Happy new year!!! 1st january 2003! god ...
Trip Start
Sep 19, 2002
1
37
129
Trip End
Sep 22, 2003
Ballina, New South Wales,
Australia
Saturday, January 4, 2003
1st January 2003!
God what a cracking headache. And just when did that possum die in my mouth? All four of us were very subdued after the evenings "festivities" and vowing never to drink again -yeah right!
We had a lovely cooked breakfast and spent the day lazing by the pool trying to keep out of each others way and trying to be very quiet and still, lest we annoy the kangaroos jumping around in our heads and tummies. Pip and Martin cooked up a BBQ for tea and we had a proper feast which left us all feeling much more human. Len (bless him) had loaned us his video and vast collection of tapes (4) (including the head cleaner) so we watched Fawlty Towers which was about all we could manage before diving into bed hoping to feel normal again when we woke up (well it's all relative isn't it, feeling normal I mean.)
2nd Jan - Early morning bus trip to Byron Bay with some of us (i.e. me, still nursing a hangover...) We went to the YHA travelplace and booked up our tours to the Whitsundays and the respective hostels and then discussed chaffing with the rep Jamie Cocks (chaffing is a surfing condition don't you know! Can't say that's what causes mine -just fat legs rubbing together when I don't wear shorts.) Anyway, keen to experience the Byron vibe, we walked through town to get something to eat at one of the alternative healthy cafes. We didn't find many and so ended up in a chip shop with a salad. Next we began the long walk to the lighthouse starting along the beach. There we saw Beautiful who is a resident wizardy type person at one of the hostels at Byron that we had heard so much about (BYO hash). We also saw our first BIG lizard just sitting by the side of the slipway. We watched the surfers from Captain Cooks Lookout which is a stack of rocks with wooden viewing platforms on. I have to say that the surf at Byron is amazing and there is a fab lefthander(?) that runs for about 500m across the beach as it's in a bay type area. There were many people vying for that perfect wave and all getting in each others way which all looked a bit dangerous to us. While we were staring at the amazing view, a huge ray jumped right out of the water not far from the surfers which was quite a sight. We also saw turtles off the cliffs when we began the ascent up to the lighthouse. Each step felt like fifty in the searing heat and we were pleased to get to the top and feel that we had acheived something. We walked back down to the beach and took a well deserved dip in the cool clear waters of this stunning shoreline. Walking back to the bus we saw a guy making a big dragon out of sand with a palace on his back (the dragon not the guy) which was so intricate and very clever. Everyone was just hanging about on the grass looking wistfully out to sea with music blaring and it felt a bit like a music festival (without the mud) and this was the sum total of the so-called Byron vibe we had heard so much about, although everyone did seem really relaxed and chilled out. To top off our healthy day I had a vegetable smoothie from one of the many juice bars but it wasn't that impressive (yuk).
Back at the hostel we had a bit of a "Ready Steady Cook" style tea to try and use up the things we hadn't eaten so far. Then we retired outside to finish our chats etc but Len obviously wanted an early night as he switched the outside lights off!
We did appreciate the quiet and cleanliness of the hostel, even if it was a bit excessive, and went to bed knowing that somehow Surfers Paradise the next day wasn't going to be the same thing at all!
