Byron Bay

Happy New Year!

Today's post is about our trip to Byron Bay - we flew there on Boxing Day for four nights, staying in an apartment near the beach. It's in northern NSW, about 9 hours to drive or an hour or so by plane.The weather up there was mixed, but the advantage of a bit of rain and cloud was that it was possible to go walking and spend time on the beach without feeling like a grilled prawn.

The diving was a lot of fun - we had to take a speedboat out to the rocks about a km off-shore. On the first day the swell was ridiculous (the roughest sea I've been on) and I was a bit worried about diving in it, especially as the visibility was poor. However it was surprisingly good, in that we saw several sting rays and some interesting fish. I was sufficiently sea sick to delay our second dive to the following day, by which time the rain had moved in. There was less swell (I was still violently ill), and the visibility was a little better (despite the rain) - we saw three Wobbegong sharks asleep on the ocean floor, two sea turtles, and plenty of fish. A pod of dolphins also swam right up to the boat too, which was surprisingly exciting.

Other than that we did some body surfing and successfully avoided the bluebottle jellyfish - we saw a few people who had been stung, and there were lots washed up on part of the beach (jellyfish, that is). We also walked up to Byron Bay lighthouse, which marks the most easterly point in the country and has spectacular views south across Seven Mile Beach.

The town of Byron is a good balance between being hippie and chic - there were plenty of vegan options for George, but also fantastic seafood, as well as cool boutique shops and lively pubs and bars. The apartment where we stayed had a swimming pool and jacuzzi, which we had to ourselves each evening - a great way to end the day.

Here's a selection of photos......