Byron Bay

On returning from our Fraser Island Trip on the Sunday, we got back into our hostel in Brisbane and headed out for some dinner, we found Jo Jo's and had a delicious Thai dinner - very welcome after the weekend's tour and lack of food. We didn't call into the bar on the way home - we were still covered in dirt and sand so opted for an early night so we were fresh in the morning for our return leg back to Sydney.

On Monday morning we picked up a car (after carrying all our luggage across Brisbane - 'couple of blocks away' - I don't think so!!) By 11am, we were on the Pacific Highway heading for Byron Bay. The sun was shining, the tunes were on - we were Thelma and Louise, we just needed to find our Brad Pitt on the side of the road!

The Pacific Highway runs down the Gold Coast, through Surfer's Paradise, Miami and Palm Beach, we stopped to have a look at the beach and the surf - everything looked so alive.

We arrived in Byron Bay around 2pm and we parked up alongside the brightly coloured camper vans and headed into the town for some shopping and a bite to eat. The beach was picturesque with the lighthouse standing proudly on top of the hill.

There was always going to be something special about Byron Bay - I was told by the clairvoyant I saw years ago that I would go and it is special - I have a connection! As soon as we started to walk around the town I could feel it - I could live here! Everything was so relaxed and in the sunshine the colours of beads, art and beautiful materials dazzled. The town was full of backpackers and travellers with artists painting in the street - I felt inspired. We stopped and had a bite to eat and a milkshake in a cafe before heading up to the lighthouse to watch the sun set. It was what I had been waiting for - the colours of the sky as the sun said it's goodnight were beautiful, it made me think back to Ayers Rock and how I had hoped that the sky would be as vibrant. The sun seemed to set so fast; if you blinked you missed a flash of orange or the glowing pinks.

As dusk continued, we headed down the hill and drove to our hostel - my eyes were on the sky the whole time. At one point, a flame of fire seemed to be engulfing the sky, you could almost see the flames lapping at the sky, a few minutes gone and the flame was calm, hot coals warmed the sky.

Our hostel was basic but in a beautiful setting - just 300m from the beach. We changed, grabbed a beer and headed along the beach in the moonlight back to the town. Although we couldn't see anything, we could smell incense as we walked indicating that people were sat watching the night sky. In town we had a couple of beers and grabbed some food to take back and eat. Nothing seemed to be happening in town so it was another early night.

Tuesday morning we woke up to a blue sky which meant we could fit in some sunbathing - something we hadn't done pretty much all trip due to the cold weather, but we were only given a couple of hours before the wisps of cloud became thicker and hid the sun from us. So, we walked along the beach into town for a spot of shopping before leaving Byron Bay in the evening.

I couldn't put my finger on it - maybe it was the expectation that something would happen at Byron, but it was special and if I moved out to Oz, it would be my home. (Em and I have already decided what we would do here - the shop we would run!)

We left around 4pm and got back onto the Pacific Highway for Port Macquarie - the town where Em's parents live, and our home for the next few days before I fly home on Sunday. We passed the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour (not that big though) and the Big Shrimp in Ballina - neither of them compared to the Big Sheep though.

After a 4 hour drive we arrived at Port Mac around 10pm, where Ann served up a very welcome dinner. It was really good to see her (we had briefly seen Melvin in Ballina as he was working and staying there) I crashed into bed with the thoughts of my holiday and amazing trip being nearly over.