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Published: February 17th 2015
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Byron Bay viewAfter staying in the wine region, then stretches of very quiet coastline and the family resort of Coffs Harbour, our next stop took us to Byron Bay. This is quite a small town but totally devoted to surfing. The place was full of bronzed cool dudes with bleached dreadlocks and too many tats, all living out of camper vans. The beaches are long and the sea shallow but the waves are relentless, obviously perfect for surfing but not for swimming. Our accommodation on this part of the trip came as a package so we didn't really know what to expect and it has been hit and miss - all quite comfortable with the basics covered but also all have seen better days. As we're only in them one night if doesn't really matter - I just thought I'd mention it. We stayed in the Lord Byron Motel here - literally just a room, no other facilities except it did have a very pretty pool which was nice for a couple of hours at the end of the day, as we had arrived quite late this time. Captain Cook named it Byron Bay after John Byron a circumnavigator - who coincidentally ended
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Byron Bay lighthouse and most easterly point in Australia up as Lord Byron the poet's grandfather! In the evening we walked the 2 miles up to a splendid lighthouse and the most easterly point of Australia, fantastic views just as the sun was starting to set. Then tried to eat at Byron Burgers! (but they weren't ready to open so went to Cheeky Monkey instead - they dance on the tables there after 10.00 although we weren't there long enough to confirm that). We asked if they were anything to do with the Byron Burgers in the UK but this one was a one off and they had not heard of the chain!
The next day we went to the Gold Coast (which is a proper town, not just a stretch of coast) and stayed at the area called Surfers Paradise. This is like Blackpool - on steroids and with guaranteed sunshine. It's a huge length of beach with the surfers' sea once more. Even with my Bottom Bay training I couldn't get in beyond thigh depth and you had to keep on your guard the whole time. Steve did go further to duck and dive in the waves. The lifeguards have stations every so often down the
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Byron Bay 7.00 in the evening, surfers waiting for the next wave. length of beach and you have to go in between their flags. The rest of the sea is left to surfers but ironically there were none! Just groups of people learning. The real ones go where the tourists don't. It's crammed with high rise hotel blocks and fast food places (not the most romantic place for Valentine's Day). It was so busy - but it was the weekend so to be expected. Apparently they closed the beach after we'd left it due to a shark sighting. We've heard of shark sightings every day on the news and one death since we've been here - just wondering if the death was reported in the UK?
The final leg was to Brisbane, just a short hop away, so before getting to the city we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. What a lovely time we had cuddling koalas and walking in amongst the kangaroos. We also saw a duck-billed platypus, crocs, dingos, loads of birds and emus. Then we dropped our car off in Brisbane and spent the evening in the Riverside area - very stylish area with plenty of restaurant choices (a different world from Gold Coast).
In
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Steve at Surfers Paradise all we did 900 miles which included a few wrong turns and plenty of detours and running around. Generally the weather was worse in the mornings and by most afternoons it was glorious and didn't vary much between 24 and 29C so can't complain at all. We didn't see much of Brisbane - just the evening and enough time to do the HOHO bus this morning before getting on our train towards Cairns. More of that next time!
(Sorry this was a bit long and photos are taking ages to download so haven't sent too many this time!)
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