Hard to say bye to Byron Bay (Byron Bay)

Member Name: looby5

Product:	Byron Bay
Date:	30/05/05 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pretty, Chilled Out, Unique

Disadvantages: None at all

Last Thursday, I was sitting in the office feeling a little bit fed up, a bit of bloke trouble and a lousy week at work were making me feel like getting away for a few days. Hmmm, where is a girl to go when she feels this way? I called my friend Lynn, who is currently travelling round Australia and asked her where she was. “Coffs Harbour right now” was the reply, “But I’ll be in Byron by Saturday” So there it was, before you could say ‘Tie me Kangaroo Down’ I was on the net looking for a flight up the coast.

Flights to Byron Bay from Sydney, (where I’m based) are frequent and cheep, with both Virgin Blue and Quantas offering good deals. As I left it so late I paid a bit more, $330.00 or about £150, if you know further in advance I reckon you could pick a return flight up for about £80. I chose to fly to Ballina, which is a half hour drive from Byron and the transfer cost $15/£6.50 in an airport shuttle bus. Many people fly to Coolengatta, which is the Gold Coast airport and often the flights there are cheaper still although it’s about an hour away by road.

I arrived at 10.30am Saturday morning and walked in to the YHA where we were staying at exactly the same moment as my friend and partner in crime and we checked in to our dorm room, which was spotlessly clean and cost us a very reasonable $27/£10 a night. I must mention at this point that we were to be joined by another friend, she had left Sydney at 6am on the bus and was due to be with us at 8.30pm, just gives you some idea of the distances involved in this country.

We dumped our rucksacks and headed of towards the beach. Byron has a reputation for being ‘Hippyish’, slightly bohemian, and as you walk down the street you do notice a lot of dread locked individuals, lots of floaty skirts and long beards, and they’re just the ladies, boom, boom. We walked along Jonson Street, one of the main streets and we just couldn’t stay out of the shops, loads of surf type shops selling beach ware and surfing paraphernalia, all good quality gear though, no cheap tat like in many other holiday towns. Then there were the New Age type shops selling crystals and advertising Yoga and Massages. My bank balance took a pounding as I bought those sunglasses I just had to have and the new flip flops, (or thongs as we call them here) I couldn’t live without.

Finally, with an empty purse, we reached the beach and one of the main reasons I was so keen on going to Byron Bay. It’s just beautiful, the sand is white and when the surf froths up on the shore you get the feeling that paradise is all around you. There wasn’t a cloud in the pristine and intense blue sky, with Cape Byron lighthouse standing majestically over it’s charge at the far end of the beach I was simply awe struck. We lazed around all afternoon popping to the bar when we got so hot we just had to have a beer.

That evening we collected our friend Sharon and her huge suitcase from the bus stop. It appears that no one told Sharon the basic rules about backpacking, like er… having a backpack. We dumped her stuff then sauntered of to check out Byron’s nightlife. We ate at a pub, The Great Northern, which had an impressive and good value specials board and live music most nights, this was a great pub, we moved on to the Beach Hotel, which, as the name suggests is facing the beach. This is a more upmarket joint than the Great Northern and as you would expect it’s also more expensive. As the views really are something to behold I think it’s worth it. There are couple of night clubs which kick on till all hours with Cheeky Monkeys being popular with the younger backpackers, we gave it a miss preferring the pubs and outdoor terraces to a sweaty, noisy room. (Am I getting old?)

On Sunday we walked off the hangover, going down to the beach and walking right along, doing the Byron coastal walk and carrying on up to Cape Byron light house, which the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. The walk was quite hard work, being very steep and when you leave the beach you have two kilometres all up hill. I enjoyed it very much but one of my friends gave up half way and went back to the beach. The views on the way up there were of course stunning and there are a number of lookouts on the way up, where, if you’re lucky you can see Dolphins and Turtles. In May and November you might even spot the mighty Hump Back Whale on it’s way through, doing it’s migration thing.

That evening we again dined in the Great Northern, over a Pizza and a bottle of Cab Sav we all agreed we’d had a great time in Byron and that we’d all probably be back. I sauntered back to the YHA about midnight feeling all chilled out and glad I’d come and tried not to think about getting up at 5am to catch my flight back to Sydney and reality

Summary: