I heard about Byron Bay when I was in my late teens and the gathering point for hoards of hippies has been a place I’ve wanted to experience ever since. Unfortunately when I turned up the weather took a turn for the worst so I explored the town dressed in a Bundaberg Rum poncho – not quite the colourful attire I would have imagined wearing all those years earlier.
I was at the YHA which, aside from the nice hammock outside my room, was a little uninspiring for somewhere like Byron so I set off to find a hostel I’d been recommended by some German girls I met in Mooloolaba. It paid off because next door to the ‘Byron Beach Resort’ (which I ended up staying at two nights’ later) was a lovely bar called the Treehouse where I whiled away some time writing my diary and talking to the staff about music, the local area and the benefits of being a vegan (which I’m not, but I’m not far off).
Later that evening I happened upon the most fabulous live act playing at a restaurant. They are possibly some of the finest musicians I’ve ever actually seen. A guitar and violin duo called Hunter and Smoke. Whether this excellence was a hangover from the Blues Fest or whether Byron is always this cool is a question I feel I ought to answer with a further trip!
Later that evening I happened upon the most fabulous live act playing at a restaurant. They are possibly some of the finest musicians I’ve ever actually seen. A guitar and violin duo called Hunter and Smoke. Whether this excellence was a hangover from the Blues Fest or whether Byron is always this cool is a question I feel I ought to answer with a further trip!
Looking out towards Julian Rocks where I went diving and met my first turtle.
The next day I went diving at Julian Rocks. They can be seen from the bay and are only about 3km out. This was my first dive since qualification, as well as my first boat dive, and I was really rather nervous. Especially as I’d read about a fatal Great White attack there within the last decade. One of the great attractions of the dive is to see sharks so I trusted the divers who do it every day and along with a lovely Swiss girl called Joelle, we were guided by Paul from Sundive who showed us lobsters in their holes, loads of big, fat Wobbagong Sharks that looked like a large scale bottom-feeder like a dogfish. I also saw a pipe fish, huge blue groupers and best of all a turtle.
Later on I was collected by my friend Rob, from England, who’s lived in the area for about a decade. Since I last saw him, he’s had three children with his wife Mo, and it was absolutely brilliant to experience 24 hours of family life, and family cooking. But first of all it was off to the family pub to meet another ex-pat couple. Weirdly, I met a further ex-pat couple the following day and between all of us there is no more than 3 degrees of separation (without taking Rob and Mo into account). All I can conclude from that is that they must be my kind of people, which obviously must mean that Australia is my kind of country….?!
During my stay, apart from the pub, we visited the beach and a tea-tree lake. In lakes like this the water has turned red because of the tannins in the surrounding tea trees. Apparently it makes your hair feel really soft, but mine was already covered in seawater so I can’t confirm or deny this effect. Within about a metre of wading in the water looks black and you can’t see the bottom. Also it was freezing but I had to have a dip, just in case it was excellent. You never know! I was rather ambitious on my first swim out towards the middle, but curbed my enthusiasm after I realised my arms were about to stop working because of the cold.
The tea tree lake at Lennox Head
It’s not too far to come from Sydney (just the old 500 miles, don’t even worry about it) so I am certain I will be taking up Rob’s offer of a weekend up there sometime soon for a spot of fishing or kite surfing. Nice!
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