Coffs Harbour / Kiwi Down Under Farm 🚉 🧄 🫚 🧺 📦 🥝 🧑‍🌾

 Monday, May 13

I got up and called my Mums to wish them a Happy Mother's Day (a day later than mine in Australia). Then I started packing up my bags for the 2-hour train trip to Coffs Harbour. Judith took me to the Wauchope Station and beautiful indigenous-style artwork. I got confused with the military time and arrived 2 hours early. (Hence I had time to catch up on past blog posts.)

More art deco Koalas and beautiful indigenous-style artwork at the Wauchope Station

A unique selfie

My train to Coffs Harbour

Beautiful countryside on the train trip.  I'm so glad I decided not to rent a car! We stopped at many quaint towns with interesting names: Kempsey, Eungai, Macksville, Nambucca Heads, Urunga, and Sawtell. 

This town had many lovely old church buildings

Some deforestation and development

One of the towns

There were lots of cows along the way

I bought lunch at the Buffet on the train - Spinach Feta roll and fruit salad - mediocre, but food!

A glimpse of The Great Dividing Range

The trip was mostly inland, but I did get a couple of glimpses of the ocean starting at Nambucca Heads. Too quick to catch a photo, though.

I got off at the Coffs Harbour Station, and Sally came to get me, and drove to her Organic farm in Bonville. 

Tuesday, May 14

It was already pretty dark when we reached the farm, but I awoke to THIS the next day!

Bird sounds & sights

Cockatoos in the trees

Sally & Diesel, the Cavoodle

 

The mountain in the distance is called Tucker's Knob

Sally had a big order shipment deadline on Wednesday, so she was pretty busy preparing garlic and ginger for the order. I helped peel the outer leaves off the garlic and sort the perfect heads from the imperfect ones, and I also helped cut tubers off ginger.

Sally washing ginger

After being harvested from the soil

After the first washing

Trimmed and washed again, and set out to dry

Ready to be boxed up

A snack Sally brought for us to eat without having to walk up to the house:

Fruit toast, guavas, grapes, and  “custard apples,” which are yummy!

This is Tim, from San Diego, who works on Sally’s farm in exchange for living in a small house on the property. He’s been helping her for a couple of years, I think. In Australia, to get a work visa you have to spend 3 months a year working on a farm (oversimplified explanation). Tim was involved in Christian Surfers in San Diego and Carlsbad and knows a lot of people I have met, including several who were on the CSUS Surf & Serve trip to Chile in April!

I did a self-tour of the farm property, so amazingly beautiful!

This is Sally’s backyard! Many of the trees are nut trees: pecans, macadamias, etc.

A small stream and waterfall

Kiwis

Beehives

Kiwi groves from a distance. There are heaps of plants.

Sally’s husband Dean died at age 63 from a Glioblastoma brain tumor 2 years ago. When I stayed with Bec Brown in

Wamberal, she told me I had to meet Sally. Dean was Bec’s husband Pete’s best friend. Sally and I bonded

immediately, and have been sharing our stories and journeys, often while peeling garlic! It has been very healing!

Just before sunset, we took a drive to Sawtell Beach and Bonville Headland. Sally let me drive her car so that I could

practice driving on the opposite side of the car and road. The evening and views were gorgeous!

Sally chased the seagulls so I could get this shot of them in flight

Then we went for dinner at an Indian Restaurant. We wondered why this Cockatoo was just sitting there

so close to the woman. I walked over to take a photo, and I saw it was on a leash!