What a weekend.
After a three hour bus trip from the Sunshine Coast to beautiful Byron Bay, I settled into the hostel that had become my home for the next two nights. I roomed with complete strangers who ended up turning into friends literally overnight. I won’t describe the weekend too much but rather touch on some major highlights.
The first night consisted of dinner at Cheeky Monkey in conjunction with a paint party. Basil kicked my butt in Deer Hunter and I kicked Jason’s butt in Connect Four. We left in search of live music but found none due to how late it was. instead, we got kebabs at 2 am before finally returning to the hostel and crashing.
My alarm went off at 6 am.
Yes, it was intentional. I wanted to capture the sunrise and boy did I capture it. It was totally worth losing a few extra hours of sleep.
I went sea kayaking for the first time in hopes of spotting dolphins or whales, which are common in the area. Unfortunately, no such creatures ever appeared but the experience was still fun. The wind was blowing us out to sea, making it a challenge to come back. Despite this, we reached the eastern-most point of Australia, which was pretty cool to do!
Immediately after this I went on a lighthouse tour, capturing some amazing shots of the beaches and scenery. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
The night consisted of hopping from bar to bar watching live music acts, some of which were really good. I discovered that pear cider is a fantastic creation. It’s really sweet! We finally crashed and burned at around 2 am…again…
Checkout was at 10 am, so naturally we got up at around 9:20. We spent most of the day at the beach playing volleyball and surfing. Anna and Melinda were playing a strong game until they blew a five-point to the eventual winners.
Alas, it was time to leave this beautiful paradise. Visiting Byron was definitely something that was on my to-do list whilst in Australia. I can see why now. It’s such a beautiful beach town. Travelling really opens your eye to the beauty of the world.
And now that I’ve started, I don’t think I can ever stop.
Justin Fague 