Beautiful Byron Bay

Byron Bay - 14th - 24th June

We left Pt Macquarie & headed to Byron Bay via Coffs Harbour.  Of course we stopped for the mandatory photo at the Big Banana & purchase of a bunch of bananas.

We were making pretty good time expecting to get in to Byron by about 4pm.  About 40km north of Coffs Harbour the traffic came to a stand still.  There was a LOT of roadworks along the way so we assumed that was the case this time. We waited about 5 or 10 minutes without moving at all when I remembered we have a CB radio! We had turned it on for entertainment value in the past but it really isn't that entertaining. I'm not easily offended by colourful language but my goodness golly gee whizz  they swear a LOT!!

As soon as I turned the CB on, all the talk was about the hold up near Halfway Creek due to a car accident. Some were saying we would be stuck 2 hours! We were at an intersection so Gary said if we were going to turn around it would have to be now or we will be stuck till the road clears. Next thing someone said a police officer said it would be 4 hours!! With that Gary did a perfect U turn. Gary handles towing the caravan so beautifully considering he had never towed one before this trip.
I noticed we had passed a caravan park just before here so we pulled in there & booked a site for the night. Turns out it was the best decision as the traffic did not clear till 8.30 that night. We would have been stuck on the side of the road for 5 1/2 hours!! In saying that, we would have been fine as we have our own toilet, shower, food etc.
Arrawarra Caravan Park was a beautiful find. Set in amongst huge palm trees with kangaroos grazing casually on the lush, green grass, looking up to greet us as we drove in. It was so peaceful.

Next morning we headed off once again for Byron Bay & arrived with no dramas. The caravan park was lovely & only one street over from the Main Street. This came in very handy as this is another town where you have to pay to park on every street.
We spent every day walking down the Main Street to the beach & just sitting watching the water & the people. Although there was the occasional hippy & shoes were definitely optional no matter where you were, I was very surprised to see mainly families & other tourists just like us.
We had a beautiful Mexican tea one night in Miss Margarita & were hoping for a nice Thai dinner on the Saturday night. Well, our Thai meal ended in disaster with terrible service & a hair in Gary's meal. We walked out & ended up in an awesome little Italian place down a laneway off the Main Street. It was a beautiful balmy night walking through the town. It had a fantastic vibe, with the street packed with people & buskers that were so talented they could have all been on stage. I usually hate being out in town at night as usually they're full of drunks or other idiots. This was so different. We felt very safe with everyone happy & enjoying the casual vibe of Byron Bay. We absolutely loved it.

One afternoon we went to Cape Byron Lighthouse. The view was spectacular. There was a huge pod of dolphins playing in the water & we even saw a couple of whales passing by.

Unseasonable wet weather was still following us with one day Byron having record high rainfall for June. We knew it was coming so just spent that day inside the caravan watching movies & knitting Trauma Teddies. It's now laughable that it seems that everywhere we go rain is following us. Colin even messaged me asking where we were headed next so he could alert the locals to stock up on their winter woollies!

We knew we would enjoy Byron Bay but underestimated just how much we would love it. We can't wait to come back & do it all again!

Next stop .......... Brisbane.