Christmas All Year Round, an award winning gift shop between Alstonville and Lismore

Alstonville
Hinterland town between Lismore and Ballina
Located 755 km north of Sydney, 10 km off the Pacific Highway and 19 km from Lismore, Alstonville is a pleasant little hinterland village which is largely driven by the usual array of attractions - antique shops, gift shops - surrounded by rolling hills where avocados and macadamia nuts are grown.

The area was settled by Europeans in the 1860s when cedar cutters moved into the hinterland in search of the trees. By 1865 Andrew Freeborn and his brother Thomas had settled and were farming in the district which was known by the oxymoronic title of Duck Creek Mountain. A later settler, John Perry, named his home after his wife, Annie Alston, and the name stuck resulting in the emerging township being known as Alstonville.

Not surprisingly, given the proximity of the booming towns of Lismore and Ballina, Alstonville tends to concentrate fairly heavily on tourism with the locals using the larger centres as their major shopping destinations.

Things to see:  

Summerland House With No Steps
Most Australians know the House With No Steps as a place where physically and intellectually disabled people are given skills which will allow them to enter the workforce. The Summerland House With No Steps project, which started in 1972, offers trainees a range of skills from administration through serving the public to maintaining the nursery and growing, sorting and grading fruit. It is open to the public selling crafts and providing Devonshire teas. It is located on Wardell Road just south of Alstonville.

Christmas All Year Round
On the road between Alstonville and Lismore is the award-winning gift shop, Christmas All Year Round, which offers a superb collection of local produce including a comprehensive range of macadamia products (they are over the road from Macadamia Magic), excellent local coffee beans and local art and craft work in a large space (it was once an old church). There is also a high quality cafe attached to the gift shop.

Victoria Park Nature Reserve
Located 8 km south of Alstonville, the Victoria Park Nature Reserve (sometimes referred to as the Victoria Park Rainforest Reserve) is a small 17.5-hectare rainforest reserve with an 8 hectare remnant of rainforest which is relatively untouched. There are 68 different tree species in this small area including the famous 'Big Fig'. The area is also home to red-legged pademelons, potoroos, water rats and possums. The tracks are clearly marked and there is also a lookout which provides views across the surrounding countryside. When you depart, think that 100 years ago there was some 75,000 hectares of untouched rainforest in this region.

	Motels
	Alstonville Settlers Motel Bruxner Hwy Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 5285 Facsimile: (02) 6628 1669 Rating: ***1/2
	Hotels
	Federal Hotel 77 Main St Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 0719
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Hume's Hovell Fine Bed & Breakfast 333 Dalwood Rd Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6629 5371 Facsimile: (02) 6629 5471 Email: stay@humes-hovell.com Rating: ****1/2
	Serendip Plantation 484 Gap St Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 3858 Facsimile: (02) 6628 6205 Rating: ****
	Caravan Parks
	Alstonville Leisure Village Caravan Park Bruxner Hwy Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 0146
	Restaurants
	Bellowing Bull Restaurant Bruxner Hwy Wollongbar Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 0715
	Bunga Raya Chinese Restaurant 80 Main St Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 0152
	Harry Lee's Chinese Restuarant Shop 10 Wolongbar Shopping Centre Wollongbar Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 3111
	House With No Steps 253 Wardell Rd Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 0610
	Lao Thai Restaurant 71 Main St Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 1855
	Plaza Terrace Restaurant Shop 23 The Plaza Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 5858
	Postmarks Restuarant 86 Main St Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 3333
	Summerland House Restaurant Wardell Rd Alstonville NSW 2477 Telephone: (02) 6628 0610