On our first morning in Byron Bay we picked up the cheapest rental car in town - a 1997 Festiva for almost nothing, and we hit the road. We started out by hiking around Cape Byron and to the lighthouse. Along the way there are great views of the ocean, and at the moment the humpback whales are migrating up the coast to mate. You could see the whales (or really their the spray from their blowholes) out to sea, pods of dolphins swimming by, rays and turtles near the shores. In the evening we went to a spa for massages, as well as their sauna, whirlpool etc. Brian's massage was fantastic, administered by a woman twice his size who wasn't afraid to cause a little healing pain.
We began our second day with a trip to Nimbin. In the early 70's a bunch of pot-smoking hippies decided to hold a Woodstock-inspired festival in the Nimbin valley, and when it was done they just decided not to leave. Hence Nimbin, Australia's Amsterdam. At first we really enjoyed it, there was a market on for with lots of free spirits selling old forks, large knitted hats and hemp clothing. The town is full of colourful storefronts painted around the time of the festival, and has a hilarious museum which has some old VW vans coming out of the walls. After a while a tour bus pulled up, and the friendly neighbourhood drug dealers (Maureen, June, we said "No", don't worry) began to get a little more aggressive trying to lure in the tourists. We decided that it was time to leave.
After leaving Nimbin we drove through the Hinterland, the hills behind Byron and the coast. The scenary was absolutely beautiful, winding roads through rolling hills covered in olive trees. We went out to Nightcap national park and hiked around Minyon Falls. Unfortunately due to the dry conditions the falls have actually dried up, but the hike through rainforest was definitely worth the trip. We got a little lost on the way back to Byron Bay, but eventually we made it. We finished the day off with gourmet fish and chips.
On our last morning in Byron we took a surfing lesson - our teacher was a crazy Gerard Depardieu look-a-like Australian guy named Taz. We were on big boards with only small waves, so it was actually pretty easy to get up and surf.
Byron Bay was definitely one of our favourite stops on the trip down the coast, we wish we could have stayed longer. Our B&B was fantastic, run by 2 men who make the most fantastic breakfast served on their veranda. Brian loved it because you can steal oranges right from the front lawn - very convinient. The next morning we left Byron, flew to Sydney and then on to Chirstchurch for a week in New Zealand.
4 comments:
Nice, you guys still seem to be suffering under the hardships of life in Oz. Hard to get massages and eat fruit off the trees all the time... you didnt mention to anybody that Byron Bay is the hub of the party scene on the gold coast and people got there to get wasted and 'hook up' with other travelers. I only spent an afternoon, not several days like you two...
Kate and I went canoe camping this weekend and had a great time. Everything else is the same.
-C-
Chris,
I'm surprised you didn't stick around longer, I saw many guys of your stoner type in Nimbin. Just kidding. We're a bunch of old farts, most nights we were asleep by 10pm, have to get up early for all of our activities you know.
See you soon, mugs and bugs (or whatever it's called) is in my bag.
Clare
Nice Clare, I am impressed. It only took you 3/4 of your trip to learn how to respond to comments. I would have left more....
Did you see any platapuse(spel.?) in Nimbin? I never got there. I was supposed to but bus troubles...
Keep on doing the early morning adventures. Makes Kate and I jealous.
Say hi to Brian.
C
The only platypus (I looked up the spelling) was in the aquarium in Sydney, although we did have a possum running around the patio where we were eating dinner on Magnetic Island, threatening to jump onto the table at any moment.
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