Journ-E: Byron Bay

Byron Bay.

After Cairns, we took a jaunt down to Byron Bay the Eastern most point of mainland Australia.

I've heard about Byron Bay since I arrived here last April. It's touted as one of the best surfin destinations in the world. Everyone I came across described it as ' a cute little hippie town'. Apparently, Chris Hemsworth and his family live there and the tabloids claim that he is trying to get his buddy Matt Damon to settle in the area as well.

With that in mind, I thought that Byron Bay would be similar to Malibu. Erm...

Deep down, I thought I was a hippie, but nah. That's not me.

I did like Byron Bay...to visit. The town is full of transients like myself. Backpackers who want to take advantage of the surf. Working Holiday makers who are doing their hospitality work to qualify for their second year visas.

The town was full of cool artwork and their was no shortage of vegan or organic options.

At night the main streets in Byron Bay were lined with street performers. Some were really good.

We were there during the Harvest Full Moon, so I don't know if that had to do with some of the 'weird' things I saw. I think I stumbled across a pagan ritual. These guys were rapping about being environmentally conscious and they were playing under this HUGE full moon.There was a bat the size of a HOUSE CAT that flew past my head. There is no footage of that because I ran, I ran for my life.

Ultimately Byron Bay was a beach vacation.

The O-zone layer is particularly thin there. Make sure you are wearing sunscreen and other protective gear. To put this in to context: I have lived in Florida and Arizona and I was hot in Cairns. Not the temperature-- that was in the mid 80s (24C) and there was a wonderful ocean breeze, but my skin was on fire!

Hats, parasols, sunglasses<-- all of that. Use all of that.

The Cape Byron Lighthouse is Australia's most powerful lighthouse. As the most eastern point in Australia, most people go there to watch the sunrise. The days that I was in Byron Bay, the sun rose around 5:30 am....

But Sunset was lovely at the Lighthouse as well!

We caught an Uber up to the lighthouse and decided to walk down the mountain the 30 minutes to town. We're on vacation, why not?

Um...about 5 minutes in to the walk, Camille and I were walking on the side of the road down a mountain in the pitch dark. We stopped where we were and called an Uber to the city center.

Better safe than sorry.

And that's pretty much my visit to Byron Bay.

Until Next Time,

Pella