We met in Melbourne in the late 1990s, when we were both in our early forties. Agnes relocated to Melbourne from Geelong, where she had spent most of her life, and we bought a house together in the inner suburb of Thornbury.

Geoff’s career was spent working in media and marketing for the Victorian government, mainly for conservation and tourism agencies, while Agnes has many years experience working in fashion and lighting design, as well as retail management.

Increasingly tired of the stresses of city life, we decided that the next chapter of our lives would be to own and manage a small tourist accommodation business in a beautiful part of Australia. After lots of research and visiting many regions along the east coast, we both felt that Bellingen would be the perfect place to realize our future dreams.

Halfway between Sydney and Brisbane and only thirty minutes from Coffs Harbour, it’s a vibrant and fascinating country village in a lush and picturesque river valley.

A short drive to the west leads to the World Heritage rainforest and waterfalls of the Dorrigo plateau and twenty minutes east brings you to the unspoilt surf beaches of the Coffs Coast.

We wanted to find a property within five kms of town so that our guests would be within easy distance of all that Bellingen has to offer, yet enjoy luxury and tranquility in a beautiful natural setting.

We visited Bellingen in early 2003 and within a couple of days we had found what would become Afterglow Cottages – a comfortable farmhouse four kms from town on 30 acres of lush green hills and native forest, with an old dairy and a small creek running through the property.

Fortunately we were able to purchase the property, and rented it out until we had saved enough to build our tourist cottages. When we finally arrived in 2009, we immediately set to work – landscaping, clearing weeds, building a new driveway and completely transforming the old dairy into our first cottage.

In early 2010 we started building our second cottage, and we opened for business on Christmas Day of that year.

We hope we have created a welcoming and tranquil piece of paradise for our guests - stylish and comfortable accommodation surrounded by the inspiring sights and sounds of nature.

The cottages are designed and aligned to take advantage of the gorgeous views across our valley, and to guarantee seclusion and privacy for our guests.

It’s a perfect setting for just lazing in the spa or relaxing on the deck watching the native birdlife and wallabies grazing nearby.

And all the delights of Bellingen are only five minutes away.