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Katie's Travels
Arrived in Byron Bay late on the 25 July. It was dark and absolutely pissing down with rain!!! We had briefly stopped in Ballina on the way, where I was delighted to see another 'Big Thing' - The Big Prawn. Anyway, it was pouring there and it continued to pour after my arrival in Byron. At the bus stop, a girl from my hostel - Cape Byron Lodge - was there to collect me. We hauled my HUGE and I mean HUGE bag aboard the mini-bus and off we set. 3 minutes later we arrived and quickly rushed inside. I was in an 8-bed female dorm and there were 3 canadian girls already in there when I walked in. They seemed quite friendly though and once they discovered I was scottish, one of them commented that she had lived in Arbroath for a year??!! and another had friends in Peterheed! and that's exactly how she pronounced it - rather funny hearing Peterheed in a canadian accent! Anyway, I dumped my bag (which incidentally the bus driver had asked me if I had hidden a body in!) and headed for a nice shower to warm up and relax. Then watched some of the movie 'Munich' which was on in the tv lounge before heading to bed around 11pm.
The next day, I was up with the lark and got collected at 9.45am by Fred and his 'Happy Coach'. I was going on a day tour to the reknowned hippie retreat of Nimbin, where the practice free-love, free drugs and anything else deemed 'taboo' by the rest of society! On the way up, we stopped in part of the temperate rainforest to admire the spectacular 100m cascading waters of Minyon Falls. Once in Nimbin, I think everyone was shocked at how small the place is. It literally has 1 tiny main street. The hippies just roam the streets openly smoking pot and preaching about all things Hippie! A visit to the tiny and very strange Nimin Museum was the highlight - not least for the 2 playful kittens inside. I also popped into the Aboriginal Art Gallery, which as it turned out, had just opened and had about 10 pieces in it! An elderly aboriginal woman sat in the corner painting and a middle-aged aboriginal man welcomed me by saying "Hello Sister" and calling me sister thereafter. The woman asked me which part of Scotland I was from, saying that her friend from Edinburgh had just arrived to visit her?! I chatted with the man for a while and he talked me through the different pieces in the collection. I then put $2 in his charity pot to help him get the cafe section up and running. On the bus on the way back I got chatting to a girl from Germany who was telling me all about what she'd got up to on the west coast of Oz, saying that had been her favourite part of the country. Also got speaking to a nice aussie guy called Tom from Tasmania, who invited me to drive with him in his car up to Airlie Beach, as he was going up there to find work on a whitsunday sailing yacht. I explained that I still had a few stops before I reached Airlie, but thanked him nonetheless.
Back in Byron, the rain seemed to be holding off now and after watching a few episodes of Family Guy in the lounge, I headed to bed.
Next morning, I was up early to check out. I then took one of the free bikes and cycled into town to get a feel for Byron itself. Weather was glorious and I was utterly amazed how laid-back and relaxed this place actually is. I could easily see myself staying here another 2 weeks, it's just so....... nice! Rode down to the beach and then chained the bike up. Slopped on some factor 30, slapped on a hat and headed down to the sand. Walked along barefoot in the surf and just enjoyed watching everybody on the beach. The surf was amazing so there were hundreds of surfers out and about catching waves. Walked right the way along and then up to a look-out with amazing views right up to the Lighthouse on the Cape (the most easterly point in Australia!). Had wanted to walk right up to the Lighthouse, but couldn't find the way up and by now was running short on time. So headed back along the beach, rinsed my feet, put my flip-flops back on and got back on my bike. Back at the hostel, I quickly had some cereal (my main diet these days!) and then caught the mini-bus back into town - bags in tow. Caught my bus at 3pm and got chatting to a nice girl from Miami - Amanda - who as it transpired, was staying at the same place as me in my next stop............ Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast!
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