Getting to Byron Bay from Surfer’s proved to be a hassle. The government Translink website gave us a route to follow by public bus down the Gold Coast, but apparently it was incorrect. We ended up getting dropped in Nusa Heads and found that no public buses went any closer to Byron than that. So we were forced to wait around until three that day for a private bus down. We spent the four hours waiting in a Mcdonalds on the internet after being denied wi-fi for most of our time in Surfer’s.
We eventually made it down to Surfer’s and were accosted by a number of hostel-pushers as we got off the bus; albeit in a very lazy manner. We took a bus to one but it turned out to be much more expensive than the one we ultimately chose for $22 per night: Main Beach Backpackers. We got lucky there by getting one of the six-bed dorms. The people we talked to who stayed in the sixteen-bed dorms hated it and got little or no sleep. The hostel was nice and had free wi-fi. The people there were mostly great as well. Flow, a guy who worked and lived at the hostel, apparently was the source of much drama. We met up with Tom from Surfer’s once again and had some drinks with him a few nights. In the two weeks we were there we probably had 8 boxes of goon. On separate nights we each had a bit too much and weren’t allow into the bar. We got lucky most times with the people we ended up rooming with in our dorm; lots of people from all over the world. Most nights we would drink out on the patio of the hostel on one of three long picnic tables with whoever was out there. We hung out a bunch with a couple girls from Ottawa. We also hung out a couple times with a British guy who was a Russel Brand look alike as a profession. He looked and acted the part very well. We spent a lot of nights at Cheeky Monkey’s which was bumpin’ every night. Cocomangas was brutal. Beaches was good the one night we went. The only thing wrong with the town was that we were there during Schoolies, so it was packed with 18 year olds who had just finished high school. But we usually got lucky and had a crew from the hostel to go out to the bar with.
The beach there is amazing. It rained a lot but we did get a few great days out there. I spent a few days walking it trying to get in some kind of exercise. I never made it to the lighthouse, as much as people always talked about how they were going there all the time. We met a guy there who looked exactly like Jin from Lost and surfed eight hours a day. He lived to surf and snowboard and would follow the seasons around the world. One day we had a good soccer game going on the beach with a crew from the hostel.
We ate a lot of the same food just like in Surfer’s. When the two weeks was up we were ready to head down to Nakita’s for some good food and shelter.
Steeves
