Day 65: Where is Coffs Harbour?

Distance: 0km

Total Distance: 1888.0km

It rained hard overnight but it hasn’t rained during the day today although it’s threatened and has been very windy. We got up late and decided to try and find Coffs Harbour. We’ve been here a couple of days and we still feel we’ve not found the centre, CBD, or tourist part of Coffs Harbour. We’ve seen a mega-mall (Yawnnn) and some commercial shops (we don’t need to buy a car) and a beach suburb with no view of the beach. We don’t feel we’ve seen Coffs Harbour.

So we caught the bus into town and wandered around looking for something interesting. Coffs Harbour is a funny place. There are shops centred around the Pacific Highway but these are of little interest to us. There is a beach but let’s face it, every town around here has a beach. There is a marina, again common to many towns. The beach and marina are a long way from the CBD which is unusual. Really, short of looking a big banana, there is not much to do here. Where are the old buildings, the heart and soul of this town? Where are all the cafes and touristy parts because we haven’t seen it? Maybe we’ve been spoilt by the wonderful waterfront and buildings of Port Macquarie and Newcastle and the smaller towns of Port Nelson and South West Rocks. It’s interesting to note most tourist brochures talk about the Coffs Coast and all the smaller villages along the coast rather than the town of Coffs Harbour. We’d somehow expected more.

Don’t get us wrong, we don’t dislike Coffs Harbour. We just can’t find a tourist reason to come here when other towns have made so much more of their location.

Later this afternoon we went for a walk to the marina and spent some time trying to get a photo of the waves breaking. There are always larger waves coming if we wait another 5 minutes.

Highlight of today: Buying a waterproof tent bag. When cycling in the rain the tent gets heavy when soaked.