Coffs Harbour

Coffs Harbour is the home of the Big Banana, which started life as a banana plantation, but morphed into a theme park and entertainment complex, with laser tag and ice skating. Before you get into town there is also the Big Bunch of Bananas, which is a billboard for a big fruit stall. Not quite as impressive, but at least it sells real bananas.

Also on the outskirts of town is The Big Windmill, a restaurant and motel. Everything is Big in Coffs. Except the miniature Dutch village, which is small.

Coffs Harbour is a town with a bit of a split personality. Along the highway is the town centre, large shops and department stores, and loads of traffic. A full on industrial city. Then there is a patch of suburbia, flanked by a few streets near the coast full of motels and holiday apartments, as well as the marina with its cafes and restaurants. But even here you feel the industrial origins - the marina is crowded with fishing trawlers. Work boats, not pleasure craft, as in Nelson Bay or Port Macquarie.

The beach is long and open, with the continual roar of wave after wave breaking on the shore. Although it is still too cold to swim, surfing is popular, and every morning you will see a scattering of people with their wet suits and boards braving the cold. Watching some of the young people out there each morning before school, you could almost believe the lifestyle shown on Home and Away was accurate.

We had booked 2 nights with our cheap deal, but the next morning the people at the next site told us that if we left at 10 am and came back after 2 pm on that second day, we could get another 2 nights if the sites were available. Since both nights there was only us and one other site occupied, we didn't think that would be a problem. So we thought we would take it easy and relax a bit here, as accommodation was not a problem. If I had a choice, I would prefer to spend extra nights and relax at Port Macquarie, but at $36 a night, our 4 nights here would be the equivalent of one night there.

The other advantage of coming at such a quiet time was that there were some great meal deals at all the local pubs and clubs. That first night we hoed into steak, chips and salad for $9.50, with a schooner of James Squire for $2.50. We thought we had earned it after a long day of driving.

The next day we took leisurely strolls along the marina and jetty, and along the beaches which go on for almost 20 miles past Coffs Harbour. At the end of each stretch of beach there is a small headland, with a neat walking track leading you to the next beach. It is possible to walk them all uninterrupted.

As we had to leave by 10 am the next day, we drove to Bellingen, a town about 30 kms away, which was supposed to be the arts and crafts capital of the area, full of heritage buildings, antiques, crafts and galleries. It sounded a bit like Tilba Tilba, near Tathra, so we thought it would be a good day out. As we drove towards the town, there were cattle farms everywhere, and as we entered there was a big sign for a butter factory. This all seemed very promising.

We went to the Tourist Info Centre to get some maps and advice. The lady basically said to us - "What are you doing here? There's nothing to see." When we mentioned the brochures, she grudgingly agreed there were a few cafes and restaurants. And the butter factory did have a few galleries for local artists. It was no longer a butter factory, and there were no cheese factories either, which was a bit disappointing. We went through town and there were a few shops selling 'op shop' merchandise at 'antique' prices. The cafes were over priced and pretentious - one advertised itself as a Swiss patisserie, but had the same fare you would find in any bakery.

The butter factory had some nice woodwork and leatherwork, and some paintings from local artists. But overall, it was a bit of a let down.

So on the way back we stopped at the Big Banana, mostly for a photo opportunity, but also to try their chocolate coated frozen bananas. Quite nice actually.

Friday night there was supposed to be a Twilight market, on the beach right next to our caravan park. However we were informed that during the autumn and winter months, this had been moved to the Saturday morning, although it was still called the Twilight market. (??) Checked it out the next morning, and were sorely disappointed, so spent most of the day relaxing. There is supposed to be Sunday markets every week as well. We will check them tomorrow before we leave, but I'm not holding my breath.

GeorgeY's bit

Had brunch and coffee at the Clog Barn. It is a full on caravan park with cabins and sites and all, but at the front there is this miniature Dutch village, with buildings cloned on real ones, and some historic info signs on each. There is a full on workshop for clog making, and depending on the size, for less than $40 you get a pair of your size. I tried them on, they felt nice and dry but not as comfy as new technologies has us accustomed to.

After a nice lunch at the Bowls club (for $10), accompanied by another James Squires on tap ($2), I saw our camper from the back with a much smaller light blue scooter on its back. That puzzled me. It might have been the beer effect, but if some thief decides to swipe the bike why does he go to the trouble of substituting another one for it? Turns out to be a similar set up on an identical Ford Transit camper, owned by a young surfy chick. She was very impressed with our set up and some mutual admiration took place. We confessed having the bike falling, and the feel of it being dragged was the ultimate shared experience. So after a nice chat we said goodbye.

BTW she is Dutch, but that is the end of any similarity with Jan, because she is young and good looking and female. I didn't know Dutch are into surfing. Historically sea fairing, yes, but surfing? There is a theme here - last week is all French, and this week is Dutch.