Byron Bay

After my awful time in Brisbane, Byron Bay has been a lifesaver. I arrived here yesterday and had enough time before sunset to take a lovely walk on the beach and explore the town a little bit. I think it has a similar size and atmosphere to Bar Harbor- a holiday town with lots of places to eat and shop. The difference is that here there are backpackers everywhere! This is very good because there are tons of services for us- travel agents, tours, cheap meals, cheap internet, etc. Plus the weather is fantastic. Today I thought about going on a 2 hour walk to the Cape Byron Lighthouse, and then decided to sit on the beach instead. The beach is about two minutes from my hostel and it is one of the best beaches that I've been to in Australia. It actually has waves (unlike Cottesloe or even Rottnest Island in WA). In fact, the conditions were like one of those rare perfect days on Fire Island when there's a sandbar you can easily walk to. I first went down to the beach just planning to swim and read, but I saw so many people boogie boarding and I knew that it was the absolute perfect conditions for it. So I went back to the hostel and borrowed one for free (one of those nice services they offer). I also couldn't help noticing that it was perfect conditions for skimboarding, and yet it was a total waste because no one was doing it! I guess that sport hasn't made its way over here, although I'm pretty sure I saw some boards in the surf shops. But a message for Dad- you need to bring skimboarding to Australia! They're really missing out.

After many hours in and out of the water I went into town, did a little shopping, and had a nice healthy vegetarian lunch. This town is very hippie/new age oriented resulting in lots of stores selling insence and sarongs and also lots of gf/vegan/veggie eateries. I'm hoping to meet up with a girl from my dorm tonight- her name is Tanja and she's Swiss- we went out for a drink last night and we might be meeting other friends of hers tonight. So things are going well, although I'm still looking forward to the end of the week!

Love,
Emma