Day 122-125, Coffs Harbour, Australia

June 8th – 11th, 2019

Today we woke up and Brendan boiled the water for one more cup of noodles on this car-camping marathon.  I couldn’t bear the thought of another PB &J, so we skipped that part of what has become our normal breakfast routine. 

We were a couple hours from Coffs Harbour where the resort was that Brendan’s Dad, and Kathy gave us a week to stay.  We were beyond ready for a bed and shower.  We started making our way up to Coff’s Harbour and took a few ‘scenic routes’ along the way.  We didn’t want to arrive too early for check-in at 4pm.  We arrived at Boambee Bay Beach Resort around 10:30am.  We thought we would check just in case we could check in early before we spent the day exploring Coffs Harbour.  To our great delight, we got there and our room was ready!  It was the biggest relief ever that we didn’t have to wait until 4pm to check in.  I had reached a point where I couldn’t stand another minute without having a shower.  Brendan and I both agreed this was the longest we had ever been without showers.  We used ample cleansing wipes every morning and we had access to sinks, but nothing compares to an actual shower.

We checked in and got to our beautiful two bedroom condo.  It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, a covered patio, and our very own washer and dryer. 

It was actually a washer/dryer combo in one machine and later it was really funny because every time we tried to get the clothes a little extra dry, we ended up washing them all over again!  The place was beautiful though.  It had an amazing pool with natural rock features and waterfalls, a hot tub, tennis and basketball courts, a gym, restaurant, canoes, and all just steps from the beach.  We immediately showered, rested in a real bed and started a load of laundry.  We then went to the grocery store and got a ton of fresh ingredients to have meals for the week.  Having a refrigerator…so exciting!

We actually spent the next few days not doing a whole lot besides relaxing and enjoying the resort amenities.  I went for a sunrise jog every morning and took about a billion pictures because it was so stunning every time.  There is a beautiful coastal path right next to the resort I found the first morning and kept going back and exploring further and further.  There are many surfers who come out early seeking the big waves.  It was so magnificent, and I noticed in the moments leading to the sun rising and showing its face on the horizon, even the surfers would stop and sit on their boards and all turn to watch the magic minutes when the sun rose.  Everyone seemed to recognize what a special time of day it was, and they honored it with their stillness.  Being from the West Coast, I realized I am used to watching the sun set over the water, but seldom see it rise from the water.  Both are magical occasions and I am lucky to witness them.  

This was the first place we reached in Australia where the weather was warm.  Since it is winter here, it has been pretty cool but the further North we go, the warmer it gets.  The weather has been absolutely perfect.  Sunny, warm enough to be at the pool or on the beach but not so hot you don’t want to be active.  I started working on my tan again since I had lost most of my Central America glow by the time we were done in Patagonia. 

For years I have dreamed about laying by the pool and reading a book.  Not a textbook, or study guide, or test questions but just a pure fictional, silly book.  That dream came true!  The whole time I was in school I gave up reading for pleasure because I always had an impossible amount of school reading to do and would feel too guilty reading something else.  I am on my 4th book for pleasure on this trip now and I spent a lot of time reading by the pool during these days.  It was great.  We filled the days doing things like walking to the store or town, walking on the beach, making meals, and napping.  We attempted tennis and took the canoes out and paddled around a bit.  We went to the hot tub most nights and just really enjoyed resting. 

One night we got an invitation from the resort to attend a ‘timeshare owners’ mingling event.  They said there would be beer, wine, and ‘nibbles’.  Although we were only guests of the owners, we thought free drinks and nibbles sounded pretty good and decided to check it out.  When we got there, we quickly realized we were the only ones under 80 years old.  This being the demographic I specialize in professionally, it didn’t bother me at all and both of us quickly got into conversations.  Everyone welcomed us just the same even though we were not the ‘owners’.  One older lady kept bringing Brendan more beer which I thought was really cute and funny.  She even said she would sneak some in her pockets so he could have more.  I thought it was interesting that it wasn’t the age gap that stood out to them but the fact that we were Americans.  I kept overhearing people talking to others and saying “’oh well the Americans over here…”.  The husbands were eager to ask me my thoughts on our president (as everyone always is) and the wives were eager to give me travel tips and advice for the rest of our time in Australia.  We ended up being the last people there after all the beer, wine and nibbles were gone, and had more invitations for drinks on the other days we were staying at the resort. 

We are finally getting over our colds and this has been a great rejuvenation place so we can be fresh and ready for our next adventure.  Thank you Rick and Kathy!