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Published: October 20th 2012
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After leaving Port Macquarie, we arrived in Byron Bay at about 9, to be met by the hostel staff at the bus stop. The Greyhounds really have been a great way to travel, especially after all our bus experiences in Asia. We were taken to the hostel, where we checked into our slightly strange double room, off the back of an 8 bed dorm. We were greated by a list of rules including the first time we have encountered, "you may not bring your own alcohol on the premises as we have a licenced bar" and that the kitchen and seating area close at 10pm for cleaning, making the only place to go other than your room, the bar! We were also charged a deposit for keys, and had to pay a deposit to get a set of plates and cutlery as there is none in the kitchen. We were also too late to eat the free nightly meal they advertised. We walked to the shop, feeling a bit like this was going to be another bad hostel experience.
When we got back into the kitchen, lots of people were quite blatently drinking, so maybe its not so much of
a problem to bring your own. It is really expensive to drink in aus, difficult to buy a round for the two of us in a bar for less than 10 pounds, so its important to be able to have cheap nights in the hostel. We ended up sat drinking in the kitchen until getting kicked out at 10.30, then going back to the hostel room and sitting outside with the girls staying in the dorm part of the room.
The next morning (afternoon if we are getting technical!), and following far too much goon last night, we went out to the beach. We walked along the beach and round the end of the bay, along a beautiful costal walk until we got to the lovely picture perfect Byron lighthouse. We got to go up to the top of the lighthouse for a fantastic view of the whole area. This walk also takes in the most easterly point of Australia and gives the oportunity to spot whales during migrating season. We were lucky enough to spot some, but quite far out. We have been looking for them all the way up the coast and not managed, so it was
very exciting! After this we walked back to the beach, it was very windy on this day and so jelly fish had started washing up on the beach, including a big blue poisonous looking one, so we decided to stay on dry land and read our books.
On the evening we headed out to a pub called rails for some dinner. It was really really nice and the first pub food we have seen since we got into Aus that didn't involve chips! (the food is not great here, lots of fast food and things with chips, found ourselves cooking and making packed lunches more and more just to be healthier!) We stopped in the hostel bar for a few drinks after this. A speed dating event was taking place, with about 6 girls and 20 boys....something not right here!
We had booked our first surf lesson for the next day, something James really wanted to do but I wasn't so sure, not being the biggest fan of being thrown into the water, but when in Australia! However when we got up it was raining and really windy. The instructor came to pick us up at 9am, a
guy called Gary who was as much a stereotypical Australian surfer as you can get. He told us he wanted to cancel the lesson as it wasn't worth it for us with so much wind, and then he drove us around the different beaches and explained about the waves and the reasons surfing would be bad. We learned more in five minutes about waves, rips and swells than I'd ever known about the sea. He took us back and said he would text us if the weather improved, but we could try again the next day. we were leaving the next day, so unsure if we could or not. After both being ill in Kuta and not being able to try there, we were starting to feel like this would never happen.
We discovered on that day that if it rains, there is really nothing to do in Byron! So we wasted the day reading, drinking coffee and doing a bit of shopping. We got a text from Gaz in the afternoon which was comically Australian - "no surfing this Arvo but be ready to rock and roll at 9am, Happy days". We had the free tea at the
hostel, and headed for Woodies, where a band was playing punk rock covers, which was a nice change from all the dance and R&B stuff we have heard for 3 months!
We managed to book a late bus for the 12th, so we could try again with the surfing before we left. So we were up even earlier to checkout before we went surfing. Again Gaz was concerned about the wind, as seemingly although it had completely changed direction, it was still a bit strong. After another drive around he decided to just give it a try and take us to Tallows beach. We got suited up and went to the beach. We were lucky, as the group ended up only being 3 people, which was ideal for the weather and it being our first lesson. We started with some stretches and "praying to the surf gods" and were taught the basics of how to stand up, surf etiquette and basic hand signals. Then we hit the water! It was really hard work just getting out to the water where Gaz was standing waiting to help us, the waves were big and dragged you back 2 steps for every
3 forward, after dunking you first. Gaz was pushing us onto the waves and we just had to stand up. Somehow, we both stood up on our first wave. The only problem being that even when we stood up, we didn't know how to get off without just jumping in! After about 1 1/2 hours in the water James was displaying his natural talent buy catching waves on his own and standing up pretty much every time, apart from one big wipeout! I on the other hand had managed to stand up a good few times but was standardly over thinking things and still needing help to catch the waves. I was pretty much exhausted by this point as the waves were relentless and the effort it took to get back to Gaz when i had ridden the wave all the way back in was huge. However we both really enjoyed it and did much better than we expected. We were aching a bit at the end and very tired, but it felt good to do some serious exercise.
We went to get some lunch and a lot of water, feeling shakey and like our entire heads were full
of saltwater, before walking to the bus stop for yet another greyhound.
Byron is a really lovely town, one of my favourite places we have been in Aus so far. Its small and quaint but still big enough to have a lively atmosphere. It seems James is a bit of a natural surfer, he can't wait for another lesson, i think i have a lot further to go, and given the pain we were in the next day, won't be ready to try again just yet!
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