Weekend trip to Byron Bay (16 - 18 Dec)

On the 16th of Dec, we took an afternoon bus to Byron Bay. To avoid the same situation as the trip to Moreton Island where I had to jog 2 km in flip flops due to the tram being out of service, I wanted to be super punctual in case the tram doesn't run again. So I left super early and just a few meters away from the meeting point, I realized that I got the time wrong and I was an hour early ;-). But it didn't matter, at least I didn't have to rush this time.

We drove for about 1.5 hours to Byron Bay. It's crazy because despite being close to the Gold Coast, there's a one-hour time difference. In the hostel, we had an apartment with two 4-bed rooms, a bathroom, as well as a kitchen and living room. There were two Australians in our apartment. Both are doctors from Perth, Western Australia, and were on vacation in Byron Bay. It was really weird, I never would've thought that doctors would check into a shared room in a hostel ;-).

However, the small town of Byron Bay with just under 5000 inhabitants is known for having a colorful mix of people. You could call Byron Bay a hippie town that embraces the alternative lifestyle. You can immediately see that in the shops and restaurants. Most people are dressed in an alternative style. It's not surprising to encounter people who are stoned during the day in the hippie town. Many artists also settle in Byron Bay. Guitar music and singing can be heard from every street corner and at the beach. This contributes to the already super relaxed lifestyle in Byron Bay. You get the feeling that everything runs a bit slower in Byron Bay. But when it comes to partying, suddenly you're wide awake in Byron Bay. On Friday, we went to Club Cheeky Monkeys. It was a party where we got smeared with paint, which glowed neon colors under special lighting. We went to the club with the two Australians and also met our other classmates from the language school who had also traveled to Byron Bay with the school for the weekend. Traditionally, the male students from our language school dress up as Santa Claus and go partying in Byron Bay. It was truly an extraordinary party. By the way, there was no dance floor there. Dancing was only done on table and chair benches.

On Saturday, we slept in late and then took a hike to the lighthouse. The path there and the view we had were truly breathtaking. The beauty of nature is simply fascinating.

On Sunday, we wanted to go swimming at one of the beautiful beaches we discovered on our hike. But the weather wasn't cooperating and it was very cloudy and windy, so we only went to a hippie market. The day started very chaotic anyway. I forgot to let my roommate know that we had to check out of the hostel at 10 am and I didn't remember it myself either. We all slept peacefully until 10 minutes to 10 when a friend banged on the door and said we had to check out in 10 minutes. So 8 people scurried around the apartment, frantically searching for and packing up our belongings. Since I didn't have time to change, I just kept wearing my sleepwear (tank top and fabric pants), in Byron Bay, no one cares about how you look or what you're wearing ;-).