Surfing at Byron Bay

After a long travel day (16 hours of train and bus!), we crashed as soon as we made it to our hostel. Friday was a beach day and it was hot! We learned by sunburn that the rays are much stronger here and spf 15 won't cut it.

Evan rented a surf board, but the waves weren't that great where we were on the beach. We could see from the main beach that there were a lot of surfers out on a point to our right, but it looked like they were close to rocks so we never walked down there. Also, Evan had an issue with his short arms and couldn't get a good grip on the board so carrying it long distances was an ordeal.

On Saturday we decided to make the trek to "The Pass" and it was worth it. The waves were great and staying away from the rocks wasn't a problem. And, to Evan's surprise, even Michelle gave surfing a try! She has been giving him pointers along the way and finally decided that if she was going to talk like she knew how to surf then she better try it herself. Surprising herself, she even managed to get up a few times (but not for very long). For those who were in HHI in 2006 and remember E's nipple rash, you will be happy to hear that he learned from his mistake and wore a shirt to protect himself. Evan caught some great waves and proved that the previous two mediocre surfing experiences in Oz were results of the waves, not the surfer.



After 4 hours of surfing, we were exhausted, but had one more thing on our agenda...hiking out to the lighthouse per Lydia's recommendation. The hike had some great views of different beaches and we were at the most eastern point of Australia. We made it to the lighthouse right at sunset and walked back through the rainforest. We relaxed at the end of our day by sharing a bottle of wine on the deck at our hostel.