Byron Bay

Arrived in Byron after a 14 hour overnight bus journey from Sydney. Emma, a friend from Sydney now working at the Arts Factory Hostel had taken the day off to meet me and Steph from the bus stop and show us round. So good to catch up with her again.

There was a mix up with dorms so we ended up staying on 'the island'. It's only accessible via a small wooden bridge and has about 15 permanent canvas teepees. Me and Steph shared a teepee for the 3 nights. You're completely with nature there, it's like living in the rain forest and the creatures are so loud night and day. Some of our neighbors included bush turkeys, river dragons (2 foot long lizards), snakes and quite a few huntsman spiders, a couple of which lived over our front door. It's a big complex and very hippy orientated, a few joints on the go in the outside communial area, people walking bare footed, lots of dreadlocks and beads everywhere. I loved it, the whole atmosphere was relaxing and everyone seemed friendly. There was always a background noise of digeridoos where people learnt how to play or make their own. I joined in the mornings activities and learned how to use sticks and poys (like a circus skills lesson), mastered the basics after 2 hours...not bad!

That evening Steph and I went for dinner at The Rails with Emma and Chris. It's an open air bar which usually plays live music...except monday's. Nevermind, the food was good and we went back to the Buddha Bar next to the hostel for a few drinks after.

I got up early on Tuesday morning to catch the bus down to Cape Byron to watch the sunrise. Cape Byron is the most Easterly point of Australia and so the first place to see the sunrise...it's suppose to be amazing, unfortunately it was a cloudy morning which obscured the sunrise, just a dash of pink and orange on the clouds. Back at the hostel Steph got up and ready and we walked to the beach for the afternoon. The beach in Byron is pretty cool, and we spent our time at 'The Wreck' beach so called because of the ship wreck sticking out of the sea close to the beach.

After a swift beer at the Beach Hotel we made our way back to the Island hut to get ready for the evening. Again, we met up with Emma and Chris in the Buddha Bar for a pub quiz.

Island hut at The Arts Factory, Byron