Byron Bay

I waited at Andy’s place in Surfer’s to get picked up by Christie and Alex, they got lost on the way and we ended up leaving at about 10pm and getting to Byron Bay after 11. It was Alex’s uncle’s house located on a couple of acres about 6km from the town center. We got up bright and early and headed for town…as soon as we passed the main roundabout, Alex’s car stalled and we pushed into the nearby service station. After some pretty poor customer service we left the car there for the mechanics to check out and we grabbed some breakfast at a Café and ate on the grassy area just behind the beach. Then we went around the open air shopping mall checking out the local surfer shops. I got some new board shorts because I had left the only pair I brought at Andy’s place (I left one of my suitcases there so I could travel a little lighter these last few weeks). I was also looking for an acceptable bucket hat to protect me from the powerful Aussie Sun but nothing could fit my apparently bulbous 7 ½ sized head. At about noon we headed to beach where Alex and I went body surfing for about 30 mins. It was the first time in all the beaches that I have visited that I actually went swimming and the water was a perfect temperature, easy to handle and any warmer it wouldn’t have been refreshing. As we were drying off we were watching some kids playing beach cricket and enjoying the local fair (Byron is a backpackers haven and often clothing optional).

After we were done with the beach we headed up to the lighthouse which Alex reckoned is the furthest eastern point on the Australian land mass, which was cool because there were awesome beaches on both sides. We were getting hungry so we bought some steaks (I almost bought some roo steaks but didn’t have the heart even though I tried it in Sydney and it’s pretty good) and a 12 pack of XXXX Gold (the Queensland Beer of choice) and headed back to the house for a BBQ and to watch the opening day of the Australian Open. After lounging all afternoon we headed back to town to the Byron Hotel which was pretty busy for 9pm on a Monday night but then backpackers aren’t too discerning on when to go out and party. At the door when I presented my CA license the bouncer went through this five minute routine of asking me if I was in a gang, which one and yada yada…sad that Australians would identify that first with CA/US. We called it an early night (I think I went to Byron with the only two Aussies that don’t drink), and oh yeah I still had no idea when I was going to Melbourne because the ABF hadn’t called all day.

I woke up the next morning to a call that my flight was for 1:15 which I accidentally got to the airport about 2 hours early because I messed up the math on the time change from New South Whales to Queensland because QLD doesn’t do daylight savings which is absolutely ridiculous, it gets light at about 4:30am and dark at 7pm. Anyway Byron was a nice Monday side trip but I’ll have to get back for a weekend adventure.