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Published: April 14th 2008
Just spent a few hectic days on the road travelling from Sydney to Byron Bay. We've just arrived here tonight and thought we would catch up on emails etc rather than go out.
We decided to stop off at Port Macquarie and Coff's Harbour on route and had one night in each.
In 'Port' we awoke to find it raining quite heavily but then it cleared quite quickly so we went on a two hour kayak tour on the river and sea. Went through and under (just about) mangrove trees on the river and saw water lizards and more fruit bats but unfortunately no koalas in the trees. Ali was with the guide so had it a bit easier and Amy & I were together. They hardest part was paddling out of the port towards the sea- went stopped on a deserted beach but were unfortunate not to see any dolphins. After a spot of lunch we hired bikes to cycle to the koala hospital- was challenging going uphill as there were no gears and backwheel braking! The koala hospital was the oldest one in Australia and we learnt a lot more about them.
In Coff's we went round with a girl called Gemma from Kent. We went to the Pet Porpoise Pool which is kind of a mini sea world with close up encounters. When we went in we had a kiss on the cheek from a friendly sealion called Maxine and then walked around to kiss the dolphins- apparently you are meant to give them your cheek but I full on kissed one on the lips oops- mouth rape... hehe. Afterwards we saw the dolphin and seal show and then went to feed the turtles and sharks and finally the blue penguins. Lastly we saw a short reptile show and learnt about what to do if you see a snake in the wild (stand still like a tree) and what to do if you get bitten (wind yourself up in bandages). After lunch we went to visit 'The Big Banana'- you may remember from the Bill Bryson books reading about Oz's big things! We walked around the plantation and had an ice cream but avoided the paying attractions of the show and waterslides.
Finally caught the Greyhound to Byron this evening- stopped for dinner in Ballina where the 'Big Prawn' is. I was so excited to have seen two of the 'big things' in one day!
Sarah xxx
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Ken
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The perils of the Goon!
I see the wonders of the surprisingly decent wine in a bag for about 50p a litre have now been discovered!! Just stay away from the really cheap stuff. One the side of one 4 litre cartoon I tried out the ingredients listed among other things, fish extract, which is the last thing I expected to find in white wine. But then again what did I expect for a quid? Good work on the postcards to everyone but me Alison. Gran's were very chuffed though. You are about to hit what I like to call Ken's Australia, where my in depth knowledge will be able to assist you a treat. Scruffy Murphy's.... magic stuff! Anyway glad you are all having fun. Ken