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Matt's Tale

@talematts

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A blogger and occasional scriptwriter, wannabe book writer, film director/producer who's been an extra in a commercial and a film. Tale yet to be told

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Good Dog-owning and Dog-Friendly Folk,

I am a dog-sitter based out of the Sutherland Shire in Sydney, but I have recently had to go further afield to find sits.

As such, I have been lucky to find my way to Coffs Harbour and discover some of the most beautiful off-leash beaches and dog-friendly cafés up that way.

It seems like such a shame to limit such places to the local dogs, like the beautiful two I looked after there, so I had this idea:

How about I take people's dogs on holiday with me when their pawrents need to do something around their home (like do renovations, host people who are afraid of dogs, etc) and it might be difficult for the dogs to be there?

It could be while their permanent home is being organised or set up and used in ways that it is best not to have the dogs around.

I am now looking to buy a vehicle suitably set up for taking dogs on holiday in such regards.

Any good pictures of the places and their beaches and cafés, along with the dogs, could feature in my second "Diary Of A Dogfather" coffee table book.

If you like the sound of this idea, then please feel free to book my services and the Dogfather Car through my MadPaws using the link shown in my bio.

Please feel free to follow me and leave a comment or send me a message with an enquiry.

Cheers, Matt taken in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales by @talematts

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21 hours ago

There's that one dog that demands more attention than most, and my experience is that there's a certain type of cavoodle/cavapoo that is great at it. Kobe is one of those dogs.

Yet somehow, despite other dogs that might be around, they learn really quickly and manage to steal your heart in the process.

You know you should not give them special attention, if there are other dogs to be cared for.

Yet it's hard not to.

I just had to let him go his own way, and give as much attention as I could to the others - but somehow they seemed to know, or suspect, a special bond had been formed.

He became my little dog, checking up on me, when it was one of the others who did that at first. I feel guilty, because tonight it was like he suspected that tomorrow I will be gone - and it will be after his regular weekly dog walker has been and gone.

#cavoodlelove #cavapoolove #thatonedog #amanandhisdog❤️ #dogsitterheartbreak taken in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia by @talematts

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4 days ago

Kobe really got into his puppy whip at Harvey's Social today, following a good run and play around at the dog park next door with lots of other dogs.

I have decided Kobe needs his own reel, which I will produce later today.

In the meantime, I have to admit I think Harvey's Social may be one of the best dog-friendly cafés I have ever been to. Tia, one of the baristas there, told me that they have even had people bring their cats there! They even look after a stray cat!

Definitely Harvey's Social has to be a candidate for my next #diaryofadogfather book telling all about dog-friendly cafés I have discovered around Australia. My first Dogfather book should hopefully be available to buy online soon.

#diaryofadogfather2 #dogfriendlycafes #dogfriendlycafesinAustralia #bestdogparksinAustralia taken in Bungarribee Dog Park by @talematts

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4 days ago

I am really grateful for not just getting my laptop properly fixed so it can not just connect to Wifi but also connect to the Internet.

It is all down to this guy, Maddy, who is originally from Nepal and has just as much understanding and care about people as he does for fixing a laptop's hardware.

He also plays great contemporary music in the Dr Ballu store he works in.

Indeed, the song connected with this post was playing in the store when he called to say my laptop was fully working again, and just after I came back from having a great, reasonably-priced flat white at The Ritual Espresso just outside the little mall there.

There was something about this song playing right then, after I had had this coffee and Maddy carefully as well as considerately explained what had gone wrong to upset my laptop and me.

I realised it reminded me of what else Paul and Jason had done with the Internet café they ran in Glebe, which I had bought a share in back in the mid-nineties.

It wasn't just Paul's great coffee and food that had made Digi.Kaf work but Jason's ability to provide a space where people could both come and work online with the desktops they had there, but also provide practical assistance with using them too. I just provided the CDs to play, from bands and musicians I met through Groundswell. It relieved stress, and was a great place to hang out as much as get online.

I realised that there needs to be a place like that again, but set in a modern context with exchange of ideas about music, books and the Arts as well as fixes for the tech and help with media.

It will be interesting when I revisit Glebe and Forest Lodge on Friday to see what places are for rent there, and perhaps consider scope to establish something like this again.

This time it could go well with the mindset and spirit of someone like Maddy there, who laptop-carrying customers could have a calm chat with while getting their tech problems fixed - but with personal value to be added about what they need to be more sustainable digitally like Jason once brought to that first Internet café in Sydney.

#internetcafe #customerservice #artstech #mediasupport #digitalsustainability taken in Greenway by @talematts

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4 days ago

Woolgoolga Beaches for Dogs Part 3

We went back to Woolgoolga on Saturday for the Curry Festival, only to find dogs are not allowed.

Moreover, they had closed off so much of the Jetty area that we couldn't even go back to the Beachouse Café!

So we decided to brave the wilder Woolgoolga Back Beach that one of the locals had warned us off due to some dog owners not being careful with their pets there. I decided if it seemed busy and there were a lot of dogs there, then we wouldn't go.

However we were lucky. Despite it being windy, we saw only one friendly little dog on the way down and two friendly dogs on the way back up.

#offleashdogbeaches #woolgoolgabeaches taken in Woolgoolga Back Beach by @talematts

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8 days ago

Woolgoolga Beaches for Dogs Part 2

So after "no Whoopee at Woopi", we headed back towards Coffs Harbour and found a sign on the way to Emerald Beach.

We stopped at the end of the road near @rattle_restaurant where we had a great flat white after the off-leash dog run on the beach we wanted.

Emerald Beach is stunning, and has a little lagoon there as well as popular with kite surfers too.

A suitable stick was easily found by the dogs to play with.

Result!

#dogfriendlybeaches #dogfriendlycafe #woolgoolgabeaches #offleashdogbeaches #offleashdogparks taken in Woolgoolga, New South Wales by @talematts

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8 days ago

Woolgoolga Beaches for Dogs - Part 1

We have been visiting Woolgoolga for the last few days, checking out options for me to stay up this way for business or work.

Woopi Beach did not get much "Whoopee!" from us, even though it is right next to Woolgoolga town, because you cannot take dogs on it.

We did enjoy going to Beachouse Café, which is very dog-friendly, as well as visiting our friends from SweetAs Berries at their store.

I came to know Charmie and the SweetAs girls from the stall they run at Coffs Harbour markets on a Sunday, where they supply best quality blueberries and bananas at a fair price. I had not met Allan from SweetAs though.

Allan has done many interesting things in his life including camel rides on Coffs Harbour beaches as well as operating a single hole golf course in The Philippines where you can win 20000 pesos if you get a hole-in-1!

So the people and the café more than made up for lack of beach time for the dogs.

#woolgoolgabeaches #offleashdogparks #offleashdogbeaches #dogfriendlycafes taken in Woopi by @talematts

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8 days ago

From Brody at @techaddicts27 , to Elijah at @darkartscoffeeroasters and then on to @leesabarrell at Officeworks before going back to Matt at @techaddicts27 for the final answer on what best to do, the problems with my laptop and walking dogs with a coffee afterwards were resolved - but possibly through to where I need to be to be alright to write!

Thank you Coff's Harbour small businesses!

P.S. Brody also told me about a great beach for walking dogs that possibly has to be one of the region's best kept secrets! Certainly you can't find your way there using Google Maps!! taken in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales by @talematts

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11 days ago

A Dog Tale Writer's Blessing in Disguise

Recently, while here in Coff's Harbour on a dog sit, I have had some tech issues with my laptop connecting to WiFi, so I found out about @techaddicts27 as a good place to take it here for a diagnosis.

I took the dogs when I went there, and not only was Brody there helpful in determining it must be an issue with the Wifi where I am staying, but he also recommended a great beach to take the dogs for a walk on, should I visit again.

The reason for that coming up was the surprise discovery that @darkartscoffeeroasters is next door. I had heard about their café downtown but knew you couldn't take dogs there.

However, at the Roastery, you can. There is even this great outdoor seating area where you can sit down at with the dogs.

What's more, it's very handy to the Thompson's Fenced Off-leash Dog Park - which has to be one of the biggest and best dog parks I have been to.

I have been considering living and working in Coffs Harbour, tied in with publishing my dog tales coffee books but also with a view to establishing a unique writer's and artist's retreat that could tie in with the @bellingenreaderswriters festival every year as well as a historical fiction (and possibly spy) book I hope to write about gatherings of famous writers and artists in Essex just before World War II.

It just felt like everything was coming together unexpectedly, finding this with what otherwise seemed like a small disaster with my laptop not just copping out with its WiFi but later with its memory running short of capacity too.

It was Leesa at the local Officeworks who suggested I would be better off getting my laptop repaired, because I wouldn't get a low cost replacement for the one I had - but also recommended Matt at Tech Addicts as a good person to speak to.

I realised all these lovely friendly people and their businesses would be great to have as a support network, should I be able to get this retreat off the ground (and not to mention complete my book about my Essex writers and artists gathering being a cover for spies!!)

#goodcoffsharbourbusinesses
#dogfriendlycafes #greatdogparksofAustralia #dogtales #writersandartistsretreat taken in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales by @talematts

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11 days ago

taken in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales by @talematts

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15 days ago

Let's face it, Morgan is a very sticky dog!!

The bigger the stick, the better it is.

He looks so proud when he has found one too!

It simply adds to it that Kaia is there with him, following his every move and barking encouragement too!

They certainly "stick together", with emphasis on the stick!!

#stickydogs #bigstickdogs taken in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales by @talematts

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18 days ago

It was nice to return to this dog park here in Coffs again. I came here earlier in the year when staying up at Bellingen.

This time I am staying in Coffs itself, with two lovely dogs and a little old cat to look after. The dogs are Kaia and Morgan, two kelpies.

I am on something of a mission here though. I want to see whether I can settle here, because my first few days have settled that this is where I want to be based if I want the best of both worlds between a creative life in Coffs with a corporate one I occasionally go back to in Sydney (but can ideally work remotely or be hybrid, staying in Sydney just a few days per week)

That said, I did love my time on the Tasman Peninsula in Tasmania and have established the foundations for a unique sustainable transportation business that would support access to the whole community there as well as distribution of boutique product to elsewhere on the island and also to other states on the East Coast of mainland Australia.

Indeed, a couple I met with their kelpie puppy here had stopped for a break on the way down from the Gold Coast to Tasmania to get married. The girl knew many of the same people I had met there too - including the family of the man from the couple I had stayed with! What are the chances of that? Is it a sign??!

Still, I must stay true to my mission here - which is to commercialise my first coffee table book of dog tales, "Diary Of A Dogfather: Down Under". I have published and printed my first copy of it, which I gave to my nephew @jono_king2005 for his birthday. I am hoping Coffs, and Bellingen in particular because of its fame hosting Australia's largest readers and writers festival, are going to be good to me in getting this first coffee table book out there as well as source good contacts for a historical fiction book about a retreat for famous writers and artists in the UK

#dogbooks #serendipity #australianodyssey #diaryofadogfather #greatdogparks taken in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales by @talematts

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22 days ago