The ‘Golden’ Sands of Evans Head
Wayne Kampe

IN my search for interesting camping destinations throughout northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, one interesting common denominator seems to be emerging – most of the better locations are either in a National Park or nestled right next to one.

GETTING TO EVANS HEAD

Evans Head falls into the latter category, being located between the Broadwater National Park, in the north and the Bundjalung National Park, in the south. This small town is situated on the Evans River, where it meets the Pacific Ocean, roughly halfway between Ballina and Yamba. The locality is, naturally, very handy for the angler and can provide a lot of enjoyment for boaties, beach anglers or rock hoppers. You name it, the fishing is there.

To drive out and enjoy the town’s many attractions, all that’s required is to turn off the Pacific Highway from either Broadwater or Woodburn. Both of these towns display the Evans Head turn-off very prominently and the connecting road is in very good condition. The drive through the National Park is enjoyable, with thick stands of coastal wallum, tea tree and bottle brush lining the road. As I often mention in my ‘destination’ articles – be on the lookout out for ‘roos after dark.

Evans Head is dominated by the small but quite beautiful Evans River, which divides the town into southern and northern sections. With the river’s outflow protected by a well-constructed break wall, the daily rush and surge of water from the ocean is as clean and unpolluted as anywhere on the east coast. I saw several large pleasure craft negotiating the river bar during my stay in town and the local prawn trawling fleet also use the river to access the ocean, in search of those tasty crustaceans. Reef fishing forms a big part of local angling excursions.

THE BUSINESS CENTRE

The main business centre is on the northern side of the river. A glance around town will reveal sufficient infrastructure to satisfy a traveller or holiday maker’s needs, without the town being in any way too large to detract from that special away-from-it-all feeling. I noted a pharmacy, medical centre, post office, newsagent, bakery, a well-stocked tackle store, drive-in bottle shop and several other small businesses, including a couple of real estate agents to assist with holiday accommodation.

PLACES TO STAY

On the subject of places to stay, the Illawong Hotel and Pacific Motor Inn offer overnight accommodation. For campers, the spacious Silver Sands Caravan Park will fill the bill. There are powered and un-powered sites, as well as cabins, with or without en-suites, in the well-kept and very clean grounds. This is a very large caravan park by any standards and has an NRMA three star rating.

On the southern side of the river is a small residential area nestled in against the high, wide and handsome Razorback headland, which has picnic and observation areas. Looking north, there is a stunning view of the breakwater and the vista, to the south, of the headland being washed by the Pacific is just as easy on the eye. Further south again, there are wide expanses of golden sand that stretch down to Black Rocks, a renowned fishing area in the Bundjalung National Park.

A LOOK AT EVANS HEAD

Bombing Range

The RAAF bombing range is situated not far below Chinaman’s Beach (adjoining the headland) and watching the F111s skimming in over the sea to line up on the range is a pastime in itself. As an aside, I’d mortgage the house for a ride in one of those things – aircraft fascinate me.

Pastimes

Relaxation is the theme at Evans Head, and it’s one I felt completely in tune with. There is no rush, no race to get to any particular place on time, just friendly people going about the business of enjoying themselves. Local pastimes include bushwalking in the National Parks, playing bowls or golf at the local clubs, or testing one’s luck against the one-armed bandits at the RSL Club.

Also well patronised is the local fishing co-op on the south side of the river, where folk buy fresh seafood. Yes, I know we like to catch our own but when was the last time you caught a prawn on a line?

Surfs Up

Swimming and surfing is a year round thing and a lot of surfers catch the waves right in the river mouth. The area abounds in beautiful beaches to be enjoyed by all; the patrolled beach is on the northern side of the breakwater. Children can swim in the calm waters of the Evans River at the several small beaches located along the banks. These beaches are well marked and the tracks mostly shaded.

Breakwater Fishing

In my usual style of leaving the best to last, we’ll now discuss the fishing in depth. Great pun eh? Let’s take the breakwater for a start. Tailor and bream are the mainstays, as are luderick in winter. Whiting, flathead and bream are also taken in the river and, in early summer, some exceptional whiting are about at night. There’s more ... a whole lot more.

When a good fresh is coming down the river and the water is discoloured – a fairly frequent event as the river drains a lot of coastal wallum area – some terrific jew are caught around the ends of the training walls. These big silver predators mooch around the headland to home-in on the hapless mullet coming down-river but will willingly substitute a big Nilsmaster, Rapala lure, or a feathered jig for the real thing. Live bait is naturally deadly – but don’t be caught jagging mullet in New South Wales.

Offshore Reefs & Comps.

Fishing the offshore reefs is productive and boats can access the reefs via the river without much trouble. A popular fishing competition is also held here in late June or early July. The Evans Head Fishing Classic has a strong ‘Catch, Display and Release’ theme with substantial prizes for live fish. It was interesting to note that, on 1999 figures, 1.8 live fish per angler were recorded. A look at the stats for other competitions will reveal that this is very high.

4WD Fishing

Many anglers holidaying at Evans Head enjoy fishing the beaches, as 4WD access into the National Parks is quite in order. Worms and pipis are easily located and whiting, dart, bream and tailor are the mainstays.

‘GOLDEN’ SANDS

In conclusion, I would like to share some of the fascinating history of Evans Head with readers. Although much of the Richmond River valley was initially populated by timber cutters, it was actually the lure of gold that saw this small town take shape. Gold was mined on the beach, the lode of precious metal believed to have been washed down to the sea from inland gold fields. At one stage, up to five thousand men were working the gold fields just south of Evans Head.

Imagine any coastal enterprise today that could employ five thousand men! Still, when one considers this next fact, perhaps it falls into perspective. The value of the extracted gold was believed to have been in excess of £100,000 – a lot of money back in 1878.

Some useful contact numbers for Evans Head are listed in the fact box with this article.

EVANS HEAD CONTACTS

Evans Head Sports and Marine – Ph. (02) 6682 4536
Pacific Motor Inn – Ph. (02) 6682 4318
Silver Sands Caravan Park – Ph. (02) 6682 4212
Illawong Hotel – Ph. (02) 6682 4222
The Professionals – Ph. (02) 6682 4611
L.J. Hooker – Ph. (02) 6682 6000