The Promised Land

 Bellingen's Hidden Gem

I first came across The Promised Land when I was scrolling through Tiktok one night. We'd already planned to head up to Coffs Harbour for our summer holiday, and the fact that Bellingen is a short drive from there, we knew that we had to try it.

I was mesmerised by the blue waters and oasis-type surrounding that I'd seen in the videos, however, it was definitely a different scene once we'd gotten to our destination. 

The drive down was absolutely stunning - definitely one of my highlights. The scenery allowed us to fully embrace the countryside, appreciating the vast mountains and blueberry farms. We had to stop in the middle of the road to fully take in the view, and of course grab a couple of photos. While the dirt road was a little terrifying to drive across, it was well worth it for the sights we got to see.

Our Maps had only taken us part of the way until it was up to us to find the lake itself. We were a little bit confused to go and also taken aback when we saw a government sign saying there had been poor water quality in the lake we were planning to completely submerge ourselves in...

We managed to find a bridge and followed the path until we came across the image we'd seen in the video that led us here. Despite the fact that the water wasn't swimming-recommended and definitely not the same colour as the heavily filtered video we'd seen, the view and the vibe was great.

The water was crystal clear, giving us a clear imagine of schools of fish and eels swimming around. It was ice cold, which was the perfect contrast to the heat of summer up north, but due to the poor water quality, we only went in knee-deep, and spend the rest of our time skipping rocks and sunbaking on warm stones. 

Rating: 7.5/10