The Shire Of Byron

Byron Bay: The Folly Beach of Australia

A puddle jump of a town. Laid back, chilled out, alternative suburbs.

I checked into my accommodation here, Byron Springs Guesthouse, and immediately got a feel for the atmosphere here. The guesthouse was a big house, chopped up into about a dozen rooms of either eight-bed dorm style or singles. It housed the usual bunk beds, hallway shared bathrooms, common kitchen and friendly dog, this one named Cairo. Outside there were picnic tables around a BBQ, lawn chairs for sunbathing and a hammock for napping. And all was in the middle of suburbia.

After I got settled in my room, I took a walk into town to go explore. The woman who owned the guesthouse told me it was a short walk into town. About 2 miles later, I was seeing signs of life. A few shops here, a hostel there, an internet cafe or two and a couple of restaurants and bars dotted the main street that ended at a beach. It was a cozy little beach side town that I could tell gets crazy in the busy months and houses beach-going holiday-ers both foreign and Australian.

Mixed in along the streets were backpackers like myself, families on holiday and locals, and by locals, I mean hippies. The area of Byron Bay, I'm told, "tolerates" certain activities. So, the tye-dye, patchouli, dreads and vintage VW buses explained themselves. This place reminded me of Folly Beach meets upper King Street meets Bonnaroo then add in a little bit of suburbia and you've got Byron Bay. It’s a completely different place than where I just left in Sydney.

On my walk back from town, I ran into some fellow backpackers, sort of. Two guys literally rolled out of the bushes in front of me on the sidewalk. It was 8 o'clock at night and these guys had been partying all day. One had a fresh tattoo and the other had a fresh wound, apparently from an episode the night before. Although seeming a little sketchy, they started talking to me and ended up being really funny. They were lost looking for the place they were staying. They were walking the same direction I was and we eventually came to their lodge which from the street seemed to be filled with people that had been partying all day too. I stopped in for a drink and ended up talking to a Swedish guy for a while. After a few beers and games of Uno, I had met a couple of Aussies, English girls and a French guy, and this wasn't even where I was staying! When the cops came because of a noise complaint, I figured it was my time to go. I thanked the kids for the drinks, said farewell and headed back to where I was staying.

The guesthouse was quiet when I got back, quiet enough for me to question if anyone else was staying here. It was a far cry from the crazed college-lodge I was just visiting. I took advantage of it and did some reading and emailing. Getting to sleep here was no problem, the bed was super comfy and the only sounds outside my window was crickets, birds and the ocean, way off in the distance, a world away from my accommodation in the city.

I woke up and went for a walk on the beach. The path to the beach reminded me of the paths at home, long, flanked by trees and bushes, ending at a dune that dumps you down to the beach, except when I got to the beach, the water was bluer and the sand whiter. The beach itself was beautiful. Anytime I see water that isn't brown, I think it’s beautiful. There were strange things washed up on shore, either a jellyfish or a sea anemone of some sort. The one in the picture was alive and moving side to side slowly. It was kind of creepy, it reminded me of that movie "Abyss."

Then there was a strange giant bird literally watching a man fish, I think he was waiting for leftovers. The thing had to of stood 4 feet high and didn't flinch when I walked towards it.

Although I’m enjoying my relaxing here, Byron Bay isn’t really a place for the solo traveler. The town is small and doesn’t leave much to do at night by yourself. And my guesthouse is quite a walk away. I cut one night from my stay here and added it to Brisbane. I figured, I would add in the Koala Park. I’m taking a train out of here tonight and will be in Brisbane at 10:30. Until then, its beach time!

Next report comes from further north.

Linds