Hi to all from Coffs Harbour. 

You will be happy to know that the giant water dragons haven't destroyed the town as yet.  You can see them around the park quite often, but mostly near the small creek that runs down behind our van.  They are pretty skittish but they wont run off unless you get too close. 

Got up to brilliant sunshine on Wednesday morning, after the night time temperature had plummeted down to 20C.  I think I would find it hard to live up in the north, as the night temp never seems to drop below 20C.  Pretty warm in the van.

Anyway we soldiered on and headed down to the beach near the Coffs Harbour Jetty.  The surf down there is pretty good and there were dozens of surfers in the water.  I managed to get off a few happy snaps, of course, the ones you cant recognise were of me, showing off my expertise.

 

After a hectic morning on the surfboard, it was time to check out the local camel rides.  'Indiana' Deb was first out of the starting blocks and got the lead camel, and she led us on a gentle stroll along the beach.  It is pretty amazing how the camels hardly leave any imprints in the wet sand.  It is just that they don't have hooves on their feet, and the foot spreads out to leave a more even imprint.  Camel Fact:  They have 3 stomachs, with 50% of each taken up by the storage of water.

Our next port of call was to check out The BIG BANANA.  Got the customary photo, but wasn't really up for the toboggan or the water slide.  We decided to take the more gentle option and headed up to check out Sealy Lookout.  The road up is only a few k's Nth of Coffs.  You get a great view from up there and you can see just how big the town is, as well as see a couple of the bigger banana plantations.

Not satisfied with this lookout, 'Indiana' Deb then directed me to a lookout at Mt Coramba.  She had obviously been looking at those damn tourist brochures again.  Of course the road up started out fine, bitumen for the first 200 metres, then down to smooth gravel, then rough gravel with huge speedhumps a tank couldn't get over, and finally to a rock riddled goat track up to the top of the lookout.  Just awesome.  Just to rub salt into the wound, the previous lookout was better.  After leaving the top of the mountain, we came across another explorer heading up the goat track.  It was really quite tight getting past each other, especially as we had the cliff side.  Just great.

It was then back to base to rest up, and go and check out a clog making demonstration at the office.  Quite interesting.  Arrived back at our van to find our resident water dragon had settled in about 10 feet from the van. 

Thursday was a peaceful day to catch up on chores and also to catch up with some friends that we had met earlier in the year on our travels.  A really good relaxing day was had. 

Friday morning and it was time for Deb to fulfil one of her bucket list items.  She was going swimming with the dolphins. 

We headed off to the centre and checked out the resident seals and also a beautiful peacock that was strutting around, just showing off.  I got some photos of the dolphins in another pool first.  They are just awesome.  They were throwing a ball around and doing all other dolphin show off things.  They really seem to react to the crowd.

It was then time to sneak off to our own private pool with Debs dolphin Jet.  The handler introduced them and it was then about 20 minutes of Deb interacting with the dolphin.  It was really great to watch, and photograph of course.  The photos don't really do justice, as at one stage Deb and the dolphin are doing a bit of a dance.  Just great to watch.  You have to dolphin kiss and of course the dolphin cuddle.  At one stage Deb was throwing a ball to the dolphin, in a game of basketball.  Well worth a visit.

Just a gentle kiss on a first date

May I have this dance

Just a cuddle this time. 

Basketball time.

Throw it again, throw it again

Deb checking out the silky feel of the skin.  Dolphin fact: they shed their skin every 2 hours.

Got some more photos of the dolphin after they were out of the water, and he appeared to be playing up to the camera.  Such an intelligent creature.  Dolphin Fact:  They can live from 35 to 40 yrs in the wild, and maybe a bit more in captivity.  They are the lighter colour on the bottom as from underneath them, the are more difficult to see for predators, as they blend in with the light overhead.
The same with the darker colour, they blend in with the darkness below them and are difficult to see by predators from above.

It was time to head back to base so that Deb could ease herself down from her higher plateau.  She was just stoked.

After lunch we headed out to the little town??? of Korora to check out the Carob Factory.  Nothing beats chocolate, but still, worth a look.  Arrived and there was no production happening this afternoon so really nothing to see.  As we were interested tourists, we had to check out the free samples.  The carob coated honeycomb was quite tasty, but nothing like the real thing. 

It was then time to check out the Botanical gardens.  They are in the centre of Coffs Harbour and are quite large.  They have different sections for various countries of the world, with one Indian tree, the elephant apple tree.  It has huge apple like fruit, and, as the name suggests, the elephants love it. Got some snaps of some very pretty flowers, and of a resident kookaburra.  That was enough excitement for the day so it was back to the van.

 

We will be heading off tomorrow to Tuncurry, where we will be staying for 2 days, before then heading to Cessnock for probably 3 days. 

Keep safe and well

Barry and Deb. 

Hi to all from beautiful downtown Coffs Harbour.

We arrived here yesterday after spending 3 days at Port Macquarie.  The trip there from Morisset probably took a bit longer than expected, as there are roadworks everywhere at the moment on the Pacific Hwy.  They say in 4 years time when they are completed it will be dual highway all the way to Coffs Harbour and beyond. 

Port Macquarie is a huge town.  It is situated right on the ocean, and is probably a small version of Geelong.  We went for a walk along the breakwater, right in the shopping precinct, and there are  several hundred metres where the rocks have been painted, obviously by hundreds of tourists, all with their own messages.  Some in memorium messages, and others of happiness and friendship.  They
make a really cool addition to what is normally a boring breakwater.

After a quick stroll around the town, it was back to the van for a bit of R & R.  It was actually quite hot, being in the mid 30s, so we both made our way to the pool to cool off.  It was just as well there was a sign on the gate prohibiting the use of the water slide by adults as it looked so inviting.  I can let you know though, that, even though it was a small slide, Deb still got up heaps of speed, ok, so did I, but just once........ 

The following day was a bit cooler, so we decided to go and check out the area.  Our first port of call was to Tacking Point Lighthouse.  It is a bit smaller than your standard, everyday, lighthouse but it is actually the 3rd oldest lighthouse in Australia.  From there you do get a good view of the surrounding beaches, with most of them being surf beaches.

We continued along, and through the area known as the Camden Haven area.  It basically consists of several small coastal towns being Lake Cathie, Bonny Hills, North Haven and Laurieton.  They are all very pretty little towns, much the same as you would find along the Great Ocean Road.  They all have caravan parks, motels and the like and are supposedly incredibly busy during the high season.  We came across the Motor Cyclist Christmas toy run during our drive, with several hundred bikers taking part.

 

We stopped at Laurieton for a coffee, with the intention of going out and checking out the historical pilot station.  The coffee was great but when we got to the pilot station it was closed.  It is only open by appointment.  Be nice if the tourist brochure told us that.

Next stop was to the little mountain town of Kew.  We headed to the Information centre, just to get a photo of the BIG AXE.  The Info centre had no information relating to the axe, but, being a big forestry area, I think we can work it out.   We then headed up to North Brother Mountain Lookout.  It was such a pity that the weather had deteriorated over the day, as the view from up there was just awesome.  Would have been incredible on a clear day.   That was enough for the day so back to base.

 

Up early Sunday morning, oh well, maybe 8.30ish, and the weather was a bit more promising.  We headed up the main street and strolled along the park area near the foreshore.  There are heaps of koala statues around the town, so of course, got a photo of a couple of them and also of a very cool mural in the town.  I know you would be disappointed if I didn't get at least one photo of a religious nature, so got a snap of the St. Agnes church, which is in the shopping centre.

 

Our next mission was to check out the Koala Hospital.  They had a guided tour at 3pm so we headed out there.  What a great place it was.  They run the hospital along the same lines as a regular hospital.  They have an intensive care area, an operating theatre and other areas where the injured koalas can recuperate.  They even have a board with all of the patients listed, including when they arrived.  It is quite sad really, as several of the koalas have been there for years, and will never leave.  Lots of them have a particular koala eye disease called Chlamydiosis, with several there as a result of car accidents and dog attacks.  Several of them are totally blind and they can often be seen walking on the ground, in their safe enclosures.   Koala Fact:  They eat half kilo of leaves a day and sleep up to 18 hours a day.  A must visit attraction if you are ever in the area.

We left Port Macquarie on Monday morning en route to Coffs Harbour.  It is only about 150 k's, but there is just a huge amount of roadworks on the way.  You are constantly going from 40, 50, 60 and occasionally up to 80 KPH.  Will be good when it is finished.  Anyway, we arrived at the Clog Barn Caravan Park in Coffs Harbour.  This park is dutch themed, with a great little dutch village set up behind the office.  The work that has gone into these models is fantastic.  We were greeted by what looked like a scrub turkey, which seems to live in the vicinity of our caravan site.

 

Got up Tuesday morning and headed up to the little village, as I had been told that there are lizards  there in the mornings.  What a great sight it was.  There were Water Dragons, lizards to the uninitiated, in the village, with several of them sitting on the roofs of the models.  The longest one, about 1 metre, was attempting to camouflage himself in the flower garden.  Of course, my imagination got away from me, and I could imagine the scene in a dinosaur movie of the lizards attacking a village.  Godzilla all over again.  Yes, I know, get back on track here.

Next on our agenda was a trip to the Butterfly house.  It is about 12 k's from Coffs Harbour but well worth a visit.  Apart from the fact that you feel like you are stepping into a sauna.  Similar to the Melbourne zoo Butterfly house.  I actually got a really good photo of the Ulysses butterfly.  The only one in the enclosure.  The brilliant blue is just so beautiful.  I have attached a photo of it, just sitting on the leaf, when it is just another ugly brown butterfly, and then it flutters it wings and gives you that brilliant flash of blue.  Awesome.  I had one of the orange butterflies attach himself to my back in an attempt to escape from the enclosure, but Deb was onto him.  I even got a photo of a new arrival at the enclosure, with its wings still wet and not totally flattened out yet.  Butterfly fact::  They can fly up to 55kph, live from several days to several months, depending on the species and to improve your knowledge, moths rest with their wings open while butterflies rest with their wings together.

The town of Uranga was next on the agenda.  I had to visit The Honey Place.  There was a small beehive behind glass to observe, as well as a short video.  I know what you are thinking, how boring was that, but it was actually really interesting.  The life of the poor old bee is pretty tough.  Newborn bees are put to work within 60 seconds of being born, and go through stages within the hive from cleaner, gatherer of pollen, cooling or exhaust fan bees and finally protectors of the hive from intruders.  A pretty tough life.  The honey tasted great though.

The town itself is really quite small, but typical of all coastal villages.  It has a great 1200 metre boardwalk through the mangroves.  We checked out a couple of crab habitats along the walk, with some really queer crabs with only 1 pincer.  A couple were getting ready for a fight to the death, probably over the little girly crab nearby, but we just didn't have to time to watch.

It was then back to the van for a well deserved rest.  Whilst sitting under the awning we saw a couple of really pretty birds just near the rear of the van.  Of course, they wouldn't sit in the ideal photography position, so I just had to stalk them with the lens through the branches of the trees.  A neighbour thinks they were a breed of kingfisher.  Either way, they were very pretty.

 

Anyway folks, that is all for now.  Yes, I know, I said I would try to make it shorter, but my fingers just do the walking on the keyboard.  They have a mind of their own.   

Barry and Deb.