We interrupt this road trip for a flashback to a previous road trip. Yes, it’s time for another reprint of one of my Australia and New Zealand magazine articles. With added pictures. Well, we don’t have to fit it all onto one page of a magazine.
This article appeared in the magazines May edition this year and it was called…
A splashing good time
During the school holidays my wife and I jumped into the car and headed south. In the back was my daughter and two of her very best friends. Six hours later after a leisurely drive, including a stop for lunch, we were in Coffs Harbour.
You know when you have reached Coffs Harbour because you will drive past the Big Banana.
Yes, you will literally see a big banana on the side of the motorway; it’s the signpost for a popular fun park for kids. Our three had a great afternoon in that park, what they enjoyed the most were the slippery slides in the waterpark area. Water was to play a rather large part of our one-week holiday. The front door of our apartment opened up to the communal swimming pool on the complex.
Behind that was the spa; not a day went by without the kids using both.
Then just 10 minutes’ walk down the road was our closest beach, called Park Beach. We had the choice of around seven or eight other beaches nearby for when we fancied a change.
Of course, we only ever swim at surf lifesaver patrolled beaches. I would advise everybody to always swim between the flags on any beach in Australia.
Why?
Well, partly because they do look out for sharks, but mainly because of rip currents. A rip current can drag a knee high paddler deep out into sea in an instant. Wouldn’t you like one of those nice lifesaver chaps to come out and drag you back? Of course, now let’s get back to this holiday.
Down by Coffs Harbour Creek, yes more water, we took the girls to Dolphin Marine Magic.
All four of the girls, that’s including my wife, really did think this place was magic. This is where you go to get kissed not just by a dolphin, but a seal as well. No shark kisses though, you’ll be pleased to hear.
My favourite bit of water fun for the week though was most definitely when we drove inland to a town called Dorrigo.
We wanted to check out Dangar Falls and it was worth every second of the one hour drive. We first saw these stunning falls from a lookout in the car park. About 30 metres below us was an inviting pool of water and we could see some people swimming and splashing around.
Of course, our girls, who seemed to spend the whole week in their swimsuits, wanted to jump in. Not from 30 metres though, fortunately we found a rickety path that took us right down to the bottom and before you knew it our three girls had joined the others in the water.
If ever I thought I was in paradise, this was that day.
We had one more water surprise in store for us for the last day. A storm rolled in and it poured down.
Luckily for us, the other six days of the holiday were hot, sunny, with clear blue skies. No wonder so many Australians holiday in Australia.
