Hippysville!

Arrived into Byron Bay today after a long 5 hour drive through the scenic routes from Coffs. I was gonna stay in Coffs for another day today since I was a bit hung over from my "Irish bar" antics the night before.. I met up with 2 Israeli guys and we ATTEMPTED to mix in with the Coffs crowd but the locals had the whole "small town" thing going on so they only really socialised amongst themselves... ah well. The 2 Israeli guys: Yoel and Kfir (who incidentally was in the army!) are grade-A surfers and have promised to teach me to surf when they arrive up to Byron Bay... damn itll take some patience before I can even STAND on one of those things!

I stopped for lunch at a small road stop-off called "Little Italy". Aparently this is the site of a township developed by several pioneering Italian families back in the late C19th after most of them had died from starvation (or succumbing to the jungle fever) on the journey there. There was a replica wine-store and the original well developed by the town, but since the 40s the town became deserted and all that is left is this little rest-area beside the highway...

There are lots of little places like this in NSW, but theyre not very prominent and I happened upon this place by pure accident. Had some nice Italian food for lunch too

Anyhoo, Byron Bay is something else. As soon as I entered the town I could "smell" the hippies (all that smoke eh?) and the town is really quite bohemian with an abundance of little arty cafes and amazing selection of restaurants at cheap prices. Plus the hippies. Theyre everywhere! And they drive like theyre stoned (which they probably are) and I was relieved when I finally got off the main street and no longer had to brake suddenly for some guy just walking blindly across the road...

The hippies adopted this town sometime in the 60s and this (and a nearby town called Nimbin) has become a centre where they congregate year-round... its got a very relaxed atmosphere as a result and good music issues out of every restaurant or tourist office.

My camp site is pretty grubby but surprisingly the most expensive yet (22 AU$)... it doesnt matter to me since I sleep in the van so it could be mud-flats for all I care!

The beach is 20 metres from my van and it is fantastic but, most of all, the sky tonight is absolutely amazing. The Milky Way is clearly visible since the moon is hidden plus there are no large street lights nearby (Im situated about 2 km from the town centre down along the beach) so I could sit on the white sand all night staring dreamily into the heavens while the sea gently waves in...

In fact thats what I WILL do ...! Laterzzz