Saturday, January 23rd
On Wednesday, I decided to finally take a bus from Surfers to the famed Byron Bay. A bohemian, hippy town nestled into the most eastern point of Australia on the New South Wales coast, this place is beautiful and unreal. The boys Russell and Michael Milbrandt from back home recommended Backpackers Inn while we were chatting on Facebook messenger. I called that exact place right before the bus and booked the last room they had. Upon check in, I started exploring the town. I always like to get a feel for a place on my own before meeting people or committing to any plans. There is an even more relaxed aura here as well as an eclectic blend of artsy shops and amazing live music. On the streets, hippies, surfers, musicians and babes roam free. Think a mix of Venice and Haight-Ashbury as you imagine it in the late 60s except smaller, better waves, much cleaner and no drug addicts or homeless on the streets.
In fact, that’s one thing I’ve noticed about all of Australia in the places I’ve been so far. Apparently it’s like that everywhere around here, no homeless people really. Byron Bay is a true gem though and I can see why everyone has been telling me how amazing it is. The first dude I met at the hostel was James from England. I’ve always been a fan of British people what with all of their dry humor and good times. This crew was no different. It was Goon Day every Wednesday so that night we got drunk off of boxed wine (they call boxed wine “goon” here in Aus) and played various drinking games to them occasionally singing about God saving the queen. There were some Germans and Canadians as well in the group, all escaping their harsh winter I presume, and a really cool Italian girl. We hit up Cheeky Monkey and Woody’s surf shack. The reminder of my days in Byron have consisted of surfing Tallow and The Pass every day then going out at night. The waves have been decent; an east swell has picked up today and will really be firing tomorrow. If it’s good here tomorrow morning, I’ll stay another night. If not, I’m hitchhiking to Coolangatta on the Gold Coast which has some of the best surf in Australia. That’s the thing about traveling: you never want to have too much planned. Just buy a one way ticket and take it day by day.
lifevoyage 