The Rabbitts hit the road again last week, this time travelling North. Zoe was due to attend a hen weekend on the Gold Coast and wanted to see Ian to celebrate his recent birthday, so she flew up a day early and we took a short holiday in the same direction to meet up with her. Although I have visited Queensland before, I have not been further than two hours north of our home by road so far so this was to be a new experience.
We headed off up the Pacific Highway, which is the main motorway up the east coast. It used to be one or two lanes all the way and pass through town after town, which must have been really unpleasant for the residents as so many trucks use this route. It apparently took an age to get through the endless bottlenecks, but there is a huge construction project underway to upgrade it and to bypass the towns, some of which are now dying because of lack of passing business, while others are flourishing as they are more desirable places to live.
After about four hours we reached Coffs Harbour where we had booked an overnight stop at The Clog Barn. We chose this site as a bit of a laugh because it is right on the Pacific Highway and everyone who travels this road sniggers about it. The signs boast that they have the world's only clog shaped swimming pool and everything is Dutch themed, so we went in expecting the ridiculous. Well, it was delightful! Our pitch was on a riverbank and the cafe had a beautiful balcony overhanging the river where guests could enjoy breakfast, the facilities were excellent and the owners friendly and helpful. Admittedly there was the clog shaped pool and the kiddie pool had a giant clog above it which squirted out water but the children staying there loved it. 
There was also a gift shop, where they made their own souvenir clogs, and a charming model village that has been built entirely by the owners and is filled with replicas of Dutch buildings and a railway where the train is, yes you've guessed it, clog shaped!
Coffs Harbour is also home to the first Big Thing, the Big Banana. This stretch of the coast is banana growing country and there are banana plantations all around. However, the Big Banana is one of the slightly disappointing Big Things. They have made the most of it though, and now there is a huge Big Banana fun park surrounding the original tourist attraction.
Coffs Harbour is a very dog friendly town too with a dog park and, off leash dog beaches. All in all we wished we were staying a bit longer and will definitely go back again.