2 Crazy Sheilas

Hey all so I finally have some time to tell you all about my trip to Byron Bay! Miranda and I were only there for one full day, and seeing as there really isn’t too much to do in Byron, a full day was good.

The Oz Bus from Brisbane dropped us off at our accomodation, the Village Hostel, in the evening and Miranda and I were only given a few hours before we were to meet back up with our Oz group at a bar across the street named Cheeky Monkeys for dinner and drinks. When we arrived at Cheeky Monkeys we were imformed that not only were we going to get discounts of our dinners (whoo hoo!!!) but we were in a competition with the greyhound travellers for free beer. It was more of a ‘who can cheer louder when your name is called’ sort of thing. Unluckily for us our group lost one, and then the bartenders made a big mistake. They gave us connect four games to play, but as we quickly found out they made MUCH better noise makers….allowing us to win the next three rounds, which meant for lots and lots of free beer! After lots of beer and cheering (my voice was definately gone!) I decided to head to bed because Miranda and I had to wake up the next morning and head to Nimbin for our day trip.

The next morning, although raining Jims Alternative Tours picked us up and we were off to a little Hippie town named Nimbin. We learned along the way, before our pub stop for a few morning beers, that Nimbin became popular during the war. As the states were having their Woodstock and celebrating free love and peace many Aussies decided that they should have a little Woodstock of their own.  It all started when a few boys, who were running to escape the draft, ended up in Nimbin and decided that it would be the perfect place to hold an event as such. Bands from around Australia, and a lucky few American bands gathered together with all the hippies, free-spirited, peace lovers from around the country. At that time Nimbin only had five police officers and when two men got caught for smoking weed and were thrown in jail the people enjoying the festival marched up to the police station and broke down the doors and got the men out of jail to celebrate with the rest of them. It is said that until this day many of the hippies decided to stay in Nimbin and the now nine police officers sort of turn their head to the junkies smoking and dealing weed in the town, hence the attraction.

After our pub stop it was off to Nimbin to see what all the fuss was about. The second Miranda and I hopped off of the bus we felt like we were in a different world. We walked up the street, heading for the Nimbin Museum, and passed many stores, such as Billabong, which you can guess what it sold, and it wasn’t surf clothing! I was a bit nervous and felt a bit out of place as I passed by the locals, whereby many were trying to sell their goods, until Miranda and I arrived at the eccentric museum. It was by far one of the coolest museums I have ever been too. It was sort of a home-made, cluttered place that from room to room led you through the story of Nimbin and its place in the world today. We passed by cut outs of Bob Marlery look-a-likes, arrived in a black light room full of neon paintings, went through a room of wooden pot leafs. Also while in the hostel, which we learned was sort of a safe haven for the smokers of the city to nurture their needs away from the police (cleverly named taxi’s by the locals if you see them on the streets) and were given many opportunities to take part in the activities.

After walking around and grabbing a wuick lunch it was back to the bus and off to a mans house in the middle of no-where. Along the way the bus driver informed us that the upcoming hill was sort of a rollercoaster ride down, exactly 5 minutes and 13 seconds of rollercoaster, and that he cleverly found a song that lasted exactly 5 minutes and 13 seconds. We stopped at the top of the hill and the driver assured that the road below was clear. He then let off of the brakes while pushing play on the stereo and off we went down the hill, slowly gaining speed and eventually zooming around corners to the beat of the music. The bottom of the hill was in sight and it was clear that the song was ending and at the exact moment the song quit the brakes were on and the bus was at a halt! It was pretty cool and actually did feel like a proper rollercoaster. After our exciting trip down the hill we arrived at a mans house. We hopped off of the bus and waited and waited for the man to show up. Our bus driver was yelling the mans name for minutes to let him know we were there. Eventually a man came into sight through the thick woods ahead and I immediately knew this was going to be an interesting visit. He came out of the woods dressed like a shabby Hugh Hefner. He was wearing black galoshes and a long burgundy robe. In his hand was a pipe and his long, matty grey hair was tied back, which if it hadn’t have been I would have had a hard time figuring out where his hair started and his beard ended! He quickly introduced himslef, which I regretfully missed as I was too dumbfounded by his appearance. He led us along a path where we picked manderine oranges and these grapefruit sized fruit, which as we tasted later and found it to be sort of a hybrid between an orange, lemon, and grapefruit. They were really good. While having a few beers, macadamia nuts, and fruit the man went into a long and drawn out speech about quantum physics. And to tell you the truth he lost me at “Hey, listen to this….!” Once my head was tired from nodding at smiling at him when he looked at me we all thankfully went back to the bus and headed back to Byron Bay, after a munchie stop for those that took part in the Nimbin festivities of course! 

Back in Byron, and after a long day Miranda and I took a little nap, went and grabbed some dinner, and went to Cheeky Monkeys to meet up with a few Dutch guys we had met that day on the tour for a few drinks. The next morning we had to wake early and head an hour north for Bellina, the home to the airport that was going to take us to Sydney, our last stop on our Australia tour.

Miranda and I boarded the plane and headed to Sydney, which I will write about later.

Hope you all are enjoying my entries! Will write more later

~Claire