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| Byron Bay |
Another morning of clear blue skies and no clouds. We really have been lucky with this little road trip. We had our usual lazy morning and then headed out tothe coast around 10. Today we encountered our first traffic jam since leaving Sydney. It is market day and vehicles were queuing to get in - must have taken us a good 10 minutes to drive the 3 km or so to the beach. We then discovered that you have to pay for parking here - big humph! However, we were wise enough not to do so and soon found space on the roadside which was free.
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| Oh yes, a mammoth has come with us - Baby Otto |
Our plan for the morning was to walk around the headland which takes in the most Easterly point of the Australian mainland, the lighthouse and some forest. So we headed off down the well marked route. We came to a cafe pretty early on so sat down for a coffee (Matt) and juice (Tom and I) whilst watching some wonderful looking breakfasts pass our way. The food in cafes and restaurants in Australia really is very very good - fresh, tasty and imaginative. Only problem is that it is quite expensive (but then everything here is expensive).
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| Family Young at the most Easterly Point on Mainland Australia |
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| Lighthouse at Byron Bay |
We carried on, taking in the sweeping vistas of clear blue sea, golden sands and lumpy forested mountains. Australia really is full of natural beauty. We also managed to spot some dolphins and whales which was great. We got to the most Easterly point and took the customary photo for proof.
One neat little thing they have here are ready set up tripods at favourite viewpoints (we came across another one in Dorrigo National Park), you simply attach your camera, put it on the timer and run. This means we have quite a few family photos from this holiday.
Oh, just want to make a point about surfers, as this being the weekend, there were loads about. You always imagine surfers to be young guys (in their 20s) sun bronzed, wild hair, cool dudes. This is true to an extent, but these 20 year olds do grow old, and as far as I can work out, once you have the bug you can't let it go. I've seen plenty of older men with surfboard in hand: with snow white hair, pot bellies, beards, bald etc etc. I've also seen many Dads in the water with children teaching them how to surf. I am amazed because I tried out surfing when I was here last and I have never been so exhausted in my life - I used up every ounce of energy - I could barely make it back to my hostel and remember collapsing on a chair in the communal area unable to get myself to my room. That was when I was 27 - so how do 50 and 60 year old men do it?
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| Hand gliding over the sea |
We then headed up to the lighthouse took in the amazing view again and then carried on down, pausing to look at the hand gliders who were having a great time in the thermals going round and round - must have been a great view. The rest of the walk was through a coastal forest back to the car. Once again pretty much all the plants were unrecognisable to us and looking beautiful in the dappled sunlight. We even came across another Brush Turkey - once again not standing still for the camera!
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| Tom and me in the sea |
We made it back to the car and got out our beach bag and headed to the beach. This being a Sunday it was quite busy - ie we had neighbours thin 50 meters of us! I had to put on my new bright pink swimsuit - yuck, I must have stood out on the beach big time! We then spent the afternoon playing rugby and playing in the sea. Tom really got into the sea today, although he won't go far, today he decided it would be fun to sit down in it. This he did and a couple of times he got submersed as a bigger wave flowed over him. We were expecting tears but instead got giggles! He was shivering with the cold, but refused to stop playing as he was having so much fun.
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| Lying in the sea |
Eventually we called it a day and decided to head into the town centre in search of a cafe for tea and a bun and hopefully a wifi connection to check the rest of our plans are still ok. We didn't find wifi but we did find the most amazing cafe 'Twisted Sista' I have never seen such amazing cakes and pies in a cafe before. Basically I would happily eat there every day for a week and not get bored. We shared a caramel slice between the three of us, but couldn't bear to leave without trying something else so asked for a slice of chocolate mud cake and a slice of pear and apple crumble to be put in take away boxes so we could have them for pudding tonight. They didn't skimp on the portion sizes - the slices we took home were HUGE.
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| Pirate Australia |
We then walked back to the car, I was on the look out for tourist shops to get some more postcards - but couldn't find any (I guess we must have been in the wrong area as I'm sure There must be plenty of them here). I ended up getting some in a pharmacy instead. We also found ourselves in a surf shop looking for a new sun hat for Tom (his is getting a little small). We didn't find one, but Tom suddenly piped up that he wanted a surf board! I asked him to show me which one and he pointed to a skateboard. It was $150, however I then noticed a box of mini skate boards - each one $9! We couldn't believe they were so cheap but the shop keeper confirmed it. It was too good an offer to turn up, so Tom is now the proud owner of a green skate board.
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| Monster Quiche at Twisted Sista |
We got back to the campsite, Tom had a go on his new toy on the grass and was happy. We had a very good dinner of pork chops, cheesy mash and salad followed by those two monster slices of cake. The dinner of champions and we didn't get through the cakes so they will feature on our breakfast menu tomorrow.
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| Skate Boarder Tom |
Another fantastic, fun family day. This has been a really good road trip, I'm a little sad that this is our last day of it, although I'm looking forward to meeting Matt's friend Lisa tomorrow and Martin on Wednesday.
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| Sumo Tom at our Cabin |
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