Tuesday 9 Feb 2015

First thing in the morning, I went shopping for picnic supplies while Susie checked out the local op shops. We then set out for Bongil Bongil National Park via Repton. We parked the car at the end of Tuckers Rock Road and walked along a charming path that took us north for 3 km through littoral rainforest, along a swale that runs parallel to the beach. It’s an easy level walk in filtered light with leaf litter underfoot. This was a great way to stay out of the sun. There were stag horns, bird’s nest ferns and strangler figs everywhere.

The path emerges near a rocky knob at the far end of end of beach. We tossed up whether to walk back along the beach or back through the rainforest. We opted for the latter, partly to stay out of the sun, and partly to enjoy again the unusual environment.

After the walk, we drove north to Bongil Picnic Area and had a picnic lunch. Susie took some impressionistic photos of the giant flooded gums that surround the picnic tables while I argued with the currawongs.

We drove to Sawtell for a late afternoon swim on beach, and walked along the beach and back. Back at the motel in Coffs Harbour, we shared the highlights of the day with Ruby over a meal of home-made Mexican beans and rice with a zesty coriander salsa.