Byron Bay and Beyond

I love Byron Bay.  We have been here several times and have watched the town grow from a sleepy little "surfers" town to a bustling tourist town.  It's miles and miles of beautiful sandy beach is a big tourist drawcard and certainly the consistently even surf still draws the surfers. We booked into Glen Villa Resort and Caravan Park that turned out to be ideal.  It was just a short stroll to Jonson Street and the oceans edge but also right on the edge of parklands that gave us a very quiet stay.  The sites were huge and very easy to back into and that is a blessing in itself although we are certainly getting better at it!

We had seven nights at Byron and the first four were beautiful with sunshine days and plenty of relaxing time poolside.  We did try and go for a swim in the ocean but it was way to cold!  We walked the almost 10km loop to the Byron Bay Lighthouse that was a really hard walk with lots and lots of stairs but we felt much better for the effort.  We ate in some fabulous restaurants and wished that we had more time to sample more.  

The rain hit us hard and fast for the last three nights.  We had winds of over 70km/hour that put a real test to our awning that thankfully held fast.  And with more than a 100mm each day it was good to know that our van has no leaks.  The first day we just stayed in the camp and read our books but on the second day we decided to head inland where it was a little drier.

Our first stop was south to Lennox Head that is also a walk down memory lane for me as we spent most of our holidays at Ballina in my younger days. We walked along the headlands at Lennox Heads but the wind was very strong and actually quite scary walking so close to the cliff edge, so we turned back. Our next stop was at Alstonville for coffee and delicious cakes before heading to Bangalow and Mullumbimby.  We had intended to have lunch here but it was impossible to find a car park.  Everyone had the same idea as us apparently.

We headed back down the range to Brunswick Heads and thought about stopping for lunch here but as we were so close to Byron we decided to just head home.  By this time the sky was looking very black again so it was just as well we were home to batten down the hatches before another wild night of wild wind and rain.

We sadly said goodbye to Byron Bay before once more turning the car back towards Queensland.