Byron Bay
So, I went to Byron Bay with T for three days. I did a lot less work than I expected, and read a lot more gay french literature than I expected (I finished Far From the Maddening Crowd which is not French, or gay, then ploughed on through Querelle of Brest.)
I wrote some sort of diary things while I was down there, so I'll just post 'em here.
Monday morning, Byron Bay.
I'm sitting on the balcony overlooking the resort pool. Beyond the back fence, I can see banksia trees beyond the disused railway line, and beyond them, the ocean. Cicadas are singing. Fluffy clouds scud across blue skies; showers are predicted all week, and it rained on and off last night, but this morning is beautiful.
We drove south after lunch yesterday, along the Pacific Highway. I've been to New South Wales once before, but I don't remember all that much. The countryside around here is gorgeous; rolling hills, sharp, steep mountains (I'd call them mountains, at least,) and green trees, green grass, green crops. Queensland looks brown most of the time.
Byron Bay is a bonsai town. It's very touristy, but kept carefully clipped, because those same tourists are here because of its quiet and peaceful nature. Their local council must have a will of iron. There are no high-rise hotels here, just a row of two story places, like the one we're staying in. There are surf shops, and skin cancer clinics, and food places by the dozen. I walked past a store selling nothing but temporary tattoos yesterday. The 'Welcome to Byron Bay' sign advises visitors to 'Slow Down, Cheer Up, and Chill Out' and beyond it another sign advises that the shire is 98% gas field free.
We arrived too late for the office. We'd forgotten that NSW has daylight savings time. They'd put out key in a safe for us though.
We headed out to the beach, still discombombulated (well, I was at least) by the fact that it wouldn't get totally dark until after 8pm now. The beach is only partially sheltered by the headland, and beyond the sandbar there were some reasonable waves. I got knocked head over teacups a couple of times, and T lost his sunglasses in the surf (they were cheap safety glasses, but he had hoped to keep them a bit longer.)
The rules seem lax here; there were both dogs and tents on the beach. We were some distance from the main beach so it wasn't too crowded.
We explored the area around main beach, looking for dinner. The town is crawling with the tanned; mostly young and loud and gorgeous. We are pale and nerdy by comparison. We found a pizza place run by an Italian guy whose customers seemed to consist of family and personal friends. The pizza was pretty good, and the salted caramel cheesecake that his wife had made that I had for dessert practically sent me to sleep in my chair.
As usual, I don't sleep well in motels, but I'm awake now. Onwards.
Tuesday Morning, Byron Bay.
Another gorgeous day. I heard rain on the roof last night, but the skies were clear during daylight hours. Yesterday we drove up to the headland to have a look at the Byron Bay Lighthouse. It is possible to walk, but it takes about an hour to get there, and its mostly uphill. You donate $7 to the lighthouse conservation for a parking space. We took lots of pictures.
But most importantly.
There were dolphins. This is the second time I have seen dolphins in the wild.
Then we went back to town for very generous serves of fish and chips, napped half the afternoon, and then hit the beach again. Very boring Italian food for dinner.
And on third day we went to a place called Crystal Castle. To get there, we drove through some gorgeous NSW scenery along narrow country roads (the roads were terrible, I might add) and past farmhouses festooned with rainbow flags (hippies, not gay pride, I assume) and 'No Coal Seam Gas' signs.
We drove through the delightfully named, and rather delightful Bangalow, but were running late and didn't stop.
Crystal Castle is, um, hippy central. They sell crystals. Crystals are their thing. They also have a rainforest walk (pictured.)
They also have a variety of sacred statues, both Hindu and Buddhist. This is Krishna riding Guarda.
I'm honestly not sure how I feel about all of that, but it was very pretty, and the food at the cafe was grown on-site in an organic garden, and the gardens themselves were quite spectacular. T actually bought a pretty chunk of flourite - apparently it protects against psychic attacks and electromagnetic radiation. He laughed and said he totally needed some of that.
And that was about it. We fit in a swim every day but the last one, and then we drove home. It was nice, overall.
I wrote some sort of diary things while I was down there, so I'll just post 'em here.
Monday morning, Byron Bay.
I'm sitting on the balcony overlooking the resort pool. Beyond the back fence, I can see banksia trees beyond the disused railway line, and beyond them, the ocean. Cicadas are singing. Fluffy clouds scud across blue skies; showers are predicted all week, and it rained on and off last night, but this morning is beautiful.
We drove south after lunch yesterday, along the Pacific Highway. I've been to New South Wales once before, but I don't remember all that much. The countryside around here is gorgeous; rolling hills, sharp, steep mountains (I'd call them mountains, at least,) and green trees, green grass, green crops. Queensland looks brown most of the time.
Byron Bay is a bonsai town. It's very touristy, but kept carefully clipped, because those same tourists are here because of its quiet and peaceful nature. Their local council must have a will of iron. There are no high-rise hotels here, just a row of two story places, like the one we're staying in. There are surf shops, and skin cancer clinics, and food places by the dozen. I walked past a store selling nothing but temporary tattoos yesterday. The 'Welcome to Byron Bay' sign advises visitors to 'Slow Down, Cheer Up, and Chill Out' and beyond it another sign advises that the shire is 98% gas field free.
We arrived too late for the office. We'd forgotten that NSW has daylight savings time. They'd put out key in a safe for us though.
We headed out to the beach, still discombombulated (well, I was at least) by the fact that it wouldn't get totally dark until after 8pm now. The beach is only partially sheltered by the headland, and beyond the sandbar there were some reasonable waves. I got knocked head over teacups a couple of times, and T lost his sunglasses in the surf (they were cheap safety glasses, but he had hoped to keep them a bit longer.)
The rules seem lax here; there were both dogs and tents on the beach. We were some distance from the main beach so it wasn't too crowded.
We explored the area around main beach, looking for dinner. The town is crawling with the tanned; mostly young and loud and gorgeous. We are pale and nerdy by comparison. We found a pizza place run by an Italian guy whose customers seemed to consist of family and personal friends. The pizza was pretty good, and the salted caramel cheesecake that his wife had made that I had for dessert practically sent me to sleep in my chair.
As usual, I don't sleep well in motels, but I'm awake now. Onwards.
Tuesday Morning, Byron Bay.
Another gorgeous day. I heard rain on the roof last night, but the skies were clear during daylight hours. Yesterday we drove up to the headland to have a look at the Byron Bay Lighthouse. It is possible to walk, but it takes about an hour to get there, and its mostly uphill. You donate $7 to the lighthouse conservation for a parking space. We took lots of pictures.
But most importantly.
There were dolphins. This is the second time I have seen dolphins in the wild.
Then we went back to town for very generous serves of fish and chips, napped half the afternoon, and then hit the beach again. Very boring Italian food for dinner.
And on third day we went to a place called Crystal Castle. To get there, we drove through some gorgeous NSW scenery along narrow country roads (the roads were terrible, I might add) and past farmhouses festooned with rainbow flags (hippies, not gay pride, I assume) and 'No Coal Seam Gas' signs.
We drove through the delightfully named, and rather delightful Bangalow, but were running late and didn't stop.
Crystal Castle is, um, hippy central. They sell crystals. Crystals are their thing. They also have a rainforest walk (pictured.)
They also have a variety of sacred statues, both Hindu and Buddhist. This is Krishna riding Guarda.
I'm honestly not sure how I feel about all of that, but it was very pretty, and the food at the cafe was grown on-site in an organic garden, and the gardens themselves were quite spectacular. T actually bought a pretty chunk of flourite - apparently it protects against psychic attacks and electromagnetic radiation. He laughed and said he totally needed some of that.
And that was about it. We fit in a swim every day but the last one, and then we drove home. It was nice, overall.