So it was time to leave the big city behind and experience my first greyhound bus as I headed up the east coast. First stop was Coffs Harbour, a beautiful little town 10 hours north of Sydney. I was surprised how quickly the bus ride went. Luckily I had two seats to myself to spread out all my stuff and made getting a few winks of sleep that bit easier...they even played a movie to pass a few hours.

The hostel was just a five minute hop from the beach, so perfect location for me to spend a few days chilling out and working on that surfing technique...

And that's exactly what I did. After leaving behind a wet and fairly miserable Sydney the sun came out at Coffs Harbour. On my first day I walked along the creek into the small town centre. It was a really pictoresque walk along a wooden boardwalk through the mangroves and botanic gardens. But by the time I got back the sun was burning pretty hot so I spent the afternoon working on the sun tan on the beach. Late afternoon I decided to walk along the jetty which juts out from the beach. There were lots of local children jumping off it into the sea below, but I wasn't brave enough for that. Instead I was lucky enough to spot a dolphin that had swum into the bay. It was the biggest dolphin I have ever seen and if I hadn't seen the fin I'd have sworn it was a whale!

The next couple of days I braved the ocean, first with a body board to get used to the waves and then upgraded to the full surf board. The waves were quite big, but I managed to impress a few people who clearly thought I looked like I knew what I was doing as they even asked the 'pom' for a few tips. I caught quite a few good waves so looks like you don't forget how to do it even after a couple of years out of the water. And this time I managed to come away without injury, not even a bruise!

Coffs Harbour is also famous for a little island just off the beach called Muttonbird island. Not surprisingly it where muttonbirds come to breed and this is the right time if year to see them as they have come onland and made their nests waiting for the chicks to hatch. You can reach the island along a short jetty and then walk right up to top for a great view over the whole of Coffs Harbour, which passed a few hours one afternoon.

I also spent my birthday in Coffs Harbour. I was hoping to get the adrenaline pumping with a bit of white water rafting but unfortunately there weren't enough people signed up to run it, so instead I spent the morning horse riding out in Pine Creek state forest. My transport for the morning was Woodie, a great little grey horse who was pretty nippy when let loose in the forest. I have to admit the first canter was a bit of a shock to the system, not having been horse riding for a good many years, but after that I was right back in the groove of the saddle and I managed not to fall off! The stables we went to also had some wild horses they were trying to break in so we spent half an hour or so watching this guy working with them - kind of like the horse whisperer. Then of course where I else would I spend the rest of my birthday but on the beach..!