While on exchange England I had the the pleasure of getting to know a nice young lady called Katie. Despite clearly being a city girl, Katie grew up in a small town just south of Coffs Harbour called Sawtell. Though she goes to uni in Newcastle, her family still lives in Sawtell, which is a quaint little town with a lot to offer. Katie picked up Mark and I in Byron and we headed down where we spent 3 days with her family.
On our first day Katie's dad David arranged for some kayaks to be borrow from a family friend. We spent the morning paddling out the river down to the sea.
As well as the pelicans below we also got to see stingrays and fish swimming in the shallows (well Katie and I at least. Mark saw nothing, which bothered him greatly).
That evening Katie took us up to a lookout which has a nice view over the beach. She also informed us that this is where she used to go to make out with boys when she was in high school.
Don't worry Marieke, Mark got some love too.
Katie's house is right over there.....
After another day chilling out and seeing more of the town, David took the day off work and took us out for a hike. The hills behind Coffs are actually pretty high, and the localized climate makes for unexpectedly lush rainforest.
Now Katie is not what one might call an 'avid hiker,' or 'in good shape'. And although there was some concern of Katie "ruining it for everyone," she came along. What a trooper. Her favourite part...the clothes and shoes she borrowed from her sister.
This is the start of a steep decent down to the waterfall.
There was only one way in and out of the waterfall, so we had to walk back out on the same trail. Katie had held up well on the hike thus far, however the climb back up was her undoing. I believe "it felt like my heart was about to jump out of my mouth" was how she described it.
The next day we drove down to Newcastle where we had dinner with Katie's sister Trish and her man James. Katie and Trish both live in a nice area, however most of Newcastle is a hole, as it's basically a large port town for coal shipping. The next day Katie put Mark and I on the train to Sydney.
Helen and David, thank you for having us. The food and wine were delicious and it was great to finally meet you.
On our first day Katie's dad David arranged for some kayaks to be borrow from a family friend. We spent the morning paddling out the river down to the sea.
As well as the pelicans below we also got to see stingrays and fish swimming in the shallows (well Katie and I at least. Mark saw nothing, which bothered him greatly).
That evening Katie took us up to a lookout which has a nice view over the beach. She also informed us that this is where she used to go to make out with boys when she was in high school.
Don't worry Marieke, Mark got some love too.
Katie's house is right over there.....
After another day chilling out and seeing more of the town, David took the day off work and took us out for a hike. The hills behind Coffs are actually pretty high, and the localized climate makes for unexpectedly lush rainforest.
Now Katie is not what one might call an 'avid hiker,' or 'in good shape'. And although there was some concern of Katie "ruining it for everyone," she came along. What a trooper. Her favourite part...the clothes and shoes she borrowed from her sister.
This is the start of a steep decent down to the waterfall.
There was only one way in and out of the waterfall, so we had to walk back out on the same trail. Katie had held up well on the hike thus far, however the climb back up was her undoing. I believe "it felt like my heart was about to jump out of my mouth" was how she described it.
The next day we drove down to Newcastle where we had dinner with Katie's sister Trish and her man James. Katie and Trish both live in a nice area, however most of Newcastle is a hole, as it's basically a large port town for coal shipping. The next day Katie put Mark and I on the train to Sydney.
Helen and David, thank you for having us. The food and wine were delicious and it was great to finally meet you.
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