Rowan’s dad David arrives from Adelaide. We haven’t seen him since mid 2019 when we were all in Sicily. Rowan and I were trying to decide on where to go and spend a few nights away with David, we were looking at Airbnbs all over New South Wales. Rowan had the idea to go to Coffs Harbour where there is family that I haven’t met before. Mick (David’s Brother) & Liesel live there.

Monday 29th arrives and we pick David up at the airport and head out to Kevin (David’s brother) & Miriams house. Kevin is hiking in Hobart but Mariam is around. We have dinner and make our plan to head off early in the morning to Coffs Harbour. It will be a good 6 hours in the car so the earlier we leave the better.

Tuesday morning Rowan and I leave early to pick up David. The drive was scenic but very much the same everywhere. However we did get to go through a gorge in the beginning with tight corners and limited sized vehicles can go through.

This is the furtherest north I have been from Sydney. I really haven’t done much traveling in Australia at all, cities is about all I have done. The weather is wet and it stays that way the entire time we are there. It was fantastic getting to know all of Rowan’s extended family, I had heard a lot about them but never had a chance to meet them. Rowan’s cousin Justin & partner Jess are currently living there while their house is being built. It was great to hear family stories and spend a good amount of time getting to know everyone. Three nights we stayed in Coffs and each day we got out and about sightseeing. Well maybe cloud seeing.

One of the days they took a walk of Muttonbird Island and I stayed down low and had a short walk along the break wall. My ankle is getting better but I am not pushing my luck! We took a trip out to Belligen and had a late lunch. On our way there Rowan stopped so we could save a turtle that was attempting to cross the road. The poor thing kept hiding in its shell as a vehicle would pass over. David showed us a beautiful old arcade that we really just went in to see the building. Because Liesel was on night shift (nurse) we made sure we were out of the house during the day so she could sleep. Rowan played chef and cooked most of the meals. One night we visited Dean & Jess, friends from when Rowan went to school in Coffs. We got back a bit late so David and Mick cooked a cottage pie.

In the morning friends arrived and we had a brunch, leaving Coffs Harbour around 11.30am. On our way back I wanted to detour out to Trial Bay Gaol, which is an old convict prison right on the ocean. It was quite busy, lots of people around. We also went out to the lighthouse to look at the view. Apparently you can stay in the buildings.

It was a great detour and break up the drive. At one point Rowan and David were in such a discussion I just put my headphones in and listened to music. We got to Kevin & Miriams around 7pm. Nathan, Rowans cousin was there so I got to meet him. We got back to Bette’s place close to 9pm and feeling pretty tired.