On February 22, we continued north up the coast through various small towns to Coffs Harbour, home of the Big Banana.  What exactly is the Big Banana, you ask?  Well...it's...well, a big banana.  It's big, yellow, banana-shaped, and sits in a prominent position between the Pacific Highway (don't let the name fool you, it's not really a highway) and a really big fruit stand selling mostly, yes, well, bananas.  We didn't stop at the Big Banana, nor did we visit the fruit stand or neighboring theme/picnic park.  Some of the locals might have said that this was our loss, but we felt the two or three Big Banana viewings we received as we drove by on several occasions pretty much did the trick.

 

On our way to Coffs Harbour, we stopped in Port Macquarie for lunch.  Here, we took time out to see Port Macquarie's version of the Big Banana.  No, it wasn't a giant plastic prawn (shrimp) sitting on the roof of the local seafood packing plant (that little gem lay in wait for us the next day in a town just north of Coffs Harbour), it was what the locals call the 'People's Gallery'.  Nope, not an art gallery per se, it's more of a rock gallery.  The town decided it would be a good idea to turn graffiti into an attraction; so visitors and locals alike have been given free reign by the local government to turn the rock breakwall lining the entrance to Port Macquarie into a living display of their artistic abilities - whether they have any or not.  As one who was there to just observe the results and not contribute to the artistry, I can say that it worked for me.  The display spanned everything from the usual 'Sally + John forever' written inside an ornate heart, to rocks adopted by camping families who added to their personal rock graffiti collection each time they visited, to heartfelt eulogies complete with drawings or pictures of the deceased.  Not tooooo baaaad.

 

Picture 1 - Sue walking along the People's Gallery breakwall.

 

Now, a little bit about meat pies...

Meat pies are big here.  They are usually what's served up at rugby games in place of hot dogs (by the way, there are no hot dogs here; sadly, there are only sausages and meat pies).  We've been told that the meat pies served up at athletic events are bad excuses for meat pies due to their tough crusts and unidentifiable contents.  Oh - hang on, let's take a step back here....In case you are not familiar with a meat pie, it is what we would call a pot pie - except that it is less runny, so you can eat it with your hands and not have the scalding hot contents drip down your wrists in the process.  We are told they are best served very hot, the crust must be flakey, and the contents not only identifiable, but tasty.  So it was with special joy that we ran across the famous Fredo Pies on our way to Coffs Harbour.  Special joy for me and maybe Don, but maybe not so much for Sue and John, neither of who are necessarily meat pie lovers.  We stopped anyway and bought four pies.  How could we not?  Fredo Pies is described in the guide book as having fifty varieties of pies made fresh daily including things like lamb, mint and honey pie; rabbit mulligatawny (a spicey stew originally made in India); and even vegetarian meat pie (bit of an oxymoron there) specialties like asparagus, cheese and pasta; and vegetable mornay.  Not only does Fredos offer up incredible pies, but a large statue of Marilyn Monroe sitting on a tall pole adorns the outdoor eating area.  Who could pass that by without stopping?

 

Picture 2 - Fredo Pies and its Marilyn Monroe attraction.

 

Picture 3 - Trying to decide which of the fifty varieties of pies to buy.  We ended up going for the mint lamb, Thai chicken, some kind of beef and another chicken variety that slips my mind.  Even the non-pie lovers agreed that all were dash good.

 

Anne