Arrived at Coffs Harbour and headed to the ocean front road expecting to eye the beach. Odd but there is a forest between the beach and the ocean. You cannot even see the water. Today is most about touring the environs and walking a beach or two.
It is 9ish and we meet at T & S’s place, transfer to their car and head off. First destination, Sealy Lookout. The recently built Forest Sky Pier takes you out over the forest canopy and gives a clear vision up and down the coast. From here we get an idea of where we are headed and what places we may visit next.
Diggers Beach is a short walk over a headland. The beach is slightly protected and usually a little calmer than its big brother next door, Park Beach but it is worth the walk. I could see this being crowded on a nice summer day but today there are only a couple of surfers plying the waters and us walking the sand.
Bellingen is a town with a lot of character. It does look as if it hasn’t changed much since it was built up in the early 20th Century. The people seemed to have been stuck in the 1960’s. It makes for a really nice laid back kinda place. It is a little busy today. The yearly 3 day music festival ended yesterday and a ‘hanger over’ was quite evident. A good number of the visitors stayed on, including some of the musicians who were sitting on a bench on main street busking. I think this place would be worth a few hours strolling the streets and poking around the shops.
Coffs Harbour is more of a small city. A bit more generic and maybe a bit more anonymous. It is Monday and everyone is going about the business of daily life. It is a nice place but nothing in particular stands out. I don’t think you would spend a week long vacation there.
Driving into town yesterday we noticed on the way in there was an abundance of banana plantations but were told blueberries are also a big crop. The fields are recognizable by the white gauze netting over the plants, placed there to keep the bats at bay.
After taking in a few sights it is on the freeway and headed north. We want to make time and try and avoid driving too much after dark. The A1/M1 is pretty much like any freeway in the world. A road with little personality. Asphalt and fast. It takes us almost exactly the 4 hours Google Maps said it would and we are back in Southport for the night. Tomorrow we head into Brisbane to spend our last few days.