Byron Bay, Nimbin and Surfers Paradise

Byron

On the way out of Lennox Head, we briefly visited its northly neighbour, Byron Bay. This was as the Lonely Planet guide had described it; more touristy, busier and a bit more tacky.

We visited Cape Byron Lighthouse. This is situated on mainland Australia's most easterly point.

There is also a lovely beach nearby:

They're everywhere... They wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad...

After visiting Cape Byron and Byron bay, we still had some time to kill so we headed for the world's 9th best hippy town, Nimbin. Alas, Nimbin appeared full not of hippies but of curious backpackers like ourselves. Things that we noted about the town:

• Funny smelling smoke in the air from time to time.
• Brightly coloured psychadelic shop fronts.
• Some bloke asking us if we wanted any dope as we walked by. What a friendly chap!

We visited the Nimbin Museum, which was quite interesting. There, we learned that "the man" is trying keep us down by banning marijuana and being mean to be people with alternative lifestyles. We also learned that multiple police officers had been sent to Nimbin to try to stop people taking drugs. Clearly, they were doing a bit of a crap job, based on what we observed earlier.

On the way out of Nimbin, we drop past Mt Warning, the summit of which is the first part of mainland Australia to see the sun every morning. Exciting, no?

Surfers Paradise

After crossing into Queensland, we headed up the Gold Coast. We had decided not to stay in Surfers Paradise because we had heard it was pretty tacky. Still, we stopped for a few minutes in order to check it out.

First things first: the beach was pretty awesome and totally crowded with holiday makers. There were even a few surfers.

We then headed into town and discovered that the Australians have indeed done to Surfers what the British have done to the Greek islands. It involved a lot of concrete, tacky bars, fast food establishments and alcohol-fueled bad behaviour.

Still, it wasn't all bad. Before leaving town, we dined in style. At McDonalds.