Happiness is like a butterfly ....
Pack the dogs in the car? check. Bikini on? check. Enough fuel in the car? check. Beach towel and camera? check. Alright, to the infamous Byron Bay we go. I love how in Australia they have Shires. Just like in Lord of the Rings. I am housesitting in the Shire of Ballina, but Byron Bay is in the Shire of Byron. I feel like I am driving in another world when I see those signs. Oh wait a second, I am in another world, I am in Australia!!
Human litter!! :o)
Byron Bay, many people have told me, is too touristy now and not so great. I am going with the dogs to give them some exercise and to check it out. When I get there, after negotiating various detours of road work, I quickly look for a dog beach, which there is a fairly large one. The beaches are packed compared to the other beaches I have been to. I take the dogs and their ball to the water. I can only play with them for so long since the youngest one Chewy is a bit unpredictable and excitable (wants to meet new people) and there are just way too many people here. So I put the dogs back in the car. I find a nice shady parking spot but it is a hot day. So I resign myself to a quick look around and then head back to Ballina. What little I saw, I really liked. Maybe it was because the town was so busy and full of people and energy and I have been fairly isolated in my house sitting. So I decide to return the next day “sans chiens”.
Diggity dogs in their camping chairs. I find this hilarious.
So the next day is still beautiful. Full sun although the forecast is for forming rain, or something like that. First I decide to go walk up to the lighthouse on Cape Byron, which is the most easterly point on mainland Australia. What a zoo! Not the walk per se, although there are a lot of people on that too, but the roads and beaches. Byron Bay is going to be hosting the International Blues Fest next weekend and if the traffic is like this on a normal day, I can’t imagine what it will be like Easter weekend. Anyway, I find a parking spot in a residential area and just resign myself to walking to link into the trail. It was actually quite intelligent of me since everyone else was battling parking and lack of spots. I really should have taken a picture as it was quite ridiculous. Although Byron Bay is beautiful, I would say its biggest draw backs are the vehicles and overabundance of people.
Surfers battle to catch a wave in what looks like a pretty precarious spot to me.
But the Cape was beautiful regardless and it is a surfers paradise from a beach stand point. Not the winds needed for kite surfing but regular big ol’ surfing waves come in non-stop. As you can see by the pictures, people everywhere. But the drama of the ocean smashing up against the Cape was also beautiful and the water so blue and clean.
I know it's blurry but it was such a good wave action shot!
Anyway, despite some of the negativity I had heard about Byron Bay, I liked it. There were lots of little stores and restaurants and it really did cater to people just wanting to surf, beach it or hang about. And it had a good energy. So I would recommend it. I am glad I went a second day.
Byron Bay lighthouse built in 1901
Probably a silly question…but is the Byron Bay lighthouse open to the public? If it is, did you go inside?
When I was visiting my parents in FL, I visited two lighthouses.One of them had 105 steps to climb, but once you are on top, the view is spectacular.
By the way, I like your pictures of the butterfly and the two dogs. 🙂
Yup – it is open to the public but aside from its little museum – was not that day. But I did go into the little museum.