After tucking into breakfast at the hostel in Byron Bay, we left on the free shuttle bus to town. We got some cash from the bank, used the internet and got the 12:30 coach to Coffs Harbour which was scheduled to take 3.5 hours.

We arrived into Coffs Harbour in the pouring rain knowing that the rest of the day would be spent undercover. Our tour book said Coffs is viewed by many as having the best climate in Australia. Just our luck to arrive when the world's clouds and rain descended upon the town. Apart from its climate, Coffs is famous for its big yellow banana, a manifestation of Australia's bizarre fixation of gigantism! Australia has a giant lobster, prawn and boot too (but to name a few). Bananas are grown in Coffs hence the big statue. 

We got a courtesy pick-up from the coach stop by our hostel otherwise it would have been a 25 minute walk. We checked into the room and then ventured outside for a stroll; we were the only people wearing shorts and t-shirts in the rain. We found a really nice bar (Mangrove Jacks) overlooking a creek where we sat and had a selection of breads and dips and a glass of wine whilst listening to the pouring rain and being served by a waiter that looked like a slim Peter Andre! 

During our time at the cafe, Mark saw a splash in the water and was surprised to see a lady swimming in the creek, he thought it may have been a crocodile!  

After spending some time relaxing here, we took a walk back to our hostel passing an indian restaurant which we wanted to book for dinner at 8:30pm. The waiter told us it closes at 9pm! What is it with Australia and their early restaurant closures! Anyway, we decided to sit down and eat dressed in our t-shirts, shorts and hiking boots as we didn't have time to go back and get showered! 

The food was really nice but not as nice as our local indian restaurant in Longfield which we are really missing!   

After dinner we headed back to the hostel to get some washing done and to do some research on our next destination; Sydney. 

The following morning Lisa had her hair chopped to her chin which was a little unplanned. The hairdresser went crazy with the scissors layering it all over. Lisa wasn't sure she liked the new style so we soon had the usual "I wish I hadn't had it cut this short". On the subject of hair, the sun appears to be turning Lisa's ginger......she says blonde streaks but they are definitely ginger. 

After the hairdressers we checked out of our hostel and left our luggage in storage. We were getting an overnight coach to Sydney and didn't want to hold our luggage all day so left it there until 10:30pm.

We took a walk to the cafe we went to the prior day for some breakfast and got chatting to the owner who then gave us a lift to the Big Banana so we could see candy sweets being made. This was really interesting watching the steps from rolling it out to it going into a machine to it coming out in it's shape and then being broken up into little square pieces. We got to try some of the end product too!

After the demonstration, we took a long walk along the main highway to go back into town as there were no buses or taxis. It started to rain heavy so we had to hide under a tree. Unfortunately we had got so drenched that we just gave up and continued walking, the rain soon eased off.  By this time we were completely drenched!!! We managed to find a boardwalk beside a creek so took this on the way back to our hostel but it ended up taking us to Mangrove Jacks where we were earlier. So, back again for more drinks and a chat!!!

We sat their using their internet and having a bit of banter with the staff. The evening was stressful trying to sort out loads of flights in and out of Australia. Lisa left the cafe to go back to the hostel to retreive the luggage as we were leaving in the next hour by taxi and the YHA luggage room closes at 10:30pm. Mark stayed at the cafe to continue using the Internet to book a flight from Fiji to Darwin, Darwin to Bali, Bali to Darwin, Darwin to Alice Springs and Alice Springs to Melbourne.

Mark arrived back to the hostel in time to jump in the taxi to the coach stop ready for our overnight coach to Sydney. We got there 20 minutes before the coach was due to arrive.....and then the fun started!!! Read about our nightmare in the next post for Sydney.