Wednesday 10 Feb 2015

We dropped Ruby at work early so that she and Toby could discuss their ongoing plans to find rental accommodation. Susie and I then drove to The Big Banana tourist information centre. Unfortunately the office was staffed by volunteers who could not provide detailed information about road conditions; but we managed to collect some useful brochures.

We drove on to Bindarri National Park via Karangi and Upper Orara. Dairyville Road grew narrow towards the end, but it was paved right up to a shallow creek crossing next to a gravel parking area on the edge of the park. There had not been much rain, so the crossing was easy and could have been accomplished in a 2WD vehicle. The road to Bindarray Picnic area was closed to vehicles due to a landslide, so we set out on foot to get there. It is only about 1.2 km into the park, and the road is well-shaded.

The picnic area is located next to a stream which was at that time no more than 2m deep. We had a picnic lunch in the shade along the rocky shore. After lunch we took some photos and enjoyed the seclusion. We did not see anyone else on the way in or out. But there were plenty of leeches!

When we arrived back at the car, Susie realised that she had lost her sunglasses. We re-traced our steps back to the picnic area without any luck. Against the odds, we found the sunglasses on our way back to the car. They had fallen onto the road where Susie had paused to take a photo.

Back in Coffs Harbour, we picked up Ruby from work and went for a drink at yacht club that has a view of the old wooden jetty. We rounded out the evening at a vegan Japanese bar (!) where we sampled saki and Japanese beer and tapas. This was a more pricey option than some of the other restaurants we tried while we were there; but we were keen for Ruby to learn what was on offer in her new town.