Accommodation (scroll down for how to get there)
We recommend spending the nights of Monday 4th and Thursday 7th November as well as 5th and 6th to participate in all conference activities (there is currently a special for booking 4 nights for the price of 3)
North Star Holiday Resort, Hastings Point, northeastern New South Wales, Australia
10% discount on accommodation for first 50 delegates (see ”’discount” note below)
Let us know if you’d like to reduce costs further by sharing a 2 bedroom cabin (it can work out less than $100pp/night that way)
There are also camping options.
Conference discount
The resort is offering discounts for the first 50 delegates
Choose from:
Visit the online booking page: https://tasmanholidayparks.com/au/north-star/book-online/
To redeem the discount:
- Select dates and accommodation and go to checkout
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and select ‘Redeem Discount Code’
- Enter discount code: wildlife10
- Click ‘Redeem Discount & Continue’
- The 10% discount will be applied to the booking
- Enter your details and continue to deposit payment
Incorporated into the resort is a very impressive facility: the Marine Discovery Centre, a great example of nature interpretation for tourists, school groups and others, with many different styles of passive viewing or interactive displays. It was started by environmentalist Ted Brambleby and teacher Kerrie Trees many years ago (read their story here) and more recently expanded with a substantial grant.
Getting there
Driving
From Brisbane airport: about 2 hours
From Gold Coast airport (Coolangatta): about 30 minutes
From Ballina airport: just under an hour
From Sydney airport: about 9 hours
Air and public transport
The most convenient airport is the Gold Coast airport at Coolangatta. There is also an airport at Ballina, but the bus from there takes much longer.
Few flights are likely to arrive early enough for the start of the conference on Tuesday 5th November if traveling by bus. We strongly advise arriving the day before.
If you really need to arrive on the morning of the first day, to avoid too much walking or change of buses it may be most convenient to catch a taxi or Uber from the Gold Coast airport (or Varsity Lakes if catching the train from Brisbane and wanting to skip the bus linking Varsity Lakes to the airport) to Tweed City Shopping Centre on Minjungbal Drive, Tweed Heads and catch a 603 bus from there to Hastings Point (7.15am to arrive 8.00am or 8.15am to arrive 900am). See https://transportnsw.info
Coming from elsewhere in Brisbane or the Gold Coast? Check out https://jp.translink.com.au/plan-your-journey/journey-planner to reach Coolangatta or Tweed Heads.
If flying into Brisbane you can catch the Air Train to Coolangatta, but it takes over 2 hours.
Buses/Coaches
It may be worth checking this company out. You would need to book in advance. Gold Coast to Byron transfers
You’ll otherwise need to catch a bus to the border then change buses (unless you take an uber or taxi as suggested above, which is .probably much more convenient than extra changes from one bus to another)
Note: some NSW buses (surprisingly) only take cash
Be sure to ask the driver to tell you when Tasman North Shore Holiday Resort is coming up: it is not the only stop in Hastings Point.
Also see https://transportnsw.info/document/6916/Tweed%20Bus%20Network.pdf
Check
https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Coolangatta/Hastings-Point (this erroneously implies some very cheap fares but the information is useful), and
Buses from Sydney take about 15 hours.
Uber/Taxi/Other
This is much quicker!
If wanting to share with other delegates to reduce costs, let us know your arrival time at Gold Coast Airport and we can put you in touch with others
Check out https://www.byronbaycoastaltransfers.com.au for transfers from Coolangatta or Ballina to Hastings Point