After Hervey Bay and Fraser Island we headed further down south to Byron Bay. We chose to stay here a bit longer, 5 nights, to get some days of relaxation and “doing nothing”.

Byron Bay is cool, little surfing town with a very long and very pretty beach, and the town is filled with young backpackers, hippies and surfers. 

We had fish at the local fish restaurant, right by the water.

We spent an afternoon visiting the lighthouse, where you get stunning views over the bay, the surrounding beaches and the whole coastline. This is also the most easternly point of mainland Australia.

We also spent a day exploring some of the nearby towns. Starting out in cute little Lennon Head, we walked by the beach and visited the freshwater lake, Lake Ainsworth, which gets its brown colour by tannins leeching from the tea trees along its bank.

We then headed to Bangalow for a quick lunch, and then drove to see the Killen Falls. It was not easy to find and the trek through the forest was a bit longer than we had anticipated, but we were rewarded with a beautiful sight of the small waterfall. We could tell that the place is not on the normal tourist path, it had a much more local vibe and there were groups of local teenagers swimming in the pool below the fall.

Our two last days in Byron Bay we spent relaxing by the pool, and walking around the city seeing how Australia day was celebrated. We also went to the beach – we tried smaller Watego’s beach which is a bit away from the crowds. The water was perfect for a swim but the waves a bit too harsh for little Mai, so she only dipped her feet in the water.