Chapter 2 - Byron Bay, Australia

From Sydney we took the bus north, along the coast. Beach towns run this entire length, and most Australians live in these east-coastal parts of the country. The distances are very long. The population density is low, so you drive for hours seeing mostly farms. There are troops of Kangaroos and Wallaby (smaller kangaroos) foraging as in these large plains of grass. The truck stops and their kiddie amusements provided a nice reprieve from of hours sitting on a bus. The first day we reached a little place called Port Marquarie. It was a nice town but definitely a "stopover," only interesting for a few hours. At night, Steve and I put on nice shirts and went to a local bar. It was Karaoke night and these local people were good. Karaoke was in important part of their lives and seemed like they'd been rehearsing. Steve, as brilliant as ever, signed up to sing "Bon Jovi's Livin on A Prayer", and he sucked something awful. He was so bad that before the song was over he had stopped singing and just stood on stage like a damn fool. It was painful to watch, and I had to pretend like I didn't know him.

Another long bus ride the next day got us to a great Aussie beach town, Byron Bay. It's a very backpacker friendly town, and the local economy is geared toward the hundreds of international beach bums like myself. The people are a laid back sort. Just like my San Diegons (Diegans? Diegans? Take your pick.) Making friends wasn't hard and it was a good time.

I grabbed a bunch of nice pictures when I went hiking around this lighthouse on a hill above Byron Bay.

The beach at Byron Bay goes on forever in both directions.

This is a tour bus through a protected rain forest. From this lookout, it seemed like a shot of prehistory; like a background shot from Jurassic Park. Too bad I didn't get a picture. (Stupid!)

This hippy guide of ours was really interesting. He was parts preacher, bus driver, and green-living activist. Out here in Australia many people have
started to live as "natural" as possible, where they don't pollute, no electricity, and they grow their own food. The other Aussies call them "feral", like a cat that got lost in the woods. It seemed like a peaceful lifestyle.
I give Byron Bay a big thumbs-up. It's hard to think of a better place to wake up with nothing to do. But Steve and I set an aggressive schedule to see the whole east-coast of Australia. With this in mind, we could only stay in Byron Bay for 4 days.

Next stop: Fraser Island.

-Thanks for reading-