After Jack’s mammoth drive to Armidale the day previous, we decided that our first day in Coffs should be a relaxed affair. We decided to head down to the beach as it was a glorious day and lovely and hot. However, our car (Zoe) had different ideas. As soon as we entered the car park for the beach, the car’s steering went heavy and there was one of those expensive sounding grinding noises coming from under the bonnet. We turned her off and lifted the bonnet not knowing what we’d find…..luckily it was just a split power steering hose. So we abandoned our beach idea and headed off to a Mitsubishi dealer in order to find spare parts. However, it was a Saturday and in their infinite wisdom, Mitsubishi had decided that it was a good idea to close at 12:00 on Saturday (I mean to say, it’s not as if anyone needs spare parts on a weekend, is it?). Depressed, we decided to head down to Supercheap Auto and Repco (like Halfords back home, but without the incompetence). The nice chaps down at Supercheap let us borrow their tools for free and those lovely people down at Repco gave us some free replacement hose! Full marks to Supercheap and Repco! By now the day was over, we were covered in oil and the sun had gone in, so we decided to retire to our Motel Formule 1 then head out for a few beers. Motel Formule 1 had all the atmosphere and character of a hospital, but to its credit, it was nice and cheap and the rooms were immaculate.
The second day in Coffs was overcast and pretty cold (well, by Aussie standards) so it was decided that we’d head down to the Horse Races at the local track. Admission was just $10 (4 pounds) and for that you get a whole day’s entertainment and 8 races in which to lose your money. It was at the races that we met ‘Stalker Tom’. ‘Stalker Tom’ is a man whom we met in Melbourne….and then again in Phillip Island….then in Manly….and then here as well! We didn’t actually plan to meet him at any of these places and we’re pretty sure he’s some sort of stalker who’s secretly following us around. Anyhow, we decided which horses to bet on according to which ones had the funniest names (always a sound way of doing things) and I struck lucky, winning $35 on the first race, which effectively paid for my betting for the rest of the day. Jack wasn’t so fortunate, but we still had an awesome day out for less than 25 quid (including beer).
So, we came to our final day in Coffs before we were due to move on. It was lovely and sunny once again, so we decided to head down to the beach once more (hopefully we’d make it further than the parking lot this time). As soon as we came onto the beach a dog came up to us with a stick in its mouth. Being the nice sort of people we are, we threw it for him. Big mistake. The dog kept bringing it back to us and lying right by us looking sorry for itself until we threw it for him again. We spoke to some locals as there was no owner in sight, and apparently ‘Beach Dog’ (as we creatively dubbed him) escapes every single day, comes down to the beach with his stick and gets people to play with him. When those people get tired of throwing the stick, he simply moves along the beach to the next group of people, and the cycle continues. Smart dog if you ask me.
Anyhow, by now it was getting cooler and Dave’s bus back from Armidale had just arrived, so we headed back to the motel to get freshened up before going out. We headed out for a healthy Kebab (it had lettuce in it, so that counts as healthy) and then headed down to the Plantation Hotel. We stayed there for about 30 minutes, realised it was full of people who took the quiz night far too seriously, then headed off to the Coast Hotel to finish off the night (which is really nice by the way and cost $4 million to renovate) . Here we met ‘Stalker Tom’ once again and had a few beers with him and his mate. Tom leaves Oz in 3/4 weeks, but we’re pretty sure we’ll see him around now we’re camping in Byron Bay…
