Blogs from Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania - page 6

When I went to Tesco to buy my toiletries prior to my trip, I was appalled at what I saw in the sun lotion section. Such a thing as 5 or even 3 spf – oh hells no. I scoured the shelves until I could load up on two bottles of the maximum 50+ spf. I don’t care if I don’t tan, I am not getting burnt. Fast forward 4 months. I haven’t been anywhere near a beach in a good while, so when I arrive in Byron and see the gorgeousness of the coastline, I couldn’t wait to hit it. The hostel was the YHA and had the archetypal relaxed balmy feel about it that seemed to me to epitomise Australia. It had a pool, but why would I touch that when I can stroll ... read more

Since we left home some time in early March, we have traveled far over the autumn/winter, enjoying a warmer winter in Queensland. Its now September, and after six months of much loved travelling, we continue the journey south, to our home town in Far North New South Wales. Perspective on escaping to a warmer winter is seemingly relative, one relative of mine, my niece Melanie, who endures the harsh cold windy wet winters of Melbourne, wondered why we, who live on the Far North Coast of NSW, should need to go north to escape the chills of 'old man winter', I replied to Mel, it would be like a Taswegian wondering why a Melbournian would need to go north in winter, the truth is simple, we just need to follow the birds. Many antipodean birds regardless ... read more

Mit Byron Bay hatten wir uns den östlichsten Punkt des fünften Kontinents als nächstes Ziel ausgesucht. An einem klaren Tag kann man vom Byron Bay Leuchtturm aus - dem östlichsten Punkt des australischen Festlands - auf einige Sehenswürdigkeiten blicken: den von der UNESCO zum Welt-Naturerbe erklärten Regenwäldern, die langgezogenen, feinsandigen Traumstrände rund um den Ort an denen sich hunderte Surfer in die Wellen stürzen, grüne Zuckerrohrfelder und das dunkelblaue Meer, in dem sich Haie, Delphine, Mantas, Rochen und Riesenschildkröten tummeln. Dieser Ort ist so beliebt, dass wir uns wiederum mit einem Vorort begnügen mussten, um unser Nachtlager aufzuschlagen. Seit wir in New South Wales angekommen sind, begleiten uns endlose lange Sandstrände. So hatte es auch unweit des Caravan Parks in Wooyung eine Flussmündung die direkt ins Meer überging. Da gerade Ebbe war, konnten wir den ... read more

Christmas and New Years Down Under We arrived at Miyako’s and Lasse’s place which is located a small hour outside of Brisbane later in the evening and were really happy to finally have a proper place to stay for the next couple of days. Especially the convenience of a kitchen with a fridge, a bathroom and two wonderful soft beds seemed to be pure luxury to us :-). But also in general did Miyako and Lasse live in a very nice and modern house which they themselves moved into only 2 weeks before we arrived. They also have a very cute puppy called Ashley who was just wonderful to play with although she was very easily distracted by other interesting things. Apparently she was very curious about the many frogs and toads which also here came ... read more

So leisurely start today as we were back travelling under our own steam. Plan was to visit Byron bay lighthouse and the most easterly point in Australia. According to Ian and the lonely planet guide it's only a 30 minute walk from the town so we decided to leave the car at the guesthouse and use shanks pony. First stop was the bakery. Yum, they had the cheese and vegemite rolls we had discovered in Uluru. So breakfast on the beach watching the surfers although as a party town there weren't that many there on a Saturday morning at 9.30! As I sat there you could see the lighthouse in the distance, and I mean distance....... At this point I queried my old mans reading of the book. Not a good idea. Anyway we headed off ... read more