Journal entry from March 7th, 1997

“We left Sydney (for the third time) and headed north up the east coast to Byron Bay.  Truly the most beautiful scenery we had experienced on the rail thus far. Arrived in Byron Bay at 7:30 pm.  Mitch, from Cape Byron Resort was waiting for weary travellers at the train station and we agreed to go with him in the van for £10 a night.  Fairly nice place with pool and large game room.  Free pancakes for breakfast.  Sangria night – all you can drink for  £5.  (Unfortunately, we were knackered and settled for turning in early.”

Journal entry from March 8th, 1997

“Woke at nine to enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast.  Mitch offered to bring us to the lighthouse and we took him up on it.  Stunning views!!  Back in the 1800’s, there was no way for the lighthouse attendant to get food so they raised goats on the side of the cliff (and the goats are still there today!)  The view is absolutely spectacular, with water everywhere and beautiful beaches on all sides.  Cape Byron, where the lighthouse is located, is also Australia’s eastern most mainland point.  We caught sight of dolphins swimming and people hang gliding.  Lovely day!!!  Mo and I walked from the hostel to Tallows Beach to watch the sunset.  It was a bit of an adventure on the way back.  (Our over-dramatization led us to nickname it Jurassic Park.)  The path to and from the hostel to the beach was through some vegetation and we had this wooden boardwalk to follow. It was dark and we kept hearing things in the bush which gave us a fright.  We made it back to the hostel a bit shook up and very relieved to be safe from harm.  In the evening, we went out with a bunch of people from the hostel.  First, to the Rails and then to the Northern.  They didn’t have Strongbow White so I settled for a schooner of VB, which tasted wonderful (since I haven’t had a beer in over a month!)  We hung out with a bunch of people from the hostel and had a really good time.”

Here are some pics from that gorgeous day.  (You may notice that the date on my camera was for March 7th, which it was back home with the 17 hour time difference. I guess I should have changed that once we arrived in Oz!!)