Destination Guide | CENTRAL COAST FOR Rocky Trail COUPLES

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Calling all Rocky Trail Lovers!

The Central Coast is a vibrant mix of urban hubs, beach towns and hinterland villages, offering superb natural beauty alongside classy bars, lively entertainment, fantastic shopping, and modern eateries delivered by world-class chefs.

Come and create memories – let us tempt you to bring your loved one!

Martin and I have been living on the Central Coast for seven years and we’ve had so much fun exploring what this beautiful region has to offer.

Explore our beaches, mountain bike trails and cycling paths and enjoy the cafes, restaurants, pubs, romantic spots, shopping, chocolate tasting (and buying!), wellness treats and all that right in between Sydney and Newcastle – and certainly worth the drive from Canberra and further afar.

We always are having fun exploring our home region – check out our Video Trailer about our little family adventure (and for a day we ventured out just the two of us!!)

Come for the race, stay for the weekend! Our events are proudly supported by the Central Coast Council and together with the major sponsors Shimano Cycling Australia, RIDE Fox Australia and sealant partner, Stan’s NoTubes with Jetblack Products Australia, all your rider photos are included in the entry fee! What a great souvenir from a weekend away together!

See you out there on those rocky trails,
Juliane

Destination Information

From headland to hinterland, you’ll love the Central Coast!

Romantic lookouts and spots

The Central Coast has several fantastic headlands and vantage points for spectacular views. Our favourite spots are:

  1. Crackneck Lookout, (Wyrrabalong National Park).
    You can drive right to the top. Limited parking is available, and it can be very busy on sunny weekends. Several picnic tables and benches are available. Pack a picnic and enjoy the sunshine.
  2. The Skillion, Terrigal.
    As you drive into Terrigal, the Skillion is a prominent landmark. Parking is available easily, however, it is a steep walk to the top. There is a concrete stairway and path added, so no problems taking prams up there. The view is certainly a reward for a bit of effort!
  3. Norah Head Lighthouse – our all-time favourite: Bush & Beach fun!
    Norah Head Lighthouse is beautiful to visit in any season. There is designated parking with a pathway to the Lighthouse and The Ark Cafe is amazing!
  4. Bateau Bay Beach Viewing Area.
    While it is not the highest vantage point, a beautifully landscaped sandstone platform provides a clear viewing point out over Bateau Bay. Plenty of parking is available, and picnic tables and amenities are close by. Check out our notes on our favourite bushwalks below! – Park the car here and take the bushwalk to the top of Crackneck. It is not a difficult bushwalk however the surface is uneven, and it is undulating terrain.
  5. Copacabana Beach – Captain Cook Lookout.
    At the Southern end of the coast this purpose built platform has views all the way south to Palm Beach.

Don’t miss the Food & Wine Festival, happening on Sunday 6th February at Mt Penang Gardens!! Check the website for all the deets.

Tried and Tested – Rocky Trail Favourites

Wyong Milk Factory

Wyong Milk Factory is a 2 minute drive from the event centre – cafe, restaurant, hairdresser, beauty treatments, gift & furniture store, pub, fitness centre, cheese factory, chocolate factory – need we say more???

Wyong Town Centre

Take a stroll through the Wyong Town Centre on Allison Road – barber, cupcake store, restaurants, a pizzeria cafes with Glee Roasters and Duck Duck Moose and one of our event partners, Panonia.

TreeTops Adventure Park

Just 300m from the Rocky Trail event centre at Ourimbah State Forest you can experience the iconic Australian bush like never before. Get up-close and personal with native Australian wildlife and magnificent Gum trees, as you climb, weave and fly through the tree tops on self-guided rope courses. Flex your adventurous spirit and test yourself mentally and physically with over 100 elevated obstacles with rope ladders, wobbly bridges, tunnels, cargo-nets and zip lines. – Perfect for the accompanying families and friends while you race or as a pre- or post-race activity together!

Australian Reptile Park

One of our most favourite excursions is to the Australian Reptile Park just off the Gosford exit – you would have noticed the huge dinosaur on your way up to Wyong! This is a hands-on zoo located in a natural bush setting, home to exotic reptiles from around the world and a wide variety of Australian native animals. Enjoy live entertaining shows, themed exhibits and behind the scenes tours. Learn about conservation work undertaken by keepers including the Tasmanian devil breeding program at Devil Ark, and our lifesaving snake and spider venom collection work.

Gosford – Kincumber Pub

This a great pub, but don’t let the name fool you – great food, delicious cocktails in a really nice and sophisticated setting!

Tasting Triple – Wine, Schnapps, Beer

This is one of our “classic-Wisata-visitor-tours” on the Central Coast – visit the Distillery Botanica for some delicious spirits, head down to the Six String Brewery for a cool beer (and a delicious snack in their on-site pub) and then, for dessert, visit the Firescreek Fruit Winery just around the corner – all three are within a 2-5 minute drive from each other between Gosford and Terrigal near Erina.

The winery opened its cellar doors in December 2003 to offer you a seasonal variety of boutique fruit flower and herb wines. Wine tasting is complimentary – Cellardoor Wine Tastings: Every Wednesday to Sunday. 10:30am- 4:30pm

This boutique distillery is home to an array of award winning tipples including Moore’s Dry Gin, Distillery Botanica Gin and Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur. The distillery is set amongst 3 acres of beautiful gardens. You’re invited to take a stroll through the lovely gardens and drop into the cellar door, open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm.

At Six String Brewery it’s all about great beer and music – the tasting room and brewery is located near Erina. Open Wed-Sat 12-10pm, Sunday 11am-5pm. There is a great smokehouse/bar/restaurant, which is an offspring of the brewery – Sounds on West in Umina. The ribs and hearty food there are so delicious, especially when washed down with a cool brew! We’ve been there and can only highly recommend it!

Erina Fair

A bit of shopping therapy needed? Erina Fair is the largest shopping centre on the Central Coast, about a 40 min drive from the Ourimbah State Forest event centre.

Tuggerah Westfield

Located just across the highway from the turn-off into the Yarramalong Valley and only about a 10 minute drive from the event centre. Nice and open shopping centre. Not as big as Erina, but a really nice selection and wellness and beauty shops.

Umina – Beach and lunch/dinner

This charming little village is a gem on the Central Coast and one of our favourites! The beach is divine and you must check out the new ‘Sounds on West’ restaurant just a bit over a kilometre from the playground. It’s the latest offspring from the Six String Brewery – a rustic restaurant with a charming backyard and garden where the kids can roam free and even eat the strawberries! There’s a blackboard to draw on and Lego to play with… heaven! Not to mention the food – ribs, corn bread, sausages, Schnitzel and beer. Yasss!

Terrigal – Beach, restaurants, bars and nightlife

Terrigal is a beautiful village on the coast with a bustling nightlife on the weekends! Beautiful walks along the shore and an amazing look-out invite you to spend the day – have lunch in a bistro or cafe and head out into a bar after a delicious dinner in one of the many restaurants! Here are our favourites:

Coastal and Bush Walks that we love

Bateau Bay – Wyrrabalong National Park – a beautiful walk that spans from Shelly Beach all the way south to Forresters Beach and Juliane’s regular walking and running track, often also with Cosmo. Enjoy scenic views and wildflowers along The Coast walking track near Bateau Bay. This is a great winter walk, and there are excellent spots for whale watching along this easy walk in Wyrrabalong National Park.

Kincumber Reserve – A relaxing, peaceful open space perched above Kincumber and Green Point on the beautiful Central Coast of NSW.

Somersby Falls – A beautiful, short walk, just around the corner from the Australian Wildlife Park at the Gosford exit of the M1.

Forest of Tranquility at Ourimbah – over 100 acres of bush with a surviving Australian Rainforest and pristine streams, diverse wildlife and flora. With walking trails, sculpture trail by local Artists at our unique venue it is the ideal place to relax and spend a day or a few hours.

Strickland State Forest near Ourimbah – we often venture out here, because Strickland has extensive walking tracks through varying forest types – past waterfalls, under cabbage tree palms and along creeks.

Our all-time favourite: Norah Head – Bushwalk, rock pool and The General Store Cafe

This is one of our favourite breakfast and brunch spots on the coast! You can park your car near the cafe and do the easy 3.5km walk through the bush to the Norah Head light house, climb down the steps to the beach and walk along the beach and around the headland to the Rock Pool. From there steps lead back up to the cafe.

We collected some links to websites and blogs of locals for ideas to explore the Central Coast for the weekend!

What else is happening on the Central Coast on the Rocky Trail event weekends? Find out HERE

INS(TA)PIRATION:
There are so many experiences that await,
here are just a few to get you started:

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