The beaches of New South Wales appear to be having a moment. Just last month, Bondi and Byron both made the list of the world’s best beaches according to Lonely Planet, and Bondi also gained the less desirable accolade of having the worst behaved beachgoers according to residents. Now, a beach just south of Sydney has been awarded the second spot in Tourism Australia’s list of the country’s best beaches – as decided by beach connoisseur Brad Farmer.
There was a time when the Farm felt like a well-kept secret; a long, secluded pocket of sand and surf ninety minutes south of Sydney, home to a reliable break and a grassy headland looking out across the waves. That time, it seems, is over – Tourism Australia has crowned this sandy stretch the second best in the country, and the crowds will no doubt ensue.
The list of the country’s best beaches is released every year by Tourism Australia's official beach ambassador, ‘beach connoisseur’ (best job ever) Brad Farmer. Farmer and the Tourism Australia team analyse the merits of more than 12,500 beaches across the country to find Australia’s best, and though this year’s gold crown has gone to a stretch of squeaky sand down south in Victoria, we think the Farm has very much earned its place as number two.
Located on Dharawal Country, the Farm was given its English name by surfers who stumbled across it in the sixties, and had to pay the farmer who owned the nearby land to allow them access. In his report on the country’s best beaches, Farmer (whose similar name is a happy coincidence) cites the beach’s status as a surfing reserve (the beach was formally declared Killalea National Surfing Reserve in 2009) as one of its main draw cards. The location of the beach within the Killalea Regional Park makes for an idyllic beach day – with surrounding hills forming a natural amphitheatre, and local hiking trails through the forest providing more activity options for those who aren’t content with a day spent between the sand and the surf.
Farmer describes the Farm as “solitary…with nothing in sight but lush green hills and blue swells,” – if that doesn’t sell you, we don’t know what will. You can read the full list over here.