Coffs Harbour - 5th March

We were sat in the hostel having breakfast when one of the workers told us he was taking a group to the botanic gardens if we wanted to go along... it was free! We had thought about doing that anyway so said we would tag along. The gardens were really pretty and we saw some wildlife – Koala, Funnel Web Spider, Wolf Spider and the skin of a Python that had slithered through not long before us! How scary! The gardens themselves were really pretty. 

A Canadian guy that came with us got a leach on his foot which freaked us both out a bit. This is the first time either of us had seen one before and they were much bigger than we thought. Although it was thin because it hadn’t sucked any blood yet!

When back at the hostel there was the option for another surf lesson for $25 again. Amanda did not fancy it but Gav was eager to improve his skills. The instructor for this lesson was an ex pro so gave a lot more information than the previous guy. This helped a lot. Also the surf was not as wild so it was easier to get on the board. While Gav was on his lesson, Amanda walked down to the beach to watch and take some snaps. 

Once the lesson had finished we both lazed on the beach for a few hours catching the last of the sun. On the way back to the hostel we picked up some wine and beer to celebrate our forgotten anniversary!

Staying in our hostel were Sarah and Stacey, who we met in Port Macquarie, so we spent the evening with them and a Swedish girl called Isabella having a good laugh and enjoying some drinks. It was here that Isabella introduced us to a drink named GOON. The best way to describe the drink is the cheapest box of wine that you can find. You take the bag out of the box and “SLAP THE GOON” before you can drink it.... apparently! Legend has it that the aboriginal word for pillow is GOON. Once you finish your bag of wine you can blow it up and use it as a pillow! It was pretty disgusting and I don’t even think it can be classified as wine really – on the box it says “refreshing white alcoholic drink which may contain fish eggs”! It is a favourite with the backpackers though as it is ridiculously cheap and gets you drunk very quickly! We can safely say we have resisted it and feel posh with our $5 bottles of proper wine which are much nicer!