4th
Time in Byron Bay
I’ve just finished my second nights sleep in Byron Bay, had breky and am now awaiting the arrival of “jim” to take a group of us from the YHA to Nimbin. This is the type of trip that you either take because you simply can’t understand what a “hippy town” might be, or precicelsy because you do know what that means. I was born and raised around a lot of hippies so I suppose you know what group I fall into.
A bit of catch-up… I landed at Ballina airport and took the mini-bus into town, proceeded to meet a group of guys in the rooms near mine, and promptly had a party. This was the night that I was kicked out of the bar (I think the only time that’s ever happened.) In this town the bouncers are very sensitive to anyone that appears to have had a few and are overly aggresive (I think we all agreed about this) in enforcing their rules of drinking behavior in bars. At the time I was asked to leave I did not even have a drink in hand and was standing quietly listening to the conversation…ok I was a bit tanked, but still…
Yesterday morning, after a great breakfast of greasy bacon and eggs on toast, I headed to the Main Beach for a bit of sun and bogey-boarding on the perfectly rolling wave breaks. They simply never stop rolling in and the surf was a blast. No stingers, so one is free to swim as long as can handle the warm water and salt spray.
After a swim I simply read on the beach and watched people. After getting my daily dose of tanning rays, I grabbed a quick shower and then headed off to the famous lighthouse on Cape Byron. This bluff on which the lighthouse sits is the western most point in all of Australia, and plenty of sun worshipers (hippies mostly) like to watch the sun rise and set at this point. It was a bit of a long hike tho, and humid, so I could have skipped the midday shower as the 400 or so stairs left me glistening.
One thing I’d not thought of before coming here. This is a romantic spot, so keeping my head away from thoughts of past relationships was important. Good thing the locals offer plenty of distractions and I ended up the day at The Beach hotel where a fantastic band from Melbourne was playing a mix of spanish rasta rap and funk with a killer brass section.
That’s all for now. I’ll load more photos as soon as I can.
