eatsleeptravelrepeat

Byron Bay is a seaside town known for it's surfing and its sixties vibe. It is very chilled out here and exactly what you need after the hustle and bustle of city life in Sydney. 

The Beach

I mean this is an obvious one but you need to go to the beach. There are several in Byron and they are all really nice. One thing I will say about Australia is that their beaches are always pristine- no rubbish etc.

Surfing Lesson 

We booked to do a surf lesson because whilst in Rome! I wasn't exactly optimistic about my chances to become a surf superstar but needed to check it out before I counted myself completely out! 

We decided to do our lesson with Mojo Surf. Often you can book the lessons through your hostel but also through the mojo website. They pick you up from your hostel and away you go. 

What I liked about Mojo is that you are taken to quite a remote beach- therefore no one can laugh at your skills! Plus it is safer then having everyone trying to surf/swim. 

First you get in to your wetsuit top and go through the dangers of surfing. Then you perfect your standing technique and stance whilst on the board. There is a lot of info to take in at first but it does slowly click. 

In the water, the instructors help you as much as you can but you also have some time to practice by yourself. There were 3 or 4 instructors and we could have benefitted from one more but I wouldn't have wanted too many more than that because I personally liked being able to go and do my own thing. 

I managed to stand up on my first attempt and surfed to shore once or twice so although not a surfing superstar a victory nevertheless. 

You could buy photos of you surfing Alfie $20 but I would recommend looking at the pictures before purchasing! 

Despite ending the session, covered in bruises and worn out, I am so glad I did it! 

Lighthouse Walk 

It was recommended that we walk to the lighthouse at either sunrise or sunset to be able to get the best views of Byron. We found out our hostel were organising a free walk at sunset so thought we would check it out. Although the walk starts on the beach, I would recommend leaving your flip flops at home and wearing some sturdier footwear. The walk takes about an hour, with plenty of opportunities to get some amazing pictures of Byron along the way. On the walk you also pass the most easterly point of Australia. When we finally made it to the top, the sunset was slightly disappointing because it was cloudy but still worthwhile. 

At this point, everyone in our walking group had split of to get pictures etc. Once we had finished, we looked around and couldn't see anyone from our group. This led to us having to walk across the beach in the dark but in the process we did see a wild kangaroo! Poor organisation from the hostel worker who organised it, who apologised after and assured us that they had all looked for us before getting a lift back to the hostel-YEAH RIGHT! 

Apologies for the awful photo- they are so quick my little camera could nor handle it!

Eco Market 

I don't know if this is a weekly occurrence but on the Saturday (Valentines Day no less) we stayed in Byron we caught an eco market-packed full with food, jewellery and clothes stores! There was even the opportunity to get a massage if you wanted one. There was live music and it was such a chilled out way to start the evening. 

23 Hour Bakery 

Open 23 hours a day-nobody seems to know which hour they are closed but let me tell you this is a must visit whilst in Byron. We sampled a vanilla cream cupcake and a snickers slice. The cupcake was a dream- light, fluffy, everything you want and need in a cupcake! The snickers slice however was even better. Similar to a millionaire shortbread, there was a biscuit base combined with nuts, slathered in thick caramel, coated in chocolate a dropped with a mini snickers. If that does not tantalise your tastebuds I don't know what will. My sweet tooth was going crazy! 

Cheeky Monkeys 

I am not going to lie, we ended up here by complete mistake...

Whilst we were exploring what Byron Bay had to offer, we were given a card that gave us a free entree size bowl of pasta. As a backpacker on a budget, this seemed ideal so we went along to give it a go. Once we arrived, we realised they were not lying about the entree size of the pasta but free is free. 

We were leaving to carry on with the rest of the evening when the club/bar/restaurant manager came over to us and told us that from 9oclock they would be giving away free champagne because it was valentines. We hadn't had anything else planned so we thought why not give it a go! We came back and after a few glasses of champagne later- life was good. We were then given even more free drinks vouchers from a member of staff- life is getting even better! Wait, that isn't the end of our fabulous free night, one of the bar tenders who is also the mc and oh so fabulous then gave us a few rounds of cocktails for free as well. 

The music is good here and it's busy most days of the week. Be careful in Byron though because police are very strict here on the alcohol rules. 

Woodys 

So if you stay at Backpackers Inn, you get free entry and a drink to Woodys on a Monday. We were planning to go out so thought we may aswell go with the crowd. The only thing is you have to leave the common areas of the hostel by 10:30...not ideal. So we went got the stamp and came back and predrunk some more! I ended up having s really good night here but that may be the goon talking...

Whatever you plan on doing in Byron you are going to have an amazing and really chilled out time!

Imogen xoxo