Blog Day 177 Sun 30th October 2011

So we say goodbye to the Canadians & hope we catch up with them further down the coast somewhere & leave Byron bay for the long stretch towards Sydney then headed for the Great Ocean Road. First stop Coffs Harbour. On the way down we turn off the highway and drive up, what can only be described as, a bloody big hill! At the top we are treated to an amazing view all the way back down the coast. We also get our bearings in terms if where we need to drive to next.

At Coffs Harbour we have heard about the Pet Porpoise Pool, which is supposed to be the most hands on dolphin pool anywhere in the world. Trish got excited when she realised that Porpoise meant Dolphin….Bless her! She also felt kind of stupid too!

We manage to claim tickets for the following day & with that head off to see the sights of Coffs Harbour. Typically…a beach!

All of a sudden the clouds roll over & a storm descends upon us. Just down the road from where we have chosen to park up (in a car park next to a camping ground) there is some kind of music festival going on. This is fine until it starts to sound like a heavy rave going on with the same constant annoying beat. We managed to ignore it while we were having our dinner of sandwiches & reading our books but when it came to getting to sleep it was a nightmare. After an hour or so Dan had had enough & wanted to move somewhere else. So we headed to the Pet Porpoise pool car park (well at least we will be there early even if we don't look to official sleeping in a bright orange campervan!). We figure we will get away with staying here as there appeared to be a tramp asleep under one of their outside benches…nice. We finally drift off but soon we are yet again awoken, this time from the sound of branches scratching up against the back of the camper. A few minutes of this & Dan has re-parked the van over the other side of the car park. What a pain in the arse. Goodnight all!

Blog Day 178 Mon 31st October 2011

Pet Porpoise Pool Day!!

A coffee & chocolate kick is first port of call this morning after a restless night sleep, then we head in to suss out what's what. There is a scheduled plan for what goes on during the morning. They are only half day tours with the show starting at 10.30 & finishing around 12. First stop is the dolphin & seal kisses which Trish is very excited about. Then we have some time to see the turtles, penguins & aquarium fishes. Then the show kicks off with 3 different seals coming out to take stand at a post. The first gets fed fish by people who wish to do so; Trish is one of the first up. The second balances a ball on its nose & plays catch with a couple of chosen audience members & the third tries to balance a fish on its nose for 5 seconds but fails miserably. The dolphin show is spread out in between each of the seal shows. Dan gets picked to hold a fish out on a pole for a dolphin to jump out of the water to take. Then they do the jump through a hoop followed by a 2 dolphin race around the pool. Once the show is over you get to give the dolphins a belly rub as they swim round on their backs around the pool. Last thing on the agenda is penguin feeding time where we get to hand feed the penguins their lunch. All in all a fantastic morning & were defiantly glad we made it here.

For the rest of the afternoon the plan is to drive to a rest stop just outside Port Macquarie.