Well, I hope you all had a nice Easter. I did, and it didn’t even involve that much chocolate. Ok, there was a chocolate brownie, oh, and some chocolate. Oh yeah, also that chocolate filled croissant I had. Plus there were the eggs. Usually poached with a pile of hollandaise sauce. Food was just one element of a great Easter getaway though, eclipsed by beautiful countryside, water and sand around the mid North coast of New South Wales.
Leaving Sydney early on Friday morning with my sometimes travel buddy and now bringer of good weather Jill, it was a fairly boring drive out of the city for some hours, clocking up the k’s and iced coffees and podcasts. We reached the coastal town of Port Macquarie just in time for some lunch and a blissful walk along the sand. That hit the spot.
It was a relatively short onward jaunt to the idyllic town on Bellingen, tucked away slightly inland from the coast in a beautiful valley, carved out by the Bellinger River plunging its way down mountainous rainforest. The setting is perfect and the town itself also is one that hits the spot – small but refined, laid back but not too hippy, and, importantly, boasting a very high cafe per capita ratio. Bello: home for a couple of nights, and bringer of cake and chook and breakfasts and coffee.
Nearby is a less refined kind of place, situated in the coastal hub that is Coffs Harbour. It is a big fibreglass banana, and this is my second visit. It is one of the most famous big things in Australia and a major tourist attraction. It cannot be eaten, however it seems to have had a flow on effect on the food scene in this area, with many dishes served with a twist of banana, including my rather good Thai chicken curry that I had for dinner on Friday night.
So, quite a bit of food talk already, right? Time for some exercise, four hours of it on a canoe, trying not to go round in circles. Mostly the Bellinger River and the tributaries were placid, with the exception of one or two jumping fish; however the current always seemed to be against us and there must have been something wrong with the weight balance of the boat causing it to veer off a straight course. No major incidents, though the boat did try to escape on a rising tide when left on a spot of gravel for a mid-morning healthy apple break. But the parking at the end was exquisite.
With somewhat numb arms, aching shoulders and stiff legs, late in the day a more sedate stroll along a beach just north of Coffs was rather nice, a good way to see out the last day of daylight saving.
A constant backdrop to the region are the green cloaked ranges rising up from the coastal valleys, the Waterfall Way taking you up to these heights and linking a number of excellent national parks. The first one is a World Heritage area, an extensive pocket of sub tropical rainforest called Dorrigo National Park.
A place I had been to before, but a place I am happy to go back to again and again. Here, from the relative hubbub of the visitor centre you can descend into a dark world of vines and ferns and sassafras, rediscovering stunning waterfalls along the way.
And thanks to the IGA back in Bellingen, afterwards you can enjoy a chicken and avo roll in a pleasant little glade to reflect on the lovely walk through the forest and the sight and sounds of Crystal Shower Falls.
Moving higher up on the tablelands now, you noticed not only the change in landscape which was in parts rolling green hills Devonesque, but also the shift in civilisation and refinement! Stopping briefly at the town of Dorrigo (the poor man’s Bellingen), it was then on to the town of Ebor, hovering around a cool 1300 metres above the sea and offering a few amenities and banjos on the veranda. Just out of town is Ebor Falls, a contrast to the rainforest falls of earlier, torrents of water plunging off the sandstone and cutting its way through a more classic Aussie bushland environment.
With the afternoon sun out, the brilliant white gums surrounded by long grasses and wildflowers all around, it was a very pleasant spot for an easy little walk along the cliffline.
In fact, it would have been a great place to camp, though there was no obvious campground around, so instead we took a dirt track a little further off the main road and headed into New England National Park. Here was a campground rather brimming with activity... I think I was the only one with a 4x4 and all the camping paraphernalia you could never want. My tent looked rather inadequate, and coupled with an air mattress that decided to gradually deflate and the dysfunctional on site BBQs, it ended up being quite a basic camping experience! Luckily, just up the road is Point Lookout, above 1500 metres and a place designed just for me and my love of lookouts. A place conveniently sited for watching both the late sun peeking through mists and clouds, and the early morning rays glimmer through trees and extend its warmth across the phenomenally vast and wild landscape.
Up here there is a different type of ecosystem, and seemingly quite a rare one in Australia. The cool and damp climate brings with it a world of mosses and fungi and little hobbit steps, small frail trees and trickling rocks, all appearing as it probably did many thousands of years before when Bilbo Baggins took a wrong turn. Taking a wrong turn here could prove pretty dangerous, with several likely death options including getting lost forever, slipping on the mossy watery mud combination and plunging down a ravine, getting bitten by a snake or swooped on by a pack of merciless Currawongs. It is perhaps this combination of imminent peril and the enclosed, ancient, otherworldly feel that made a walk through here on Easter Monday morning really rather splendid.
Well, you may have guessed by now that I survived the dangers of New England National Park, which sadly meant it was time to head off back down the hills and south to Sydney. Not before one last stop in Bello for a timely sausage roll, coffee and almond and hazelnut croissant, bidding goodbye with a mouthful of pastry. As coincidence would have it
lunchtime (which was a late lunch after all that other food) arrived around the Port Macquarie area and chance to cook up the BBQ food that escaped us the night before. It was a fine BBQ spot, with fine views and ample sand for a little post meal nap before the rest of the drive south.
Alarmingly, with daylight saving disappearing over the weekend it was all too soon that darkness began to fall. All too soon to make it to Port Stephens while it was still light, but eating fish and chips for dinner in the dark was not so bad, and it means there’s a place to definitely return to in daylight one day. That was really the last stop on the trip, the roads widening, traffic building, and orange glow nearing as Sydney approached. A bed for the night and chance for Globe breakfast before heading back to Canberra the next day.
The Magna certainly clocked up a few more miles than usual over Easter, but it was really good to go somewhere a bit different for a change, try out some new things and revisit some old favourites. You can’t really go wrong with world heritage landscapes, golden sands, and too many cafes. Oh, and the big banana of course! The Lindt bunny and I enjoyed it much, so much so that the Lindt bunny cannot cope with being back in Canberra. He feels a bit hollow and I had to take the terrible action of putting him out of his misery. Head first of course.
Leaving Sydney early on Friday morning with my sometimes travel buddy and now bringer of good weather Jill, it was a fairly boring drive out of the city for some hours, clocking up the k’s and iced coffees and podcasts. We reached the coastal town of Port Macquarie just in time for some lunch and a blissful walk along the sand. That hit the spot.It was a relatively short onward jaunt to the idyllic town on Bellingen, tucked away slightly inland from the coast in a beautiful valley, carved out by the Bellinger River plunging its way down mountainous rainforest. The setting is perfect and the town itself also is one that hits the spot – small but refined, laid back but not too hippy, and, importantly, boasting a very high cafe per capita ratio. Bello: home for a couple of nights, and bringer of cake and chook and breakfasts and coffee.
Nearby is a less refined kind of place, situated in the coastal hub that is Coffs Harbour. It is a big fibreglass banana, and this is my second visit. It is one of the most famous big things in Australia and a major tourist attraction. It cannot be eaten, however it seems to have had a flow on effect on the food scene in this area, with many dishes served with a twist of banana, including my rather good Thai chicken curry that I had for dinner on Friday night.So, quite a bit of food talk already, right? Time for some exercise, four hours of it on a canoe, trying not to go round in circles. Mostly the Bellinger River and the tributaries were placid, with the exception of one or two jumping fish; however the current always seemed to be against us and there must have been something wrong with the weight balance of the boat causing it to veer off a straight course. No major incidents, though the boat did try to escape on a rising tide when left on a spot of gravel for a mid-morning healthy apple break. But the parking at the end was exquisite.
With somewhat numb arms, aching shoulders and stiff legs, late in the day a more sedate stroll along a beach just north of Coffs was rather nice, a good way to see out the last day of daylight saving.
A constant backdrop to the region are the green cloaked ranges rising up from the coastal valleys, the Waterfall Way taking you up to these heights and linking a number of excellent national parks. The first one is a World Heritage area, an extensive pocket of sub tropical rainforest called Dorrigo National Park.
A place I had been to before, but a place I am happy to go back to again and again. Here, from the relative hubbub of the visitor centre you can descend into a dark world of vines and ferns and sassafras, rediscovering stunning waterfalls along the way.
And thanks to the IGA back in Bellingen, afterwards you can enjoy a chicken and avo roll in a pleasant little glade to reflect on the lovely walk through the forest and the sight and sounds of Crystal Shower Falls.Moving higher up on the tablelands now, you noticed not only the change in landscape which was in parts rolling green hills Devonesque, but also the shift in civilisation and refinement! Stopping briefly at the town of Dorrigo (the poor man’s Bellingen), it was then on to the town of Ebor, hovering around a cool 1300 metres above the sea and offering a few amenities and banjos on the veranda. Just out of town is Ebor Falls, a contrast to the rainforest falls of earlier, torrents of water plunging off the sandstone and cutting its way through a more classic Aussie bushland environment.
With the afternoon sun out, the brilliant white gums surrounded by long grasses and wildflowers all around, it was a very pleasant spot for an easy little walk along the cliffline.In fact, it would have been a great place to camp, though there was no obvious campground around, so instead we took a dirt track a little further off the main road and headed into New England National Park. Here was a campground rather brimming with activity... I think I was the only one with a 4x4 and all the camping paraphernalia you could never want. My tent looked rather inadequate, and coupled with an air mattress that decided to gradually deflate and the dysfunctional on site BBQs, it ended up being quite a basic camping experience! Luckily, just up the road is Point Lookout, above 1500 metres and a place designed just for me and my love of lookouts. A place conveniently sited for watching both the late sun peeking through mists and clouds, and the early morning rays glimmer through trees and extend its warmth across the phenomenally vast and wild landscape.
Up here there is a different type of ecosystem, and seemingly quite a rare one in Australia. The cool and damp climate brings with it a world of mosses and fungi and little hobbit steps, small frail trees and trickling rocks, all appearing as it probably did many thousands of years before when Bilbo Baggins took a wrong turn. Taking a wrong turn here could prove pretty dangerous, with several likely death options including getting lost forever, slipping on the mossy watery mud combination and plunging down a ravine, getting bitten by a snake or swooped on by a pack of merciless Currawongs. It is perhaps this combination of imminent peril and the enclosed, ancient, otherworldly feel that made a walk through here on Easter Monday morning really rather splendid.
Well, you may have guessed by now that I survived the dangers of New England National Park, which sadly meant it was time to head off back down the hills and south to Sydney. Not before one last stop in Bello for a timely sausage roll, coffee and almond and hazelnut croissant, bidding goodbye with a mouthful of pastry. As coincidence would have it
lunchtime (which was a late lunch after all that other food) arrived around the Port Macquarie area and chance to cook up the BBQ food that escaped us the night before. It was a fine BBQ spot, with fine views and ample sand for a little post meal nap before the rest of the drive south.Alarmingly, with daylight saving disappearing over the weekend it was all too soon that darkness began to fall. All too soon to make it to Port Stephens while it was still light, but eating fish and chips for dinner in the dark was not so bad, and it means there’s a place to definitely return to in daylight one day. That was really the last stop on the trip, the roads widening, traffic building, and orange glow nearing as Sydney approached. A bed for the night and chance for Globe breakfast before heading back to Canberra the next day.
The Magna certainly clocked up a few more miles than usual over Easter, but it was really good to go somewhere a bit different for a change, try out some new things and revisit some old favourites. You can’t really go wrong with world heritage landscapes, golden sands, and too many cafes. Oh, and the big banana of course! The Lindt bunny and I enjoyed it much, so much so that the Lindt bunny cannot cope with being back in Canberra. He feels a bit hollow and I had to take the terrible action of putting him out of his misery. Head first of course.
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