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Byron Bay Two hours south from the commercialized tourist resort of Surfer’s Paradise lies Byron Bay. Part of New South Wales, Byron Bay is the perfect beach town. Not too big and not too small, the surfing mecca is flawlessly situated on an ideal surfing break. Tourists flock here not only for the surfing, but also for the town’s many spas, yoga centers, nightlife and one particularly famous dive site.  Julian Rocks Although the Great Barrier Reef ends hundreds of kilometers north of Byron Bay, there is still some excellent diving to be had just off the shores of Byron Bay. Julian Rocks is the area’s most famous dive and snorkel site. What makes the Rocks so special is its location; this is where the warm northerly currents meet the cold southerly currents. A unique variety of marine species populate Julian Rocks, and it’s definitely a site not to be missed.  Although it sits three kilometers off shore, Julian Rocks is easily visible from the beach. As we head into the breaking waves and the rocks appear larger, I begin to have doubts that any interesting marine life could be so close to the shore in such a wavy sea. As we pull up to the jutting rocks, I don my snorkel gear and test the water. It’s colder than I’m used to up north, but still pleasant. It isn’t until I plunge into the water and take a look below me that I believe the hype.

Julian Rocks

Below me, hundreds of fish swim about, oblivious to my presence. But I take in every fish, every color, and every movement. Here at Julian Rocks, I see a fish I have been longing to see in the wild, one I have only seen thus far in an aquarium – the comical clown triggerfish. Its black body makes its bright yellow lips stand out even more; they look like they’re puckered up for a kiss. Its underside is covered in big white spots.

Luckily, I turn my eyes just in time to spot a shark. But I’m not nervous; it’s only a non-aggressive leopard shark. Its exceptional body momentarily makes me forget that it is actually in the same family as Jaws. The shark’s sandy colored skin is covered with small spots and its tail flows behind it as it swims gracefully near the bottom. Its body is over a meter long and the tail easily equals that length. The fins look soft, like I could bend them over to lie flat against the spotty skin. 

Before I head back to the boat, I see an electric ray, numerous blue spotted rays and huge wrasses. The marine life at Julian Rocks definitely doesn’t disappoint. And on the way back to shore, several pods of dolphins decide to frolic in the boat’s wake. 

Surf  School

The ocean is definitely the main attraction in Byron Bay and the next day I decide to give surfing a go. I’m not particularly athletic, or exceptionally brave, but all the travelers I meet are adamant that one must give surfing a go in Byron Bay. Black Dog Surfing charge only $60 for a three-hour lesson, including equipment, with a maximum of 5 people per group. How can you be in Australia and not try surfing? I decide to give it a go. 

The hardest part of surfing is definitely carrying the heavy equipment. Because we’re all beginners, we start off on 9-foot boards. Getting them down to The Pass, the area of beach where we’ll attempt to surf, is challenging in itself. When we finally arrive at the gorgeous white sand beach, we find a place in the shade to do our warm up. Stretching prepares our bodies and minds for the adventure ahead.

After we’ve warmed up, Raz, our instructor, has us draw the outline of our surfboard in the sand. Next, we establish what foot will go forward on the board. Generally, right-handed people put their left foot forward and left-handed people put their right foot forward. But I’m goofy footed; even though I’m right handed, my right foot goes in front.
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Beach near Byron Bay

Raz instructs us to lie down on our bellies on our “surfboards”. He demonstrates how to jump up and place our feet accordingly on the board. The front foot is crucial – we draw lines about a third of the way down from the top of the board and practice landing with the front foot on the line. The back foot goes much closer to the end of the board than I imagined. Raz tells us to jump straight to our feet; it’s a big mistake to get to your knees first. You might never get past that position and end up knee boarding instead of surfing. We practice this move for fifteen minutes.  Once we’ve mastered our sand surfboards, it’s on to the water. One of the reasons Black Dog has such a high success rate is that the instructors take care of some crucial elements related to the surfing process. Raz stands in the water waist deep and we go out to him one at a time. I’m first. I lay on my surfboard while he hangs on to it, judging the waves. He’s experienced; he knows when to give you a push so the wave carries you perfectly.

I’m surprised at how easy it is. Granted, we’re in gentle waves on huge boards and Raz is doing the wave calculations for us. But that’s fine; I don’t want to be a professional surfer, I just want to give it a try. And it’s definitely contagious. My first ride only lasts about 5 seconds, but I’m back out for more the second my feet hit the sand. I love it, and even though I do fall several times, I don’t hurt myself at all. 

Near the end, I paddle away from Raz and get into position. I look back over my shoulder and when the approaching wave is about ten feet behind me, I start paddling hard. You need to be going at a pretty good pace when the wave hits you – or it just washes over you. Which is exactly what happens. 

But I try again and this time I hit the wave perfectly. I jump up and glide gracefully into the shore. It’s the best ride, because I did it all myself. Everyone in my group gets up at least once, and we leave the beach a very happy, but exhausted, bunch. I’ll definitely be back for more!

The Lighthouse

Besides being the hometown of Paul Hogan, otherwise known as Crocodile Dundee, Byron Bay is also famous for another landmark. Byron’s gleaming white lighthouse stands at the top of a hill overlooking the water. Situated on Australia’s most easterly point, the 104-year-old lighthouse boasts the strongest light in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s a long, hot hike to the top, but a climb well worth the view. Just make sure you bring water with you! On the way you’ll pass through coastal rainforest, overlook steep cliffs that back onto the beach and likely see dolphins playing in the waves. Allow at least two hours for the climb and time at the top to enjoy the views. During the winter months, (June to September) you may also spot humpback whales on their way north to warmer waters. 

BellIngen

After leaving Byron Bay, we take a slight inland detour to visit Bellingen, population 2600. Dense rainforest lines the road and when the canopy thins occasionally, we’re rewarded with views of the Bellinger Valley. The curvy road doesn’t do much for those with weak stomachs; so leave plenty of time to make the short trip, stopping along the way for breaks.

As time is running short, we only spend one night here, but we could have happily spent more. The empty streets make me realize that Bellingen is one of those rare towns on Australia’s East Coast that’s not overrun with tourists. Bellingen Canoe Adventures rents out canoes and organizes eco tours, and our main reason for stopping here is to participate in a moonlight canoe cruise down the Bellingen River.
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We climb into the slightly wet canoe just after the sun goes down, and strap headlamps on our heads. Their thin light doesn’t do much to pierce the blackness, but we don’t want to scare the animals away. We paddle down the river, the warm night breeze tickling our bare arms. We see possums in the trees and keep an eye out for koalas, but don’t locate any. A huge spider dangles from a web, endless stars grace the sky and our guide points out the Southern Cross. We don’t see any platypuses as we were hoping, but the nighttime canoe trip is definitely a novel experience.  Port Macquarie Our next stop is farther down the coast at Port Macquarie, Australia’s koala capital. As I seem to have developed an obsession for Australia’s cuddliest marsupial, we add this small city to our list of must see destinations. Admittedly, there is more to Port Macquarie than just koalas, but I personally didn’t do much that wasn’t koala related. We did take a wander along the shore, but the koalas received the majority of our attention.

The Lighthouse at Byron Bay

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Surrounded by koala habitat, Port Macquarie boasts numerous of the koala crossing road signs that Australia is famous for. Koalas appear in residents’ backyards and it is not uncommon to see one crossing the road in the early hours of the morning. Unfortunately, cars hit many of the slow moving animals as they amble along. There are many dangers to these sleepy marsupials, and Port Macquarie is home to the Koala Hospital.

Even if you’re not smitten with these lovely creatures, the hospital is well worth a visit. I always imagined that the carefree animals in the treetops were perfectly safe, but there are a surprising number of threats to the koalas’ well being. Besides auto accidents, habitat loss, brush fires and dog attacks, koalas can suffer from Chlamydia, known in the marsupial world as, “wet bottom”. Koalas also sometimes need rescuing; they’ve been known to mistake telephone poles for eucalyptus trees and get stuck where they don’t belong. The hospital also runs a 24-hour koala rescue service. Admission is by donation.

The Koala Hospital, run entirely by donations, is dedicated to treating sick and injured koalas of all ages. For obvious reasons, visitors aren’t allowed inside the hospital itself, but the recuperating koalas all live outside in wire mesh enclosures, so it’s easy to get a good look at them. At several points throughout the day, usually 7:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., one of the volunteers comes out and leads you around the outside of the hospital. They feed the koalas, and explain each animal’s history and treatment. 

We saw several koalas that had been in fires; their fur was slightly matted and one’s eye was permanently shut, but all of the koalas seemed to be recovering well. The volunteer explained how the koalas are nursed back to health in the medical buildings, and then brought out to these enclosures. Once they have proven that they can take care of themselves, they’re returned to the wild.
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Koala Bear

I have to admit that I considered giving up all of my worldly possessions and spending my days nursing koalas back to health after I saw them react to their caregiver’s presence. One female koala was sticking her tongue out at the volunteer when she walked up to it with the eucalyptus leaves. They were playing with each other in that familiar manner that can only be developed through genuine caring and love for the animals.  But you don’t have to relocate to Port Macquarie to help the Koala Hospital’s good cause. They also offer an Adopt A Koala program where you can choose a koala in need and receive regular updates on his or her status. Adopting a koala cost $40 AU within Australia, and $50 AU for overseas visitors.  If you want to spot koalas in the wild, you’ll need some luck and a lot of time on your hands. Walking through Port Macquarie’s parks is a good start, but koalas generally spend most of their time sleeping at the top of very tall trees, so locating them is quite difficult – but it’s definitely fun to search! For more guaranteed sightings, head to the Billabong Koala Park. It’s basically a small zoo, but marsupials are also bred here for inclusion in zoos and private parks. There are daily talks and petting sessions – unlike Queensland, it’s not permitted to hold a koala in NSW, but you are allowed to pet the animals under their caregiver’s supervision. You can get even closer to the koalas here and there’s no mesh wire blocking your view. Daily pattings take place at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

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Besides koalas, you can expect to see wombats, cassowaries, emus, spider monkeys, peacocks, pheasants and plenty of kangaroos and wallabies. You can walk right into the kangaroo enclosure and even feed the furry marsupials from your hand. Another thing you won’t want to miss is the 70-year-old Japanese koi carp in the water lily ponds. But even with all these extraordinary animals, birds and fish at my disposal, it was still the koala enclosure I kept returning to. There’s just nothing like a koala – even if all it really does is sleep in the branches of a eucalyptus tree.

The following is a list of articles that Dawnelle has written for the magazine:

Australia’s East Coast Islands ~ Island Hopping
Travels in Australia - More From The East Coast Of Australia
Travels Down Under ~ The East Coast Of Australia
Turtle Hatchlings - Wet, Sloppy Seal Kisses and Feeding Dolphins 
Islands ~ From The Caribbean To The Mediterranean
Cancun ~ The Daylife
Crikey! Crocs And Devils And Platypuses ~ Oh My!
Western Canada Part One ~ Walk With Dinosaurs
Western Canada Part Two ~ More Adventures In Western Canada
Istanbul - History Comes to Life
Teaching English In Turkey - Falling In Love With Turkey
Charmed, I’m Sure! ~ In Morocco 
The Country Of Eternal Spring - Guatemala
Pure Life - Traveling Through Costa Rica
I Dream Of The Sea ~ Diving In Roatan
Britain - Beyond London
Scotland - Castles, Monsters and Fairy Whispers
Luck Of The Irish ~ The Emerald Isle
Island Hopping In Greece - Mediterranean Summer
When In Rome…..Eat Ice Cream ~ Italian Adventures

To contact Dawnelle Click Here
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