Down Under '09 : Chapter 4

Byron Bay; paradise lost?


27 January 2009 

I was really excited about this trip to Byron Bay. It was my favourite holiday getaway out of Brisbane, because of its charm, rustic, hippie and bohemian culture as well as the abundance of its natural beauty. Byron Bay attracts visitors from all over the globe and many of them stays on and called it home. It was a backpackers Mecca. I used to go there once a year from 1999 to 2001. The place did not change much in those 3 years and I noticed how its popularity increasing.  
It used to take about 2 hours drive from the Gold Coast to Byron Bay. Now with a newly upgraded Pacific Highway, this Most Easterly Point of the Australian Mainland can be reached less than an hour. The view along the journey was still as scenic but I miss the feeling of driving ups and downs the hills on a shady road of the yesteryears.
  


We arrived in Byron Bay at around 2pm. It was a sunny and hot summer day, perfect for a beach retreat. Then I noticed that so much has changed and new developments are everywhere. Gone the days where you can set up your tents right by the town centre, free parking anywhere you like and you cannot get fish and chips for 5 dollars anymore. I did not see anybody walking bare footed with sarong, colourful shirts and hair dread locked like the old days.  Yes, the beaches and the forests are still as pristine as ever, but most people come here for the carefree lifestyle and the cool cheery tone that was long associated with this place. It is now look more sterile touristy and more expensive. Perhaps it want to be a new Noosa. But please, this place should stick with its own identity and not to emulate the many beach resort tows catering the mainstream tourists.
After spending sometime wondering about the town aimlessly, we settled on the beach. We were all down with headache maybe because of the heat, so instead of dip in the sea, we ended up taking a nap amongst the many screaming holiday makers.


From the town, we went up to the lighthouse. Thank GOD it is still the same as I remember how it was. I remember went up this hill at 5 am to watch the sunrise during my first visit here in 1999. It was spectacular and the memory is still vivid on my mind. There is something about Byron Bay that makes you want to come back again and again, but I clearly missing it now.

Coming up next : Down Under Revisited Final Chapter

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