Byron Bay

I just finished my last long Aussie bus ride (about 12 hours) from Byron Bay back to Sydney. Although Byron was very nice, it was pretty uneventful and very....unique. On my first day in Byron I met up with Paul, a mate from the UK that I've been travelling on and off with for a stroll around the city. One of the largest attractions of Byron is the famous lighthouse that is located on the most easterly point of Australia, so we made sure to spend ample time walking around that area and looking at the massive amount of dolphins that were in the bay for the day. That night we headed out to the Aussie famous Cheeky Monkeys for some booze and cheap food. Cheeky Monkeys is the best pub in Australia, packed with tons of backpackers looking to drink for cheap, dance on tables, and meet people. What an awesome place it was. The next day I went to the travel agent to book my skydive and an alternative tour to a place nearby called Nimbin, the 'out-there' capital of Australia. Unfortunately, however, I didn't get to go on the tour as my skydive was cancelled on the first day and rescheduled for the next, but oh well. Byron was out there enough for me. While eating lunch one day I saw a man walking a llama down the street like it was a dog and when I asked the wait staff if it was normal they said indifferently, "oh that, yeah happens all the time". But by far the best part of my trip to Byron, and maybe Oz thus far, was my skydive from 14,000ft. After we landed I was told that technically we shouldn't have done the jump because of the weather but it was well worth it. When we first jumped out we were right in the middle of a cloud and then BOOM you could see for miles. It was an unbelievable experience that everyone should do. Other than that my time at Byron was very relaxing with sitting on the beach and wondering about town until party time at Cheeky's.

I'm now in Sydney waiting to fly back to the state on Monday. By the end of the day I will have all my pictures from the trip uploaded with comments on picasa so be sure to check them out at : http://picasaweb.google.com/lucas.odom . And since I liked Meara's final thoughts and top five approach I'll try and do the same after I land back in the states.

And yes Lloyd, I wore the mankini out in Byron...