After neglecting the blog in the lead up to Christmas, here I am again !
DAY 1
Once or sometimes twice a year I head north to visit a friend who moved up there some years ago. I always look forward to these visits and her visits to me on the few occasions when she travels down to Sydney.
The distance from my front door to her's is exactly 1,100 kilometres so it is not just a short drive there and back. I try to leave home early in the morning because of having to cross Sydney from south to north and, believe me, you do NOT want to be caught up in Sydney peak hour traffic ! After nearly 2 hours of bumper to bumper traffic (if I am a little late in leaving home) the 45 kilometres to the Newcastle Expressway is finally covered and the relief of being able to travel at a decent speed of around 100 klms per hour is bliss as I start to put some distance behind me. At the end of the Expressway, as I head towards Karuah, inland from Newcastle, I begin to watch for a rest stop.
The one that I usually stop at was initially developed by the Leyland Brothers, of TV documentary fame Watch The Leyland Brothers, which has a small scale replica of Uluru or Ayers Rock with a number of takeaways and souvenir shops inside it. After wandering around for half an hour or so I continue on along the Pacific Highway bypassing small towns such as Maitland, Wallsend, Dungog, Taree, Port Macquarie, etc. heading towards an overnight stop in Coffs Harbour which is about 550 klms north of Sydney and the halfway point to my friend's home, taking a break every so often to ease the stiffness which always seems to strike on long journeys.
When banana plantations start to appear I know that I am getting close to Coffs Harbour, usually around 2 pm, and I book myself into a motel before doing the rounds of the craft centres in the area. With jewellery, pottery, clothing, spinning wheels, etc. available there is quite a selection to choose from and there are lots of other attractions to be visited; small zoos, marine parks - even a Dutch Barn with clog making demonstrations there.
In the Big Banana centre, on the Highway on the way out of Coffs Harbour, there are the usual souvenir, jewellery, sweet making, food and clothing stores to be found plus a railway tour of the banana plantations which surround it.
Sometimes, if it is the right time of the year, I will spend a couple of days in this area on my journey up or back down again and book a whale watching cruise on one of the many boats available. It is a magnificent sight to see these huge animals broaching and although by law the boat has to stay a certain distance away from them, the whales often come close to them to see what is going on. Dolphins can sometimes be seen on these cruises too. Unfortunately, the only photos I have of the whales were taken with an old film camera but on my next trip I will try to take some with my new Digital SLR camera - I have a very good zoom lens for this, too.
I could order a meal to be sent to my motel room in the evening but I prefer to go along to the Fishermens Co-operative in the Coffs Harbour Marina complex where I can be sure of a good meal while looking out over a small harbour. The sight of many commercial boats coming and going and watching the pelicans on the scrounge for any food available either from the tourists or from the fishing boats unloading their catch adds to the enjoyment of the meal. As the sun goes down, it is the place to be !
The last thing to be done before returning to the motel is to have the petrol tank topped up so that I can make an early start the next day.
DAY 1
Once or sometimes twice a year I head north to visit a friend who moved up there some years ago. I always look forward to these visits and her visits to me on the few occasions when she travels down to Sydney.
The distance from my front door to her's is exactly 1,100 kilometres so it is not just a short drive there and back. I try to leave home early in the morning because of having to cross Sydney from south to north and, believe me, you do NOT want to be caught up in Sydney peak hour traffic ! After nearly 2 hours of bumper to bumper traffic (if I am a little late in leaving home) the 45 kilometres to the Newcastle Expressway is finally covered and the relief of being able to travel at a decent speed of around 100 klms per hour is bliss as I start to put some distance behind me. At the end of the Expressway, as I head towards Karuah, inland from Newcastle, I begin to watch for a rest stop.
The one that I usually stop at was initially developed by the Leyland Brothers, of TV documentary fame Watch The Leyland Brothers, which has a small scale replica of Uluru or Ayers Rock with a number of takeaways and souvenir shops inside it. After wandering around for half an hour or so I continue on along the Pacific Highway bypassing small towns such as Maitland, Wallsend, Dungog, Taree, Port Macquarie, etc. heading towards an overnight stop in Coffs Harbour which is about 550 klms north of Sydney and the halfway point to my friend's home, taking a break every so often to ease the stiffness which always seems to strike on long journeys.
When banana plantations start to appear I know that I am getting close to Coffs Harbour, usually around 2 pm, and I book myself into a motel before doing the rounds of the craft centres in the area. With jewellery, pottery, clothing, spinning wheels, etc. available there is quite a selection to choose from and there are lots of other attractions to be visited; small zoos, marine parks - even a Dutch Barn with clog making demonstrations there.
In the Big Banana centre, on the Highway on the way out of Coffs Harbour, there are the usual souvenir, jewellery, sweet making, food and clothing stores to be found plus a railway tour of the banana plantations which surround it.
Sometimes, if it is the right time of the year, I will spend a couple of days in this area on my journey up or back down again and book a whale watching cruise on one of the many boats available. It is a magnificent sight to see these huge animals broaching and although by law the boat has to stay a certain distance away from them, the whales often come close to them to see what is going on. Dolphins can sometimes be seen on these cruises too. Unfortunately, the only photos I have of the whales were taken with an old film camera but on my next trip I will try to take some with my new Digital SLR camera - I have a very good zoom lens for this, too.
I could order a meal to be sent to my motel room in the evening but I prefer to go along to the Fishermens Co-operative in the Coffs Harbour Marina complex where I can be sure of a good meal while looking out over a small harbour. The sight of many commercial boats coming and going and watching the pelicans on the scrounge for any food available either from the tourists or from the fishing boats unloading their catch adds to the enjoyment of the meal. As the sun goes down, it is the place to be !
The last thing to be done before returning to the motel is to have the petrol tank topped up so that I can make an early start the next day.
posted by Needlelacer | 7:04 PM
4 Comments:
Hazel I was almost traveling with you.....Doreen
Thank you Doreen. I am currently writing about the second day of the journey so this will be posted soon.
I remember seeing photo's of a big pinapple from when my mother was in Oz Hazel, but never seen the banana! I look forward to the whale pics from the next trip.
There are any number of 'Big' things in Australia, Les. The Big Pineapple is near where my friend lives as is the Big Cow.
Other 'Bigs' are the Big Oyster, the Big Prawn (I kid you not) the Big Merino and I think there is the Big Cheese somewhere, too.
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