Byron Bay

On the way down from Brisbane we decided to stop off somewhere on the Gold Coast for some wholesome australian fun, and after receiving some advice that Surfers Paradise was way more commercialised, we ended up at Byron Bay.

I think I fell in love with this place at first sight. It is the complete aussie version of our english sea-side town, but without the tacky promenade, the falling down pier and row after row of chip shop, candy floss stand, ice cream van... plus it is on the east coast of Australia so it is hot, sunny and the surf is good!

Obviously the first thing you notice here is the beautiful beach and rather large waves! But then you look back to the shore and realise that something is missing from this picture - where are the skyscraper hilton hotels that we are used to, and the many other unsightly features of a beach resort? Byron has none of them. It is more or less untouched by tourism apart from the odd 'bucket and spade' type shops flogging a bit of Byron merchandise. As you walk down the main street the other thing that strikes you is how laid back the place is. It is a magnet for surfer dudes and beach babes, everyone is really friendly, and it is the perfect place to totally chill out.

As we drove down the main streets of Byron, I realised that this was the place to splash out in the shopping department, so first thing Saturday morning (after a hearty breakfast at a local cafe) I left the guys to more manly things, and hit the abundance of surfer and hippy shops lining the high street.

In the afternoon, after I had exhausted my bank account for the day, me and Chris decided to hire body boards for an hour while Rich took a walk up to the lighthouse.

Body boarding to my delight was a lot of fun - you could spend ages getting frustrated waiting for the right wave to catch, and not going anywhere, when suddenly you are on your board and being rushed all the way to (and sometimes up!) the beach at what feels like a phenomenal speed. Suddenly you forget your earlier struggles and frustrations and jump straight back in the water to do it again!

Unfortunately, the sights of Sydney were calling us and we had to leave on Sunday morning, but not before we took a short trip to the famous Byron market. I had a browse of the stalls for a while, and then stumbled upon a crowd of people watching a one-man-band, a guy calling himself Juzzie Smith. This guy was amazing. Not only was he playing the guitar, harmonica, and vocals, but he also had a digerido to his right, a drum between his knees, some bells, and weird drum synthesiser thingy (i'm sure Rich could give me the real name but he is not here at the moment) that he kept hitting his left foot with!! Having not bought anything at the other stalls, I decided to splash out and buy his album, as apparently he was raising money to help his friend who was trying to save the Tasmanian forest. It was definitely worth the money. If only we had a cd player in our campervan and then I could actually play it!

From a very chiiiiiiillled out...

Laura x x x