Byron Bay

Hello Wonderful People!

After Sydney, Byron Bay has to be the best place on the East Coast! Its reputation as a laid back hippie town is spot on, as it has the most chilled out vibe I’ve experienced since Asia! I stayed in Byron for 3 days and managed to fit quite a lot in, and if we weren't so pushed for time I could have happily stayed there for much longer! 

We stayed in a hostel that was slightly out of town, but there was a free shuttle that ran into town several  times a day, and you could hire bikes for free! The walk into town was only around 20 mins anyway, so it wasn't actually a bad location and the hostel itself was really chilled! The first day was spend wandering round Byron, checking out all the cute hippie shops and having a chill on the beach. Not only will Byron stick in my mind because I loved it, it was also the only place in Aus where I encountered a real life snake. I was clambering down some rocks to get to the beach, when a guy shouts to me 'don't step on the snake!' I, being the naïve Brit abroad, laughed along like 'haha good one, there aren't actually snakes chilling on the beach.' But there was. Right in front of me was a casual huge python chilling on the rocks waiting to squeeze me to death. I actually think that man saved my little life, bless his soul.

 

 

After my snake experience on the beach we decided it was time to sample the night life on Bryon, which was apparently pretty good. So after predrinking with some Aussies at the hostel, we walked to a bar in town. Thinking I was really hard core and ignoring the advice of the Aussies, I decided to take my goon with me to drink on the walk. Sadly the po po saw me, and despite my attempts of playing the clueless tourist card, and explaining that drinking on the street is perfectly acceptable in England, they took my goon off me. Swines. The night wasn't that successful after this incident, as a friend and I went to the toilet (sharing the same cubicle, obv) and got asked to leave as they thought we were doing drugs (which we weren't, obv). Sadly, they too didn't buy our clueless tourist card and explanation that it's perfectly normal for girls to go to the loo together in an English club. Swines.

 

Waking up with a slightly dodgy hangover, we thought it would be a cracking idea to go sea kayaking, with the hope of seeing some whales and dolphins. So we booked onto an afternoon session with Go Sea Kayaking (check them out here). After being suited and booted in a highly attractive wetsuit (seriously, I'm considering becoming a wetsuit model), we headed down to the beach with our kayak. The tour started pretty well, as we were stood on the beach we saw two dolphins playing in the waves, which massively raised my hopes for seeing them up close in the kayak.

 

Kayaking may seem like a piece of cake, but let me tell you it was very hard core. Getting over the waves was a challenge in itself, which saw our kayak being upturned and washed back to shore. Sadly, we were the only ones who seemed unable to conquer the waves, but we eventually got there and into the open sea. Now, I never normally get sea sick, and I don't know if it was just my hangover, but oh my lordy I have never felt so vomalicious in my life. It was horrif. But to make up for my queasy stomach we got to see some super cute sea turtles and had a few glimpses of a hump back whale! The tour also gave a lovely view of the coast line and was a great way to experience Byron Bay in a different way. The best part of the tour had to be surfing the waves on our kayak back to shore. And the free hot chocolate and biscuits after, obvs.

 

Now we'd experienced the coastal view from the sea, we decided to go for a walk along a costal path to a lighthouse. This again provided us with some stunning views and we reached the most easterly part of Australia. Wowzers.  We were also lucky enough to have a free whale watching experience, as we spied several hump back whales while sitting on the cliff. It was cracking I tell you!

 

Byron Bay was definitely a huge highlight of my Australia trip, there was loads to do here, considering it isn't the largest place in the world. And you really can't beat the chilled out vibe of Byron. Someone take me back, yeah?

In a bizzle peeps!