Coffs Harbour and Stealth Camping

We have spent the last two nights in Coffs Harbour and today we hit the road and head north, probably stopping in either Yamba or Arrawarra for the night. On Tuesday we went to a waterpark here in Coffs and bedded down in the evening in a parking lot behind BBQs Galore beside a dumpster. We got up early to avoid detection, and Kyle went for the first day of his scuba diving course. Jordache and I spent the day surfing, and the waves were ideal for beginners, meaning they were rather small and no locals were on the water. Perfect. Jordache and I chatted with a local contractor at the beach as we geared up to get in the water. He had spent two years traveling around Australia as a youth, just chasing waves (and skirts from the sounds of it). Now in his forties, he doesn't surf that much anymore - "Not everday at least," he said.

One thing that Jordache is less than fond of is water, and in particular, sharks. So far he has been able to suppress any fear that would keep him out of the water, but talking to the local didn't help. The man said "Sure, sharks are out there. I mean, someone just got bit the other day down in Sydney. But to think of that just ruins the experience you know?" I watched Jordache as the guy said this with an air of bravado, and Jordache just slowly nodded. If thinking about sharks ruins the experience, being told all about sharks by a local probably falls into the same category of dissuasion.

Last night we camped in the same spot behind the BBQ warehouse, but we got there a little bit earlier than the night before. Too early it turned out. After we had set the last tent pin in the ground in the grass behind the dumpster, a security guard pulled up. He told us that he really couldn't let us stay there, but after chatting with him for a bit, he said he hadn't talked to us and that he hadn't seen us and that we could ignore the next security guard when the shift changed at midnight. Applauding our good fortune, we went to bed, and less than thirty minutes later we were woken by lights playing across the outside the tent and the words "Police. Who's in there?" We popped our heads out of our respective sleeping areas, Kyle and me in the tent and Jordache in the car, to see two police officers standing there. We were told the the officers had been given a report by a concerned citizen about some suspicious looking blokes in a station wagon. "That was would be us," we told him. With a bit of a twinkle in his eye, the one officer said "But we don't think you look suspicious. Make sure you are out of here early." And we went back to bed.