http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , Australia , New South Wales , Coffs Harbour en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:05:27 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:05:27 +0000 I am almost done my Master's and it has been keeping me busy but I have finally left Sydney. I headed north up the coast to Newcastle and Coffs Harbor for a work trip with Monster Energy. I have to say I have a pretty amazing job for being in school travelling around sampling energy drinks at fun events and Aussie beaches The best part is getting paid to travel to different towns. While drivi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-446580.html After a short drive from Bellingen to Coffs Harbour we enjoyed a walk along the marina to Muttonbird Island for great views of the town and surrounding coast. We then walked along the beach under the old pier but it was still a bit cool and windy to sunbathe or swim. This is the nicest part of the town but we decided to walk into the centre anyway which is a few kms away. We found a beautiful walk http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-445437.html It is 31C degrees here at Woolgoolga and itrsquos windy. Every afternoon a wind comes up which shakes the motor home and blows over tents. Wersquove given up having the awning and our table and chairs out and instead are cooling off in the air conditioning chilling out.Yesterday morning we walked along Woolgoolgarsquos beautiful beach to the lake. Because of the recent high seas and 'Woo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-444573.html I finally got to fulfill my dream of swimming with Dolphins. I wouldnrsquot really call it swimming but we were in the water with them. Early that morning we collected our wetsuits from a dive shop near the Pet Porpoise Pool. A few tight squeezes and we were fitted out with our suits. They gave us extra layers as well as it would be pretty cold in the pool. Our Dolphin Encounter was scheduled fo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-428834.html just practising lol p http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-422153.html In Coffs Harbour haben wir uns trotz des nicht ganz so tollen Wetters einige Ausflge gemacht. Unter anderem haben wir Big Banana besucht. Die Bananenplantage konnte allerdings nicht ganz unsere Erwartungen erfllen. Fr 10 Dollar Eintritt pro Person gabs lediglich zwei Kurzfilme eines davon war ein Hologramm ber die Geschichte der Bananenplantage in Coffs Harbour zu sehen und anschlieend ein http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-413063.html G'day How's sunny England Melbourne was a bit of a shock to the system. There I was thinking 'it's Australia it can't get that cold' going out in just a tshirt and hoody and later returning to the hostel to grab my jacket hat and gloves Apparently they had just been hit by a particularly cold spell plus the on and off rain made matters worse. Melbourne is a great city though despite lacki http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-409983.html 250509 Monday Day 283After seeing Cape Byron lighthouse we started heading south once more shortening the journey to Sydney. We passed through a place called Ballina where it had a huge prawn on top of one of itrsquos buildings. We had to be diverted here because the main highway was still flooded. Most of the towns on the way to Coffs Harbours look battered from the storm that passed over us http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-402934.html Left Belltrees a few days ago wish we could've stayed longer but me and Siov aren't much use on a farm so couldn't really be of any use to them We drove north and stayed inland to avoid the floods. Went through a few very country towns which were very uninspiring. We were starting to dispare that the trip was going to be cold and boring The first town on our route was Tamworth which is famo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-402560.html Well here we are in Coffs Harbour two months after leaving Sydney Harbour. Not exactly a screamingly fast pace north but the weather gods seemed to think we needed a slow start to the trip so sent rain wind and big swells to keep us in the marinas rather than out at sea. We actually had a great time at each stop Pittwater Newcastle and Port Stephens and decided that as we wanted to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-401867.html Hello EveryoneI am having a catching up session with the blogs again then I'm up to date. It's quite hard to find computers that are quick and cheap and they have them at Sydney so I am making the most of itI've put some more pictures on aswell of Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie which were two stops on my way back down through New South Wales towards Sydney.My first stop was Coffs and I loved i http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-395035.html Day 87 Coffs HarbourAnother sunny morning so we enjoyed a walk to the nearby headland at Emerald Beach. The ground was very wet the wind very gusty but the waves were quite spectacular definitely not a time and place for surfing here.Coffs Harbour is a popular holiday destination so we went to have a look why. It has a pretty harbour and great bays for the surfers to catch some waves. We have a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-394826.html Coffs Harbour Armidale Dangar Falls http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-394822.html Coffs HarbourWe got here at half 1 in the morning and then caught a cab to the Barracuda Backpackers. When we arrived some people were having a few drinks for someonersquos birthday but we ducked out of the invitation to join them we were so beat from the camping looking forward to a good night sleep in a proper bed Our room is nice itrsquos a 4 bed dorm but itrsquos just me Al and J http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-394258.html Monday February 23 was the day we left Port Macquarie. Our bus was mid day so that meant carrying around our stuff while biding some time. Our bags are big and heavy but wersquod been getting used to them. The bus ride to Coffs Harbour was another 3 hours. Once in town we were picked up by a courtesy bus that would take us to the hostel. A lot of hostels have this which is extremely han http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-388888.html 'I love a sunburnt country a land of sweeping plains...' I never thought much about this poem when we read it in English back in my high school days. Now as a grownup Aussie expat the words have such a resonance with me. Flying back into Sydney was the high point of the past 12 months for me. No matter how many amazing places we go or what brilliant things we see there really is no place lik http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-387699.html As we headed further South down the coast we stopped at one of the tourist attractions we had been told we must visit the big banana what can i say it was highly entertaining when we realised that the whole thing centred on a huge concrete banana Its part of a banana plantation and we walked around the area enjoying the sky walk and candy making demonstration with free tasters. The mos http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-381545.html A short drive a little further down the coast we spent a couple of nights at Moonee Beach in a camp site on the estuary. The weather has taken another turn for the worse so we're all waterproofed up again. The wildlife is amazing and Pete's becoming quite the Dr Doolittle particularly with the Lorikeets and other birds getting very friendly....We caught our first glimpse of kangaroo's in the wil http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-380123.html It's true what they say. Aussies really do go the beach on Christmas day. We could get used to Christmas like this.We were fortunate to be spending the Christmas holiday in Moonee Beach near Coffs Harbour with Chris's sisters inlaws the hosts with the most Jim and Pauline.What a fantastic spot and what fantastic hosts.As happens with many people on Christmas eve we had to make that last ma http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-375992.html Port Macquarie is a town on the Gold coast between Sydney and Brisbane. There are not many tourists here compared to other towns Byron Bay so its a really nice spot to relax on the beach which is exactly what we did. We parked the van in the beach carpark and spent a couple of days working on our tan not very Australian thing to do as they all avoid the sun...It was hard to drag ourselves http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Coffs-Harbour/blog-372059.html