Been There But Haven't Done Any Of That

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Geo: -31.4343, 152.908

The sun arose for a great start to the day in Forster and so were the quality of waves at the main beach. We were pretty keen for a surf but spent the best part of the morning trying find someone who hires surf boards. The only guy who hires boards wasn't able to lend the boards for the day.
So with a surf out of the question and yet still waiting for our first proper session we pressed onto Port Macquarie where there was bound to be more opportunities.

After seeing pictures of a lookout near Port Macquarie, we were quite keen to see it for ourselves. It was called Laurieton Lookout and the views were magnificent in two different directions, one looking North to Port Macquarie and one looking South to Crowdy Head. We even saw another wild Koala being lazy as usual.
We then continued to Port Macquarie and said hello to some people I knew at the Ozzie Pozzie Backpackers when I had stayed there for work. We were able to get a free shower which felt refreshing for our trip up the road to the Koala Hospital.

The Koala Hospital was great, it's hospital that takes care of injured Koalas from accidents to diseases and then releases them back to the wild once ready. All the workers are volunteers and some from overseas in which applicants book even years in advance.
There were many different Koalas there and they were all so cute. The provide a free tour when they are fed twice a day and the guide explains a lot about their circumstances and the hospital in general.
Afterwards we took a ride to the beach which was in a pretty rough state. Heavy rain from previous days had drifted down the river which collided in to the incoming sea water making for some very choppy and dirty water. It didn't seem to stop the body boarders though who were out in force.
I also did manage a bit of a skate at the new skate park and revived some old tricks.
We then clawed our way back to the hostel to hang out, charge the laptop and cameras and use the kitchen for dinner.

After a night in one of the main beaches car park, we set off south to check out some of the surf conditions, it looked pretty choppy but we were keen to have our first proper surfing session.
We hired the boards then and there for $15 an hour and cruised the white wash superhighway for two hours and getting away with only paying for one hour.
The previous day we decided to contribute to Port Macquaries Rock Paintings, so we picked some paint, and cheesecake, up from the shopping center and headed to Town Beach and created our Picasso with the New Zealand flag and French flag inside a heart, inside a surfboard.
Our greatest master piece to date!
It took quite a while and by the end we headed back to the hostel to cook up some dinner.
It's been pretty handy knowing people to be able to use the facilities in the hostel and it has been great to catch up with people as well.

The next day started like the previous day and we hit up Flynns beach for another surf and then hit the tar-mac towards Coffs Harbour. We stopped off at the long boarders favourite hangout at Crescent Head while we watched them catch perfect waves for a couple of hundred metres and watched them hang-ten effortlessly.
We grabbed some lunch and continued to Nambucca Heads with some beautiful views of the sand in the heads which was supposed to turn golden but the cloud had deprived us of that privilege. We spotted some Dolphins catching fish very close to one of the main beaches. It was amazing to see them circle the fish and drive them towards the beach and shallow end. The fish had to jump out to escape them. The Dolphins were pretty close to the people at the beach and we drove down for a swim, but they disappeared as we jumped in.

Our final push in to Coffs Harbour got us to the Big Banana. We checked out the beach that we would hope for a surf the following day and then headed to yet another hostel that I had stayed in previously for work. I knew the layout and so we were able to use the kitchen and hangout and watch some films to pass time.
While we were watching TV a massive thunderstorm ripped through Coffs providing a nice looking lightning show followed by a torrential down pour and a golf ball sized hail storm in which we had left our van vulnerable to the elements. We were spared any car damage but left the window slightly open meaning some areas were pretty wet. Lesson learned!

The following morning we had parked the car at the beach in hope for a surf and were in luck when we got a hold of the one and only surf school who were able to lend us boards but at $30 an hour, quite pricey seeing as in Byron Bay you can hire a boar for $8 an hour.
We had about an hours surf which was great and our third day running. I could feel I was improving everytime.

We had a great time in Port Macqaurie and even left our mark for the future. All along the boast has been amazing and the whole trip has been incredible.
It's amazing how I have spent time in all of these places but still haven't done anything that we just did, and it makes it even more special to do it with Anna.
Next stop is the Backpackers delight of Byron Bay to meet up with James and Hayley for some sun and surf, again!

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