Blog 4 - The things you find when you go off piste!

We started the day early, so we could make it to the beach to watch the sun come up. The clouds had the same idea and effectively masked the majority of the actual sunrise, but it was still worth getting up at 5.30 to be on the Surfers Paradise beach and see the first surfers of the day going in – I managed to get my feet wet (on purpose, and barefoot) although the waves were a bit too energetic for me to be persuaded in for a full on swim.

We called in at a lovely independent coffee shop (what3wrods: slug.flesh.stunts) and had a delicious coffee and blueberry and white chocolate muffin – they keep offering to put butter on our muffins… what kind of madness is that!?

As we were up and at ‘em so early, we took a drive down to the next state – New South Wales – and made for Byron Beach. On the way we saw signs for Crystal Castle, which sounded interesting, so we made a detour to find it was to see natural formations of crystals, but they wanted $50 per person to see them. (1$ is worth about 50p, so just half the numbers and then add a little bit to convert – so £25 each!) Safe to say we gave it a miss, but we also found a waterfall via my trusted friend Google, so we made the death defying drive up a very twisty road to Minyon Falls. (What3words:cheeses.databases.devotion). It was well worth it, but so very high – even though I was on a solid metal lookout structure it was making me a little wobbly.

I could only get half of the falls on the shot – even using a selfie stick and holding it out over the cravasse!

Emily braved her first long drop of the trip, pretty apt considering where we were, but it was not that long of a drop :) – and of course we have the added danger/stresser of checking for venomous spiders in every corner and under the loo seat – all while trying to hold your breath...

To get to the falls we passed though Mullumbimbi - The ‘biggest small town in Australia’ or so the sign says, so on the way back we decided to stop off and explore. It was lovely, and quite a hidden gem. Very boho chic, with artisan bakeries, lots of hand made garments, and stylish jewellery – Emily was in her element. It was hard to get a handle on the vibe – a little mid-west American, a little New Orleans with lots of vintage stores.

There was a delightful Chocolate shop – I had an apple sorbet in a cone – it was absolutely gorgeous! I would never think to make apple ice cream, but I will have a go at it now…

We carried on to Byron Bay and spent some time on the beach, once again dipping our feet in the ocean and watching the surfers and swimmers, as well as the kayakers.

Em and I were in shorts and tees, barefoot and commenting on what a lovely day it was, and how warm the ocean was

then I turned round to find our Scozzie (affectionate term for a Scot who has relocated to Australia) wrapped up for winter!

A trip up to the iconic lighthouse saw us ready for the return trip to Brissie, where we will be for the next two nights. It is not the last we will see of Byron Bay though as we have a planned stay there on our way back up the coast from Sydney to Cairns.

We are staying on the South Bank again, different accommodation, and this is the view from the balcony tonight.

One thing that has surprised me about Brisbane is how hilly it is, and how many traffic lights there are – you cannot drive more than 100 m without having to stop for a red light. It is hardly a wonder that automatic cars are so popular.

We had a wander about the immediate area a little tonight, and had dinner in a well recommended Vegan restaurant, El Planta (What3words; they.score.lease) which is a vegan, Mexican tapas streetside restaurant – it was delicious, but as we always do with tapas, we ordered far too much! Note to self – give some consideration to where you are going to have dinner before you are absolutely starving marvin, that way your eyes will not be greedier than your belly :D – at least we have lunch sorted for tomorrow.

Emily ordered the 3rd margarita on the trot, and again wanted me to try it, even though I have almost spat out the previous two when I have tried them – guess what, I still didn’t like it! – yuk

I opted for a Daisy, which comprised Mexican gin, lime and agave, which I am not sure what it is, but it was lovely.

Tomorrow we plan to try and have a later start so we can stay up past 9pm, and we are going to explore Brisbane more as so far we have pretty much stuck to home and have hardly seen much of it at all, apart from when we have been sat at a red traffic light….

If you are struggling to sleep, or just waking up here is a clip of the waves crashing at sunrise this morning

Night!