Return from Coffs Harbor

We had a great weekend in Coffs Harbor. It seems like it was longer than 3 days, for some reason. We left early Friday morning, about 5 am, and headed south down the coast. We stopped for breakfast about 7:30 and made it into Coffs Harbor about 9am (10 am local time). We checked into the hotel (apartment) then Jared had to head right over to the golf course. He was playing with a few other guys from the company in some local competition of merchants or something. His cousin, Richard, who is a part owner, played too. After we dropped him off, the kids and I headed back to the hotel for a swim. The kids LOVED swimming in the pool. It's so nice that they are both so independent now. I can just swim around with Ashley, or play with her on the side of the pool while they entertain themselves. We put Ashley down for a nap after our swim, then later went out to the park and to the beach. The kids ran around in the sand a bit. I snapped some photos.



After the beach, we headed to the local IGA store for some food staples. Even though our unit was self-contained, we planned to eat out most of the time. My poor kids had already gone through the snacks that I had brought in the car. I don't think they could eat one more granola bar or sandwich. We picked up the essentials; yogurt, popcorn, Latte Tim Tams, milk, bread, and Pizza flavored Shapes (crackers).

About 6pm we headed over to Richard and Kerry's house. Jared and Richard were still playing golf, but were supposed to be finished soon. (We would soon find out that they were nowhere NEAR being done...) So Kerry and I hung out and chatted, made dinner for the kids, bathed the kids, waited some more... and finally about 8pm Jared and Richard showed up with takeout Chinese food for all of us. It was pretty good but we were so tired by then. We left about 9:30 to put the kids to bed.



On Saturday morning, I had a great run out to Muttonbird Island. There is a jetty/pier that you can run along which leads up to the island, off the harbor. It was such a nice run (about 4k) and had a great view of the town/harbor. I wish I could have taken my camera with me- but thankfully we walked up again with the kids the following morning so I got some shots.


We met Richard and Kerry, along with their good friends Karen and Gordon (along with all the kids) at Pet Porpoise Pool at 9:30. We all had breakfast in the garden there. They have an emu, 3 kangas, peacocks, and some other animals, as well as dolphin pools, seals, etc. Following our breakfast we got to walk around to the pools and pet the dolphins, feed the penguins, etc. The kids enjoyed it alot. It was nice to be so close to the animals since we are used to Sea World- just sitting in the stands but not really getting close. This was so small and intimate you felt like there were dolphins swimming in your backyard pool.




After Ashley had a nap at home, we headed out to "The Big Banana", the biggest tourist attraction in Coffs Harbor. Well, it's the one everyone talks about anyway. It's a big banana plantation with a huge banana in front- 11 m long and 5 m high. (Funny I forgot to take a picture of it!) We were there to ride the toboggan ride with the kids. They had a blast so we did it a few times, taking turns holding Ashley. We went inside to the cafe for treats after the ride. We had a hard time choosing between chocolate covered bananas, banana ice cream, banana chips, banana jam, banana sauce, banana popsicles, etc.



We left there and headed to the hotel. Jared went to see a client while we had a rest. We later met Richard and Kerry, along with their kids Jemma and Ethan, at the park. We played around and had fish and chips for dinner.



The next morning we packed up our stuff and checked out of the apartment. We went down to the harbor and had a walk/hike with the kids out to Muttonbird Island. Ashley learned a new word, "Duck". We were so excited to hear her saying it, but it was funny when she started calling every bird she saw a "duck". There was no changing her mind. "Guck! Guck! Guck!" is all we heard for the rest of the morning. We then went for a drive on the beach. Jared let the kids have a turn 4 wheel driving in the sand. They loved it. Ashley had a nap, somehow, during all of the ruckus. We then met back at Richard and Kerry's again. We went out that afternoon with them and Karen & Gordon to their farm, about 30 minutes outside of town. They have about 20 acres of property where they go motorbiking/4 wheel driving. Here is Richard with Ethan in all of their gear.





The kids had a blast. I made the mistake of going out with Richard on a bike- oh my gosh- I thought I was going to fall off/lose my life/be paralyzed with fear and/or be paralyzed due to fall. I guess I am getting old but that was TOO fast for me. Kerry told me I shouldn't trust him so I guess it was my mistake! After we were all sweaty, dusty, and tired, it was time to head home. The kids were exhausted and Ashley finally fell asleep about an hour away from home. We all had a great time. The best part was- we got home JUST in time for me to have a shower and watch Grey's. Now that is a good weekend.