocean) Captain Cook and Winney Bay Lookouts, Copacabana The Skillion, Terrigal Haven Wyrrabalong Lookout, Cromarty Hill, Forresters Beach Crackneck Lookout, Wyrrabalong National Park, Bateau Bay Norah Head Lighthouse, Norah Head Wybung Head, Munmorah State Conservation Area, Budgewoi

THE BEST WHALE WATCHING FROM BOATS:

Terrigal Ocean Tours, Terrigal Haven Heavenly Tours, Port Stephens Moonshadow TQC Cruises, Nelson Bay Nova Cruises, Newcastle Adrenaline, Newcastle Coast XP, Newcastle