Byron here we come

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I was picked up at 8am, the car already loaded with boards, tent, sleeping bags and very importantly….the esky (cool box). We stopped at Rainbow beach for a quick surf. When we got in the waves were a little larger and messier than it looked from the car, and it took a while for us to get out back (behind where the waves brake), so I got battered by the breaking waves for a short while, but soon made it out. I thought I would be nervous as it has been a few years and the standard of surfing is just a different level to home, but I wasn’t. It certainly helped to have people I knew and who can surf around me though!

After a few years and a couple of good waves later we head in, grab some lunch to refuel and continue down to Byron. Nearing Byron the views were absolutely stunning, rolling hills, white sand and turquoise water. We arrived at the campsite, set up camp surprisingly quickly and headed to the beach (broken head beach) which the site is adjacent to. With nothing else around the campsite but the beach it is a lovely area out of the hubbub of Byron. We wandered on the cliff walk round broken head headland, looking out to cocked hat rock and the three bays and beaches along the coast. The view was just out of this world, rolling green cliffs onto the white sand beaches, there were even a few dolphins playing in the surf. After absorbing the view for a while we headed back to camp, packed a change of clothes and drove into Byron.

Byron was what I am now recognising as a typical Australian town – basically it is a main street with two storey buildings that look like they are from the American mid west towns. Byron has quite ‘alternative’ routes and therefore they are one of the few places not to have MacDonald’s and other fast food outlets, and it populated with lots of smaller unique restaurants, the majority of which sell healthy, vegetarian/vegan food.

In Byron we stocked up the esky with ice and beers, put a few beers in a backpack and completed the lighthouse walk – the 20min or so walk up to the lighthouse. We timed it, like many others there so we watched the sunset, which is beautiful. We then spent several hours up there, watching the sun go down, star gazing and looking at the light house – the main light beam rotates every 20seconds – just in case you were wondering! Around 9pm we wandered back down the walk which is luckily well maintained as we only had phone lights to see where we were going. After a quick change of clothes we headed into Byron to have some dinner. We settled on a lovely little restaurant where I had a Zen burger – brown rice, quinoa and vegetables, it was yummy. After dinner we wandered through Byron, which is quite a contrast at night from its very laid back day time state and then headed back to camp.

We spent a few more hours sitting out around the tent with some beers before settling in for the night!

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