BYRON BAY!

Since my brother was visiting for such a long time, I wanted to take him to other parts of Australia so he could see as much as reasonably possible. None of my friends and I had been to Byron Bay so we decided to go for the second weekend that Rick was here. Before coming to Australia, everyone I talked to would tell me about all the places I "had to see" and Byron Bay was definitely one place that everyone told me not to miss. We rounded up a solid group of people and decided to go. A couple of my friends- Lauren, Scott, Tommy, Tim, Nina, and Melissa- wanted to Sky Dive in Byron so they cruised down to Byron early Friday morning. The rest of us who weren't skydiving went down later at around 2pm on Friday. Sarah, Robbie, Collin, Greg, David, Rick and I took a charter bus down to the small town. The second I arrived, I knew why everyone gushed over this place. Byron Bay is an adorable coastal beach town that hugs the ocean and is famous for being the most eastern point on Australia mainland. It has the small town charm and although tourists are frequent, it does not have the nostalgia of large tourism, which is a nice change. The 6 skydivers had already gotten a room at the Wollongbar Motel so we followed their lead and booked one room for the rest of us. After walking around the quaint shops downtown and getting a lay of the land, we went back to the motel to change and get ready for the night. You wouldn't think that seven people sharing one room would be that bad but with one queen size bed, one twin and one roll-a-way, this room was very squished. We made do and ordered pizzas for dinner. That night, we all went out to a bar called the Cheeky Monkey. It was a really fun bar with loud music, dancing, and a lively atmosphere. All 13 of us hung out there all night and had a great time before going back to the Motel to sleep.

Downtown Byron

Rick and I walking around the shops

Nina, me, and Lauren at the Cheeky Monkey bar

Rick and I at the Cheeky Monkey

Robbie, Greg, David, me, and Nina having a blast in Byron!

At 5 am, mere hours after going to bed, our room got a wake-up call from the crew in the other room. With Byron Bay being the most eastern tip of Australia, the sun first rises every morning over Byron Bay. So in theory, if we woke up and walked to the beach before dawn, we would be the first people in the world to see the sun rise for that day. We all walked the short path to the beach and sitting with our toes in the sand, we watched the sun rise over the horizon and light up the sky near the famous Byron Bay lighthouse. It was such a pretty morning and its cool that we were the first people to see the sun rise for that day.

Sun rise in Byron

So pretty

footprints in the sand

We went back to bed for a couple hours and woke up to go to the beach. The stretch of beach that perimeters Byron Bay is so gorgeous with white sand dunes and no crowds. It was much different than Surfers Paradise beach which is always packed with fully-clothed tourists that come by the bus-fulls, camera-ready with smiles and peace signs. It was a nice change to be at what felt like a private, locals-only, secret spot. And the ocean was so clear! It was paradise and a perfect sunny day. Some of the boys had rented soft-top longboards to play around on in the waves. Rick, Melissa and I took them out at one point and were catching some small but fun waves! It was cool to surf with my brother, since we've never done that before. We soaked up rays all day and saw more of the cute shops before heading back to the bus stop for the 2 hour ride home. It was the perfect mini-vacation and I was really glad Rick got to see another, completely different, part of Australia.

Rick, me, Melissa, Greg, and Robbie paddling out

Rick and I waiting for a wave

Rick the surfer pro

Deserted tracks on the walk to the beach from our motel

Sarah, Nina, and me on the tracks

The point of Byron Bay

Rick and I

This is for you, mom!

clear blue water, so beautiful!