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Friday, September 30, 2011


We finally said goodbye to Sydney (after going to bed a bit too late and oversleeping, therefore missing our bus) we arrived in Byron Bay. When one thinks of the perfect Australian life, they are thinking of Byron Bay. Old men with hair covering their shoulders in tank tops exposing their brown, leathered skin...it's fabulous. Surfers line the streets as their boards hit cars and those not paying attention. We had the pleasure of visiting a "beer garden" which is basically an outdoor hut that plays live music and serves up excellent brews. They say that Byron hasn't changed since the 60's, when it was discovered that it had the best waves in all of Australia. The expats never left, and that's why there are so many old hippies here.

We met Aaron's dad's friend there named Ray and he was a gem. We talked journalism and the differences between American culture and Australian.

We also visited the hippie town of Nimbin, in which you cannot go one block without a little old lady asking you to buy her freshly baked "cookies".  Nimbin was the site of the 1973 Aquarius Festival, similar to Woodstock in The States, and it hasn't changed since.

We continued bumping along what Australians call "highways" until we reached Surfers Paradise (think Miami), Mooloolaba, and Rainbow Beach.

Tomorrow we leave to explore the largest sand island in the world, Fraser Island.

Highlights:
  • I saw my first whale breaching, a humpback. It was majestic
  • I went to the most easterly point of Australia
  • Tried surfing. Got caught in a bit of a rip tide. I'm still alive.
  • Tried barramundi. Excellent fish.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like so much fun! Beer garden sounds like fantastic place to go to. I'll be sure to make a visit to Australia.

    ReplyDelete

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