April 6, 2001 - Friday - Byron Bay
When I opened the tent flap this morning and peeked out, there was a small gray Kangaroo feeding right outside. It hopped a few feet away after I got out of the tent. The other two got up shortly afterward and we had breakfast by our tents. There was still a tinge of smoke in the air from the fireplace along with the scent of a moist morning forest.
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| Beach scene down from the park, north of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia |
I got my stuff ready and went down to the beach for a walk while the other two lounged about. The walk down to the beach was nice as was the walk along the beach to a creek. The water has a light tea color where the sea meets the creek and the sandy bottom made me a little wary about stingrays. I waded across the creek carefully and made it to the rocky outcrop on the other side.
The tidal pools in the rocky area were again looking dead at first but after I sat there and study it for a few minutes, things started to move about. There was a large crab that moved out of the shadow under the rock, dozens of little ghost shrimp darted about, and some baby giant clams in the shallows.
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| Tidalpool from the park, north of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia |
An old man walking along the beach crossed the same creek and walked up to me for a chat. He's from Red Rock, a town just south of here and he canoed over a river to get to this side of the land. He does the huge loop walk every other day but his stomach didn't reflect his exercise routine. His tanned wrinkled skin did display the fact that he's spent a good deal of his life in the sun.
He walked me along the outcrop to the next beach, Pebbly Beach, and showed me the different ways to walk about this area. We parted company and I went back examining the tidal pools again. This time I started seeing fish only seen in the sub/tropics. There were small sergeant majors and black tangs swimming in the seaweed-infested pools. Numerous snails crawled about.
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| Gorrana at the park, north of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia |
After looking around for a while, I walked back to the tent and we were off again. The ride this morning was a little quieter. Perhaps the various topics of conversation have finally run dry, or people just wanted to relax and enjoy the sights. Joerg was starting to get to me with this constant chattering and talking about all his past experiences and ending everything with the phrase "it's great". That's pretty much his constant chant.
He's also trying to exert his ways on other people but I didn't let him get away with too much of it. We drove through most of the Pacific Highway without making detours and finally made it to just south of Byron Bay and made a short stop at Lennox's head lookout. After a short swim at the bay below by Matt and I explored the baby Portuguese man-o-war infested tidal pools, we continued onto Byron Bay.
We picked up a girl and gave her a short lift into Byron Bay but she seemed a little potty. I should've taken that as a warning because she recommended a hostel that we were thinking about staying. The Arts Factory is the hostel we decided to check into.
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| Carpet Python, Byron Bay, Queensland, Australia |
We checked in and went into the campsite and setup our tent because the dorms are all booked. After we put up the tent, we all took a long needed hot shower and cleaned up nicely. When I got out of the shower, I found a six-foot long Carpet Python slithering through the campsite.
Two separate tents nearby had two hippies sucking their bongs and the smell of pot was in the air. We got dressed and headed into town for some exploring, emailing, and food. I got separated from them for a while but met up with them later. The beaches looked pretty good and people floated in the water with their boogie boards and surfboards, waiting for that big wave to come by.
The streets of Byron Bay were filled with people from all walks of life, more hippies and potheads than I've seen everywhere else. I started to get a little more relaxed with that environment until a group of chanting Herish Parishioners walked by. They were really into it, banging on the drums and chanting while walking down the streets.
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| Fire Dancers at the Arts Factory, Byron Bay, Queensland, Australia |
We headed back to the hostel after dinner and waited for a fire dance that was supposed to start tonight. It finally started with about 6 performers swinging all different types of fire apparatus to the techno dance music. The whole thing was pretty good actually but not as skillful as the fire dancer in the Cook Islands.
After the fire dance, most people scattered and left and we decided to go up to this trance party in the woods. After a long drive with 3 other blokes in our car, we came to this dark part of the woods where it was quiet and people were just standing around, not doing anything.
We found out that the generator was broken and they're waiting for more petrol for the backup generator. After waiting for a while, we gave up and came back down hill without the 3 blokes but with one other Aussie bloke back to the hostel.
April 7, 2001 - Saturday - Byron Bay
As I was updating my journal this morning, a girl sat in front of me braiding somebody's hair and she was talking to a guy in dreadlocks named Sunshine nearby. So this is the Arts Factory hostel and I still feel a little wary being here for some reason. I think it's because I lived a fairly sheltered life where I wasn't really exposed to any drug users, even though I think pot is fairly harmless from what I've seen. I decided at that point to call this place the Pot Factory instead of the Arts Factory.
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| Byron Bay Beach, Byron Bay, Queensland, Australia |
Joerg is still getting on my nerves and it seems to be growing and growing with every passing day. He's one of those "me me me" person. His suggestions for the group is always the greatest ideas in the world in his book. I guess that's the German traits that many people warned me about. Matt told me that he's thinking about getting together with his ex-girlfriend who is in Sydney right now.
I left the hostel after that and went cruising the town. I met up with Jens and Jane, his new travel partner who is a skinny lovely Kiwi lady. I went to the beach after that and sat around for a while before heading back to the hostel. I was just going to get some food from the car but then changed my mind and took the car for a long drive. It's nice to be able to drive around again at night and listen to your own music. I felt kinda out of place at the Pot Factory for some reason, but couldn't really pin it down.
April 8, 2001 - Sunday - Byron Bay
I took the hostel bus into town and got a pack of rice crackers and soda before starting my hike toward the lighthouse. There were rows of evergreens lining the park-like area along the shore. There were already a large group of people on the beach, some surfing and some sunning. It's refreshing to be surrounded by people who enjoy the nature, environment, and health instead of bent on smoking their heads off none stop. I guess I'm being a bit on the conservative side but that's how I felt.
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| Byron Bay Light House, Byron Bay, Queensland, Australia |
A steady breeze that blew from the ocean made the walk more tolerable. I walked along and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the beach and came upon a large outcrop with installed stairs for people to climb and look over at the surfers. A nice sweeping view of the bay area could be seen from the outcrop and I watched the surfers battling the waves for a while.
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| Byron Bay Light House, Byron Bay, Queensland, Australia |
An Aussie by the name of Chimmy started chatting with me. He's armed with a camera on a tripod filming his mates surfing. He was a fairly friendly chap and we discussed Australia and traveling for a while. We chatted a little longer before I head down to the tidal pools. The tidal pools isn't exactly teaming with life, but I did spot some fish flittering in and out of the water, like the ubiquitous sergeant majors and some convict tangs and other small gobies.
At the tidal pool, I spotted a girl who I saw on the same bus that I took into town from the hostel and started chatting with her. To my surprise, she turned out to be a native Bermudian, also traveling the world. Her name is Caroline Cooper, working at the dinghy club, and we had some mutual friends from Hinson's Island. It was pretty weird chatting with a Bermudian half way across the world on an Australian beach.
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| Byron Bay Light House, Byron Bay, Queensland, Australia |
I continued on the trail to the lighthouse. The trail was mostly paved with blocks of square red stones and it was fairly easy to navigate. Numerous outcrops dotted along the trail and part of the trail is surrounded by a costal rain forest. I took my slow time hiking the 3 or 4km trail and enjoying the views and the numerous stops along the way. The trail also offers spectacular views of the Tasman Sea with sweeping views from the lookouts and bold jagged rock formations frothed by blue waves.
After a brief stint at the lighthouse, I walked back the same loop and stopped at a picnic bench to read my book. The gripping book about the paddling journey of a father and son from Canada to the Amazon just makes my trip look and feel so insignificant. My trip is like a pampered catering trip compared to theirs.
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| Matt and Caroline (being shy) at the Pot Factory, Byron Bay, Queensland, Australia |
After returning to the hostel, I met up with Matt's ex - Caroline. She was very friendly with a very soft but proper English accent. It was like talking to a princess or something. She's thinking about joining our group, which certainly would add some spice to the dynamics. I met yet ANOTHER Bermudian - Jessica the dolphin trainer. She came across to me as a spoilt snob though and we didn't talk too much other than exchanging basic information. I don't even think she asked for my name. That makes the 3rd Bermuda connection in the hostel, which completes the triangle - oooo - spooky!
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