It is located on Waterfall Way on the Bellinger River, approximately halfway between the major Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane.

[citation needed] The cleared areas were turned into prime farming land and the valley became a dairying centre.

[citation needed] The dairy industry crashed in the 1960s with the rise of the European Common Market, when export prices fell (with Britain no longer relying on Australian dairy products) and the margarine industry finally overcame laws restricting its production levels.

Bellingen has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with hot, wet summers and mild winters with chilly nights.

Owing to high rainfall and its proximity to the valleys of the Bellinger and Kalang rivers,[13] Bellingen is known for its frequent flooding.

The first one was the annual Azalea Festival, which included a procession of floats, the local brass band and pipeband, and various community organisations marching down Hyde Street to the cheers and applause of the spectators.

[citation needed] Bellingen was the notional setting of the Booker Prize-winning book Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey.

It was chosen as the location for filming an adaptation of Murray Bail's novel Eucalyptus, and a set costing $6.4 million was constructed.