To Coffs Harbour

We tried to extract all the funness we could in the morning before setting off for Coffs Harbour. The driving rain that greeted us the night before had mostly blown out and we could almost see the attraction of the place from atop a nearby lookout (complete with decommisioned canon) looking out onto stormy seas. View Larger Map We were taking the scenic route to Coffs Harbour, stopping in the small town of South West Rocks about half way along for lunch. This was voted one of the best towns in NSW according to another tourist website so I thought that it would at least warrant a short coffee break. The driving there was mostly through now flooded farmland, dotted with cows being groomed by big white birds perched on their backs. But South West Rocks was a major disappointment. There were plenty of caravans raised up on blocks to indicate this was somewhere worthy of attention, but that afternoon I just couldn't see it. It was too windy to enjoy sitting at the beach and the rain kept threatening. The only major attraction was the old "Gaol" just outside town, perched atop a hill. It was probably the oldest structure for hundreds of miles, built in the 1800's to house prisoners who were responsible for building a wharf for ships passing through the treacherous waters. I got that from the sign outside. We got there less than half an hour before closing and one look at the outside of the building was enough to persuade me against paying the huge entrance fee. We got back onto the main road quickly and made our way straight to Coffs Harbour to catch the Big Banana before sundown. This is the cities major attraction and sort of the whole reason we came (I'm only sort of joking on both counts). In the winter on a Sunday afternoon though, the closed Big Banana (plantation? fairground?) looked more like a Japanese abandoned fairground, with faded signs advertising rides and displays that looked like they'd long since seen their last customer. Even the banana trees themselves looked tired and worn out. The only other people there were tourists in a similar state of bewilderment realising like us that of course it would be closed this late on a Sunday. However, we did our duty, posed below the giant banana out front, and thus was our whole trip worthwhile. Then the rain came back