Byron Bay and Nimbin

On Saturday I left my host family. It was sad, but nice at the same time. It will be strange not to see them every day any more.

I hopped on a Greyhound bus to Byron Bay. I've been here once before, but that was only for an afternoon and I didn't really get to see much of it. My friend Mai also came down to Byron Bay but on a different coach, she was also staying at a different hostel to me.

As soon as I got to Byron Bay I went to check in at the hostel. I went to the wrong one first, apparently there are two YHA's in Byron Bay, but luckily the one I was staying at was only further down the street so I hadn't walked much further than what I had to walk anyway. After I had checked in and left my suitcase in the dorm I went out to find Mai. That was a bit of a mission when I had no idea what was where so in the end I just got her to meet me at the bus stop, since I knew how to get back there.

Since it was early evening when I arrived we didn't really do much, but we did have a look at a small market right next to the bus stop with loads of hand made things, loads of nice stuff there, and it was open really late, I don't know when they started packing up as I wasn't there then, but it was probably close to midnight.

On Sunday we went on a trip to Nimbin. Now, those of you who are Australian, and maybe some of you that's not, you might know that Nimbin is a very hippie-village, and it's the cannabis capital of Australia. We did not go there for the drugs(!!!), but to see how hippie it was, and how different the life-style was.

Nimbin is a really colourful place. The buildings, clothes, characters, everything is full of colours. I liked the shops there, they were full of small funny trinkets and interesting clothes, if I'd had more room in my suitcase I would have probably bought some things.

What I DIDN'T buy in Nimbin was food. Seriously. I didn't trust it. That might sound bad, but all we could smell when we were in the village was weed. For every 10 meters we walked there was someone asking if we wanted to buy cookies. We walked maybe 5-10 meters down an alleyway because we were looking at some wall-art and there were 2 people asking if we wanted to buy weed. We got out of that alley quick! The people always left us alone after we said no though, so it's not like we felt hassled or threatened or anything.

We also went to the museum in Nimbin, which I think was worth the $2 donation you make at the door. It's just a small one but you do learn a lot about Nimbin. It was actually there the first person offered us cookies, which was kind of weird, and it took me a while to actually realize what kind of cookies she was talking about because I didn't expect it so publicly.

On the bus back to Byron Bay the guys sitting behind us had the giggles. They had bought the cookies. It was quite amusing to listen to, but after half an hour or so they fell asleep, very boring.

I had bought some grapes before I went to Nimbin in the morning that I had been munching on all day, but since we hadn't had any proper food since breakfast we were quite hungry. So as soon as we got back to Byron Bay we got some food and cooked. We cooked the food at Mai's hostel, and there were SO many Norwegians and Swedes there. All I could hear in the kitchen was Norwegian and Swedish! It was almost as if I was back in Norway! I didn't talk to any of them though. I like speaking English, haha!

The reason I wanted to stop in Byron Bay was because I wanted to walk up to the lighthouse, so after Mai and I had finished our dinner we walked there. We walked some of the way along the beach, but when Mai's shoes got wet (SO funny! I laughed at her for about 5 minutes!) we got onto the road. By the time we got up to the lighthouse it was getting quite dark. I'm glad I've seen the lighthouse but I kind of wished I'd walked a bit further to see the sign where it says that it's the easternmost point of Australia. But like I said it was getting dark, and we wanted to at least get down past the part of the road with no street-lights before it got too dark.

As it turned out someone else was leaving at the same time as us, only they were in a car, so I asked them very nicely if they were going in to town and if they could drop us off. And they did! People really are very nice. It just goes to show that there's no harm in asking. They were on holiday up here from Sydney, and they really were a very nice family.

The Byron Bay YHA-Cape Byron, where I stayed was okay. I didn't really spend much time there, as I was  with Mai all the time, but it was okay. Not the cleanest place, but then again, most hotels aren't.

So now I am going to Coffs Harbour. I've never been there before. Anybody got any suggestions to what I should see/do while I'm there?