For the final few days of this holiday we’re staying on the lands of the Gumbaynggirr people, in the city we now know as Coffs Harbour. We pay our respects to the Gumbaynggirr people and their elders past, present and emerging.
We’re on the home stretch! Back in NSW for the last few days of this mammoth and epic trip. It’s hard to believe three months has flown by – but at the same time, I think we’re all ok with the trip finishing up. We’ve had some amazing memories and adventures, and plenty of times we’ve wanted to stay longer – but at the moment, the idea of a bit of regular routine and sleeping in the same bed each night is somewhat enticing!
We weren’t in any great rush this morning, and so we didn’t head off from Tamborine Mountain until about 10am. We headed back out to the Pacific Motorway and started the journey south. We pulled into Coolangatta / Tweed Heads, because we absolutely needed a border crossing photo. Aside from the ACT on day 1, we’d managed to get a photo at each border crossing over the past 3 months, so we couldn’t miss that opportunity now. We found the NSW/QLD border monument just near the Twin Towns Club and got a few photos, and also had a bit of morning tea as well.
We took a break for lunch down in Ballina. But before we got out to central Ballina, we had to find our next Big Thing – and in Ballina, that is of course the Big Prawn! Definitely one of the bigger Big Things we’ve seen on this trip, standing at 9 metres high, and weighing an insane 35 tonnes. Those who’ve travelled the NSW coast for many decades will probably remember being able to climb up and into the Big Prawn when it was part of a travel centre in Ballina. But in 2009, when it was supposed to be demolished, Bunnings saved the day (totally selflessly, I’m sure!) and transported it to their store in West Ballina where it now stands. Even if you can’t climb up into it anymore, it really does look spectacular raised off the ground and with its new tail.
And from there on, it was two hours down the road to Coffs Harbour. Just before we left Ballina, Debbie discovered a podcast kids (or actually, families) about the cool things in Australia, helping kids to learn – called the Great Australian Detour. It was designed for kids and adults to listen to in the car together on a road trip. Perfect! They’re only 4 episodes in, so unfortunately the timing isn’t great for the last few days of our trip, but we all did enjoy the first two episodes together, and we’ll get through the next two episodes on our trip back to Sydney in a few days.
Tomorrow it will be time for Daniel’s birthday adventure!
