It was such a promising day, I rushed along to the
camp’s laundry with a couple of loads this morning and got caught up chatting
to a fellow gypsy, Bev, from WA; Western Australia to purists or me until this
abbreviation starts slipping from my lips like a native. She is a little more
seasoned than I; she and her husband hit the road in 2009, however I sensed a
real affinity with this very pleasant woman and will regret the brief acquaintance
as so oft happens. We chatted so long that Chris came looking for me, which was
just as well. I was longing for my breakfast and lunch time seemed to be fast
approaching.
While the day offered opportunity for a driving
tour, we had business to attend to before more trivial pursuits, however once
we had sent off several emails and passed the baton back to others, we set out
in the vehicle, firstly to the art gallery then the Park Beach shopping centre
to enquire against all common sense, after my late watch. It would seem, as expected,
that some lucky little Coff has discovered a lovely little gold watch, the inner-side
plating slightly worn, battery still pumping and only a month old, with a dodgy
catch. Good luck to them! I have a new
one! Complete with buckle and strap; I am happy once more.
After lunch we took a drive up to Sealy Lookout at
the top of Bruxner Park, up through a narrow valley all planted out with banana
palms and avocados, through eucalypt forest at the top and suddenly found
ourselves beside the Forest Sky Pier, a lookout extending twenty one metres
over the forest floor fifteen metres below. The township and beaches of Coffs
Harbour are all laid out below and impressive; we now understand where the
60,000 inhabitants live. Rain was coming in from the east and we scurried back
to the car, then descended the winding road, hoping to pick up some bananas
from one of the many roadside stalls. We had seen them advertised with excellent
prices; two kilo for $2 and I wanted to buy some Coffs bananas even if Chris
was still sticking with his principled
no-more-bananas-after-the-rip-off-last-year. Alas the only produce actually in
the boxes were avocados and I am still waiting for those purchased at the
market in Port Macquarie to ripen.
We stopped in at The Big Banana, an amusement park
all about … bananas, of course. There is a water park, toboggan, ice skating, a
gift shop, café and a banana educational tour. It was all so very corny and
kitsch, in our opinion, however I do appreciate that the owners have gone to
huge efforts to build and establish this successful tourist attraction and good
luck to them. I did offer to take Chris’s photo in front of the big banana and
post it on Facebook. He declined the offer.
Back in Coffs Harbour proper, we parked at the North
Coast Regional Botanic Gardens and wandered through this lovely park covering
twenty hectares bounded by Coffs Creek on three sides. We walked a kilometre on
the main pathway to the point through a variety of themed gardens, filled with
trees and plants from all over the world, then returned along the creek side
path, before heading back to camp.
We shall miss the friendly camp ducks, the flocks of
parrots and other birds which abound here, however tomorrow morning the road
will call again and we will head north once more.
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