We have been enjoying exploring the town of Coffs Harbour. It is a city of about 100,000 and it has a beautiful setting. There are lovely beaches and hills. The town has kept the shoreline relatively free from development so it is quite natural as you stroll along the beaches. The island that is just seaward of the marina is a bird sanctuary, with a wonderful walk up the hill and across the highland. At all times of the day you can see people walking, strolling and running along the breakwater and up and over the hill. I have been doing it every morning and it is a good workout. Today Barry and I took a walk out to the end of the Jetty, it's very sturdy and was used in the past for ships getting timber from the area to load supplies on and fishermen used to tie up and offload their catch there before the breakwater was built.

I thought since I was in Aus. I should attempt to learn to surf, Barry didn't think his ankle would stand up to it so he did not attempt it. I quite enjoyed the lesson, the fellow was a very good teacher. I did manage to get up on the board several times so I was quite pleased with myself. It was a 3 hour session in the water and by the end of 2 and 1/2 hours I was done, my eyes were sore and my legs were cramping and my back was starting to hurt, ah the pleasures of age! There are so many things to think about but I did get the concept and I think found the sweet spot of the board a couple of times. The fellow also offers white water rafting trips and said he would give me a deal so I decided to go. It will be a 2 day trip down a pretty spectacular river, leave Saturday morning and come back Sunday night. Barry has decided that he would rather spend his entertainment dollars on diving so has booked himself on a 2 tank dive next week. He is determined to catch up or surpass me in the number of dives he has!!

I called Graeme's (Trish's partner) parents because we are having a boat part shipped to them and they very kindly have invited us to stay overnight when we drive up. That will give us a chance to get to know each other and I am really looking forward to that. We are looking into having a sail made here as well as upgrading the rest of our rigging, it seems a pleasant place to stay and I am in no hurry to go further south until it warms up a bit more. I have plenty of boat projects that I would like to accomplish as well such as varnishing and polishing (what fun).Baie D'Opheliant in Noumea before we left