Muttonbird Island, Coffs Harbour

It rained a lot while we were in Coffs Harbour.  We watched the weather while we were there and chose a sunny afternoon to walk to Muttonbird Island. TurboBug decided he had to push his pram.  The entire way.  He’s such a toddler.  This walkway goes all the way out to the island.  Ocean on one side, a boat marina and fish market on the other. We found these mosaics along the way.  I’m wondering if these were commissioned or someone took it upon themselves to make the walk more interesting. The kids enjoyed hopping from rock to rock (or cement block to cement block) along the way.  Every once in a while I reminded them to please not break any bones or die, then looked away so I wouldn’t have to watch.  🙂 Once we got onto the actual island we were happy to find a skink or two. The trail is very steep at one point.  We left the pram at the bottom, which TurboBug was okay with after much discussion.  Did I mention he’s a toddler? ;)  We discovered that this is a popular running trail.  Due to the steepness it would be quite challenging and we saw many runners that day. Unfortunately we were there the wrong time of year to see the birds.  During the winter they migrate north. We made our way to the other side of the island to the eastern lookout.  Ever so slowly.  From the top of the island you get 360 degree views of the area. It was the right time of day for all the fishing boats to leave.  We must have seen ten or so heading out for the evening. We kept our eyes peeled for whales.  And we saw some!  Yay!  Humpback whales are on the move this time of year, heading north to warmer waters. Really, those are whales.  We even saw some jumping in unison.  So neat.  Here’s close-ups, blurry since they are zoomed in so much.  I was reluctant to leave because they were so easy to spot. Some of us also saw some dolphins right near these rocks.  We watched a man fishing and saw him reel in a nice big fish from close by.  The kids immediately wanted to know if they could come fishing here!  They hadn’t had much luck fishing off the pier.  But these rocks aren’t an easy spot to get to. More of those 360 degree views. This kid is such a character.  🙂 TurboBug was much relieved to pick up the pram waiting a the bottom of the trail and then proceeded to push it all the way back to the car.  An easy walk and a must do if you are in Coffs Harbour.  Even in the winter.  You might get rained on, but you will most likely get to see some whales!