The primary attraction at Coffs Harbor is a pelagic seabird rookery. Thousands of wedgetail shearwaters dig shallow borrows in the banks of Muttonbird island. They leave the young during the day as they feed at sea and return in mass in the evenings to feed the little ones with a great flurry of activity and lots of noise. We must be a bit late in the season and most of the young have already fledged. All we see is one little fellow hunkering in his nest watching for mom or dad to show up with supper. Still, it is worth the walk for the view of the shoreline from the island.
We try fish and chips from The Fisherman’s Coop. It is the place “they” say has the best on the coast. Not sure if it’s the best but it is delicious, Spanish mackerel and whiting. Restaurants are all take away only now but that is ok. It makes lunch even better as we perch on boulders of the breakwater and watch the waves crash in.
Camp is filled with birdsong as we settle in for the night and we wake to the now anticipated raucous call of the laughing kookaburra.