Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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CHAPTER 4 . NEW SOUTH WALES
Coffs Harbour is a rather disjointed place, with an old town-center retail
area; the Jetty Strip (with restaurants and fishing boats) near the best swimming
spot, Park Beach; and a new retail area called The Plaza. Wide sweeps of suburbia
separate these three areas; it’s a difficult town to negotiate if you don’t have a car.
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE It takes around 7 hours to drive from Sydney to Coffs
Harbour without stops; from Brisbane it takes around 5 hours. The Pacific
Highway in this region is notoriously dangerous; there have been many serious
accidents involving drivers enduring long hours behind the wheel. Ongoing
road-widening projects should improve things. Qantas (& 13 13 13 in Australia;
www.qantas.com.au) flies non-stop to Coffs Harbour from Sydney.
Several coach companies, including Greyhound-Pioneer (& 13 20 30 in Australia)
and McCafferty’s (& 13 14 99 in Australia), make the trip from Sydney
in about 9 hours. A Countrylink (& 13 22 32 in Australia) train from Sydney
costs A$79 (US$52).
VISITOR INFORMATION The Coffs Harbour Visitors Information
Centre (& 1800/025 650 in Australia, or 02/6652 1522) is just off the Pacific
Highway, at the corner of Rose Avenue and Marcia Street, 2 blocks north of the
city center. It’s open daily from 9am to 5pm. A good general website is www.
holidaycoast.com.au.
GETTING AROUND If you don’t have a car, you can get around on the
Coffs Harbour Coaches (& 02/6652 2877), which runs day trips around the
local area on weekdays (including a town tour on Mon., and a trip to the magnificent
Dorrigo National Park on Wed.). Blue Tongue Transport (& 02/
6651 8566, or 1800/258 386 in Australia) offers smaller group tours of Dorrigo
National Park daily costing A$50 (US$33) for adults and A$40 (US$26)
for children; a morning city tour for A$11 (US$7.15); and an upmarket afternoon
champagne tour of town for A$22 (US$14).
VISITING THE BIG BANANA & OTHER THINGS TO DO
You can’t miss the 10m (33-ft.) reinforced concrete banana alongside the highway
at the Big Banana Theme Park (& 02/6652 4355), 3km (2 miles) north
of town. The park includes an air-conditioned, diesel-powered train that takes
visitors on a 1-hour tour of the 18-hectare (44-acre) banana plantation that contains
some 18,000 banana trees. Along the route it passes various off-the-wall
exhibits relating to farming, Aborigines, and local history. It stops at the property’s
hydroponic glasshouses and at a viewing platform and cafeteria, which
serves up all things banana—cakes, breads, splits, shakes, and so on. The park is
open daily from 9am to 4:30pm (3pm in winter). Admission is free, but the
train tour costs A$10 (US$6.50) for adults, A$6 (US$3.90) for children, and
A$25 (US$16) for families. I had my doubts about this place before I visited,
but I ended up charmed—even if it was simply by the wackiness of the place.
The Coffs Harbour Zoo (& 02/6656 1330), 10 minutes north of town on
the Pacific Highway, has plenty of koalas, as well as wombats, kangaroos, dingoes,
Tasmanian devils, water birds, and aviaries. The award-winning native gardens
are full of wild birds expecting a feed. The zoo is open daily from 8:30am
to 4pm. Admission is A$12 (US$7.80) for adults, A$6 (US$3.90) for children,
and A$30 (US$20) for families.
A free natural attraction is Mutton Bird Island, which you can get to via the
Coffs Harbour jetty. A steep path leads up the side of the island, but views from