Down Under: Part 2

We had a few small overnight trips planned while we were in Australia and the first of those was to Byron Bay.  Byron was, by far, one of Mister's favorite places when he was in Australia the first time.  He had told me many times how beautiful it was and how much he wanted me to see it.

Well, he wasn't kidding.  It was absolutely stunning and the cutest little town with quite the hippie vibe.

It is very popular to rent a camper van in Byron (and all over Australia) and camp out in these little towns.  We saw these everywhere in Byron but we voted to stay in a hotel instead.  There were also a lot of 'backpackers' or hostels to stay in.  Again, we chose the hotel, Mama likes a warm shower.  

But first we had to hire (rent) a car to get ourselves there.

And just for clarification, in Australia, they drive on the opposite side of the road. And the car.

 I have to give MAJOR props to Mister because he did an amazing job at driving our little Hyundai Getz.

It only took us about 4 different trips to the car to remember that we each needed to get in on the opposite side.  It was so strange to sit on the left hand side of the car, and not be driving it.  As they told us, just keep LEFT! Left is correct and right is WRONG.

Our first meal in Byron was from a pie shop.  They have these little shops everywhere and they sell meat pies...like a handheld pot pie full of different ingredients/flavors.  

 They are really good and the perfect little snack.  The rest of the day was spent beachin it and dinner at a cute and delicious Thai place.

The next day we soaked up some more sun and hiked up to a lookout point to watch the surfers and then on up the mountain to the famous lighthouse.  It was not a short hike but well worth it to see the views from up there.  I was under the strong impression that they should offer snacks at the top after hiking all that way. 

Dinner that night was quite the interesting story.

We had taken our time getting ready for dinner and had wine on our porch and headed out around 8:30ish bound and determined to get fish and chips from a place we had heard was great.  Well by the time we got there they were closed.  And so were the next 5 places we went to.  It wasn't even 9 o'clock! Granted it was sorta late to be eating dinner but still it's a touristy town!

So our last resort for dinner was Dominos.

 Well, this was unlike any Dominos we had ever had before.  

It was fancy Dominos with an even fancier menu.

We ended up getting a chicken and camembert cheese pizza and it was absolutely delicious.

I think we need to start a campaign to bring their menu to the states.

The next morning after coffee (every morning in Australia starts with leisurely coffee and we were in love with it) we opted to drive up to the lighthouse this time and were able to get some absolutely amazing pictures.  The sky was beyond beautiful and the color of the ocean was unreal. 

At one point we were 100% convinced we saw whales.  Turns out they were just really big rocks.  Thankfully we saw some other really interesting animals throughout our stay so that made up for it.  More on those later this week! 

That evening Jane and Mark were kind enough to cook dinner and share one of Mark's family's wines with us.  

 Both were absolutely delicious!

Phew and those were are days at Byron.  If you missed Part 1 of our adventure check it out here! 

If anyone has any questions or wants more details on our trip, just leave them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer! 

Coming up tomorrow: encounters in the Great Barrier Reef and Mister's favorite thing that's EVER happened to him. 

And a very special Happy Birthday to Mister's mama and my wonderful MIL!!