Coffs Harbour Off The Beaten Path

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If you want to visit another beach, then take a short 25km drive north to Woolgoolga. Woolgoolga has a lot of Indian people, so if you are after some Indian food, this is the place. A lot of the people are "Sikh's", so there is a lovely Sikh Temple here. You are allowed to have a look inside (I haven't) The other one, that used to be beautiful, has fallen into disrepair. There are lots of nice caravan parks in the area, and other types of accommodation. The beach is not over run with people.
If You are here at Easter, then you will be able to enjoy the Woolgoolga Curry fest, a celebration of the Indian life, with food, music and dance.
www.curryfest.com.au

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Coffs Harbour is always happy to welcome visitors from elsewhere and while all are treated with great respect and open arms, The Duyfken, in port for a few days was given a right royal welcome last week. (Oct 2006).

You might wonder why a replica of an old seafaring ship deserved such a fuss, but when you read the story it will all become clear. The link below will take you to the official replica building site and the link on my Coffs Harbour introduction page will fill in some more of the history.

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Yuraygir is touted thus, "..provides excellent fishing and surfing opportunities and is said to contain some of the best beaches in the country." Personally, I think that's a bit over the top. There are definitely some areas on the north coast that are certainly its equal or better.
Having said that, the northern end probably has the better of it. Wooli and Minnie Waters offer some great fishing, especially if you have a boat, and Sandon Point is a noted surf spot while at the very north, Angourie is world renowned for its epic waves.
On my last visit I pushed the boundaries a little further and took the walk to Freshwater Beach, the next one up from Pebbly. (pic 4)
Since I didn't have my shoes there were some sharp moments and I managed to get a couple of small cuts in my feet, notably on the headland at Pebbly where the geology means that the striations are near vertical which has made for some nasty edges where the soft rock has left sharp ridges exposed. (pic 3)
At one stage I came across a lovely small branch that had yellow on it and some silver grey. Might get a close up of that I thought. Then it moved. Snakes do that. Lucky it was in an away direction!
On the return journey I saw 17, though none of them turned out to be snakes. It's amazing how much more aware you become after a close encounter.

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I've had some experiences here, none better than the last two. On the Tuesday the weather was filthy and I had my work clothes on. I got through the knee deep water at low tide with only having to take my shoes off but when I finally got to the other side it started to rain and I ended up wet all over, despite sheltering beneath the sparse tree cover.
The next day I arrived shortly before midday. This time it was high tide. In between taking photos and frustrating attempts to broach Station Creek it took me about half an hour before, naked from the waist down, I made it over (or through) the flowing water. I had left my shoes behind this day, ultimately not a good decision, but convenient for the crossing. It left room to stash my trousers in the backpack.
When I returned I had a thought as to how good it would be if a vehicle came to this lonely part of the world. This before I stripped, naked to the waist again. Just as I was stacking my gear in the bag, along came a 4WD. How embarrassing. Since I desperately wanted a picture of someone crossing I grabbed my camera and turned the top half of my body to get a shot or two. (see pics 2-5)
That worked fine until Bob the concreter, on his way for an afternoon's fishing, stalled just 5 metres before getting clear of the water. I then had to redress, went down for a chat before Bob decided to go and get help from the 4WD at Pebbly Beach.
This allowed me to strip again and make the crossing back to Station Creek Beach.
There are signs warning people about the varying depths and you are advised to ford at low tide.

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Somedays you just happen to get a special shot with your camera. Sometimes others don't rate the shot as you do. It's all a matter of where you're approaching the shot from.
Personally, I just love the opening shot. It clicks for me.
I would have probably felt the same about the second one because it's so hard to get bees in the right position in a flower.
The third is of a banksia flower, named after the slightly lesser known man from Cook's famous voyage who left us with a fabulous treasure trove of botanical knowledge whilst the fourth shows the melaleuca forest after rain. These trees are apparently something of a pest in Florida when they've gone totally feral to the detriment of natives. Here they are completely natural.
The final snap shows a pied oyster catcher wandering the dunes adjacent to the creek crossing.

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There's an opportunity for those with a camera to capture some lovely seascapes. I arrived on an afternoon where the ocean was akin to a washing machine and strong onshore winds drove frequent showers across the sky. That's how I arrived at the wierd sky in the opening shot. It's one of those odd shots that keeps making me look at it for reasons I can't quite fathom. That's of Station Creek Beach. The next shot was looking towards Pebbly headland.
The following day was all sunshine, the five day low finally driven away by an incoming high and shots 3 and 4 show you where the sea enters the lagoon. It was slightly downstream where I had to cross on day two

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Yuraygir, a national park situated on the coast where the Pacific Highway diverts inland just north of Red Rock and heads towards Grafton. When the highway returns to near the coast it's at Maclean. In between these two points is where you'll find Yuraygir.
I've been three times in from the south. This is the story of those trips.
The road in is 14 kilometres of one way. In times of rain there may be places where water breaches the road (see pic 5). This leads to an intersection where you can turn right if you have a four wheel drive which, strange to say, will eventually take you left. What happens is you reach the beach down this route and then hang a left along the sand until you reach the end and have to ford the creek that feeds the lagoon.
Should you go straight ahead, if you have an ordinary car or such, you reach a carpark soon after where there are barbecues, tables and toilets. This is a vast improvement on when I first went there.
To attain your next objective you walk along an easy trail (pic 4) for over a kilometre across vegetated sand dunes and arrive at Station Creek Beach.
On your left is the creek that you must ford for your next objective which is Pebbly Beach (pic 1). If you walk out to the headland on the right day you might see Sometime Falls in action (pic 2). This cascade is dependent upon tides and swell for it to work. A little further around there's an outcrop of rock with distinctly marble tones that makes for a colourful interlude (pic 3).

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About 10 kilometres north of Mullaway there's a turn-off to a National Park. This place, despite being adjacent to the nation's second busiest highway, is seldom visited by anyone, though it's only 14 kilometres down a formed road to reach the ocean, and what a special ocean it is.
The Tasman Sea rolls in and sand holds in the north east corner of the beach so that it is shallow for a long way out to sea. Much more so than any other beach in the Coffs Harbour area.
There's a rocky headland that marks the demarkation point between this long beach that stretches to the southern horizon and Pebbly Beach to the north.
The second time I visited it was filthy weather. Rain clouds scudded across the sky driven by strong winds that buffeted the sand, causing small dunes to form close to the surface. The washing machine action of the surf left foam on the beach and the water was stained an ugly brown with the soil escaping from land.
Adding to the feeling of waste was the area that had been razed en route yet this day it was sodden with fresh falls of rain.
All in all, not what you call your typical beach weather!