Sunday 9/23, Iluka to Kim's Farm

Lunch by the sea, whales, and a shag on a rock

     After a last visit by the dolphins in the river while we had coffee on the terrace we cleaned up the unit and headed out to Coff's Harbor, an hour drive south along the coast. Iluka is a quiet little fishing town with mostly small individual homes. The Bundjalung National Park protects the shoreline from development. Further along the coast small resort communities take advantage of the scenic beachfront, although there aren't any of the high rise buildings that line the US Atlantic coast.

     At Coff's Harbor we got a take out lunch at a fish place and ate on the granite breakwater. Kim and I had grilled swordfish and Diana had whiting tails. Excellent grub!

Lunch on the Breakwall

Get your own rock!

     To walk off lunch we hiked to the top of Mutton Island, one of two islands that protects the artificial harbor filled with trawlers and sailboats. The island is home to thousands of sea birds called shearwaters. They burrow into the soil and raise chicks there. The babies emerge in August and would be a sight to see, but when we were there all we saw were freshly cleared burrows. It's quite a climb to the top of the grass-covered island, and while we were there we saw a humpback whale and her calf a half mile off shore. Good stuff. On the return trip to the car two tousled haired little boys walked by us, the older boy exclaiming excitedly, “That's a noice woke!”

Surrounded by Black Shearwater burrows

Humpback whale slapping her tail

     

     Near the harbor Kim looked towards the rocks and exclaimed, “now there's a real shag on a rock”. Thinking we might see some naughty activity, she pointed out a black cormorant drying his wings. In Oz someone who just sits around doing nothing other that watching TV is said to be like a 'shag on a rock', a shag being a slang term for both a cormorant and a lazy bum.

Demented babies crying

     We stopped at Dorrigo NP on the way home and walked out onto the Skywalk, which extends from the visitor center out over the steep hillside, allowing a look down into the rainforest below. We heard lots of bird calls in the trees, but the most unusual was that of the catbird. Unlike the Yankee variety that meows, these Aussie catbirds sound like cats wailing and fighting, or as the 'twitcher' at the overlook put it, like demented babies crying. Not a proper way for a bird to sound at all. We hiked for half an hour down the trail through the dark understory of the floor of the forest and marveled at the huge buttressed Stinging Trees, looping lianas (vines), and tall tree ferns.

K&D standing at the end of the Skywalk, glad their own demented babies are all grown up

     The rest of the way back to Armidale passed through what has to be some of the most beautiful cattle country in the world.

Beautiful cattle country

          Lamb stew for dinner followed by matchstick poker ended our day.