Happy new year! It feels like this past two years' a loop of 2019. Australia has been out of lockdown after having its citizens 90% vaccinated yet here we are battling omicron with around 35k cases per day in New South Wales alone. I'm anticipating to get the virus as it seems inevitable. Tomorrow I am getting my third booster shot which hopefully will help fight off severe symptoms but I think it's better to just get omicron and let your natural immunity fight it. Majority seems to have less symptoms with this variant (fever, sore throat and body pains) compared to the rest. It doesn't seem to attack your lungs however as most diseases are, it's case to case basis. I know a lot of people are still afraid due to this however we've got to move on with our lives. Drink plenty of fluids, get vaccinated and prepare to battle it out, living a life of fear is not living at all. As Hermione said, "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." I know she refers to Voldemort and this is totally irrelevant to the virus but I just have to quote it!
Anyway my posts are always about travels, we haven't been to many places this past two years but I'm writing to tell my Coffs Harbour and Byron bay trip this December 2021, our first travel! Well roadtrip.
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Merry Christmas! Wearing ginger bread jammies while trying to open our presents before the trip!
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So Coffs harbour is a 5 hour drive from Sydney, and Byron, an 8 hour drive (roughly 770km) which is already near Queensland state territory. They're both coastal towns as you all know, most of Australia's population lives on the edge of the country. I mean you wouldn't want to live in a desert right? Me and N mostly alternating the drive.
Our first stop was Coffs Harbour. We stayed in a pet friendly bed and breakfast and the town was just a few mins drive. We went to Dorrigo National park which is a world heritage Gondwana rainforest park. We stopped at the skywalk lookout and did the Crystal Shower falls walk. If we were staying for long, we could have done the Waterfall way road trip! It's a scenic drive which pasts by various waterfalls however since we're driving farther, raincheck was issued.
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| Skywalk lookout of the Rainforest. There's a $2 entrance fee. |
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| This is Tristania falls, one of the falls you'll encounter |
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| Mandatory jump shot, forget the Crystal falls view :p |
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| Part of the Wonga Walk circuit (6.2km) for the falls |
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| Our christmas dinner! Had trouble finding food as most stores were closed! But me managed with chicken and potatoes somehow :p |
After christmas, we headed off to Byron Bay but not before stopping by at the iconic big banana and forest sky pier for the views!
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| Australia has a collection of "big things" randomly across the country. The big banana is actually a fun park for kids in Coffs Harbour. |
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| Even Bingo was able to visit the Sky pier lookout! A bit gloomy that day but luckily it didn't rain. |
Byron Bay is a popular tourist spot. Man is everyone looking like Chris Hemsworth there? Everywhere we go, everyone has abs and in great shape! Such a hip town and everyone is a health buff. That's why one of my new year's resolution now is to look like I'm from Byron!
We stayed at Vali Hotel in Byron which is 300m away from Main beach and surrounded by cafes and restaurants. This was a last minute trip so we were surprise to find a pet friendly accomodation. We had 2 studio rooms and Bingo was even provided with his own food/water bowl and bed! If you're travelling with pets, highly recommended you stay with them - https://www.booking.com/hotel/au/vali-coworking.en-gb.html. They even gave us a box of chocolates from "Love Byron" and ended up visiting the store to buy more. Good marketing strategy.
On our first day we were suppose to ride the first solar train in the world, however due to the holidays it was closed. So we ended up hanging out at Main beach with J and N swimming and I catching ice type pokemons on PoGo for the chance of getting Mr. Mime which I did!
If you're in Byron, try the first solar train in the world. - https://byronbaytrain.com.au/
The next day we headed to the iconic Byron Bay lighthouse. We were also supposed to do hang gliding but the weather did not permit us and ended up getting refunded. Oh well.
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| The iconic Byron light house! At the top we were trying to find Chris Hemsworth home (aka Thor!) |
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| Australia has beautiful beaches and coastlines |
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| We visited the Farm wherein were saw various farm animals. Unfortunately we weren't able to dine at the Three Blue Ducks as it was full. |
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| Stopped by at the sunflower maze too! |
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| We stopped by at Bangalow Markets too and browsed at shops. |
The next day we booked a snorkelling tour of Julian rocks. Australian waters sure are rough! Snorkelling in the Philippines is a lot easier with the water being warm and calm. It was fun, we road a boat that looks like from thunder jet ride and saw dolphins on the way. On Julian rocks itself, we saw a lot of wild life, including turtles and leopard sharks! I saw the turtle on the boat with its head sticking out, but when I went for the swim I couldn't find him! I wanted a personal selfie. And then I saw him again when I went back to the boat. Obviously he was trying to avoid me. We saw huge leopard sharks at the bottom but they were just chilling out. I have videos on my gopro (which I bought for this trip!) but I'm too lazy to download them so apologies!
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| All smiles to go snorkelling! Ps I threw up after because I have bad motion sickness and the boat was shaking so bad! |
After our snorkel, we headed back to our hotel and had Japanese lunch. We went to Crystal Castle and Shambhala gardens where we saw giant amethyst geodes and moon rocks! I ended up buying a moon rock too. I'm such a sucker for anything space related.
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| Prayer wheels similar to Tibet. |
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| J with the World Peace Stupa, blessed by Dalai Lama himself |
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| Various meteorites and some moon rocks! |
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| I've never seen a giant amethyst geode |
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| They've got a Buddha too |
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| More amethyst geodes |
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| They call this one the Dragon Egg |
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| Prayer wheels, prayed for good health and the pandemic to end. |
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| My cactuar pose wherever I go! |
This was our last day in Byron so we only went shopping afterwards and headed back to our hotel room to rest. It was a holiday well spent (and expensive! everything had 15% surcharge due to the holidays!)
Bingo had his tours too!
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| We stayed at Alarks Nest bed and breakfast at Coffs Harbour |
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| Byron dog model |
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| Always out for his morning walks |
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| Windmill for his size :p |
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| Little Holland of Coffs Harbour |
On our way back, we stopped at the giant Prawn at Ballina and had lunch at the Clog Barn in Coffs Harbour. I suggest you stop by there to see a miniature Holland and how clogs are made!
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| Added the giant Prawn to the list! |
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| Crew mates and a pomeranian! |
We had a good christmas break, tiring but fun! On new year's we were invited by the S family so we had good Filipino dinner! Thank you S family! We also drove to Port Stephens with them for just a day drive and hang out on Birubi beach. Port Stephens is one of my fave destinations here in NSW as there are so many things to do and it's just a two hour drive.
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| Media Noche with the S family! Thanks for adopting us! |
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| Anna bay sand dunes! |
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| Camels by the beach |
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| Just getting that tan yo! |
I really miss travelling glad we were able to do one this year. The past two years we had nothing but lockdowns and a 5km travel limit. Now we're in the "living with covid" phase, let's all improve our immune system and beat this thing! I've overcome my fear and just try to be healthy. Our next travel is on Melbourne to watch the Australian Open. We have the finals ticket and also contemplating on buying a quarterfinal match. Hopefully no more lockdowns and no one get severely sick.
Happy new year!
P.S. I'm Australian now!
