11/1/09 When we left Brisbane we made our way straight to Byron Bay, but stopped at Surfers Paradise for a little bit on the way.The beach looked lovely, though crowded, and appropiately the waves looked ideal for surfing, but the streets next to it were too built up for our liking. They were filled with skyscrapers, fast food joints, estate agents etc., and a couple of building sites. We moved on, and arrived at Byron Bay in the early afternoon.
We liked Byron Bay a lot better, because although it's still quite touristy, it isn't as built up. There's more than one beach there, as well, and only the main one gets crowded. It's a bit more laid back too, and with New Age overtones. After setting up our tent, we went to Clarke's Beach. I swam, but Dave had torn his board shorts all the way down the seam a day or so before, so he couldn't. (I had tried to sew it up, but clearly very inadequately, because the thread broke again almost straight away.) The beaches at Byron Bay were beautiful, the sea was turquoise, and the waves powerful. Dave lay in the sun while I swam, having taken a few photos.

12/1/09 In the morning we went round the shops first of all. Dave got a new pair of boardies, we spent quite a while browsing bookshops, and after buying a couple of drinks, we hired a surfboard and headed straight down to the beach, stopping at Subway to get some lunch on the way. I was eager to get some action shots of us both, so first of all Dave went in with the board while I took photos, and then we swapped round. He managed to stand up a couple of times, but I didn't, to my disappointment. In my defence, the conditions were hardly ideal for a beginner - the waves were very powerful, and there was an incredibly strong sweeping side current (and this was within the two flags as well!). Once when I was trying to get the board back facing out to sea, on my way out to deeper water, a big wave caught me before I'd turned it complely round; the force of it swept me off my feet and the board out of my hands, and the fins whacked me painfully on my thigh. I carried on regardless, and apart from that, and at one point when I lost my footing and I could feel the current sweeping me sideways too close to some rocks for comfort, I had a great time. The sea was warm, and although I didn't actually manage to stand up, it was still exhiliarating when I caught a wave properly! There was barely a cloud in the sky, and it felt like it was about 34 degrees. When we'd finished surfing, we walked along the short bit of cliff, threw a tennis ball around to each other, and I went back in for a quick swim.
That night, I had just managed to doze off when I was woken up by a car door slamming next to our tent and loud voices talking in German. After a while of this, I was getting increasingly annoyed, because it was 11 pm after all, yet there they were squealing and shouting and slamming their car doors every two minutes! Dave said the next morning that he thought they had been drunk. Just as I was about to get dressed and jump out of the tent to ask them what the hell they thought they were playing at, they all got back in their car and drove away. I'm surprised nobody else trying to sleep in the tents nearby came out and spoke to them. After they'd gone we managed to get quite a good night's sleep, luckily. This didn't put us off Byron Bay at all though - we had really enjoyed surfing and swimming, the beaches were lovely to look at, and we liked the whole vibe of the place as well. This is another place I'd definitely like to return to, if I ever get to come back to Australia! (Along with a lot of other places.)