One more thing I forgot to mention is that my hair straightener officially exploded in Canberra. Honestly, I was almost electrocuted! I was able to borrow Liora’s while I was in Sydney (obsessed with ghd!) but it looks like it may be curly hair from here on out. Or at least until I find a job and can afford a new one...
From Sydney, the first stop was in a small town called Port Macquarie which is almost 6 hours away. I left Sydney at 6PM, so it was just before midnight when I arrived, and I was tired. I had to find my hostel in the dark and ended up sleeping in my clothes so I would not wake up the other people in the room.
The next morning, I decided to walk around Port Macquarie before leaving for Coff’s Harbour in the afternoon. One of the things I had heard about and definitely wanted to see was the koala hospital. The hospital is really an amazing thing and it was hard not to get emotional while seeing all of the koalas that are being rehabilitated there. Many of them have been burnt by bushfires, hit by cars, or abused and all are in different states of recovery. Each of the koalas is given their own yard at the hospital with a eucalyptus tree in it. They are hand-fed until they are well enough and then they can climb and eat directly from their own tree. The hospital also encourages people to adopt wild koalas - if you are interested, it costs $50 per year.
One of my favorite koalas at the hospital was named Settlement Point Bea, and she had fallen from a tree when she was just a baby. She never fully developed mentally and they never found her mom, so she is a permanent resident at the hospital. She was actually quite active while I was there watching (koalas are typically very lazy during the day because the eucalyptus makes them drowsy). There was also another koala that had a hunchback, but he was also active and I even caught him peeing on video haha.
Since I was close to Flynn’s Beach from the koala hospital, I decided to walk along the coast back to Town Beach. While I was walking, I spotted wild dolphins in the water and watched them swim past! From Town Beach, I wanted to see the Breakwater of Port Macquarie. People have been painting the rocks here for 10 years or so, and the paintings range from love letters to poems to random drawings and quotes. One of my favorites was about a couple (one from USA and one from Australia) who had met online a few years ago and then met in person at Port Macquarie. I thought it was romantic in a weird way...
Afterward, it was time for me to move on to Coff’s Harbour, a 3-hour drive from Port Macquarie. I met a German guy named Felix at my hostel in Port Macquarie who was also on the way to Coff’s Harbour. Even though we were staying at different hostels, we decided to walk to them together. The walk was much further than we anticipated, and I was exhausted by the time I got to mine (which was much further than his!) I was lucky and was given a room to myself, so at least I was able to get a good night’s sleep.
One of the things that Coff’s Harbour is known for (sadly) is the Big Banana. It is basically one of the first “big things” in Australia and was started in the 1960’s (by an American I believe). The Big Banana was first built to advertise the banana industry in Coff’s Harbour, and it sits on the side of the freeway. Since the Big Banana, there have been many other big things built all around Australia (I have not seen any of them yet!). I had to see the Big Banana for myself, and then I decided to do yet another coastal walk from Diggers Beach to Macauley Headlands to Park Beach.
The view was beautiful and there were lots of surfers to watch along the way. The beach from Macauley Headlands to Park Beach seemed never-ending. I even ran into a lizard of some kind on the path during my walk, but hurried by since I did not know if it was poisonous. There are so many poisonous things in Australia that I always just assume they are and try to avoid being bitten or stung.
After spending some time relaxing on the beach, I continued walking around Coff’s Creek. There is a mangrove boardwalk built next to the creek, and I spent some time watching a pelican swim by looking for fish.
I was leaving that night for Byron Bay (my friend Felix was also heading that way!) for the next four nights. I was going to take surf lessons in Byron Bay for three days - the surf there is supposedly safe and easy for beginners. I had heard so many great things about Byron Bay, so I was excited to see it for myself and spend some time there.
One of the first things that I noticed upon arriving in Byron Bay is that it is definitely a hippie town. Walking down the “main street” in town for the first time, I saw a few people with dreadlocks and even some that were barefoot. My hostel (called Aquarius) is actually very nice with a bar, pool, cafe, and huge 2-story dorm rooms. I had heard that Aquarius was a good hostel to stay at from some other travellers, but they also recommended a place called Arts Factory Lodge. From the reviews I saw online, Arts Factory Lodge is the place to go to embrace your inner hippie - it is free-spirited and dirty and they even offer yoga classes!
The next day was my first surfing lesson in Byron Bay, and I was excited and a little nervous. For three hours, we learned the proper way to paddle, catch waves, and finally to stand up on our boards. That’s right - I finally know how to stand up and ride a wave to shore! There were 3 Irish guys from Brisbane in my surf group, and they later asked me if I had paid double. Apparently, since I was the only girl in the group, the instructor was paying special attention to me and they were jealous.
The place where we were learning to surf has an interesting story behind it. There was a shipwreck in the 1920’s near the beach in Byron Bay (which you can actually see while standing on the beach). Because of the placement of the ship underwater, it creates a sand bank which in turn makes waves that are better for surfing. The only downside is that when you fall off your board near the sand bank, you are landing in only inches of water. I definitely have bruises to prove it!
That night, I met the guys from my surf group at Arts Factory Lodge (the other hostel I mentioned earlier) because they actually also have an in-house brewery, where the beer Byron is brewed. They were in town for a friend’s bachelor party, and our surf instructor had told us about a happy hour they have there from 5-7PM. Afterward, I headed back to my own hostel and wanted to see for myself the nightlife that Byron Bay is famous for.
In some ways, the nightlife of Byron Bay reminded me of a smaller version of Cancun, Mexico. I went to Cancun for Spring Break my freshman year in college, and I was strangely reminded of that trip the night I went out in Byron Bay. By day, Byron Bay is a hippie beach town, but by night, the crazy teenagers come out and there is club music, partying all night, and dancing on the tables. I felt strangely old...
On Saturday, I did not have a surfing lesson, so Felix and I decided to rent a car and drive to Nimbin. In terms of hippie towns, Byron Bay is nothing compared to Nimbin. Some students staged an Aquarius Festival in the Nimbin Valley in the 1970’s, and ever since then, Nimbin has become famous for its alternative ways. Every year during the first week of May (we had just missed it!), they hold Mardi Gras in Nimbin where people from all over Australia and the world come to parade. Apparently, they will continue to hold Mardi Gras until marijuana becomes legalized.
Nimbin was an interesting and unique place to see - even though I had been to Amsterdam when I was studying abroad in Europe - with its many hippie shops, museum, and even hemp embassy. I was fascinated by the shop names and even saw a little kid with dreadlocks riding down the street on a scooter! It was hard to spend more than a couple of hours in the small town of Nimbin (really just one main street), so we drove back to Byron Bay.
The next day, I had my second surfing lesson with my eccentric teacher, Marco. Not only did I have to wake up Marco at 10AM for the lesson - he was out partying too hard the night before - but I also had to go with him to get coffee, Gatorade, and water before he was ready for the lesson. I could not really complain though; no one else had signed up for surfing, so I was getting a private lesson.
It is amazing how much more you can learn in a private lesson, and I was confidently riding the waves into shore in no time. I also started to learn how to ride into the waves, but I quickly grew tired and developed an awesome rash (and wetsuit tan line!).
We went to the same beach as last time near the shipwreck, and I actually was able to stand on it with my surfboard. From the top, I could see many fish below, and we wished we had brought snorkels with us. We would have to remember them for tomorrow (my last lesson!)...
From the lesson, I went to meet Felix as we had planned to walk to Cape Byron and the lighthouse. Cape Byron is the most easterly point of mainland Australia and boasts beautiful views of the beach and great surf (and some really nice houses). Not surprising to me by now, we saw tons of dolphins swimming alongside us on our walk. It is really easy to just stand for hours and watch them - it is becoming a daily thing for me. Apparently, it is also the beginning of whale watching season here. From late May, whales migrate from Antarctica up the coast of Australia to have babies in the warmer water, and then they swim back (with babies in tow) in September and October. I have yet to see any, but I am sure I will soon. We stayed out at Cape Byron until sunset, and it was hard to finally make our way back to Byron Bay.
For my last day in Byron Bay (I was moving on to Surfer’s Paradise later in the afternoon), I would be having my last surf lesson with Marco in the morning. Unfortunately, it was not a private lesson and there were 2 others joining us. We went to a different part of the beach called “Signals” where the locals come to surf because of the bigger waves. It was a little intimidating to be one of the only girls out there (and a beginner!), but I was able to catch a couple of waves.
While we were surfing, the clouds rolled in and we even saw a little bit of lightning in the distance. This was the first day so far on the East Coast where the weather has not been perfect, but it was fine for surfing. I was sad to be leaving Byron Bay behind - it is a great, relaxed little town - but excited to see Surfer’s Paradise which is apparently the Miami of Australia. Locals complain that it is too commercialized and touristy and many recommend against stopping there, but I really wanted to see it for myself.
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