This past week we’ve also visited Ballina, Bangalow, Byron Bay, and Kyogle.
We did a circuit drive of Ballina, Byron Bay, Bangalow and Clunes. It’s a love drive, particularly from Bangalow/Clunes back to Lismore.
I was a little disappointed with Byron Bay – maybe I was expecting a Nimbin type of place, but it’s really touristy with lots of holiday accommodation, trendy restaurants and some fairly expensive shopping. Having said that, we plan on going back again and perhaps I’ll get a different perspective next time.
However, it’s worthwhile visiting the Cape Byron lighthouse which is located on the eastern most point of Australia. You can drive right up to the lighthouse and park just outside the gates (for $6) or you can park lower down the road (free) and walk up – the walk is easy and the views are great – beautiful beaches with white sand, and on this particular day there was a bit of a surf, so David got a couple of good shots of some surfers. There’s a great walk from the lighthouse out to the point. There are holiday cottages for rent right next to the lighthouse, but I’m not sure how I would cope with the busloads of tourists that turn up.
10km west of Byron Bay is Bangalow and this is a very pretty and scenic village – while it’s considered to be ‘chic’ and quite trendy, to me it still has a peaceful village type of atmosphere (which I really like) and seems really unspoiled. I’m looking forward to going back again and exploring it a bit more.
