The walking tracks at Bruxner Park are only a 10-minute drive from the CBD, which make them  the closest rainforest walks to the Coffs Harbour city centre.

These bushwalks are so near and so easily accessible that you’ll have no excuse not to go there at least once. It’s amazing how many Coffs Harbour residents have never actually walked along these forest trails.

Immerse yourself in a rainforest experience just 10mins from Coffs Harbour

There is even a special flyer available from the Coffs Coast Visitor Information Centre that has a map showing all the walking trails.

The leaflet, produced by State Forests of NSW, also has some interesting information about the flora, fauna and history of the Bruxner Park Flora Reserve.

Pick up the flyer with map from the Coffs Coast Visitor Information Centre

Walking tracks in Bruxner Park, Coffs Harbour:

• Rainforest Walk. Interpretive trail with some labelled trees. Loop trail, 1.6km (approx. 45 mins). Park your car at The Gap.
• Creek Trail. This one-way trail (approx. 1km, 20-30 mins return) joins the Rainforest Walk at Halfway Creek so it’s easy to combine both walks. You can also walk back via the road and check out The Vincent Tree, one of the biggest flooded gums in NSW.
• Korora Lookout Trail. Easy 20-min return walk along a ridge with great views north along the Coffs coastline and towards the Solitary Islands. Starts from the Scenic Drive about 500m from Sealy Lookout.

There are no cafés or shops in the area, so bring your own picnic – there are picnic tables at Halfway Creek and Swans Road Crossing.

And don’t forget the insect repellent – you’re in a rainforest and can expect mosquitoes and other insects as well as possibly leeches sometimes, particularly after rain and in summer. Spraying your shoes, socks and exposed limbs with insect spray will keep them off you.

Autumn, winter and spring are the best times for a visit, when it’s cooler and there aren’t that many insects around.

While you’re there, you should definitely drive a further 2km from The Gap to Sealy Lookout to enjoy expansive views over Coffs Harbour.

View over Coffs Harbour from Sealy Lookout in Bruxner Park

Getting there:

Drive north along the Pacific Highway for about 5km from the Coffs Harbour City Centre and turn into Bruxner Park Road (about 1km after The Big Banana). The road winds its way up through banana plantations and avocado groves for another 5km to The Gap where the Rainforest Trail starts.

You can also drive about 1km further along Bruxner Park Road to Halfway Creek where the Creek Trail starts. A 2km Scenic Drive from The Gap in the other direction takes you to the Korora Lookout Trail and to the Sealy Lookout point.

A Saturday or Sunday morning or afternoon is ideal to head out west to Coramba, Upper Orara and Nana Glen. On Monday and Tuesday, you may find some shops or cafés closed, but the views will be equally beautiful.

Find scenic views like this one at Upper Orara all around the Orara Valley

From the centre of Coffs Harbour, follow the signs to Coramba via West High Street and Coramba Road. The scenery becomes rural in just a few minutes, with banana plantations, avocado and fruit trees, wide open fields with cows and horses, and hills and valleys everywhere you look.

Take Mount Browne Road, which loops through the farmlands and forests of the Upper Orara Valley, a particularly picturesque piece of our hinterland. Drive up to the viewing platform on top of Karangi Dam (virtually always around 99% full!) to experience one of the quietest spots you’ve ever been.

Experience the utter peace and quiet up at Karangi Dam in the Orara Valley

Just before Coramba, you can stop at the charming Mountain Ash Pottery and Gallery, and in the historic village (1880) of Coramba itself, you’ll find a bakery, gift shop, general store and a pub with a beer garden out the back with incredible rural views.

Drive another 10km or so to Nana Glen, a lovely little village with two wineries and two cafés. I love Kafe Kookaburra, opposite the road from Orara Vale Vineyard, where you can enjoy a drink or lunch in the garden under the trees surrounded by cheeky birds.

The Orara River runs through here as well and there’s a nice park with picnic tables when you turn right in the centre of Nana Glen towards Bucca and Moonee Beach. Great place to relax in the shade by the river with a book and a snack.

Late afternoon, the light becomes magical. This is at the Kia-Ora farm in Nana Glen.

You can continue on to Glenreagh and Grafton, go back to Coffs Harbour the same way you came, or take Bucca Road through the Wedding Bells State Forest for about 23km until you’re at the Pacific Highway, from where it’s just another 10 minutes back to Coffs Harbour. If you’re keen to stretch your legs, there are several places you can stop on Bucca Road and take a walk along a forest trail.

Besides petrol for the car and perhaps some money for coffee or lunch, this tour doesn’t cost anything and you get to see a whole other side of Coffs Harbour. Just don’t forget to roll down your windows and stop regularly to admire the views, listen to the birds and smell the pure air of our pretty hinterland.

If the weather is good, Red Rock is the perfect destination for a relaxing day out with your special someone or the whole family.

The picturesque park by Red Rock River invites a rest, a picnic and a swim

Here are just a couple of things you can do when you’re in Red Rock:

• Swim across the crystal clear river to the sand bank, walk in the direction the tide is going, get back in and float back to the park where you entered the water. 
• Go fishing in the ocean or the river, from under a tree on the riverside or the boardwalk, or from your boat you can launch at the boat ramp (the caravan park kiosk sells bait).
• Bring a good book, a blanket and a picnic and relax under a tree in the picturesque park, or bring a ball or frisbee and play on the lawn of the riverside park.
• Launch your canoe, kayak or rubber dingy in the river and go for a paddle up through the undisturbed nature of Yuraygir National Park that starts here.
• Go for a walk along the boardwalk, you’ll see and hear lots of  birds by the waterside.
• Swim or surf in the ocean near the actual ‘Red Rock’ the village is named after.

Plus anything else you can think of that you can do in a park, on the beach, in the surf or on a river!

The near-deserted beach at Red Rock and the formation the village is named after

Just remember that there’s only the one shop/kiosk/takeaway at the Red Rock Caravan Park and no other shops, so you’ll have to bring most of what you need with you.

You’ll find it fairly quiet even though it’s a fantastic holiday destination, except for the summer school holidays when it can be pretty packed.

I guarantee it will be one of the most utterly relaxing days you’ve ever spent anywhere!

Get to Red Rock by heading north on the Pacific Highway from Coffs Harbour. It’s about 10 minutes past Woolgoolga, and signposted as a turnoff via Corindi. The trip from the Coffs CBD should take no longer than 35 minutes.

The Coffs Creek Walk is right in town but nicely hidden away between the trees, and I can guarantee you’ll feel far away from it all. It’s a real bushwalk through the forested fringes of Coffs Creek, with several boardwalk sections across wetland areas and mangroves.

The Coffs Creek Walk is a real bush walk right in the middle of Coffs

Reasons to do the Coffs Creek Walk – or sections of it:

• Beauty: It’s a pretty walk along the water
• Accessibility: It’s very close to the Coffs Harbour city centre as well as the Jetty area
• Flexible length: you can join or leave the track from many different points along the route
• Easy: It’s not strenuous as it’s all flat – no hills!
• Cool: If the sun is hot, you’ll be protected by the shade of the trees
• Places to rest: You’ll pass many benches to rest on plus several cafés where you can stop for a drink.

The Coffs Creek Walk is a circuit that takes you from the Coffs Harbour CBD to the mouth of Coffs Creek at the Jetty and back to the city centre along the other side of the creek.

The full circuit is about 9km, but really, the trail is as flexible as anything and you can make the walk as short or as long as you like. Since the Hogbin Drive bridge over Coffs Creek was completed early 2008, you can do a half circuit as well.

Of course, you can always just do little sections of the walk here and there, picking a 2km or 3km walk for instance. The most popular sections of the Creek Walk are between the CBD and the Promenade, and between the Promenade and the Pet Porpoise Pool at the Jetty (and vice versa).

Points of interest and places to stop along the way:

• Shops, cafés, restaurants at the Coffs Harbour CBD (one block away from the trail)
• Coffs Harbour Olympic Swimming Pool
• Coffs Harbour City Gallery
• Coffs Harbour Regional Botanic Garden
• Boutique shops and restaurants at The Promenade
• Great fishing spots
• Secluded benches and picnic areas
• Mangrove boardwalk
• Excellent swimming spots near the Orlando St road and railway bridge
• Pet Porpoise Pool & riverside café

Amazing panoramas over the Coffs Creek estuary at the coastal end of the walk

The northern side of the creek is officially a walking track only, but the southern side is a shared pedestrian/cycle path, so just watch out for bicycles when you’re walking.

You’ll come across beautiful vistas, especially when you see the sunlight reflecting in the water or can just make out the bends in the creek through the trees. The open parts around the creek’s wide and sandy estuary are equally stunning.

There are plenty of places to stop and rest, and you’ll hear all sorts of birds singing in the trees, no matter what time of day you’re there. If you’re really early, you may even cross paths with a koala or encounter other wildlife.

Best of all, it’s free, it’s healthy and you can end your walk with a nice refreshing swim in the creek or a cool drink at an al fresco café overlooking the water at The Promenade or the Pet Porpoise Pool!

To get an idea of the route and the distances, just look at the map that’s available on the Council website, which also has a PDF of the Coffs Creek Walk brochure that you can download.

Unfortunately, this event is NOT being held in 2010 for some reason. Hopefully it will be on again next year.

In the last couple of years, Botanical Jazz was held every Sunday afternoon in February, featuring outdoor jazz concerts at the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden (official name) or Coffs Harbour Botanic Gardens (what most people call it).

I’ve been to a few of the concerts in recent years. The atmosphere is great and the setting is fabulous. The concerts take place in the open performance area not far from the Garden’s entrance which is surrounded by big old trees.

The entrance and performance space at the Coffs Harbour Botanic Garden

The timing (the concerts start at 5.30pm) means that you’re there around sunset, so it won’t be too hot any more but you won’t get cold yet either. Around that time of day, the birds in the trees usually come alive again as well (or it’s the music waking them up…) and they’ll often add their own musical accompaniment to the band that’s playing, which can have a really funny effect!

In 2009, the following jazz concerts were held in the Coffs Harbour Botanic Garden:

• Sunday 1 February 2009: Roger Burke Quartet with Christie Schlenker
• Sunday 8 February 2009: George Washingmachine Trio
• Sunday 15 February 2009: Galapagos Duck
• Sunday 22 February 2009: Uncle Jed

I am quite disappointed that there will be no Botanical Jazz in Coffs Harbour in 2010.

If it’s on again next year, make sure to bring a rug or camping chairs, a picnic and drinks, and find yourself a good spot on the grass before the 5.30pm start. Don’t forget the insect repellent! (Although they’ll often have some spray cans at the entrance for visitors to use as well.)

Even if you’re not a jazz fan or aren’t familiar with the musicians that are playing, come along just to enjoy a great musical night out with a group of friends and a picnic basket full of goodies, in one of Coffs Harbour’s most beautiful spots. 

Tickets are usually about $15 (accompanied children under 12 are free) and available at the venue on the night (or in advance if you’re very keen). For more information about upcoming events at the gardens, see the Botanic Garden website.

If you’re not from Coffs, the Botanic Gardens are just a few blocks east of the Coffs Harbour CBD, signposted as a turnoff from Harbour Drive.

View from the top of Muttonbird Island over Coffs Harbour

Muttonbird Island is unique because:

• although it’s an island, you can walk to it because it’s attached to the mainland via the northern breakwall, so it’s very accessible;
• it’s a seabird rookery and is home to thousands of muttonbirds (wedge-tailed shearwaters, is what they’re called officially) between August and April;
• there’s a paved path over the top to the other side (1km return), giving you unsurpassed 360-degree views from the top back over Coffs Harbour, along the coast, the beaches and the ocean;
• there’s a viewing platform at the end from where you can watch for passing humpback whales between May and November;
• it’s a Nature Reserve and the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service has put up interpretive signs with interesting information about the shearwaters/muttonbirds and marine life such as the whales.

Throughout the day, people stroll along the North Wall, and may decide to go up Muttonbird Island or not. Usually the ones with proper walking shoes or trainers on and walking faster will go up. Who needs to go to the gym if you can tick off a trek up Muttonbird every day or a couple of times a week?!

Whether you go up or not (at least go halfway for the view back over the marina and Coffs Harbour!), there’s lots going on to look at when you walk along the North Wall too.

Coffs Harbour marina with fishing boats and pelicans

The scene will be different every day: fishermen offloading sharks and other big fish from their fishing boats, seagulls and pelicans in the air or the water, nice yachts moored in the marina, kayaks and canoes in the harbour, people fishing off the rocks on the breakwall, people jogging, walking their dog, cycling, swimming, snorkelling… it’s never the same and that’s why I never tire of this activitity.

It gives me fresh air to breath, great views and things to look at, a happy feeling inside to realise I’m living in such a wonderful place, and a health boost from the climb up Muttonbird Island. What more could you want?

And of course, when you come back, you can say you’ve “earned” that coffee & cake or brekkie at Wild Harvest (halfway along the North Wall), cone of ice cream from the Gelateria, fish & chips from the Fishermen’s Co-op, takeaway burger from Julie’s Galley or lunch on the veranda at the Yacht Club restaurant Y Knot (at the start of the North Wall) – so you can sit down and admire that view just a little bit longer!