Ballina (New South Wales)

Ballina is a coastal town, just south of Byron Bay and Lennox Head in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. Get in By plane Ballina Airport (BNK) is on Southern Cross Drive, around 5km from the centre of Ballina. Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Rex fly direct from Sydney. Jetstar flies direct from Melbourne. Avis, Hertz, Thrify, Budget and Europcar all operate from the terminal building. Blanches Bus Company [1] operate a schedule service to the airport, travelling as far as Byron Bay for $3.60 to Ballina downtown, $9.40 to Byron. Airport shuttles to nearby Lennox Head and Byron Bay are readily available [2][3]. Taxis operate from outside the terminal building, but a taxi to Byron Bay is expensive. By car Ballina is on the Pacific Highway, around 9 hours drive north of Sydney or just over 2 hours south from Brisbane. By bus Ballina is served by several Greyhound busses a day on their route from Sydney to Brisbane and vice versa.[4] Get around See The Big Prawn, one of Australia's Big Things, 6m high and weighing 33 tonne. It was moved to a new location in 2012 and can now be seen in West Ballina. Beaches. Lighthouse - extending from North Wall to the head, Lighthouse Beach is a popular beach with lifesaving patrols Shelley - A fully patrolled beach with a lifesaving club. A popular spot for locals Angels - A beautiful, typical Australian beach which is usually quite deserted. There are however no lifeguard patrols  edit Do Buy Ballina has 2 shopping areas. One is the main street, called River Street and the side streets around it, such as Tamar Street, which runs paralell to River Street. The other location is at the end of Kerr Stret, where there is Ballina Fair on one side of the road and Ballina Central on the other. There is a fairly good cross section of shops between the 2 shopping centers, as well as Coles, Woolworths, K Mart and Big W. There are also Red Rooster, KFC and Hungry Jacks fast food outlets in the area There are also smaller shopping centres at East and West Ballina however these are only of interest to anybody who would be staying nearby, being mainly groceries and other services. Eat Ballina RSL in the main street serves excellent meals, has great views of the river and is reasonably priced Drink Sleep Ballina YHA Travellers Lodge, 36 Tamar Street, Ballina, ☎ 02 6686 6737. Beds from $25.00.  edit Ballina Beach Village, 440 South Ballina Beach Road, Ballina, ☎ (02) 6686 3347, [5]. Situated in an unsurpassed location of natural seclusion with a complement of wonderful recreational facilities and miles of priceless ocean beaches and saltwater fishing at its best. We provide fully serviced caravan sites and self contained cabins.  edit There are several cheap but comfortable motels on the Pacific Highway at West Ballina starting from $60 a night through to just over $100. There are also some located on Cherry Street in the middle of town-these are slightly, but not that much more upmarket. Contact Get out Byron Bay is the most well known beachside destination in the region, but the Gold Coast and theme parks are also a possible day trip from here. Ballina itself has some nice beaches, including Lighthouse and Shelly beach, which are the two beaches patrolled by Surf Life Savers, as well as the more secluded Angel's Beach, which is nice to walk along, and Sharps Beach, which also has an occasional Life Saver presence. Between Sharps beach, and Angel's Beach is Flat Rock, a large rocky outcrop into the sea. A short walk away is Boulder Beach, which has large boulders instead of sand. The walk, however is unsignposted. Lennox Head, between Byron Bay and Ballina is also close by. This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!