The Cat's Studio

Harrington is a growing residential area and holiday centre on the Manning River near Taree . A comprehensive book about the history of Harrington is 'Crossing the bar' by Rebecca Linton (ISBN 1 920683 44-5).

The Harrington Beach Holiday Park is excellent. We went there four times in off season and love the place. First time we pitched our tent for a week on a powered site close to the camp kitchen and amenities block. The kitchen is well equipped. On our other visits we enjoyed two week stays in a Budget Cabin which has air conditioning, television, fridge and a nice kitchen area. All amenity blocks are clean and with a decent supply of gas powered hot water. The park is very roomy and has lots of trees giving enough shade. Birds are plentiful and even a number of goannas pay regular visits.

The park lies directly on the road to Crowdy Head just a few hundred metres from the centre of Harrington and yet we did not notice any disturbance from traffic noises.

The tidal Harrington Lagoon is just a few metres away and is accessible by several walkways through a small belt of Rain Forest. The lagoon is fairly big and the water is mostly shallow. Ideal for the kids to swim and play, or to try some fishing with dad. However, along the breakwater opposite the park are some pretty deep stretches. Fishing in the lagoon is surprisingly good with decent catches of whiting and bream. Big mullet are cruising around and virtually jump over your rod. As usual they are extremely fussy and hard to catch. The lagoon is historically a part of the old Manning River now cut off by the breakwater built to make the crossing of the sand bar safer.

The breakwater is frequented by anglers out to catch a number of different species. Tailor, blackfish, bream and flathead the most prevalent. It obviously pays to glean some information from the local fishos to improve catches.

At the time of our last stay there was lengthy maintenance work going on with rock laden trucks constantly coming and going over the part of the wall from the Coast Guard Station out to the eastern tip.

Some sources mention that Harrington Beach is just a short distance away from the park. That is only true if you are a crow. For the trip to the beach using the breakwater as the walkway I would guess that it takes about 20 minutes to reach the ocean as you have to walk around the whole stretch of the lagoon to the south. Choosing the northern route around the lagoon is not much shorter and a little more strenuous as you have to navigate your way through the dunes. There is another pedestrian beach access path signposted just when you leave Harrington on Crowdy Head Road. We took this one on our last day there only to discover that it leads you back to the northern end of the lagoon near the camp and then winds on through sheer endless dunes. Finally after an hour or so we stood on the ocean and then had to take the same exhausting sand path back to the car we left beside Crowdy Head Road. If you want to fish from Harrington Beach you are well advised to take the 4WD route off Crowdy Head Road if you got a suitable set of wheels.

Other camping and caravan parks in the area are the Oxley Anchorage Caravan Park opposite the Bowling Club and the Colonial Leisure Village just before you enter Harrington from Coopernook.

The Harrington Bowling Club is a very nice place to eat and has a good view over the river. There is also the historic Harrington Hotel, a number of other restaurants and coffee shops. Other shops include a butcher, bakery, chemist, general stores, hardware, tackle shop, takeaways, bottle shop and petrol station.

Local points of interest are Pilot Hill with a beautiful view over the surrounding area, the breakwater for fishing or just to take a stroll along the walkway and the Oxley Memorial just west of the Bowling Club.

Harrington is ideal to enjoy a very relaxed stay and a good base to discover the many interesting sites in the Manning Valley.

Taree is only an hours drive away and has all the attractions a rural centre can offer. Wingham is another old historic site and well worth a visit especially the museum and Wingham Brush, home to about 250,000 flying foxes. From there you can take a drive through the Manning Valley, up the mountain and forest roads to visit Ellenborough Falls (200m single fall), Blue Knob Lookout (1016m), Dingo Tops Rest Area (Camp Site) and a number of other lookouts.

To the north there is Crowdy Head with a very nice boat ramp and fishing harbour only a ten-minute-drive away. The jetty and the harbour rock wall are popular fishing spots. Well, if the fishing is not good there is always the fishing co-op shop.

Further north lies Laurieton with a spectacular lookout from North Brother Mountain. Don't miss it. On Middle Brother Mountain on the other side of the highway you can visit very old rainforests where some of the tallest trees in NSW are standing.

To the south you can visit Old Bar and Manning Point. The latter is just opposite Harrington on the other side of the Manning but requires a 60km drive to get there by car. Both locations have camping and caravan facilities.