Coff’s Harbour,
Heading north for Boambee Bay Resort we stopped
for a short while at Port Macquarie.
Port Macquarie was settled in 1821, making it one of the oldest penal
colonies outside of Sydney.
We took the Port Macquarie Coastal Walk from the beach to its rocky shores,
which are alive with rich biodiversity.
It was also nice to stretch our legs.
Resuming our journey we arrived at Boambee Bay
later that afternoon. Our unit was
2bds, 2bths, comfortable and very spacious. We
unloaded our luggage and made our way to the grocery store. On our return we went to the Indian
Restaurant on site for dinner. The
food was very good and no cooking involved on Barbara’s part.
Saturday morning Jim phoned his friends Malcolm
and Ros and they arranged to pick us up on Sunday. They took us on a lovely tour of the local area followed by
a swim and lunch at Mal’s Golf Club.
The Bonville Golf Club is most impressive. It was green and manicured, beautiful shrubs, amazing
clubhouse and delicious food in the restaurant. Apart from the lovely lagoon like pool it also has tennis
courts. This is an internationally
renowned course and equally as good as Banff Springs or perhaps even Augusta
and no Roos. After lunch we went
back to see their house on the hill.
What amazing views, both to the ocean and across the mountains
behind. They bought this
ramshackle abode at an auction and totally transformed it into a magnificent
home and lush paradise. They have
almost every kind of fruit trees that you can imagine and no lawn to mow. The birds, as you can see, love it
here. They also have a bird feeder
for a close up view.
We arranged to see them again for dinner at
their house on Tuesday and then they joined us for an Indian meal at Boambee
Bay on Thursday.
Our dinner on Tuesday was a delicious BBQ’d
chicken, one of Mal’s specialties while Ros prepared scrumptious potatoes,
salad etc. More birds outside
joined us, their very dear friends and neighbours came for dinner and we all
had a wonderful evening.
In between seeing Mal & Ros we managed two tennis
matches, one swim in the pool and whilst swimming, we were pounded by a
tropical downpour. What the heck
we were wet anyway!!!
We also took a drive to see more of the coast
and some of the countryside. We
stopped first at North Beach, Mylestom and had coffee by the river where it converges
with the ocean. Onward we went to
Ungara and walked the boardwalk to the ocean and through the mangroves. This was very interesting and must have
been a monumental task to complete.
After leaving Ungara we drove toward Dorrigo
via Bellingen. It started to pour
with rain and as we headed higher up the mountain along Waterfall Way???? it became
torrential and the cloud was so low it was like thick fog. We were in the rainforest, so what did
we expect????
After reaching Dorrigo and the rain deluging
the town, we opted to stay dry in the car. Somehow, possibly through lack of visibility, we took a
wrong turn going miles out of our way and ending up in Grafton. We drove through very narrow mountain
roads, with loose cattle free ranging here and there and you didn’t know where
here or there would be. Although
the scenery was magnificent and it was an experience to behold, we were glad to
see Grafton, pick up the Pacific Highway and get back to our resort. Sadly, after all the torrential rain
that this area suffered over the following several days, it culminated with
major flooding and two people drowned in the floodwaters.
We said goodbye to Coff’s Harbour, in yet
another downpour and made our way to the “Big Banana”. It is situated on the highway and is
apparently the most photographed landmark in all of Australia, even more so
than the Sydney Harbour Bridge if you can believe that one. We also stopped at Moonee Beach, not to
be missed according to our friends, but it was truly not at its best. Without a doubt it would be beautiful
on a nice day.
Heading further north the rain worsened and we
found out later that it was a tropical cyclone. We stopped for coffee at a little restaurant beside the
Clarence River, at Maclean. When
Jim asked the lady if the river would flood she said “it is not if, it is
when”. Hence all of the rivers
from Coff’s Harbour north to the Gold Coast have flooded. We were impeded on our way by fallen
trees on the highway but eventually cruised into the Esplanade at Burleigh
Heads to our next resort where the weather looked more promising…………………..
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| Port Macquarie |
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| Port Macquarie |
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| Jim at Port Macquarie |
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| Port Macquarie |
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| Port Macquarie |
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| The Condo - Boambee Bay Resort |
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| Ros, Mal & Barbara at the pool Bonville Golf Club |
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| The swimming pool at Bonville Golf Club |
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| Bonville Golf Club |
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| Bonville Golf Club |
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| View from Mal & Ros's House to the ocean and South Solitary Island |
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| Tibouchina blossom at M & L's |
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| Butcher Bird at M & L's |
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| Yucca flower at M & L's |
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| Rainbow Lorikeets at M & L's feeder |
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| Kookaburra at M & L's |
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| Dinner at Mal & Ros's |
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| View across the mountains from M & L's |
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| Scaly Breasted Lorikeet at M & L's |
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| The beach at Boambee Bay from the lookout at Sawtell |
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| Boambee Bay from the Lookout at Sawtell |
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| North Beach at Mylestom |
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| Where the river meets the sea at Mylestom |
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| Barbara on the Boardwalk at Ungara |
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| The Bay at Ungara |
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| Newell Falls, Waterfall Way near Dorrigo |
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| The Famous BIG BANANA!!!!!!! |
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| Moonee Beach starting to flood |
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| Fallen trees on the Pacific Highway en route to Burleigh Heads |
