North Arm Cove Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

Walter Burley Griffin is most commonly known as the architect who designed Canberra. Those more into urban planning may also associate Burley Griffin for designing the Riverina settlements of Griffith and Leeton. However, North Arm Cove, in New South Wales' MidCoast region may be one of this least known works, and one that was never fully realised.

Today the settlement houses just a little under 500 people as of the 2021 census, though most of North Arm Cove consists of investment properties, usually holiday homes. For travel purposes, this article will also include the nearby towns of Carrington with just a population of 32 (2021) and Tahlee with 28 persons. Carrington is not to be confused with the Newcastle suburb of the same name.

To say that North Arm Cove's history was rough and varied would be an understatement. The plans for North Arm Cove by Burley Griffin were bold, massive and ambitious – what stands today is a far cry from what was initially proposed.

The 1910s was a time when many areas throughout New South Wales were being surveyed for potential national capitals of Australia. Numerous candidates were chosen, and North Arm Cove happened to be a potential candidate. While Canberra was ultimately chosen as the capital in 1913, plans for an ambitious seaport around the Port Stephens area weren't gone just yet.

Burley Griffin finally laid out his plans for North Arm Cove in 1918 – one that had grand boulevards and plenty of civic spaces. Griffin envisioned railway lines to connect to the western end of the city and the city centre as a hub for trade. It was envisioned as a grand "Pacific City".

However, as a greater focus fell on Canberra, in addition to recovery efforts from World War I and changing economic priorities meant that the land that North Arm Cove sits on simply became forgotten. Much of the land was then zoned for rural use (RU2 or RU5) by the local council and has remained as such ever since. The specific zoning conrols mean that you cannot build residential dwellings with the MidCoast Council clearly stating they had no plans to change – as was the case for the other paper subdivisions in the area such as was nearby Carrington and Pindimar.

Nonetheless, this is slowly starting to change. There was a renewed push to realise Burley Griffin's vision once again in 2019 after a push from some local landowners, as North Arm Cove was since used in case studies by urban planning students to investigate as a model for urban living in regional New South Wales. 2024 saw further advancements as amendments were proposed to rezone North Arm Cove specifically into an environmental living zone (C4) – which in contrast to the current zoning laws, does allow for dwelling houses.

In the meantime, North Arm Cove will likely remain the quiet coastal village it has been for nearly the last 100 years, known more for its waterside lifestyle than for the mega port city Burley Griffin once dreamed of. However, what could have been North Arm Cove will forever be a fascination for both locals and visitors.

North Arm Cove exists on a turnoff from the Pacific Highway (with no exit). From the final roundabout before Raymond Terrace, continue north on Pacific Hwy (A1) for 35 km (22 mi); turn right onto Gooreengi Road and then right again soon after onto Carrington Rd. Follow signage to North Arm Cove onwards from there. From the north, the turnoff to Gooreengi Road is much further north, but is just south of the Myall Way turnoff (and 30 km (19 mi) south of Bulahdelah near Myall Lakes). Signage on the ground is rather clear when heading northbound, though considerably less southbound (however, GPS works well).

There is public transit to North Arm Cove, but in practice it's unusable. The 152 bus route runs between Newcastle (at Hamilton Station) and Hawks Nest (Tea Gardens) and makes a stop at the very tip of Carrigan Road. However, a) you will need to make your way down on foot in an area that is not accommodating to pedestrians the slightest, and b) there is only a singular bus in each direction per day and only on weekdays – with the bus towards Newcastle from Hawks Nest stopping at 7:15AM and the bus towards Hawks Nest from Newcastle stopping at 4:46PM.

A speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) applies for the roads heading into North Arm Cove and Carrington. Default urban 50 km/h (31 mph) limits apply within North Arm Cove and Carrington.

32°39′40″S 152°1′50″E

Map of North Arm Cove

There is no public transit within North Arm Cove or nearby Carrington and most of the roads are not pedestrian-friendly. As such, driving is your only option in a majority of cases.

The road between Carrington and Tahlee is also unsealed (but stil 2WD-accessible).

• Boating – -32.666152.0441 Water St Boatramp allows for taking small recreational boats, but not larger boats. The cove tends to be rather quiet and thus a pleasant spot to go boating.
• -32.6671521 Tahlee, Church St. A heritage-listed former pastoral property (one of the Australian Agricultural Company's settlement sites) established in 1826, perhaps most known for its bible college. The gardens are still kept intact and the bible college does provide tours of the site intermittently. (updated Mar 2025)

There are no shops in either North Arm Cove or the two nearby towns. All supplies will need to be brought with you or obtained from nearby Karuah.

North Arm Cove only consists of homestays being used as investment properties. All bookings need to be done via third-party sites, most often though teagardenshawksnest.com.

• -32.6651152.04161 Coastal Contentment in the Cove, 111 Eastslope Way. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 9:30AM. A four-bedroom homestay with the capacity to host up to eight guests. There is an outdoor BBQ facility. (updated Mar 2025)
• -32.6718152.04522 The Cove Cottage (Cove House), 110 Cove Blvd. Check-in: 3–8PM, check-out: 8–11AM. A smaller two-bedroom homestay that can accommodate up to four guests. Although small in size, children are not permitted. (updated Mar 2025)
• -32.6747152.0363 Keera House, 103 Promontory Way. Possibly the largest homestay in town with five bedrooms (though can still only accommodate eight people). The price tends to be on the higher end, but you get more space. (updated Mar 2025)
• -32.6611152.04314 Paradise, 54 Eastslopes Way. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 9:30AM. A rather small two-bedroom homestay but is rather accommodating with a max number of seven guests permitted. (updated Mar 2025)
• -32.6771152.04455 Wybalena, 162 Cove Blvd. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 9:30AM. A small relaxed homestay next to the water that can accommodate up to six guests with four bedrooms available. (updated Mar 2025)
• -32.6689152.04296 Wylah, 63 Cove Blvd. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 9:30AM. A relatively larger four-bedroom homestay which is able to accommodate for eight guests. Children are welcome and it does tend to cater itself towards families. (updated Mar 2025)