Coff’s Harbour is another seaside town of about 72,000, our home at a local resort for a week.

We walked around a market in the park near the ocean where we ate Portuguese pork and beef. It had lots of fat and didn’t taste very good.

After a visit to the local Aldi’s for provisions, we returned to our home and watched War Horse.

It was nice to be settled in for awhile.

We drove up to Woolgoolga Beach, a bit north, and walked through their Bollywood Market, a small place with mostly fruits and vegetables.

The town has a fair-sized Sikh population with a beautiful Sikh mosque. Mary took photos of Easter eggs hanging in trees.

Back in Coff’s Harbour, we ate at what became a favorite watering hole, Hoey Moey. We came back several times as they had live music and a $5 special of 8-ounce steak, salad, and chips (French fries).

It seems that everything in Australia is accompanied by chips.

A bit of exercise

We picked up tennis racquets and balls from the office to get a little exercise in, then drove to the market at the beach. It had mostly food and crafts.

The afternoon was spent at the Marine Science Aquarium, then steak at Hoey Moey where a band played some strange music on a Didgeridoo.

People were just moving their arms and shuffling feet.

We found that Australians are really into sports, whether its rugby, soccer, Australian football, or bowling.

As we walked to our car after lunch, we came upon a bowling venue, an Astroturf layout.

A target bowl is rolled across the field, then each player gets 4 larger, slightly off-balanced balls to bowl, each player alternating their bowls. The object is to get closest to the target ball.

One young man was practicing as we watched so he let me take a few throws. Since the balls are not completely round but slightly off-centered on one side, it gives the ball a curve as it travels toward the target ball.

It takes some skill to get the right curvature and speed to land as close to the target ball to get points. It looks like fun.

The day was spent visiting charity shops and post offices looking for Australian pennies or other treasures, but no luck.

That evening we played some pool and air hockey at the resort, then attended a drop-in where we met 2 couples from Australia and one from New Zealand. We got in a little tennis.

Emerald Beach

April 30 started with us driving to Emerald Beach to see John Garden who made some “2 up” paddles for us. He was a retired public official who spent his time in his workshop.

He showed us his workshop and the exotic wood that he used for his many projects. He regaled us with much interesting information about Australia as he took us for a tour of his house.

We spent the rest of the day walking Emerald Beach, then nearby Moonee Beach.

A highlight of the day was a trip to the Big Banana, a combination amusement park, banana farm and souvenir, jewelry and cheese shops. Afterwards, we played some pool, air hockey and ping pong.

Part of our trip involved hunting for Australian pennies for the “2-up” games for gifts.

The Australian pennies are about the size of an American 50-cent piece. They were replaced after 1966 when the country went to a decimal value.

We found a couple in an antique shop in Raleigh, then drove for lunch to the Raleigh Winery, located in a flood plain.

The new owner entertained us with stories about the local area, the grapes, and the winery and gave us some wine to sample. Mary had wontons while I had blackened prawns.

We drove to Uranga where we walked down a long boardwalk (1 km each way) overlooking the sea.

Next: Long drive to Brisbane