Not a whole lot of excitement today. We said goodbye to Thelma and loaded the coach. We traveled all day up the coast to Coffs Harbor. We stopped briefly to see the Big Banana. This was the first of many big things we would stop and take pictures of along the way. We stayed at the Opal Cover resort where we finally got to sleep in double beds. We only stayed there one night and were on our way again in the morning.

Quick stop in Coffs Harbour . . .

Our way of keeping track of the distances traveled during our journey . . .

The trip to Coffs Harbour was pretty uneventful, we stopped a few times and by the time we got into town it was dark, so we couldn’t really see anything. Our accommodation for the night was about 10 minutes drive north of the town so we passed through on our way. We got to see the big Banana which although it was dark wasn’t all that big. As we drove into our accommodation we spotted two kangaroos right near our cabin which we thought was unusual.

The cabin was nice and roomy but we basically just got out of the car unpacked the esky and then went to bed. In the morning the kids woke early so we packed the car again and headed toward Brisbane, where we had planned to organise a few things before we left and maybe relax some.

Got to Coffs Harbour after a 9 hour bus, Australia is very big. i was still extremely hungover and a cold was developing. Got to the hostel with john and it was almost completely empty so we got our own room where we would not have to talk to people and could sleep. Went for a walk around town, there is nothing to see there really and everything was closed by the time we got there, a  bit of a ghost town.

Got a delicious cheap steak deal which was nice and watched the Super 14s Final in which NSW narrowly lost. Also went bowling and scored 142 which i was pretty happy with, all in all nothing specific to report back about Coffs Harbour. They do grow lots of bananas there that I saw on the bus and even have a giant banana as a tourist attraction. Had to wake up early again for the bus.

It's happening.... YEAH!

Exciting times! Sat by myself trying to psych up to leave the country for an indefinate period. It's not as easy as you think. Really wanted someone to talk sh!t to, so Chris Moffatt came to see me off (he's a good bloke) & take a couple of photos of me in my nervous state. Murgs dropped me in. Another good bloke.

After waking up early in the Coffs Harbour YHA I have my vitamine supplies for breakfast: 3 oranges, 4 kiwis and one banana.

After that I walk to the beach and climb Moreton Bird Island. The wind blows like crazy and even the birds seem to struggle in the stiff breeze.

I’m thinking of Bob Dylan:

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

Yes, ‘n how many seas must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand?

Yes, ‘n how many times must the cannon balls fly

Before theyre forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind,

The answer is blowin in the wind.

After fake wind surfing I leave the island and the harbour (Coff’s Harbour – who is Coff? Was he a Toff?)

On my way to the city centre a chubby girl is lying on the pavement, her face contorted with pain. She obviously twisted her ankle. All her girlfriends are standing around her and finally call mommy.

The centre of Coffs Harbour is boring as can be, so I walk back to the hostel. Another evening with beers from the liquor store and many games of pool. What else is there to do in Coffs Harbour?!

I’m in a dorm together with three Americans from Chicago. They seem to like Coffs Harbour and have been here for a whole week. It begins to dawn on me that it might be because of the wind…

In the corridor Julia from Berlin is chatting with Germany on the phone. After that she chats with me. She has a great smile and beams like a nuclear power plant. After some small talk she says she would love to see me again later.

A Danish couple and I drink our provisions of beer and play pool. When this gets too boring I go to the lounge and talk to two 18-year-old Dutch guys who remind me of Beavis & Butthead: “Huhuh, cool”

A bit later Julia comes to the lounge as well, totally pissed. She had too much red wine. After exchanging a few words with me, her speech slurred by the alcohol, she goes outside to have a cigarette. But she doesn’t return, instead she disappears with one of the windy Chicago guys for a little amorous tête-à-tête.

An hour later I open the door to my room quietly, making sure not to disturb this new German-American co-production. I go to bed and dream of floating high in the sky.

Yes, ‘n how many times can a man turn his head,

Pretending he just doesn’t see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind,

The answer is blowin in the wind.

While we were packing up the rest of our stuff Merv walked around the car and noticed that one of the back windows was wound down. Upon further investigation it turned out that the little corner window on the right hand side of the car had been smashed in and that Reagan’s portable dvd player was missing. We called the insurance company and the police, and they took our statements etc. and had someone come out to check for fingerprints. It was all very exciting, I felt like we were in an episode of CSI, only no-one was dead… Of course this completely threw our plans in disarray, as we had to wait for them to come, then arrange for the window to be replaced, the glass had to be cleaned out of the car and we had to buy a new booster seat as Reagan couldn’t use the old one because of the glass that had fallen on it. As it was Sunday someone had to be called in to do the window, and the only place where they had it in stock was on the other side of the city so Lion led us trough all the traffic. At least we got to see the Bridge and a glimpse of the Opera House this way! It was around 2pm when we finally got to leave Sydney, and we had about 500k’s to go to get to Coffs Harbour…

Okay, haven't been able to update this blog in a while as paying $6 an hour for internet in a YHA is a rip off. Thankfully I'm in Wicked Travel in Byron Bay right now which offers free internet for international travelers, so I can do a bit of an update on the last few days.

I've been staying in Coffs Harbour, in probably the best hostel yet. It's brand new, feels a bit like a hotel, is spotlessly clean and has really cool Aussie owners who remember your name. The first night I book in and meet a Brasilian called Phillippe who takes me for a walk down to the jetty and harbour and along to a small island called Muttonbird Island, a small rock covered in grass which is a bird sanctuary. The muttonbirds nest in little burrows under the grass. Then it's back to the hostel where a crazy Maori Kiwi girl called Kelly introduces herself and drags me off to the bar across the road for some live music by a rock covers band.

The next day I get up late and generally have a bit of a chilled one resting and doing my laundry. Tim and a few others arrive from Port Macquarie. I also get talking to an awesome Aussie called Mick who is traveling down south. He is really safe and happy to help and does a lot to help with our stay in Coffs. We get loaded on cheap beers from the bottle shop across the road. While drinking a cute and sexy girl called Jess (who I met in Newcastle) comes over and says her and a few others are all going to the beach for a drinking party. After more beers and several glasses of Mick's red wine we head over en masse. There we sit round in a circle and start playing this bizarre drinking game where we have to say something we have never done. If anyone else in the circle has done whatever it is the other person has said, they have to take a swig from their bottle. If there are no takers, the person who has just said they haven't done something has to drink. Naturally, most of the suggestions revolve around sex ("I've never had sex on a plane, I've never had sex up the bum" etc). I only take one bottle of Becks to the beach with me so Jess gives me a bottle of Triple Sec to share that she got for $6. She is wasted and asks if anyone wants to go skinny dipping. I am equally gone so I say I'll do it if she does it. We start walking down to the sea throwing our clothes off and then run into the sea, which is surprisingly warm. I manage to get a quick snog and then it's back to the shore to pick up our now sandy clothes. Fortunately it's such a warm night I dry off almost instantly. We stay on the beach drinking, eventually drunkedly pick ourselves up and wander back to the hostel. I accost Jess in the corridor and make out with her some more, and then we part ways and head to our respective dorms.

The next day my head is okay but I'm somewhat regretful of my drunken actions, in so much as I slightly took advantage of a girl who was completely wasted. I make a mental note to speak to her today at some point and apologise if any of my conduct made her feel uncomfortable. Eventually I was able to track her down; she seems okay and says we were both wasted and don't worry about it. She seems in good spirits so I'm guessing she hasn't filed for a restraining order just yet.

Coffs Harbour has a few interesting sights but everything is kind of spread out. Fortunately Mick has a car so him, me, Tim and a thoroughly charming gorgeous Canadian girl called Emily bundle into it and head off to visit the Big Banana.

Australia has a bit of a fascination with Big Things, most of which are big sculptures attached to shops. The Big Banana was the first one which started it off. Basically it is a big horizontal banana which is the frontispiece for a banana plantation. You can walk through the banana and look at photos of banana harvesting, and there is a shop that is banana-themed and sells the usual tourist tat. We take a few photos and then split...

The next port of call is the Clog Barn, a place which unsurprisingly makes clogs. There is a model dutch village here (in miniature) but you have to pay to go in so we simply stand in some massive clogs and take some photos. Then it's off to explore Coffs Harbour town for a little walk around, an iced coffee drink and some cheap bananas from the market.

We get back to the hostel, dump the car and head off to the beach. Coffs Harbour has a really nice beach that is reasonably popular but during weekdays bizarrely has no life guards. The waves are huge and Mick, Emily and myself head off for a swim. It is my first time in the water all holiday and I cheerily follow my new friends with huge abandon. I ride the waves up and over and sometimes down and under. It is great fun but after a while I turn round and look and the beach seems to be miles away! I decide I want to go in and start to swim back, but I don't seem to be making much progress. The waves rise up from under me or crash over me but after they have passed the dip seems to keep sucking me out to sea, despite my actions. I am starting to worry a little; I am not a particularly strong swimmer, hardly ever go into the sea (especially this far out), and just feel out of my depth. At this point there is just Emily with me; I feel like my swimming is completely futile so I shout out to her that I don't really know what to do. She is quite an accomplished swimmer (having swam with her school in competitions), so I take a hold of her hand and she says we have to swim parallel with the beach for a while and kick hard whenever a wave is upon us. Eventually we get to a point where I can touch the ground, then we're into a hole and then finally I can touch again. We actually get back really quickly and I'm not particularly tired or exhausted, but if you don't know what to do in that situation and you are on you're on I can easily see people coming unstuck. I thank Emily for being cool, calm and helping me out and then collapse on the beach in a mild state of shock.

The next day I wake up fairly early after a good night's rest. I find that Mick has already gone and curse myself for not getting an email address or phone number; he was a really great bloke. After breakfast myself, Tim and Emily do a spot of walking. Our Greyhound bus is booked for 4.45pm so we have quite a while to kill. We walk along the harbour to Muttonbird Island as Tim and Emily haven't seen it yet. Then we head back to the hostel to freshen up and then go for a nature walk amongst Coffs Creek and the mangrove swamps. Eventually we come across the Coffs Harbour botanic gardens; they are huge, sectioned off into little separate areas (e.g. Africa, Rainforest etc), and really put Sydney's gardens to shame. After wandering around for a while we make our way into town for a Subway and then a bus back, with an hour to spare before our ride to the coach stop.

Boarding the Greyhound, they are playing Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix, so I have a happy couple of hours watching the film. We stop in Balina for a bite to eat and Emily's designated hopping off point. It turns out that she is a mystery shopper for YHA; she is being given free travel and accomodation to stay at all the New South Wales YHA's in return for reviewing the hostels. That is an awesome way to travel; I wonder if there is anything similar for the Queensland hostels? The coach stop at Balina is home to the Big Prawn, a giant prawn adorning the top of a fish restaurant. I take a quick photo, say goodbye to Emily and then head back onto the coach for Byron Bay.

..das ist coffs harbour. bekannt fuer irgendwelche big bananas, die ich mir aber nicht angeschaut habe. hier kann man gut surfen, tauchen, schnorcheln, wandern, fahrradfahren usw. bis auf am strand liegen, hab ich davon aber auch nicht gross was gemacht. doch ich hab mich von delphinen und seehunden kuessen lassen im pet purpoise pool. das war lustig, war ne delphin show und seehund show und um mich rum ganz viele familien mit kindern und ich hab mich gefuehlt als ob ich 10 waere und die ganze welt in ordnung ;). man konnte dort auch den seehund fuettern, eine schildkroete und pinguine fuettern. das war niedlich, denn so nah kann man eigentlich nicht an die tiere. hab zwar ziemlich nach fisch gestunken am abend aber das war das erlebnis wert!

Throughout Australia there are a number of big things. The Big Apple, The Big Chock (chicken), The Big Ned Kelly to name but a few. Well Coffs Harbour has the Big(est) Banana, not surprising because of the bananas grown locally. Since we were in the area we decided to check it out, although it does help it you are crazy about bananas and have your own transport. As pedestrians we were met at the end of the footpath with a lovely view of the Big Banana across a very daunting dual carriageway. Now wishing to get run-over we re-traced our steps and got a taxi.

We were pleased we did though, as we were soon having our pictures taken with the Big Banana. A 12m x 6m concrete banana that has been a tourist attraction in Coffs Harbour for over forty years.

You can also walk through the Banana for free, where there are photos on displays.

We had wanted to go on the monorail, but there was no mention of it at the ticket office.So we decided to go on the sky-walk. This was a short walk through the plantation, up to a lookout point. The walkway was a bit dilapidated, and the lookout point was closed due to vandalism. However it’s free and you can still see some nice views of Coffs Harbour. The Big Banana wasn’t bustling with tourists when we visited, but it was nice to get away from the crowds.

We then had to decided whether to go to the Cool Bananas ice rink or the World of Bananas Experience. We figured we could go ice skating anytime, so decided on the latter.

Not until after we had eaten some lovely frozen bananas dipped in chocolate (avec nuts, sprinkles or plain).

The World of Bananas Experience comprises of two sort of holographic presentations all about bananas. The first was very informative although we could have done without the last few minutes shamelessly promoting Coffs Harbour. Just when we thought we had learnt all there was to know about bananas. Our guide took us on a tour of the plantation and packing area. Here we were watched another video on how the bananas are washed, sorted, ripened and packed, and also given a banana each.

From here we were allowed to take our time in the education room. Where there was even more information about the banana industry in Coffs Harbour as well as fun interactive displays e.g. The 10m dash carrying the equivalent of a bunch of bananas.

The whole World of Bananas Experience cost $12 per adults, and takes about an hour to complete.

We thought it was good value for money. However you can save more money if you are planning on doing more activities with a day or family ticket.

All we wanted to do was check out the gift shop, so we could get a souvenir of our day.We were spoiled with a whole bunch of banana goodies everything from banana soap to banana chutney. If there’s a banana product you’re after then this is the place to come, and the prices are pretty reasonable too.

All in all this horticultural theme park has probably seen better days, but if you’re after some good wholesome fun then you wont go far wrong with the Big Banana.

At the very least if you’re passing, stop and have your photo taken with the Big Banana.

P.S You don’t even have to like bananas, Simon doesn’t and he still *loved* it!

P.P.S Plus there are plenty of banana jokes to be enjoyed here.

A few years ago, I drove from Sydney to Brisbane and along the way passed a sign to a butterfly farm.

It was time for lunch so I decided to detour and take some time to meet a flutterby or two.

I learnt quite a bit about the life of a Butterfly (the very short life). The butterfly enclosure is an all weather indoor rainforest setting, where you walk freely amongst the hundreds of fluttering butterflies as they land on you, and flutter around the plants in the enclosure.

There is also a maze for you to find your way around if you have the time (I did not), a gift shop for you to hand over your hard earned dough, on souvenir’s and hand crafted wood items.

The tearoom where lunch is served has a nice tropical atmosphere, but don’t expect anything gourmet, you will only be able to order very basic food.

Well worth the time if you find yourself in this area and like butterflies.

around coffs

port macquarie and coffs

.. at Coffs' Harbour