Boomerang perfect for return

NO doubt in summer it must hum like anywhere else on the NSW coast but in the cooler months Boomerang Beach is a haven of azure water and squeaky sand.

Fight for it ... six can comfortably stay at Azure on the Beach although there may be fights over who gets the main bedroom

THE love affair most Australians have with the beach is, like most affairs, on nodding terms only with logic.

Sydneysiders in particular spend their lives not far from golden beaches, but on their holidays they choose to drive, or fly for several hours, to sit on other, not entirely dissimilar, beaches.

It's like Vikings choosing a long-boat cruise for a vacation, or Icelanders holidaying in Antarctica.

So it's with some small amount of headshaking that we set off on a three-hour trip to Boomerang Beach, north of Newcastle.

After the numbing mundanity of the F3 Freeway, you broach Bulahdelah and turn off on The Lakes Way, a winding, challenging road that leads you through dipping, dense grey-green forest before breaking out on to flat land that skirts the mirror-like Myall Lakes.

At the end of this road lies Pacific Palms, home to two beaches always spoken of in reverential tones; Blueys and Boomerang.

It's something of a surprise to discover that the area closely resembles Palm Beach, albeit the Palmy of perhaps a decade ago. The bold beauty of the architecture, as it huddles on and hurdles the hills, battles for your attention with the pristine purity of sand and sea, just as it did, or does, at our most northern beach.

The point of difference from Palm Beach is a lack of crowds, boosted by the feeling that there's something a bit more small-town about this place.

No doubt in summer it must hum like anywhere else on our coast, but in the cooler months it's a haven. A heaven even.

On a Sunday of temperate mid-20s, we encounter less than a handful of others treading the sands. And only one dog. The shops still have a local feel, with proper, old-school burgers available from the fish and chippy, and lots of mixed businesses – a supermarket that also does pizzas and DVD hire and a deli/bottle shop.

The eating-out options, bountiful burgers aside, are limited, but we'd been warned and are prepared for self-catering.

And besides, once we check into our accommodation, Azure on the Beach, we're loath to leave again.

The cool but not cold modern house sits at the surfers' end of the beach, meaning endless hours of free entertainment.

Rarely has the sport looked so desirable, and do-able, as rank after rank of perfect waves offer themselves up to the fleet of goofy footers in their slippery rubber skins.

The water is so clear and clean you can see the surfers' feet through it, as they sit astride their boards. It's not blue or green, but a rich mix of both. Azure is a fair description.

The beach itself is close to perfect. Boomerang in shape, obviously, it's just the right length for an amble from end to end and is covered in squeaky clean sand, the kind that combines with bare feet to make a sound like rubber shoes on lino.

The Azure property perches atop the beach, offering uninterrupted visual splendour, and is kitted out for some serious hours of staring at the view.

The living area is vast and open plan and you could spend a day just trying out the various comfy chairs and lounges.

Each of the two downstairs rooms has a leafy, enclosed courtyard, complete with an outstanding outdoor shower.

Both of these feature showerheads clearly created in the pre-water restriction era, each the size of an old rubbish bin lid. Surrounded by greenery, it's like standing in a warm tropical rainforest downpour.

Both the downstairs major bathroom, with its slightly too-small bath, and the upstairs ensuite have heated towel rails and floors, which might seem extravagant in an Australian beach house, but in winter they'd be a wondrous necessity.

The upstairs bedroom has its own balcony and the bed itself is a vast swathe of cotton tranquillity.

The house is surely big enough to host six people, but the fights over who got the main bedroom might strain friendships.

No matter which room you're in, though, you are waved off to sleep by the ocean and whispered back awake by its roiling and crashing the next morning.

An excellent barbecue copes with all our cooking needs but there is also a fully-equipped kitchen.

Those who care to linger inside are also well catered for, with a TV as big as a barn door.

For a couple, Azure on the Beach is an almost grandiose location for a weekend, or a week, away, but it would be perfect for a group of friends or a collection of couples.

The writer was a guest of Azure on the Beach.

The Sunday Telegraph