byron day 3

Read:
'Byron Day 1' here.
'Byron Day 2' here.

Day 3 was an equally lazy day. Our valiant attempt to wake at four in the morning to trek to Cape Byron to catch the first light of day at Australia's easternmost point failed miserably. Instead, we lazed in bed til slightly after noon, then had some refreshing salad and a cuppa for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon just beaching.


There were very few interesting characters on the beach for us to spy at that day except for this boy who didn't seem to be able to keep still.


Same boy who started doing crunches after a few rolls in the sand.

An interesting observation we made was that wherever we went in Byron, as long as we exhibited an intention to cross the road, all the vehicles will stop to allow you to cross at your own leisurely pace regardless of whether there were any designated pedestrian crossings. We (a Singaporean and a Sydneysider) having come from big busy cities where we were used to getting honked at for crossing half a step too slowly at a junction with a blinking green man were stunned by such pedestrian-friendly treatment.

We also saw a lot of fully restored classic 50's to 70's VW Kombis driven by topless beach dudes chauffeuring their handsome surfboards round the small beach town. So obssessed are the locals with the Kombis that they even try to paint every structure in town to resemble one, such as can be seen below.


One of the countless substations we saw that was painted into a VW van. They all had 'RUSSELL' on the plates.


We had to pass through this park everyday to get from motel to beach and return. Nice place for a BBQ eh?


Left: The beginning of the walking track towards Cape Byron and the most easterly point. With only one more morning left of the trip, we made a solemn promise to each other to get up in the dark the next day.
Right: Graffiti and vandalism can be seen everywhere.

Thanks to Natalie's iPhone that kept us in touch with what was going on in the world outside of Byron, we found out just minutes before the match started that Federer was playing Hewitt at the Australian Open that very evening. A mad dash to the most popular pub at Beach Hotel followed where we managed to secure two very comfy cushioned chairs among the Hewitt fans - Australian pride at play here.

We had an early night right after the disappointing match - we expected more of a fight from Hewitt although we could have betted our last dollar on Federer for a win - in preparation for the long trek to first light in the morning.