New Eco-Luxe Cottages and Wedding Venue in Byron Hinterland’s Nightcap National Park
A Rainforest Retreat for All Occasions
Set inside the ancient World Heritage-listed Nightcap National Park in Australia’s Byron Hinterland, Nightcap Ridge is a new eco-venue in the Byron Hinterland.
Nightcap Ridge has three cottages and a new function space, The Argory catering to families, weddings and corporate groups.
The Argory at Nightcap Ridge opened in November 2019. However, with the fires and then COVID we’ve actually moved more weddings than we’ve had here! Now with the NSW restrictions easing, the phone is again running hot with bookings for viewings and we feel like we can actually take a breath and share our story.
Nightcap Ridge is all about getting back to basics – in style. It’s a 100% off-grid property, but you certainly won’t see any pit toilets! Fully self-sufficient, the property is powered by solar energy and the water comes from the spring-fed Boomerang creek and filtered as it enters the buildings.
We aim to create an experience that guests feel as though they are stepping back in time but with the modern luxuries of today. We’ve chosen vintage-look fixtures and fittings and local antiques to furnish the buildings which goes well with our sustainable ethos. We also don’t use any single use plastics which our guests appreciate.
The TV is behind a cupboard and we don’t have any clocks or indication of the outside world so it really encourages guests to sit back and have an old-fashioned conversation and enjoy nature. We’ve teamed with a local artist Katka Adams with her drawings covering our walls and her subjects are mostly wildlife and country scenes.
The expansive lawns, native trees, wildlife and walking tracks provide a tranquil place for visitors to escape a busy world, explore nature and spend quality technology-free time with their loved ones.
Our 50 chooks and the huge covered organic vegetable garden are a huge hit with our guests. It’s a great way for people from the city to get in there and experience the wonder of picking your own food. Guests, especially the little ones, really enjoy going in and picking their own veggies and salad greens for dinner. We’ve just adding cute labels to the different things with the nutritional benefits as we had feedback some people didn’t know what they were looking at. The chooks roam around the property and many of them lay blue eggs because they’re a special breed originating from Chile called Araucana.
There is also a large orchard and numerous indigenous bush tucker trees such as Blue Quandong, Davidson Plum, Bunya Pines which we use to make jams and conserves to share with and educate our guests. We have beehives and sell the 100% rainforest honey locally and to our guests.
Guests have access to binoculars and wildlife reference books to view and identify the abundant wildlife as well as bicycles to roam around the park and visit natural wonders such as Minyon Falls.
It was a historical decision that allowed the property to be created inside the Nightcap National Park. After World War 1, the land was given to an ex-serviceman on the proviso he cleared the trees, except for a couple, to make way for a dairy which would service the UK’s increasing need for milk products. This was a common practice in the Northern Rivers. Many years later, the property fell into disrepair and lantana covered the land until the 1980s when a local planner regenerated the land and planted more than 10000 native trees.
Fraser and Sara Duddy
Fraser and Sara Duddy moved to the Byron Hinterland five years ago and set up Nightcap Ridge. Recently, they built two luxury two-bedroom cottages which were added to the Loggers Cabin already on the property. They also built a huge function space, the Argory. They were supported with a grant from the Destination NSW Regional Tourism Development Fund to assist with the building project.
In an effort to discourage tourists from climbing the sacred Wollumbin-Mount Warning, and encourage sustainable recreation experiences, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) are spending $7 million in the Wollumbin, Mount Jerusalem and Nightcap National Parks and Whian Whian State Conservation area. The Tweed Byron Hinterland Trails Project will link Mount Jerusalem National Park and Minyon Falls in Nightcap National Park with world leading hiking trails and lookouts. There will also be an upgrade to the current visitor facilities at the Minyon Falls day use area.
Nightcap Ridge is perfectly located for nature lovers to experience all that Nightcap National Park has to offer.
Coming from a corporate marketing and technology background, Sara and Fraser were looking for a beautiful property with an ability to create clean and green revenue as well as one that utilised their skill set.
They drove into Nightcap Ridge and immediately knew it was the one. Being located in the middle of the Nightcap National Park, the flora and fauna is absolutely breathtaking.
Nightcap National Park is a highly significant part of Australia’s natural history. Its rainforests are part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, the largest area of subtropical rainforest in the world. They are a living link to the environment of ancient Australia and give us insight into the environment of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana which broke up about 180 million years ago. It is home to the highest concentration of marsupial, bird, snake and frog species in Australia. There are also large areas of wet and dry sclerophyll forest and pockets of sub-montane heath which provide habitat for a large number of threatened plant and animal species such as the Albert’s lyrebird and Fleay’s barred frog.
MENU: In line with ‘getting back to basics’ we have a chef prepared, heat and eat menu for in-house guests. A hanging pot can be brought to the campfire or oven-baked pies, platters or pizzas can be delivered to pop in the oven.
Contact
Sara Duddy 0478 667 860
416 Nightcap Range Road, Dorroughby 2480