February 3rd - The day I had been looking forward to more than any other had arrived. Our time in Sydney was over and we were headed to Byron Bay, one of the top surfing towns in the world. Kate and I had a 2:55 pm flight to Ballina. As we landed and this is a must share, Kate made the comment, "It looks like Wisconsin." I guess the Jersey girl has been spending a little too much time in the Midwest. We then took a shuttle bus to Byron Bay.
Kate's close friends from Semester at Sea (Chris & Kristen) had been living there for a month already and were awaiting our arrival at the bus stop. Upon our arrival we dropped off our luggage at C & K's apartment and immediately went to happy hour at the Buddha Bar. They had cheap drinks, $10.00 pizzas and live music. We made our way to a hostel called The Aquarius (where Kristen bartenders) for a few drinks. One of the staple drinks is their Jungle Juice - it is comprised of Goon (white wine), fruit juice and bourbon. Sounds absolutely horrific, but was similar in taste to that of 50 cent lemonade stand…..but with a terrible hangover the ensuing morning.
Kate's close friends from Semester at Sea (Chris & Kristen) had been living there for a month already and were awaiting our arrival at the bus stop. Upon our arrival we dropped off our luggage at C & K's apartment and immediately went to happy hour at the Buddha Bar. They had cheap drinks, $10.00 pizzas and live music. We made our way to a hostel called The Aquarius (where Kristen bartenders) for a few drinks. One of the staple drinks is their Jungle Juice - it is comprised of Goon (white wine), fruit juice and bourbon. Sounds absolutely horrific, but was similar in taste to that of 50 cent lemonade stand…..but with a terrible hangover the ensuing morning.
Now a quick overview on Byron Bay:
-The city is comprised mainly of backpackers between the ages of 18 - 23, I was an elderly fellow for the week needless to say.
-Besides backpackers, the remainder of the city are local burnouts who surfed and did far too many drugs in their day…..I suppose it would be appropriate to say there isn't much ambition in this town of 10,000.
-There are two main streets in Byron, both consist mainly of tourist shops, surf shops, cafes, bars and hostels.
-It is actually more common to see people barefoot in stores, restaurants and walking throughout the city centre.
-You'd think that every bar would be quite similar, however there is a bar that is Cancunesque (wet t-shirt contests) there is the "I'm on so many drugs that I don't know if this is a bar, a church or a Chuckie Cheese" and pretty much everything in-between.
-Live music is an every night thing. You can find it everywhere.
-Heaven for hippies. After a farmers market on a nice Saturday, we were walking back to our apartment and there were about 50 people dancing, guys playing the bongo drums and at least 20 people completely naked dancing. It was like a National Geographic magazine with hippies substituted for the famished aboriginal people.
-The airport has one runway, maybe 4 flights a day and basically no means of security whatsoever. You actually have to walk down the runway to get inside the terminal, if you'd even call it that.
-The food is everything from the best seafood of your life to the shittiest Mexican food - guess proximity plays a role.
-Time is truly irrelevant. No on really knows what day it is nor really cares. If you have a job, you probably have a set time each day you come in and only know what days you aren't working.
-There are several nude beaches along the coast and surprisingly the breasts don't even come close to the beauty that surrounds the area. Seriously. No, I am actually serious.
-This is the place to completely disconnect from the outside world if you're ever in desperate need of a break from reality.
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