I was originally supposed to go with my Danish friend Anja for a beach getaway after we both had a crazy few weeks. Anja, stranded here because of the volcano had some last minute panic situations with her visa, and thought it best to stay behind in Sydney. Having already paid for the weekend, I decide to go ahead alone. So I turned my last midterm in Thursday and headed to the bus stop.
Byron Bay fits every stereotype of a hippie beach town you could think of. Despite that, it was really really nice. There were a number of cute interesting shops and I don't think I even saw half of them. The beach is beautiful, the sand is so clean it squeaks, surfers everywhere, but not very pretentious. I felt perfectly comfortable sitting for hours reading on the beach. There were so many restaurants and all the food I had was incredible (especially this lobster and tiger prawn risotto at the restaurant on the beach called Fish Heads...oh my god...the best food I've ever had).
Pictures of beaches always seem to look the same and never really do just them justice.
Main beach at dusk with a view of the very important light house. The reason it is very important because that tip there is the most eastern point of Australia.
So while I loved Byron Bay itself, and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a weekend getaway. I would not relive MY weekend getaway ever. I met some very interesting people, the majority of who I can't remember their names, and don't care to, lol. As a solo traveler I was hoping to meet some people, and my first afternoon there I met a middle aged lady just moved to Byron Bay from another Austrlian state. I thought this was nice, so I joined her for a drink, and then she joined me for a night out, and a beach walk the next day, and dinner, and more drinks out, and another beach walk, and lunch, and you get the point. She was very nice, but all I could think about was that I was going to turn into her, 40 and moving to a backpacker city alone looking for work at the local pub. So it didn't leave me with very many positive feelings.
The only time I wasn't with her, I was partaking in my scheduled activities. I don't know which one was worse. I went sea kayaking on Saturday. Sea kayaking sounds AWESOME. And that's about where the awesomeness stops. I was so looking forward to doing something active on the water in the beautiful sun, maybe see some dolphins, sea turtles, or even a whale. I was first paired with a capable looking Polish girl. But sea kayaking is HARD. To start you have to get your two person kayak over the very large breaking waves at the beach. Polish girl was a bit scared of the waves, but to be fair, they were very frightening. So every time a big wave got to us, she would panic and freeze, and if you're not paddling and gaining momentum, you will not make it over the big waves. And we didn't. We flipped twice before she gave up and left. I got a new partner and were able to get over the breaking waves on the first try. My high of accomplishment only lasted a few minutes as a new sensation took over...sea sickness. I'm not one to get motion sickness, so it took a little while to realize what was going on. But then I was miserable. I couldn't give a shit about the dolphins, whales, sea turtles, and just wanted to do was get back to the beach.
I thought the sea sickness would wear off as soon as I was on land, but that is not the case. I ended up going back to the hostel to lay in my bed. That's when I met Sean. Sean was a very chatty Australian come to Byron Bay for a surfing holiday. He was in his thirties and liked to give me his life story over and over again. We chatted for awhile, then I decided to go to the beach, he decided to come with, then after I was going to go to dinner, and he decided to come with again. It was during dinner with the chatty Australian and the middle aged Australian woman, that I realized that he may be getting the wrong ideas about our 'friendship.'
I was a bit rude that evening when I flat out ditched my two 'friends' and tagged along with some nice Swedish girls from the room. The night was good, I met a bunch of people, won a stupid English drinking game, and picked up another Ben. Ben #3 for those paying attention (which is only really Erica, lol). This Ben got the wrong impression of me however, and when we all went back to the hostel together, he decided to walk right into my room and get in my bed. I sat on my bed and talked to him for a bit, but eventually convinced him to leave. In the mean time, chatty Australian Sean, had gotten out of bed and was milling about the room (at 3am). As soon as Ben #3 left, Sean comes and sits on my bed. Which was strange and unwelcome. When he tries to make his move it does not fly with me. If that were the end of the story, it wouldn't be so wacky. But Sean is a bit disappointed and begs to know why, to which I reply "for a number of reasons, but first of all, you're married." He tries to convince me that its ok and 'what happens on holiday stays on holiday.' He literally said that. This went on for a bit until I finally had to tell him bluntly and angrily to get off my bed. Then HE TRIES AGAIN. I nearly slapped him across the face. I didn't, and he finally crawled up to the top bunk. I got up about 3 hours later, packed up my stuff and checked out of the room. I had to check out anyway, but I was very happy to leave the room and never see him again.
My last day in Byron Bay, I went snorkeling. Supposed to be a great experience. Wasn't for me. They took us out in the most dangerous little raft boat to a giant rock in formation in the bay. I put the mask and flippers on, and they said 'ok have fun, bye.' I flip off the boat, swim over (through some big waves) to the rock, but you can't touch the rock cuz its environmentally protected. I put the mask on, stick my face in the water, and panic because I can't breath. I spent the first 15 to 20 minutes panicking and trying to be able to breath through the snorkel. I almost gave it up and went back to the boat. The only reason I didn't is because I was afraid I would get sea sick waiting for the divers to come back before we could go back to land. I did eventually calm down a bit, but I was still very very nervous. It was also creepy when I first had to swim through jellyfish..I kept thinking they were going to sting me. Then I saw the leopard sharks down below. I know that they are placid and don't attack humans, but that doesn't mean I'm not trained to fear sharks. And sting rays for that matter. They did kill the crocodile hunter after all. But I also saw a few sea turtles, which I love, and all the fish you ooo and ahh over at aquariums. The other snorkeler, who had done it a bunch, said he had never seen so many fish in his life. So I guess it was a good palce for me to try snorkeling. But then I had to get back on the boat, and as we waited for the other divers to come back, and we sat in the middle of the ocean going up and down and up and down, I started getting sick all over again. Finally back on the beach waiting for the van to take us back to the dive center, my sea sickness won. I heaved uncontrollably for so long I thought I wasn't going to be able to stop. It was early in the morning, so my heaving didn't bring anything up but sea water. Then I was shaky and weak and generally miserable again. After leaving the dive center, I go back to the hostel to shower, and since I can't lay down because I've already checked out, I decide to try to find a shady spot on the beach to sleep at. But its Anzac day (similar to Memorial Day) and there's a parade, and dozens of people and even more kids. I slowly trudge back to the hostel and ask them if I can get a room just for the day to sleep in. They are understanding but you can't actually check in for another 4 hours, so they open the tv room for me, and let me have a sleep there. It has those theater type giant stairs with bean bags, generally uncomfortable, and anyone can walk in at any time. But they don't and I sleep peacefully for 4 hours. But I still don't feel great. I was sick the rest of the day, and I just kind of milled around until I could get on the bus and praying that I didn't run into anyone from the night before. And mercifully, I did not.
Then another 14 hours on the bus, I finally arrived back home and have spent the day chilling and reading, and recovering from the weirdest weekend ever.
