hopkinsonfamilytravels: A whale of a time in Byron Bay

Friday, 12 August 2011

A whale of a time in Byron Bay - 12 August

Up at 8am (a sleep in by our standards) and a leisurely morning because we had to hang around until 10am to see if any further spaces available in this fantastic (but costly) campsite.

Sure enough at 10am they did find us another site - which is fine the only draw back being that its very shady (a plus point in summer), but a negative point in winter - when its lovely and hot in the sun, but a bit cooler in the shade.

At 10am we set off for a 5 km walk - along the beach, a few lookouts, Australia's most Easterly point, Byron Bay lighthouse and return.

It was lovely (even hot) in the sun, though a cool breeze.

At the first lookout we were greeted by the sight of 20 or so humpback whales making their way southwards, occasionally breaching with huge splashes and coming up for air. They were about 300 metres or so out to sea (better binoculars are on the Xmas present list please!). We also saw plenty of dolphins having fun hunting fish, and entertaining us with jumps out of the water.

On the way back we saw hang gliders launching off the cliffs - it was a stiff and slightly chilly wind, so they seemed to be having good conditions for their antics.

After lunch (during which we amused ourselves by getting birds to eat out of our hands) back at the campsite we walked to Byron Bay (about 1km away) to play "spot the hippiest hippy", and the kids had a mooch around the shops. We even got a free felafel burger from some outfit in the square. It's a mix between upmarket tourists, backpackers and drop outs. We walked back to the campsite along the beach at sun set, stopping to enjoy some drumming band which had attracted a group of people to dance on the beach.

All in all a nice leisurely day, the sun shone all day, and it was 25 degrees - hot providing you were in the sun and out of the wind!