After our
best ever dolphin encounters off Brooms Head we sailed into Coffs Harbour.
The bar crossing was calm and the marina gave
us a T berth which was quieter than most.
The improved breakwater leads onto Muttonbird Island, which is home to
thousands of shearwaters, which have chicks in the burrows at the moment
(January).
It’s been a
while since we visited, but Coffs is still a friendly town with great
facilities. On Sundays the markets are
just near the Yacht Club, a short walk from the marina. Another market is held in the car park of the
main shopping centre.
The aquarium,
which is run by students from Southern Cross University, is worth a visit,
especially to see “Charlie”, the naughty octopus. He has a few tricks up his eight sleeves and can
even open a jar with his arms to get his prawn snacks. I won’t
give away his other tricks, but he’s quite the star.
The
Botanical Gardens are easily reached by cycle tracks around the town, as is the
river, jetty and southern breakwater. Up
the mountain is Bellingen and the Dorrigo Rainforest Walk, an excellent bird
walk.
 |
| Some massive funghi in Dorrigo Rainforest |
On the walk
out along the old pier at Urunga, which goes to the mouth of two rivers, the
Bellinger and Kalang, we saw schools of whiting, mullet and a few rays in the
clear water, while plumed egrets (intermediates) were having a good feed among
them.
One carpet python had already
finished his lunch and was resting in the lomandra.
Best of all, a mangrove gerygone was calling
and we finally saw him in a mangrove tree.
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