Day 1
I arrived in Coffs Harbour around 3pm. The first
thing I thought to myself when I saw where the bus stopped was that I wished
I’d booked the free pick-up. I had a look on the map on my phone (I think
that’ll come in handy a lot in my travels), and it would take me around 30
minutes to walk to where the hostel is. I don’t mind walking 30 minutes, I can
walk for hours if I want to or need to. But with a big suitcase… It’s so
boring! But I started walking anyway, thinking at least that way I’d get to see
some of Coffs Harbour, and I just had to walk the main roads anyway, so nothing
scary there. After I had walked about halfway a lady stopped and offered me a
lift, so I didn’t have to walk the whole way after all!
When I got to the hostel, this time Aussitel Backpackers,
I had some trouble finding the entrance. I walked where I thought it was first,
but only saw a surf shop and what looked like a backdoor that was open, so I
walked back and around the other corner to see if the entrance was there, but
that just went to the next building… So I went back the first way and had a
look at what I thought was a backdoor. You got it; that was the main
entrance to the hostel. They really should have put up just one extra sign to
show where the entrance was, it would really have helped. Or just spray painted
an arrow on the ground. Maybe it was just me being tired and not thinking, but
still. And then when I got inside the reception wasn’t in the first room! And
again there was no sign! It was really simple; I just had to keep going in to
the next room straight ahead, but still… I like signs…
After I had checked in I got the guy in reception
to give me a map and point out some things to see here in Coffs Harbour. I
decided to check out Beacon Hill Lookout as it was close and I didn’t want to
risk being out too late. It was a nice
walk. It was of course up a hill, but it wasn’t too steep. And the view was
really nice.
Day 2
When I woke up today everybody else in my dorm was
already up! That’s a first! I did have a sleep-in, but only until 7. Maybe I
woke them all up with my snoring…!
As I don’t like to just lazy around in bed when I’m
in a new place I got up and ready too, and decided to walk in to town. The
hostel is almost half way between the business centre and the jetty, it’s a
little bit closer to the jetty, but anyway. I wanted to see if there were any
souvenir shops in town. I try to get a sticker from every place I’ve been and I
also send postcards to some of my friends and family.
There were no souvenir shops in town. Not that I
could see anyway. There wasn’t really that much to see in town, so I headed
back towards the hostel. I stopped at the botanical garden and had a look
there. I bet it would have looked a lot better if the sun had been shining, but
it was still really nice there.
As I was
getting close to the exit, I had maybe another 200meters to go, it suddenly
started throwing it down! And guess who had left their umbrella back at the
hostel? Me of course. I don’t really mind the rain, I quite like it actually,
but I prefer it if I have an umbrella, especially when I’m wearing makeup. I
kept my sunglasses on as an attempt to not get too much rain on my eyes, but
that didn’t work. I got a big raindrop right on my eye so that mascara went in
it and I had to close it because it hurt so much, and then the sunglasses
steamed up so I couldn’t see anything. It okay, you can laugh, I was. By the
time I got to the exit and checked my makeup in the ladies I looked like
someone out of KISS!
After I had fixed the worst of my makeup I went
back to the hostel, took a shower, changed my clothes, grabbed my umbrella and
headed out again. I had seen a souvenir shop down by the harbour the day before
so I wanted to go there. After I got everything I wanted there I went to the
IGA again and got some bread rolls, cheese and “ham”. Cereal with soy milk is
okay, but not for EVERY meal. The fake ham didn’t taste too bad actually, I put
some grapes on as well and had some extra grapes and some unsalted pistachios
on the side, and my lunch was pretty nice!
I wouldn’t really mind if I was leaving Coffs
Harbour tomorrow. It's kind of boring here unless you're a surfer. I still have The Big Banana left to see, so I might do that
tomorrow. I really should since that’s their big landmark, and I’ll probably
regret it if I don’t.
When I had dinner tonight I just sat down with
some random people, like usual, as that’s how you meet people. It turned out 3
of them were from England, and the 4th from Belgium. And they all
thought I was British! I love it when people think I’m from an English speaking
country! It’s just such an amazing feeling. Since English isn’t my first
language it means I’m actually able to speak it more than well enough! If
you’re an English-speaking person just imagine this; say you learn how to speak
French, and you speak French to a French person, and that person actually
thinks you’re French! It would feel pretty awesome, right?! I’ve been told I
sound like I’m from an English-speaking country for a few years now, but it
still makes my day when someone say that to me!
Day 3
Today I walked to The Big Banana. It took me an
hour to walk there. I didn’t like the last 15-20 minutes as the sidewalk was
right next to the highway, but at least I was facing oncoming traffic. When I
got to it I took a picture of it without crossing to the other side of the
street where it actually was, and then I noticed a different road that I could
take back to the hostel, so that I wouldn’t have to walk next to the highway
anymore. It took me 1.5hours as it was a bit longer and I also took a route so
that I could get a drink. So basically I walked for 2 and a half hour just for
one picture…! But I would have regretted not getting it.
2 comments:
Lilly, you sound tired. I really loved the photo of the boardwalk going down to the beach - my favourite. Where are you posting from next?
Get your surfboard out girl! Gorgeous photos.
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