Coffs Harbour to Yamba

I plotted out my run and took to the coast and ended up finding the “Big Banana”, which started out as a farmer in the 60’s who wanted to sell more bananas so he put a “Big Banana” out front to sell more bananas! pretty simple. Well over the years it turned into a mini empire with, a gift shop, restaurant, bungy bounce thing, kiddy playland, paintball, ice rink, motor trike rides. I went to the lookout, a candy making demonstration and had a ride on the “Big Toboggan”, a metal bobsled ride down the hill! I didn’t realize how far I had run and now had to walk back with very sore legs. When I got back I figured out on the map I had done about 12 km’s. I made it back with an hour before my bus left so I had a shower and hopped on the bus for 2 hours and was off to Yamba. I didn’t plan on stopping there but the guy at the hostel said it shouldn’t be missed so I took his word for it. The bus stop is right in front of the hostel so that was nice and the dude at the front desk said there is a $10 surf school and $10 tour friday morning so I decided to stay until then.    

Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour

It was raining most the morning, late morning it stopped and I went to the library to use the internet which was the fastest free wi-fi I’ve seen yet in Australia. I was able to watch Vancouver eliminate Nashville without any buffering, OH YEAH!!! The bus to Coffs was only about 3 hours and when I got there I was just in time for cheap pizza/trivia night at the pub up the road. It was great pizza, but again the trivia was a lot of Aussie based questions so it was tough and our table didn’t win! 

Newcastle to Port Macquarie

Pam drove me to the bus station in the morning and at the stop I met three other Canadian girls going all the way to Byron Bay, too bad! I was on the bus for about 5 hours and when I got there I went for a loop run from the hostel to the ocean down the coast and back through town to the hostel. I locked my key in the room and while I waited around I met a couple American girls and played poker with them for a while, I enjoyed the company of one of them and we exchanged details as we both talked about traveling NZ and Indonesia. 

Port Stephens

I originally was going to spend one night at there house and mentioned I was going to go to Port Stephens for a night and they said they would take me up there and I could stay another night! So I graciously accepted and we went to the amazing Port Stephens for the day. We climbed a big hill on the point and took some great pics, went to a famous meat pie place and Shane and I both got “Crocodile Meat Pies” HAHA! They were sooooo delicious. After that we went to a spot were we fed the fish with bread. All that pretty much took up the whole day and we headed back to the house for another delicious dinner, pork roast with roasted veggies. We had another fire and some drinks, I said goodbye to Shane and we called it a night.

Shane and Pam’s

They picked me up in the morning at the hostel and took me for brekkie and then out for a scenic drive around town and the coast. It turns out that their house is right across the street from blackbutt reserve.  

BlackButt Reserve

Veronica’s Mom lives in Newcastle and I had contacted them a couple weeks ago saying I would be coming to Newcastle soon and just to email them when I got there. So before we left for the day I sent them a message,”or so I thought!” telling them I was in town. Meika had just arrived in Australia the day before so she wanted to see some native animals so we took the bus up the hill to blackbutt reserve and spent the day walking around the park and seeing the animals. Admission to the reserve was free, but it cost a whopping $3.50 to do the “Koala encounter” which we did, and it was nice. Afterwards I showed her the hunter street mall and we bought some stuff for a very basic pasta dinner. Pasta, can of salmon, some tomatoes and spices which I always carry around! After dinner we exchanged some photos. I checked my email to see if Pam had responded and I realized I somehow sent the message to myself and not her!!! So I called them on the phone and they said they would call me right back. About an hour later and no call I checked my phone and they had called! but my ringer was off! So I called them back and explained I was having some difficulty with technology today! They invited me to come stay with them the next night and take me to see some sights around the city.

Sydney to Newcastle

The bus leaves Sydney at 7am so it was an early start and I just barely made it there in time, but I did make it! It was about a two hour ride and when we arrived I used my GPS to find the hostel which was only two blocks away anyway! After I got settled in I went for a run out to Nobby’s lighthouse and around Newcastle beach up a big hill where there was a very old jail with great views of the city. On the way down I came upon a Magnificent old church and it was open so I was able to go inside. I went back into town and found the “Hunter street mall” so I bought some eggs and olives! The hostel had a “FREE” bbq on tonight which was actually at a local bar, The Brewery, so I signed up before my run and seen a girl in the lounge I had seen while I was out running so I chatted her up and we went to the bbq together, Meika from Germany. The meal was completely free and they gave us a bunch of 2 for 1 drink vouchers! After dinner they had a game of trivia with the chance to win even more drinks! Our table didn’t do so well and we left after the trivia. There is a “free” place to go called “Blackbutt Reserve”, kinda like a botanical gardens but with animals to see! Meika and I made plans to go there the next day.