7 days in Byron Bay
Trip Start
Feb 04, 2008
1
80
105
Trip End
Jan 19, 2009
Byron Bay,
New South Wales,
Australia
Saturday, July 19, 2008
This morning we said goodbye to the alpackas and drove towards Byron Bay. We stopped at an amazing lookout on a cliff and watched whales and dolphins in the distance
Sunbathing again at last!
. We jumped back in van ready to carry on to Lennox Head, home to 7 mile beach (one of the world's top 10 surf beaches) but Bumbleebeee had other plans. He rolled backwards and couldn't muster the strength to go forwards again! We thought it might have been something we said so we decided to let him cool down for a while. We sat watching the whales, reading our books and had some lunch then tried starting him again. With a sigh of relief he sprang back into life off we went to the nearest town to try to find a garage. Unfortunately it was Saturday and all the garages were closed so we chanced it and carried on slowly hoping there would be no hills to Byron Bay! We made it to Clarke Beach caravan site but, at the last minute, couldn't quite make it up the short but steep path to our pitch! We had to park by the office and wait for Bumblebee to cool down again so we wandered into town along the beach, a beautiful bay with shallow pools and a cluster of rocks to climb on (great fun for Will!). Byron has an awesome atmostphere, lovely warm weather so far, surfer shops, cool cafes, organic foodshops, lots of massage, yoga and healing shops, and a general backpacker feel to the place. In celebration of the return of the warm weather I even bought some more thongs (that's flip flops for those of you who don't speak Australian!) and Will bought a frisbee. I think we might stay here for a while! That night we had a few drinks at the campsite, drunkenly phoned some friends back home and headed into town in search of a good bar or two
Byron sunset
. We had a good night out even if some of the places were stuck in the early 90's!On Sunday morning Deb's woke with a clear head while Will took a little while to recover. It was a glorious sunny day so we hit the beach, it was even warm enough for a bikini (finally!) and we managed to regain a little of what was left of our tans! We popped back to the van for the perfect hangover lunch - BLT's - then I popped into town for a bit of shopping while Will chilled for a while (all day hangover this one!). That night, needless to say, we had a quiet one in, ate some sausages and watched lots of tv. We decided to buy some box sets recently and have been aternating between The Unit (US military action drama starring the awesome David Palmer from 24 for those of you in our 24 clan), Supernatural (a bit of a low budget X Files meets the OC but we're hoping it will improve!) and the legendary US sitcom, How I Met Your Mother, which is hilarious and comes highly recommended. Not that we are wasting away our precious year off watching hours of tv or anything, it's just good for those rainy days, quiet evenings in and, of course, the hangovers!
On Monday we got up early and dropped Bumblebee off for his check up at the local garage. I headed off to a yoga class (found a nice studio right on the beach) while Will wandered round town for a while
Australia's most easterley point
. We met up and lunched at Noodle Box then sat on the beach for a while anxiously awaiting the phone call regarding Bumblebee's diagnosis. We collected him late arvo, did some food shopping and headed back to the campsite for a BBQ. The meat here is so cheap you just can't resist having a BBQ of some sort every other day!The next morning we woke up to a chilly and overcast sky. Deb's went to yoga while Will stayed at home doing the chores. In the afternoon we went for a walk past a couple of beaches next to ours, up to Cape Byron (Australia's most easterley point) to the lighthouse at the top of the cliff. The views were amazing but it was pretty chilly so we didn't stay too long. The chilly day made us want to be hermits so we headed back to the van for, you guessed it, another cosy night in!
Another grotty day on Wednesday, Deb's went off to yoga while Will finished his book then after lunch we chanced the weather and went out for a walk. After about 10 minutes the heavens opened and we were soaked in seconds! We decided to cut our losses and return to the van for a cup of tea and ended up staying in for the rest of the night, again!
On Thursday we got up early to take Bumblebee to the garage then walked back into town, checked out the local market then used the internet in town. After lunch it was still raining so we ran across the road to the cinema to see Kung Fu Panda. We got 'the call' about 3pm. Luckily all is well and the transplant was successful. A not-too-painful $500 later and we drove Bumblebee back to the campsite. Debs went to an evening yoga class which ended up being in candlelight as there was a power cut. We watched the Futurama Movie which we managed to get hold of for $10 and spent another rainy night in the van.
