Coffs Harbour: Big Bananas, Aboriginals, and Drag Queens

Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, is about halfway between Sydney and Brisbane.















Originally its economy was based on bananas, so there are many  big bananas in town, including the Big Banana Fun Park.










And the big bananas who compete in the many aquatic events, such as the Coffs Harbor Ocean Swim and the Coffs Harbour Triathlon.







There are 8 high schools in town (most called "colleges").    Australian high schools don't offer wrestling, but there are lots of swim teams.

There's also a campus of Southern Cross University.









If you get tired of the big bananas, Coffs Harbor features the Bunker Cartoon Gallery, a museum dedicated to the history of Australian cartooning, and the annual Buskers and Comedy Festival (a busker is a street performer).

Although I suppose they have some big bananas, too.


And a variety of outdoor activities, including hiking, golf, tennis, scuba diving, and surfing.  These guys belong to the boardriding club.

Big bananas are a prerequisite for membership, I suppose.
5.6% of the population of Coffs Harbor is Aboriginal, nearly double the national average of 3%.  Most belong to the Gumbaynggirr, one of the largest Aboriginal tribes in New South Wales.  The language had almost died out by the 1990s, but now there are classes and activities, and about 700 people can speak it.

Gumbaynggirr educator Clark Webb looks like he has a big...well, never mind.




  Every July Aboriginals and their allies across the country celebrate NAIDOC Week (National Aboriginal and Torres Islanders Day Observance Committee).  In 2019, the Coffs Harbour NAIDOC featured a football carnival, an art exhibition, an elders' lunch sponsored by the Deadly Sistahs Girlz, and:






An after party hosted by rhe Fearless Felicia Foxx, the "Realest Tidda of Sidney"

A drag queen at a family-friendly event in rural Australia?

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.