Chilling Out in Byron Bay: Friday, Saturday 1, 2 June 2012

Mr and Mrs Intrepid are really enjoying chilling out and getting into the vibe of Byron Bay, exploring the inner hippies in ourselves heh heh! This means it's nice not having to go anywhere or do anything, other than leisurely strolling along the lovely misty coastline right near where we have pitched our tent, or browsing through the nice little shopping streets that are full of mainly young colourfully dressed "alternative looking" people. Every coffee shop sells "organic coffee"….I wonder what Inorganic coffee is? The locals have wisely banned high rise buildings and in 2002 they secured 22,000 hectares off the Byron coast as a government sanctioned Marine Park. This means marine plants and animals in the area can survive with their biological diversity. Commercial fishing is banned and recreational fishing is limited. Dave and I enjoyed seeing a big goanna with beautiful lacy coloured skin creeping through the rainforest near the sea yesterday; it didn't seem afraid as if it knew it was in a protected area. And the bird life here is amazing. They are so noisy too, even singing louder than I do in the shower!

Because some rain fronts are rolling in, it makes the ocean look so changeable and beautiful. This doesn't stop the myriad of surfers though. I'm impressed with seeing how there are surfers of all ages, both men and women, with accents from around the world, using all styles of surf and body boards and different types of wetsuits and bathers. They all look like they are having so much fun acting like happy seals in the choppy waves. I just sit there on a rock and watch all this action! Mind you, I think some are silly when I see them surfing after sunset….surely there could be sharks out there looking for a seal-like meal in the twilight? I love watching the ocean at sunset and the young men doing their surfing at this time are flirting with danger I reckon, as young men do!

Dave and I have been enjoying having coffee (organic!) overlooking the ocean, as we scan the watery horizon for migrating whales…we haven't seen any yet, though we have seen dolphins. And Mr Intrepid is happy to keep going back to the same burger joint for a chilli burger fix….so am I!

With the big rain fronts coming in I sure know about this, as since I have turned 60 I have turned into a human barometer, and my gammy knee is really giving out on me, causing me to use my 2 hiking sticks for getting about longer distances. They are great…it feels like I'm cheating because I can glide swiftly along with no horrible knee and hip pain! I've learned how to use them properly and they have made my travels so much easier. They call them "Norwegian hiking sticks" in Europe, and I've been told lots of young people use them over there, not just Nanas like me.

I'm very happy with the standard of the camper's kitchen in the Byron Bay Big4 caravan park. It's well set up with provision for closing in the place from cold weather, and all nationalities are wandering in to do their cooking, which makes for interesting conversations. Once again, the English spoken is impeccable by nearly all, whereas our German, French, Dutch, Norwegian, Czechoslovakian or other is rather non-existent! We do speak American or Scottish or Irish though ha ha!

Later Saturday evening: Thief in the Kitchen and Parsnip of Doom!

Grrrr! Curses! Dave and I went to the above-mentioned wonderful camper's kitchen, opened the fridge and found our food bag had been forced open and our meals for the next 2 nights stolen, including our milk! The low life thief didn't like vegies…left the broccoli and parsnip behind though…parsnip of doom?! I went bristling over to the caravan park office but even though there's video surveillance I don't think they can really do anything; a thief will steal anything, big or small, so the thief who stole our food is now on a bad karma food chain, sooner or later! Thieves are losers who deserve to face harshest karma, and what they do will come back to them in the way they have done to others. Eat and be eaten!

Mr Intrepid tried cheering Mrs Angry Intrepid by taking her out for a cheap fish and chips meal, on a public seat in the dark on the Byron Bay beachfront, in the pouring rain, under a little verandah. I muttered that "Worse things happen at sea!" thinking of surfers, and rainy gutters, and still felt miserable. It's not the amount of value that was stolen, it's the attitude of the thief…and I curse this person to the inevitable karma of their action.

So, to make our Saturday evening in Byron Bay happier we went ahead with our plans to go and listen to live band music. I had picked out a group called "Starboard Cannons" at the local Railway Hotel, not knowing what to expect, and what a delightful treat they were to listen to. This cheered me up and made me feel less murderous!

The place was rocking away with hippie looking folk of all ages and Dave and I looked the straightest and the oldest people there. One funny older woman in a balloon skirt, black tights, and lit up flowers in her hair asked "Who are you with?" Another woman who fell over drunk and something else in front of us as she was dancing said "What are you both doing here?" Dave had a conversation with a funny looking man who was dancing with spoons he said he'd pinched from a restaurant, then he was chatting away with a Johnny Depp look alike pirate with dreadlocks and piercings along his lips and very bright scruffy clothes….the whole pub looked like that scene from the bar in the original Star Wars movie, with all kinds of strange and wonderful creatures bopping away to the Band.

The young lead singer of Starboard Cannons has a great voice and what an entertaining performer, the double bass player was awesome too, as was a young female violinist, the drummer and an older mandolin player. They are a local band and I expect to be hearing more of them as they become famous. I put us on their email list as I want to buy their album coming out in August.

We are seeing all the buskers and other music that we missed in Tamworth….some of them are really good too!

On another note, the band I play trumpet with, "The Armadale City Concert Band" was playing in the State Band Championships in Perth near 7pm Perth time, which meant exactly the same time as I was happily listening to the Starboard Cannons play. Right on cue I felt a feeling when I Knew my Concert Band was in the green room tuning up before going on stage, and I got the strongest feelings when they would have been on stage. I could almost "see" ACCB as they were playing their best competition music, and then a great feeling of relief as they finished their spot and were ready to leave the stage. So I wasn't the least bit surprised when Georgina the Treasurer from ACCB sent me a text saying they had just won the A-Grade section of the Concert Band division. Well done! And I was there in spirit all the way! This really made my night special. It is the Armadale City Concert Band's 25th Anniversary so apart from this being an achievement, keeping a community band going so long, it is also a wonderful accolade to their Conductor Don Cook, who has kept the Band going so well all these years.

So Mr and Mrs Intrepid walked back in light rain to their tent feeling much happier and more settled after a great night out enjoying what the locals do! Then it rained heavily all night and our little Shangri-La tent stayed nice and dry.

Sunday in Byron Bay: 3 June 2012

Because the rain was bucketing down around our tent, we stayed put in our Bat Cave, snuggling under our sleeping bags for a good sleep in. We have a new form of carpet on the tent floor when it rains heavily, to soak up our wet footprints. It's very exclusive and is called "newsprint" and the weekend newspapers are the best for this as they soak up more.

Then on with our Mighty Intrepid motorcycle rain gear and our brollies to walk to the local markets, which were a washout for the poor traders in their little windswept tents. There were all sorts of "rainy day" prices being offered, and I found a lovely malachite (beautiful patterned dark green copper carbonate rock) pendant at a very good haggled down price. I've been looking for a piece with good markings for ages and finally found it.

I wanted to buy a cake of special patchouli oil soap but wouldn't pay the $8 sale price, so that stall holder missed out on my money!

According to the weather forecasts showing on the internet we can see a clear patch of weather happening tomorrow (Monday) so we are planning to pack up and ride across the State boarder to Brisbane, at a Big4caravan park near public transport. But first we have to phone ahead and check about their camper's kitchen, and guess what; from now on we will be buying ice and keeping our food in our little esky inside our tent, with a guard dog witch alongside it! And Dave always puts a special little cable-tie lock on our tent zippers when we leave the tent, which we hope is a deterrent to thieves! Having a lockable trailer is also a good thing, and we are diligent with our security of locking things up.