Coffs Harbour (18.03.16)

We were advised to pay a visit to Coffs Harbour - a little and pretty coastal resort
When we got there to our dismay it was about the size of Wolverhampton!  I've no doubt that the original village/town that surrounded the harbour was little and nice but due to development, residential and retail it can no longer be classed as little. We arrived in grey cloud and showers so there wasn't any incentive to explore so we buried our head in the guide book until it was time to go out.

The following day after a late start and a swim in th re pool we headed out towards Belliingen on the waterfall way. The road was deemed a 'king' as it wound its way up, down and around. Unfortunately because we had such a late start we didn't get to see many waterfalls but there again the total distance of the waterfall way is about 165km so we weren't expecting to do the full distance.  We did however make it to Bellingen, a quaint little town that has retained it's old world charm, despite some residential development,  probably because the new mimics the old.

As we drove into the village we passed a recreation ground where the kids were playing football,  parents proudly spectating and cheering their offspring on to get that ball in the back of the net.  Next came the village green, or what was actually a field but nonetheless it was obviously the hub of village activities as the cricket match was in progress. I was expecting a duck pond to appear at any moment.

Around the next bend was the high street,  a wide road with shops and a cafe. Time for afternoon tea and a sticky cake or so we thought. Steve parked up and we crossed the road, climbed the steps to the door and opened it to be greeted by a 'closed' sign. Well, what else could we expect after all it was just after 4pm on a Saturday afternoon. It just would have been helpful if the closed sign had been positioned outside the door and then we wouldn't have disturbed the rather sour faced lady counting up her daily takings.

We did find another cafe but no sticky cakes which was a blessing really. The difference in the attitude of the lady running this cafewas very noticeable,  she was more than happy to serve us and I even got my tea in a pot. However,  even she started to clear the outside tables away while we were still sitting drinking our tea and coffee despite the opening hours posted on the door stated very clearly that closing time was 5.30pm and it was now 4.20pm. We very kindly decided she must have forgotten to alter her watch to reflect the time difference.