Sunday 22 April
On Friday I left Brisbane to travel to Byron Bay. As I haven't yet seen a Koala Bear on the way down I stopped at the Daisy Hill Koala Centre, 25 kms South west of Brisbane. The centre aims to promote Koala's in the wild and care for Koala's who have been oprhaned or are ill. They are the cutest things I've seen but they do have sharp long claws for holding onto trees. I regret I didn't get to see any in the wild but there were a few being well cared for in the centre. And I haven't yet seen them on any menu, which shows the Australians really are softees.
Around lunch time I arrived in Byron Bay, a very popular beach resort with a hedonistic reputation from the hippies and surfers who originally made it such a popular destination.
The endless sandy beaches all around the area are the primary attraction. The town has been well preserved by the locals to retain its laid back character and charm, avoiding over sized, multi-storey resorts.
I promptly pitched my tent at a beachside camp site and took the walk around Cape Byron the most easterly point of Australia with its picturesque lighthouse located just outside the town. Last night I met a couple, Dave and Val, on the campsite. Dave is in the RAF and Val, a Breton, lives and works in Kent. They have been over to attend a family wedding and were spending a couple of weeks in a camper van before returning toUK.
They generously (today they may say foolishly) invited me to go on pub crawl with them, which was a perfect preparation for today's activity. Being the last weekend of the Easter school holidays the town is busy and the bars and cafes are heaving with the music pumping. There's a real mix Australian tourists, backpackers and locals.
On Saturday morning I decided I better get my act together and plan some activities, not just travel from place to place. This culminated in this morning's early morning (no breakfast) trip to the local
airfield for an awesome (local dialect for fantastic) tandem sky dive from 14,000 feet, out over the Bay landing back at the airfield. The freefall lasted about one minute and we reached 120mph. My intructor/life preserver, Steve, was the guy attached to my back and I can tell you I had to do very little. Try clicking on the link below if you want to see the video clip made of the dive.
http://www.realxstream.com?XStreamID=42175&Vid=1
The most distressing aspect to the whole event is seeing in the video how grey my hair has turned. I don't think that just happened today, but it may have contributed. Hopefully my Espley good looks will help me through.
On Friday I left Brisbane to travel to Byron Bay. As I haven't yet seen a Koala Bear on the way down I stopped at the Daisy Hill Koala Centre, 25 kms South west of Brisbane. The centre aims to promote Koala's in the wild and care for Koala's who have been oprhaned or are ill. They are the cutest things I've seen but they do have sharp long claws for holding onto trees. I regret I didn't get to see any in the wild but there were a few being well cared for in the centre. And I haven't yet seen them on any menu, which shows the Australians really are softees.
Around lunch time I arrived in Byron Bay, a very popular beach resort with a hedonistic reputation from the hippies and surfers who originally made it such a popular destination.
The endless sandy beaches all around the area are the primary attraction. The town has been well preserved by the locals to retain its laid back character and charm, avoiding over sized, multi-storey resorts.I promptly pitched my tent at a beachside camp site and took the walk around Cape Byron the most easterly point of Australia with its picturesque lighthouse located just outside the town. Last night I met a couple, Dave and Val, on the campsite. Dave is in the RAF and Val, a Breton, lives and works in Kent. They have been over to attend a family wedding and were spending a couple of weeks in a camper van before returning toUK.
They generously (today they may say foolishly) invited me to go on pub crawl with them, which was a perfect preparation for today's activity. Being the last weekend of the Easter school holidays the town is busy and the bars and cafes are heaving with the music pumping. There's a real mix Australian tourists, backpackers and locals.On Saturday morning I decided I better get my act together and plan some activities, not just travel from place to place. This culminated in this morning's early morning (no breakfast) trip to the local
airfield for an awesome (local dialect for fantastic) tandem sky dive from 14,000 feet, out over the Bay landing back at the airfield. The freefall lasted about one minute and we reached 120mph. My intructor/life preserver, Steve, was the guy attached to my back and I can tell you I had to do very little. Try clicking on the link below if you want to see the video clip made of the dive.http://www.realxstream.com?XStreamID=42175&Vid=1
The most distressing aspect to the whole event is seeing in the video how grey my hair has turned. I don't think that just happened today, but it may have contributed. Hopefully my Espley good looks will help me through.
Over the last couple of days in Byron I enjoyed the company of Ann, a local woman, I met through a backpackers website when advertising lifts to Sydney. As well as giving me the inside information on life in this part of Australia we've shared a couple of meals and walks and it has been a very welcome change to have good conversation with someone closer to my own age.
3 comments:
video proof that after being high as kite in Byron Bay, one can come down to earth fairly quickly.
nice one.
tom & catherine
wow, very impresive.
did it feel like falling upwards, what with oz being on the bottom of the world?
matt + clare
What next, bungee jumping in N.Z.
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