Byron bay - Surfs up dudes!
Trip Start
Feb 20, 2006
1
57
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Trip End
Feb 20, 2007
Where I stayed
From the fairly high rise Surfers Paradise, we made our way to the famous surf town of Byron Bay! Ever since we 've been in Australia, Paul has been itching to do some surfing and now was the perfect opportunity! We booked into a hostel right on the beach, and a very short stroll from the town centre which was full of bars, restaurants and surf shops - which sold relatively cheap surf clothes such as Roxy and Billabong, Han was in seventh heaven! We were blessed with some fairly decent weather whilst we were in Byron Bay (although it dropped very cold at night!) and got the chance to do our last spot of sunbathing for a good few months on the huge beaches! We did a bit of research on the various surf schools and booked a 3 hour lesson for the next day, there were only six of us so we got some good tuition - although be warned surfing isn't as easy as it looks, in fact it is impossible! In all honesty the conditions weren't the best and it got extremely windy after a while which made it alot harder. Han managed to get up on the board for about a second but Paul did much better and 'surfed the wave' for a good minute or so and looked like a pro... until he fell off! I think Paul was a bit disappointed that he wasn't better, I think he expected to be the next Kelly Slater...Anyway it was tough going and you've got to be in good physical condition to be any good, no wonder surf dudes are so good looking! Paul was hooked so we hired a board from our hostel the next day and tried it alone, we were very very bad and Han gave up after her first attempt having been pushed into a huge wave by Paul (whose exact words were sh!t Han it's a big one good luck!)and hit her elbow hard (as well as being severly winded the previous day) on the board which developed into a monster bruise! Paul however wasn't going to give up so easily, but after a few hours of thrashing around in the water admitted defeat! So enough surfing for a while, we spent the rest of our time eating out and going for walks along the beach at sunset and took some amazing pictures - it was really very beautiful! On our last day in Byron Bay, we went on a tour to the famous 'Nimbin' a small hippy town an hour or so from Byron Bay. Nimbin is a crazy little town and hasn't moved on for the last 50 years since the hippies moved in, you can smell marajuana in the air (even though it is officially illegal) but the police here turn a blind eye as the majority of the town would be arrested it they clamped down! We had a few hours here, and had something to eat (although not one of the 'magic cookies' which we were offered)and strolled around the very alternative shops and made our way back to Byron Bay on the Happy Tour Bus where the driver was very 'happy' indeed although I don't think anyone was too worried - I mean it's Nimbin you can get away with anything! So that was Byron Bay, a town full of surfers and arty types which we would go back to like a shot, we both agreed that you could very easily live there for a year or so just beach bumming around! Next Sydney and the harbour bridge x x x
