Blogs from Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania
April 29th 2012
Unbelievably we made it out of Bellingen! The morning we left was quite funny because somehow I managed to stall us so that we didn’t get out of town until lunchtime. I seriously did not want to leave (how hard can it be to persuade a boy that this is the place we’re meant to be and it’s ok to abandon our travels?!). So I had an extreeemely slow breakfast… took foreeever doing the washing up… remembered I needed to go to the shops… and post a letter… and go to the cash machine… then fell in love with a couple of houses before realising they were both for sale (a sign or what!)… and then took us on a drawn-out drive around the outskirts of Bellingen… and 9km of gravel road to see the farms… ... read more
March 11th 2012
I know this is a travel blog site dedicated to our Big Lap in 2012 but I am going to be a bit narcissistic and commit this entry completely to our Wedding Day which occurred just over a week ago on Saturday March 3, in beautiful Coffs Harbour on the NSW North Coast. In fact I alluded to our wedding on our first post because in reality it is the initiating event that starts the Big Lap for real. It was more of a wedding weekend than a day and it began on the Thursday when ourselves and many others made the journey to Coffs Harbour; we had rented a magnificent 3 story beach house called "Ticie by the Sea" for 4 days, so our friends and family could share as much time as possible with ... read more
March 2nd 2012
Had some repairs carried out on the car in Ballina and the replacement part was making a rattling noise so had to take the car into a gas repairer here in Coffs - first he put a new part in then realised it was the wrong one so had to wait for another replacement finished up staying for 2 weeks while waiting for the second replacement. Did the Mutton Bird Island walk with the amazing views over Coffs (very windy though). Checked out the Forest Sky Pier up at Bruxner Park in the hills backing onto Coffs Harbour - a very winding road which went up a hill for about 6klms and there were many banana farms all the way up this winding hill. The views from the Pier were amazing as was the Pier itself. ... read more
February 27th 2012
Mon 27 Feb ------------ About a 170km drive to our next stop to camp site called Park Beach Holiday Park at Coffs Harbour. A lovely site, very clean and to Iain's delight has FREE wifi, porovided by the local council. We could learn something from them! Went for quite a long walk to a nearby island called Mutton Bird Island, a wildlife sanctuary. Mutton Bird is another name for the Short Tailed Shearwater which nest here a lot, although we didn't see any. Did spot a Blue Tongued Skink though, but the photo was rubbish so haven't posted it. Had a beer each at the Coffs Harbour Yacht Club on the walk back. Weather cloudy today mostly but sun came out about 3pm so not too bad. Still about 27C. Not doing much tonight except eating ... read more
February 24th 2012
Well our first week is over and we have finally made it to NSW. We started off at Sharp Park, just an hour south of Brisbane at Canungra near Nerang, we used our first stop to make sure everything was OK and that we did not leave any thing at home. Luckly we have not found anything we forgot yet! Mum and Dad would have made a day trip to deliver whatever we forgot. From here we moved onto Burgess Park just a short 60km's away just south of Beaudesert on Christmas Creek, it was a great spot, lots of other campers turned up on the weekend. The creek is beautiful and has some nice swimming holes. On Monday we decided to move on and we finally made it to NSW, we headed to Red Cliff ... read more
February 21st 2012
Tuesday 21 Feb Arrived at Coffs Harbour and boooked into the Park Beach Caravan Park (stay 4 nights and pay for 3 with TT disc $93). Coffs would be a good place to come and stay with kids as there are a lot of activities aimed at kids. Even the caravan park has the best kids pool we have seen with lots of fun things in the pool. Coff's is quite a big and busy place right on the ocean. Checked out the old jetty. NSW has had the coolest and wetest summer most people can remember - we have been lucky and missed most of the rain but the weather is just perfect at the moment - about 27 degrees since we have been here with just a nice gentle breeze to keep the temperature ... read more
Following the rains north
Published: May 18th 2012Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Coffs Harbour
January 17th 2012
We are leaving Coffs Harbour today and it’s a shame to go as we’ve had so much fun here. As you can see we visited the big banana. We skipped the tour and went straight into the fields for a feed. No bananas for us of course, just lots of amphibians and reptiles. Yum! We took a day trip to Dorrigo Rainforest. There is a nice walk and a great view up there. I was happy we didn’t stay the night as rainforests are not for me. Too damp and dark. I like a nice open wetland or farm. We’ve been so lucky with the weather on this trip. It has rained almost every day! I hear it’s pretty dry at the Reed Bed. I hope you get some rain down there soon so I can ... read more
October 1st 2011
Day 17, 28/9/11 Half way mark through my surfing week and we woke up early to get a morning of surfing in. I managed to stand up a little more but with a little help from the surfing guy of course; you get a big buzz when you stand up, unfortunatley for me it doens't happen very often. After a further 3 hours on the coach we arrived at Spot X, accomodation wasn't great, they were tiny storage containers with 6 beds in and no room to move whatsoever. Had dinner and then some games around the campfire. I won a game around the campfire - the game was called 'The Wax Box Challenge'. The game is simple, you all sit around the campfire and then they put two big cardboard boxes upside down on the ... read more
July 4th 2011
After a great time with me mate on the goldcoast it was time to get moveing again. I just got onto the coast road to head south on the goldcoast then just to piss me off i got me first puncher. After fixing it i got another 5k then i musnt of fixed it propley then it went flat again. So i have desided from now on not to fixed puncher just replace the tubes then fix them at night after i knock off. I ended up rideding with a buch of ladies who done a 60k Marathron the day before. It toke a bit of time to get right out of the city because of all the road works but i got there. I ended up pushing out 70ks for the day bit sore after ... read more
Not Your Average Easter.
Published: April 28th 2011Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Coffs Harbour
April 25th 2011
In the Homeland, Easter is a halfhearted affair. An egg or two is exchange and maybe a family meal to acknowledge the day. Australia, however, takes the holiday far more seriously. We left Brisbane on Thursday after dropping our beloved camper back. We said our goodbyes to Alex (who was off for a weekend with his girlfriend) and boarded a Greyhound bus from Brisbane down to Coffs Harbour, a fun filled 8 hour journey. However, the whole of Australia was flocking to the coast in a frenzied exodus. Thursday was their last day of work before the holiday period and the roads were packed. 10 hours later, we arrived at a small bus stop on the outskirts of Coffs Harbour. It was 1am, there were no taxis and no maps. The bus left us steaming on ... read more
