Birds, the Bungalung and Byron Bay
When we first started scheming our time in Australia, neither of us really paused to consider just how large Australia really is…total clueless American mistake I admit! We quickly realized that in 5 weeks we could only scratch the surface of this vast wonderful country, and that we would drive ourselves crazy trying to bop from coast to coast, the equivalent of flying across the United States, in an attempt to see it all. So we settled on the East Coast, the allure of turquoise waters, fun small surf for the boys and the Great Barrier Reef defining our itinerary. Our first stop was Byron Bay, a small, funky hipster-hippie community nestled into the Gold Coast where natural food cafes and surfing reign supreme. We were in love. We found a wonderfully-bizarre Balinese-inspired house that was tucked into an organic farm just 5 km from downtown Byron that felt as if we were in the middle of the jungle (I could/should write a whole entry on the oddities of our various Airbnb homes along the way, but that’s for another time…). There were dense forests of palm, bamboo and every wild flowering plant you could dream of. There was a peacock, whom the boys named Feather, that lived on our porch and would interrupt our homeschool sessions to fluff out his tail, screech, and give us a show. Wallabies hopped across the garden outside each morning. We saw a koala crossing the road. We found a freshly shed snakeskin that was longer than the two boys’ combined outside our door one morning. There were 10,000,000 cicadas and birds and bugs that created such a cacophony morning, noon, and night, that it felt as though you left “jungle soundtrack” on Sonos at full volume. Oh yeah, and there was a rooster who loved to start crowing at 4 am each morning 🤣 🤦♀️ 🐓making it virtually impossible to ever sleep through the night. We loved it, but it certainly didn’t help our jetlag disappear!
The very best thing of all is that Mimi (Will’s mum) sacrificed a day of her life to fly over, bringing much needed hugs, stories, snuggles and tastes from home. The boys would wake up every morning to jump into her bed and read for hours and hours, and we’d find them hiding away from bedtime each evening, back in her bed for more Mimi time. We spent every day at the beach, oscillating between surfing, shell collecting and drip castle building. Will and I managed to sneak out together for some early morning surf sessions and a date night dinner. We went on an incredible Aboriginal culture tour, led by beautiful woman named Delta who was a native of the Bungalung tribe. She shared her history, country, Dreamtime stories and the traditions with us and introduced us to native plants and their uses, letting us taste dozens of wonderful wild berries, seeds and leaves. The boys were enthralled, gathering sandpaper leaves off a special trees to smooth their sticks and paper bark off the ground for future art projects. Our tour with Delta, and the restaurant she recommended in town that focused on traditional Aboriginal ingredients and cuisine were a definite highlight of our trip. We had one of the best meals thus far feasting (yep, all 5 of us!) on oysters, kingfish carpaccio, and kangaroo, fried salty sea bush and bread made of the wattle seeds.
Those of you who know Huxley are familiar with just how much he loves beautiful things. To the center of his sweet little being, with all his heart, the brighter the flower, the more sparkly the jewel, the more elaborate the painting, the better. So when we heard of a place not far from Byron called Crystal Castle, where you can sit inside a dragon-egg geode and see the largest crystal in the world, well, how could we resist?!?! Will, Mimi and I were a bit skeptical but ended up absolutely loving the beauty and serenity of our time there, wandering their gardens and fully embracing the crystal lifestyle. We grounded ourselves with a singing bowl sound-healing ceremony and spent hours wandering their meticulously cultivated gardens, stopping to admire ever sparkly crystal that Huxley could find, having our auras photographed and eating avocado toast while drinking detoxifying charcoal water. As you do I guess! I just wish I could have captured the awe and excitement in Huxley’s giant blue eyes 🥰. From Mimi time to the endless beaches to the Bundgalung people to the crystal caves, Byron Bay certainly gave us a wonderful introduction to Australia!
Three days after we left Byron Bay while having dinner with some Australian friends, we were talking about all the relative dangers forever at the forefront of life in Australia and how nonchalant most Aussie are in reference to them. “I love that part of the beach but careful for the snakes there, my 101-year-old grandma was out on a walk and bitten by an Adder and died” or, while out surfing “oh yeah, careful in the lineup, most little jelly fish barely sting, but the box jellies wash in this time of year and can kill you instantly”... 😳 The next morning Apple news fed Will a brilliant article headlined “5 yr. old boy rescued from giant python in pool in Byron Bay”. Apparently the poor unsuspecting boy was playing by the pool when a 3-meter long python ‘launched itself out of the bush’ and drug the poor little guy into the water. Luckily his 75 year-old Grandpa jumped in to wrestle the python off, letting it go back into the bush from whence it came. The boy was “a bit sheepish around the pool” for a few days and skipped one day of school, but was otherwise unfazed. This really is an endlessly fascinating country.
RANDOM RECS
Aboriginal walking tour with Delta
Dinner at Karkalla, the restaurant focusing on native Aboriginal ingredients and dishes.
A visit to Crystal Castle of course!
Dinner at Three Blue Ducks, a beautiful farm not far from Byron. Also check out their farm tours, weekend picnics and kids programs.
Favorite post surf coffee stop: Barefoot Roasters
Breakfast, lunch, snack time goodness: COMBI Byron Bay
We were obsessed with Bay Grocer, a specialty food store/grocery store laden with delicious produce, cheeses, chocolates and staple goodies. We visited them every day 🤣
Bay Seafood Market for the freshest, most delicious seafood right out of the ocean. We fell in love with the Coral Trout and turned it into ceviche, tacos and grilled up with mango and pineapple. Yum!!