Coffs Harbour to Ballina

 

Just for clarity, this blog post is about Thursday the 19th of September - one of our regular readers had got a bit time challenged by me mentioning the day, but not the date, as we are still running 7 and a half days behind real time, but catching up! (Honest).

Morning

I woke up late this morning at 5.15am, I was really tired on getting back from the Pho restaurant last night, I suspect the mocktails from the previous night had a lot of sugar in them, which often makes me feel lethargic for a day or two! We do the usual routine of tea, toothbrushing, shaving and showering. I note to myself this morning that I shave much better with my glasses off, as I can shave right up to the hair line (All be it a limited amount of hair, I note before someone else comments!). Whereas at home, when I already have my glasses on as I shave on my way back up the stairs after breakfast, I'm prone to miss the areas just below the arms of the glasses!! Odd little reflection for this morning!

Breakfast

We go across to the main part of the hotel for Breakfast at 7am as they open. It is an unusual breakfast, complicated and not very filling. It involved my first use of an air-fryer to warm the breakfast tortilla wrap.

This is where the various items, some cold, some ready to be warmed, are stored.

A conventional toaster on the left an air-fryer on the right. I went to reception and checked on the timing of using the airfryer.

Drew started with a yogurt compote

While I had some fresh fruit, which was cool and tasty

Drew then had a croissant which warmed in one minute in the air-fryer. The caution below the croissant warns of the danger of putting croissants into toasters and the fires that can start, it isn't the first breakfast place with such a warning - I had no idea croissants were so combustible!

The lady at reception said it would take 2 minutes for the wraps, which was clearly not enough as the centre was freezing cold. To be fair they had already been cooked, so I was only warming them up, so no risk to health, but cold egg and spinach isn't my favourite mouth-feel. [Co-pilot's note: It is interesting, dear readers, to note that a fellow diner had obviously encountered this process before and rather than the stated two minutes was going for the more liberal 15! I think he felt the same way about burnt egg and spinach. To say nothing of the blackness that was meant to be his toast.]

We go back to to the room and I catch-up with the blog comments that have come in over night and reply to Flickr comments too. We leave the room at 9.30am check out and pack the car ready to depart at 9.40am.

Today's Route

Our route today looks like this:

with the A1-M1 as our primary route.

The Big Banana

We might have fitted the first two stops of today into yesterday's schedule, as they are a short distance north of Coffs Harbour, but as we wanted to settle into the hotel and refresh ourselves we choose to leave them until today.

The first stop was at what has become the emblem of Coffs Harbour, I remember first seeing it in my brother's photos of travelling this way when they first visited their potential, and now actual, home. It is of the Big Banana, yes you read right the Big Banana. 

The advertising says that the Big Banana Fun Park is the BIGGEST and BEST Fun Park on the Northern NSW coast. A full day of fun for the entire family set amongst the bananas, overlooking the amazing Coffs Harbour coastline.

While we were not there for the rides, nor the tour of the banana plantation, we did enjoy having a few shots of ourselves at the Big Banana.

We arrived at 9.50am and left at 10.05am but it had been fun.

Diggers Beach

Across the main road and about a mile further on was Diggers Beach. It is a gently curved, unspoiled beach on the Coffs Coast. It is framed by two rocky headlands - Diggers Head and Macauleys Headland, making for a wide, sheltered and wind-free beach. It really was as pretty as it looks,

Travelling North

We left Diggers Beach at 10.20am and got straight back on to the A1, which some time later became the M1. We noted that the roads are very different from American ones. None of the potholes that are so common in the USA, or huge gaps in the tarmac are evident here. American Interstates are notorious for such holes, but you don't see these here. The ease of driving without a great deal of traffic along the road is very relaxing. It helps me as a blogger to, as when I'm not driving I can use Drew's iPad to make notes ready for the time I get (all be it seven days later) to write the post!

Yamba Museum and Gallery

Our next stop is the town of Yamba, a pretty seaside resort, but last evening I had read that it has a very interesting town museum. So our first stop was to the Port of Yamba Historical Society Museum who "respectfully acknowledge the Yaegl people as the traditional custodians of the land on which the museum is located".

It is clear that the volunteers who maintain the museum aren't always busy, the two guy, perhaps a decade older than me, were sitting on the porch with a cup of tea or coffee and got up to greet us when we arrived. 

They were very friendly fellas, encouraged our donation to their cause and when asked where we were from we found that one of the grandparents of the first guy had been a Williams from Glamorgan (he had no more details) and the other The other one had spent a week in Snowdonia on holiday (which ironically is more than I have ever done!) 

I mentioned that my grandfather had been born in Ballina, only 100 or so kilometers from here, they were most intrigued.

We really enjoyed the informational content of the museum, I've made a video out of the photos as watchers should be able to pause the video if you want to look at things in more detail.

We walked out of the back of the Museum into a Art Gallery. The Gallery, in an old Presbyterian Church, displays the art of the local artists group. Drew was quite impressed by some of them. While I walk out Drew looks at the pictures in more details and makes a friend, a lady called Vicki, one of the artists, who is still chatting to him when I go back 15 minutes later to check he is OK. A chatty Drew is not a common site. [Co-pilot's note: I am, dear readers, often chatty when I get the opportunity to fit a word in edgeways. In this case I was able to talk about a local artist called Jennifer Runge, whose use of pastel shades I found quite delightful.] He clearly enjoyed the discussion on colour options and routes through the Australian bush! These are some of the art work and the final photo of the set Drew and Vicki. 

Meanwhile as the two guys in the museum came to say goodbye to their only visitors for this period I saw a painting of a bird we had seen earlier in the week and I couldn't identify. It turns out it is an Australian Magpie - a different breed and colour from the UK bird of the same name. The guy who told us this also said: "You have to be careful of them, they are vicious and dive at people's heads. Even though I had a hat on I got caught last week" He then showed us the scar. Drew is not comforted, he was prepared for deadly snakes, spiders, dingoes, drop bears and so on, but hadn't previously realised he had to beware of birds too. 

We then went outside and saw the pretty, but scary, little bird:

Yamba Marina Cafe

We had spent an hour and a half in the museum and as it was now 1.15pm I was feeling a bit peckish, given the odd nature of this morning's breakfast. Driving through Yamba I had seen a sign for the Yamba Marina Cafe, so we headed there for a spot of lunch. 

I was thinking of a snack, but when I saw Yamba Prawns, Chips and Salad on offer, I had to go for them. They were simple but delicious.

Drew opted for Fish Burger, Chips and Salad and he was happy with his too. 

I had a Long Black with mine

Drew a very chocolatey cappuccino. 

The temperature had begun to rise - this morning the car had been showing 25C consistently. As we were leaving Yamba at 2pm it was 27C. Thank heavens for a car with air-con, 27C is hot in anybodies language!

Razorback Lookout

Our next stop was Razorback Lookout, 72 kilometers and 56 minutes further on it is a location which overlooks at approximately 45 metres above sea level the township of Evans Head and the coast.

This is the panorama the lookout provides: 

The lookout is wheelchair accessible and is fitted with excellent BBQ and picnic facilities, public toilet facilities and a lot of parking spaces. Though this could make it a perfect place for enjoying the amazing view up the coast, we were the only people there! 

Evans Head 

We hadn't intended to stop at Evans Head, where the Evans River meets the sea (the Pacific Ocean) but as we drove to the lookout we past through the town and liked the views over the river it provided. The stop was even better when we got to see so many lively pelicans, as well as an ibis or two and a flock of sea gulls.

Big Prawn

Just as Coffs Harbour had the Big Banana, so Ballina has the Big Prawn, nicknamed by Drew Crusty the Crustacean! 

The Big Prawn stands 9 metres high and weighs 35 tonne. It has no significance, other than the role of prawn trawling in the harbour, but has become one of the attractions of this coast.

Arrive at the Comfort Inn

On the journey between Evans Head and Ballina I had received an email from the hotel saying:

This was a first for me, someone checking at 3.30pm whether you were arriving for the night - 5.30 or 6pm, perhaps I could understand - or perhaps this Australian habit of eating early also applies to hotel arrivals!! Anyway I was able to reply saying I would be there within the hour and we arrived at 4.15pm. I got to meet Stephanie herself, she too has Welsh grandparents!

We park up and settle into the room which is up a somewhat forbidding set of stairs

But is very comfortable otherwise.

I start editing, naming and uploading the photos. This is the first hotel in Australia, unlike so many in the US, which slow down uploads. So there is free wifi, but not speedy wifi - so this process takes some time. 

We go out for a walk through the town and down to the river. Not a long walk as it is already dark, but some exercise after a pretty sedentary day. 

Dinner 

I had looked last night for places to eat in Ballina and it looked as if there were plenty of potentials, so we took the risk and didn't book.

We had seen a place called La Cucina Di Vino and when we got there they did have a table for two.

We began by sharing a Focaccia with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar - I'm not sure they use the same Focaccia recipe as us - I'm sure we have never toasted it. The Olive Oil and Balsamic were as good as one might expect, which made up for the bread.

Drew's starter (or entree as they say here) was Arancini, crumbed mozzarella and parmesan risotto balls with spicy roast capsicum sauce. Drew didn't think this was as nice as his ones in Perth, but they were still pleasant and tasty

I went for Polpette, Pork and veal meatballs with tomato and basil passata. A deep, basil rich, sauce with a strong beef and veal flavour in the meatballs, with minced beef also mixed through the tomato and basil sauce. Lovely. 

Drew managed to have another Pizza, it was Pizza Pepperoni with a nice thin and crispy Italian style crust with massive bits of pepperoni and a tasty tomato sauce - he was very happy with it. This is his second pizza of the holiday and he says I never let him have any 😂

I had the Polpo alla Genovese, a fried octopus with basil pesto, cashews, garlic, onions, sundried tomatoes, olives and a generous sprinkling of parmesan - I suspect the Italians would cook the Octopus more like the Basques do in Pulpo alla Gallega - i.e soft and tender, rather than crisp and crunchy. It meant that the sauce and pappardelle were not enriched by the octopus as I would have expected. But it was a good pasta, with a pleasant sauce and tasty fried bits of octopus - mainly tentacles - so nothing to turn your nose at.   

The usual thing occurred and by 8.05 the restaurant was empty bar us and the staff.

We left soon after and were back at the hotel for 8.20pm - I got on with posting photos onto Flickr and we went to bed at 9.30pm.

Port to Coffs

I wake at 3.30am feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead. I check emails and Flickr messages and then blog about dinner at the Quay in Sydney last Thursday, still making progress! I then make a start on last Friday in Sydney. 

At 5.30am Drew awakes, so I make tea for us both. At this Comfort Resort we have Lipton Yellow Label tea, an old favourite of ours from many stays in US and Canadian Choice Hotels. 

I start my ablutions at 6am and Drew goes in after me. Breakfast starts at 7am, so we go down for that, it is very tasty. 

Drew's Yogurt

Drew's Mains

A selection of fruit - not as large chunks as elsewhere, but tasty all the same

Haydn's Breakfast with Wholemeal toast.
The sausages are back - hooray, the mushrooms are very tasty

Visiting the Drop Bears

Drew has always liked the older name for Koala's, Drop Bears, as he walks under every tree in Australia he checks there isn't one lurking above ready to drop on him. [Co-pilot's note: I am, dear readers, able to provide anyone who is interested with a complete breakdown of the behaviours of our little furry, dope fiend friends. Including the swooping and bombing of some of the subspecies!!] So, today he gets his chance to encounter some. 

We leave the hotel at 9.30am, as the Koala Hospital doesn't open until 9.30am. We head to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, which has the role of nurturing Koalas and conserving nature. Once we had paid the entry fee we were shown the 'patient' board, which will look familiar to any of my nursing friends from a few decades ago. It enumerated the koala patients, their ailments and where they came from, as wehn treated, they are returning, as far as they can be, to their original area of habitation. It was a fun half hour where we learnt lots and Drew made friends with Ella and Casper. Here are some of our shots of them:

Smoky Cape Lighthouse 

We left the Koala hospital at 10.40 and hit the road, on our way to the Smoky Cape Lighthouse. The cape was name by Captain Cook, as he sailed past and saw smoke rising from aboriginal fires. 

It was well worth a visit to the lighthouse, though it was a detour to our direct route, as standing high on a narrow headland, Smoky Cape Lighthouse is surrounded by the stunning coastal scenery. The lighthouse itself is beautiful and was built in 1891. 

Scotts Head

Our next stop was at Scotts Head. It is a very busy beach with people surfing and swimming in the area. Indeed a group of youngsters have left all their bags and belongings unattended in one of the barbeque areas while they are in the sea. Very trusting folk these Australians.

This is a selection of some of our other photos

We enjoyed the time in the 27C sun and I looked at the route for the rest of the day, eliminating some of our suggestions not to be too late arriving at the hotel (see I'm catching this 6pm is late bug!!). 

I don't find great comfort from using the toilets here, a message was stuck up on them saying "Red-bellied Black Snakes have been seen around these facilities recently, take care" Luckily none were seen when we were there! 

The beaches of Coffs Harbour

Having arrived in Coffs Harbour just after 2pm we decided to visit two of the beaches we had read about.  

The first, Gallows Beach, is located on the Northern edge of the main Jetty Beach. Gallows Beach is a rocky beach with a short strip of sand. It is 25c, very warm. We took plenty of photos here and all of them are on Flickr (you can search by date, i.e. Sept 18 - please note my Flickr uses UK time, not Australian time, so some of the images from the 18th will appear in the Sept 17 search)). 

Just to give you a taste, this is a panorama of the beach.

We get back into the car and the air-con and head to the marina at the other end of the long beach, before driving up toward the hotel via a petrol station (a novel treat for me, an electric car driver) and filling the car with petrol at $1.675 per litre - that is equivalent to 84 UK pence per litre. Which seems a lot less than we pay! Note the prices in Sydney were around $1.475, prices clearly increase the more you travel away from the big city - this price was consistent with all the other garages in Coffs Harbour. 

Quality Hotel

We arrive at the Quality Hotel at 4pm with Drew having driven 240km in the day. Quality, with Comfort is one of the Choice brands, it tends to imply a little bit smarter a location from the Comfort Inns, and indeed this Quality Hotel was of a very good standard with excellent facilities in what looked like a relatively new building. 

Dinner

We looked at a number of options for dinner today, unlike Port Macquarie and to a lesser extent Newcastle, Coffs Harbour is a big city and our hotel is just off the City Centre. So we had a large range of restaurants we could choose from. Having looked at them we agreed that it would be good to have some Pho, a dish we really enjoy at home. We discovered that the restaurant Tava Kitchen was only .5 of a mile from the hotel, so opted for that.  

To begin I selected Fried Chicken wings. These 10 chicken wings and thighs were served in a sticky sweet and sour chilli sauce with spring onion and white and black sesame seeds - delicious, if a bit sticky on the fingers. Really lovely.

Drew's starter were Vegetarian Spring Rolls with tofu, mushroom, carrot and corn and a side of vegetables served with a sweet chilli sauce. He really enjoyed every bit of them. 

For Mains we both had Beef Pho. As ever this was served with a salad plate of which you could use as much or as little as you want. We used it all!

The pho was made at our request with with extra beef, chillies and vegetables. It was immensely tasty with that rich characteristic fragrance from the boiling of the beef bones in the stock and the lovely umami flavour which is added by the fish sauce. Delicious, satisfying and filling. Food to prepare us for a good night's sleep. 

We walked back to the hotel, stopping in Woolworths (which is a supermarket here) to buy some sparkling water and diet coke for the drive tomorrow.


We got back to the hotel at 7.30pm, this early eating lark is becoming  contagious!! Content and replete we were in bed by 9pm!