Coffs Harbor

A view from the Tablelands to the coast

I have a new appreciation for people who make the drive from Armidale to Coffs Harbor.  It was a long (193k, 119 miles) winding road that seemed to stretch on forever.  It was beautiful, but when you're car sick you don't care about that anymore, you just want it to end.  We ended up having to stop in Dorrigo for me to recover so we could finish it out.  It was a long drive!

The first night in town we stayed with the District President, Grant Owens.  He's such a great man.  We spent the night visiting and hearing wonderful stories of the church in eastern Australia.  The following night we moved to The Clog Barn.  It was an intersting place.  Most hotels in the area advertize $69 a night.  Sounds good until you go to book your room.  It's $69 for the first person, everyone after that is an additional $15.  I think we ended up paying about $138 a night, and it wasn't a Marriot type place either.  It continually shocks us how expensive things are here. 

One thing that I’ve found interesting in Australia is that the malls have grocery stores in them. I thought this might have been a quirk of Armidale, but it’s the same here. To me it’s weird to be walking out of a shoe store and finding someone coming down the hallway with a shopping cart.

 

A friend stopped by to visit

We never made it to the Surf Fest.  The first day in Coffs Harbor we somehow managed to not find the right beach where the event was taking place (it moved around from day to day based on the waves).   Even though we didn’t find the right beach the kids were so excited to be at any beach they didn’t care and jumped right in.  We ended up spending most of the day there.  It was a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold, just a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky.  It really was a gorgeous day!

       No! Not after all that work!

 

 

One of the main attractions in Coffs Harbor is the Big Banana.  Way back when the area was being settled a banana plantation was established.  They don’t produce much anymore, just enough for tourists to see what it was like.  It was a fun place to go for a visit. 



Besides the beach the other thing the kids enjoyed most was Dolphin Marine Magic. This is a TINY park with just 3 big pools. They do a show similar to what you'd get at Sea World just on a much smaller scale. The fun thing about this park was the interaction with the animals. Not only did everyone get kisses from a dolphin and seal, we fed a seal, penguin and other various fish. Nick even got to play ring toss with a seal as part of the show. It was a great memory maker. 

After two long days at the beach we were ready to head back to Armidale. We stopped by a couple of National Parks on the way (knowing we'd not come back this way because of my carsickness).  

 This picture was taken in Dorrigo National Park.  This is a skywalk that sticks out about 100 yards over the rainforest so you can see from above. It's a birder's paradise. 

This picture of Ebor Falls doesn't do it justice. It's amazing! The rocks of the falls themselves look black because it's mostly lava type rock from a prehistoric volcano. It almost looks man made because they are square in shape like they've been hand chiseled. It was spectacular.