Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia

I went to Byron Bay to meet up with a friend that I had met last year and to get a little surfing in.  There were a couple of hiccups along the way, but all produced spectacular serendipity.

I met my friend in Byron and we spent the first night at an amazing bar called The Rails.  This was clearly a local bar. It was a gem just outside of town so it was filled with local hippies and experienced vacationers looking for a good time.

Em an Tony at The Rails

Tony and the owner, Tom

Friday night, there was an incredible band playing.  The lead singer was both an artist and a performer having painted the mural behind the stage earlier in the year (which the owner, Tom, was very proud of).  His singing was entertaining, although no where near the talent required for a record deal (or reality television even). However, what mediocrity his vocals provided were blown away by his enthusiasm, passion, outfits and on-stage accompaniment. He had a singing dog, an amazing band, several wardrobe changes and burlesque dancers!

Burlesque accompaniment

Singing dog

It was a fun night.  We ended up leaving around midnight when they closed and woke up early to surf. I have forgotten that my ability to surf a long board falls incredibly short of my perception of skill.  (Plus, I had to convert from "regular" to "goofy" stance after my foot surgery and I am even worse than I was before the surgery.) So, when you put a short board (5'10) in my hands (which I have never surfed), I am a disaster.  I did not stand once. I ate shit about 100 times and finally called it quits after some little asshole dropped in on me and I took a board in the ear…(which is still bruised a week later).  There are no photos of my epic fail that day….sorry.

However, Tony did teach me to duck dive.  I have never duck dived since I "surf" long boards. (I am using surf loosely, by the way).  It's actually kind of fun.  And by "kind of fun", I mean its way better than holding on tight and preparing to get crushed by giant waves.

There was a misunderstanding with lodging, so I spent the last 2 nights of my Byron Bay trip in a hostel, The Arts Factory (http://nomadsworld.com/arts-factory/).  I was sketched out at first, but it turned out to be AMAZING!  There were giant lizards everywhere - just hanging out, eavesdropping on all the backpackers.  They were probably plotting their world takeover, but they are pretty lazy and couldn't pull it together while I was there, at least.

  

Prior to moving into the hostel, we had to search around to 3-4 hostels before we found space.  Luckily, The Arts Factory had 1 bed left….IN A TEE PEE.  That's right I slept in a fucking tee pee.  HILARIOUS.  I thought I would be totally skeeved out, but it was actually totally fine.  It wasn't too hot at night, it was super clean and there were lockers under the bed big enough for me to fit both backpacks in.

My Tee pee!

Inside of the tee pee.  10 bed, mixed room.

Within 20 minutes of being there, I met some pretty cool chicks that I went to the outdoor market with and shared a few drinks at the beach house.

Em, Miriam, Ally and Charlie by day

Miram, Ally, Charlie and I by night

That night, Sneaky Sound System was playing at the Beach House so we paid $20 cover to check her out and she was super rad.  First of all, she was a very pretty, very wacky black girl with a super blond picked-out mop top.  I loved her hair!!!  She was wearing a Cheshire Cat body suit and was singing atop electronic music.  She kind of reminded me of an Erykah Badu - Nikki Minaj hybrid. I'm not a huge electro fan, but I am when there are words to it - which there were.  It was super fun and super crowded, but hot as shit.

Sneaky Sound System

Another amazing surprise in Byron was my new NYE friend, Nat, coming in.  Apparently, her and her friend decided to take a bus down to Byron for the weekend and I got some quality time in with her. 

Nat and Em…. amazing impromptu meet up!

The Arts Factory was really cool, and clean.  It catered to backpackers, obviously and had really cool themes throughout. It was located next to a brewery and had a pool, laundry room, swamp and kitchen.  The one downside was that they gave 2 instructional classes on how to play the drums and the didgeridoo.  Fucking kill me now, it was so annoying.

OMG kill me now…this drum circle and the didgeridoo circles make me want to punch a hippy

The second day in Byron, I had to check out of the tee pee because it was booked and into a 6-bed girls dorm.  Unfortunately, check out was at 10am and check in was at 2PM, so Charlie and I decided to go take surf lessons at Lennox Beach through MojoSurf (http://www.mojosurf.com/products/byron_bay_surf_school).  This was kickass for 4 reasons:

1. They had long boards (8' foamies) for us to surf on
2. Charlie didn't have reservations and still got a spot with pure luck and generosity of the staff (I imagine it was because she is so pretty and wore bright red lipstick surfing)
3. We met Rachel and Alun, who were rad as shit.
4. I actually got to surf.  I probably caught 10 waves.

When we returned, I checked in and went to the 6-bed dorm and there were already people in it, so I went back to reception and this amazing guy, Jasper, hooked me up with a PRIVATE ROOM over looking the swamp!

What?  Pimp ass private room!

I was actually sorry to leave a day earlier than my new friends but I am looking forward to meeting Rosie in Sydney...