Looking up at Byron Bay Lighthouse, opened in 1901

First hike of our trip to Australia and New Zealand. We arrived in the Gold Coast to a high alert bushfire warning with temperatures in the high 30s.  Yuck. The next day (Tuesday) it chucked down so we hunkered down in our small apartment in Murwillumbah. Silver lining was that we were both still feeling shattered from the trip over and this enforced rest definitely helped us.

We had planned on a couple of days cycling and at least one day walking.  The weather on the coast looked good so Wednesday morning we drove down to Byron Bay. Delightful drive through the countryside. Reminded us both of Japan in many ways as this landscape has been shaped by volcanic activity and is very lumpy and jagged especially along the coast! Nice to see some of the landscape we would be cycling through over the next couple of days.

Highlights of our walk:

  • Beautiful sandy beach from where we parked which we walked along to the Byron Bay peninsula. Going we wore our boots which was a bit warm. On the way back we went barefoot which was delightful, and much easier. Got some paddling in.
  • It was entertaining watching surfers trying, with some success, to catch the waves as we walked along the beach. There were also some very beautiful people!
  • Seeing a kola bear, even though it looked like a fluffy large lump in the trees facing away from us. Kind for other people to point it out to us as it was very well camouflaged
  • Walking through the bush up to the Byron Bay lighthouse. Some people coming the other way towards us but generally we had it to ourselves. Enjoyed the feeling of wilderness
  • Seeing a couple of large lizards basking in the sunshine. They were obliging and stayed still enough for me to take a couple of photos
  • Looking at the coast which stretched for miles from the peninsula and reading about the seafaring history of the area. 
  • Less enjoyable was understanding that this was a centre for whale hunting until the 1960’s. Apparently hunters were licenced to take 150 whales a year – which decimated the population together with catches made by other countries, including New Zealand. Alas this was not whale watching season so we didn’t see any from the lookouts.
  • Pizza and a glass of wine /beer at the end of our hike whilst we dried out.

That brings me to the worst choice we made on our hike. On the way back we decided to try to walk / wade round a smallish rocky headland. We thought the tide had gone out sufficiently to make it safe and okay to get round. Big miscalculation and halfway round Mike suggested we went back after a couple of big waves that drenched us up to our waists. I thought it best to carry on as I thought the waves would surely diminish. Not a bit of it and a stupid choice on my part as the waves got bigger and pushed Mike over he also cut his foot and knee on the rocks. I must admit my heart was in my mouth when  I saw him go headfirst into the sea. Fortunately no real damage done but made me think we should have been more wary especially as there was a perfectly good path we could have taken up to the road to avoid this dangerous section. We definitely entertained some people sitting on the rocks enjoying their afternoon.

Anyway we still had a lovely evening when we got home with some Barramundi poached in fresh fennel and a bottle of very nice Tasmanian Chardonnay from Devils Corner. Mike was really pleased about how fit and strong he felt on the hike given we had both been ill on our return from Switzerland. Definitely feels like our long day on the Hinterland hike is do-able.