Coffs Harbour sits on the North Coast of NSW, about 300 km south of the Queensland border and about 600 km north of the NSW capital Sydney.
It has a population of about 60,000 which doubles to 120,000 during the Christmas holiday season. Tourism is the city/town's main industry, you see. Before that, it was bananas. Before bananas it was timber, namely, red cedar. An oversized sculpture of a banana (modelled on a 'prize-winning' banana. Geez, give me a break) honors the success of Coffs Harbour's banana industry (which is still going, but slowly dying), and somehow attracts myriad tourists. Well, it is the largest herb in the world you know. Maybe I'm biased because I drive past this eyesore every day, but it's not that impressive. Trust me.
Originally Coffs Harbour was Korff's Harbour, named after its discoverer Captain John Korff. However, a simple spelling error changed all that. Recently, Coffs Harbour was awarded 'the most liveable city in Australia.' To tell you the truth, I have no idea why. The best thing about Coffs is its climate, which is why it is such a frightfully popular tourist destination.
Coffs is home to the Shine piano genius David Helfgott, Gladiator star Russell Crowe (who was recently married here), the lead singer of Grinspoon, and Australian acting legend Jack Thompson.
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