24 HOURS IN BYRON BAY, AUSTRALIA

B Y R O N  B A Y 

New South Wales

"24 hours can not fully justify a destination, but you can always take in what a place has to offer 

as much as you want... Here's to spending my twenty-third birthday in Byron Bay."

Last November (2017) on my birthday weekend, I visited Byron Bay with a friend of mine, Yukari-san (remember the girl I met on my Cairns trip? Yes, her!). I know this is a long overhaul post but it is finally here anyways :)

I chose Byron Bay because JetStar was having return-for-free sale and the flight to Ballina Byron was sold for $70 return on a weekend trip, so I thought, a girl can not resist and the ticket was booked! 

I flew out of Sydney on a Saturday morning around 7 am, I was supposed to get on a 7.30am flight but then it was delayed until 8am. Arrived in Ballina Byron around 9am and it was pouring at the airport. Then at the airport, I hopped onto a mini bus that takes you to Byron Bay city centre. It takes around 45 minutes from Ballina Byron airport to its city centre.

10AM - FOLK BYRON BAY 

It was hard to have only two mornings in Byron Bay and wanting to try out all of their good cafes and deciding which one to pick is way harder. Then I opted out two most popular cafes (in my opinion) to try out. 

First stop was Folk Byron Bay. 

Folk Byron Bay is an organic and plant based cafe and is featured in The Good Food Guide's Top 20 destination to visit in Australia. This cafe has a really nice and earthy vibe and it may look small from the outside but it can actually accomodate from small to big groups with extended seating area at their backyard. Although it is located a few minutes outside town centre by car, it was packed when we arrived. I ordered the Turmeric Latte with house nutmilk. I never tried Turmeric latte before and Folk Byron Bay made my first experience unforgettable, it wasn't just good looking but it was creamy and I don't know about you but it was good enough to make me love Turmeric latte. Yukari-san ordered the classic Cappuccino.

The food? They were amazing! 

We ordered Grilled zataar pita bread and Organic Buckwheat banana hotcakes. Delicious!

12PM - Checking into our AIRBNB

I booked Airbnb private room located a few minutes outside town centre, mainly because it was one of the cheapest option on my dates. When I booked this airbnb, Yukari-san wasn't meant come along. Then I happened to meet her in Cairns and eventually be friends with her and I asked her to join me in Byron Bay. 

The owner of this Airbnb, Jasmine, is a really nice and kind person. A day before I flew out to Byron, she let me know informations about Byron Bay and the possibility for me to check in earlier, and so on. She welcomed us as if it is our home. 

Here's the Airbnb link to Jasmine's lovely home. (sign up on Airbnb here if you haven't already )

2PM - BYRON BAY TOWN CENTER

THE PASS


The Pass is a beach about 20 minutes walk from byron bay center. The main reason we came here is because of the Fisherman's Lookout. When the tide is low, it is easily to walk across to Fisherman's Lookout, but we weren't that lucky. The tide was high and we had to sacrifice my dress and Yukari's skirt to cross the water and too bad Yukari fell into the water but thankfully she wasn't hurt at all. 

The view from Fisherman's Lookout was incredible. We only wished the weather was clear, likewise it would be perfect, but even so,  it still looked beautiful.

With Yukari-san

WATEGOS BEACH

BYRON BAY LIGHTHOUSE

Most easterly point of Australia

There was a wedding photoshoot going on at lighthouse and we asked the photographer team if it's okay to take photo with the kombi, and they said yes! They even helped took photo for us :)

6PM - BACK TO TOWN - DINNER

I actually forgot the name of this cafe. But it is located in the city, in a little laneway. 

DAY 2 

8AM - BAYLEAF CAFE BYRON BAY

On our last morning, we opted Bayleaf Cafe (mainly because of its high rating on Zomato) and it didn't disappoint. They were pretty packed on Sunday morning and 15-20 minutes waiting time was not too bad at all, in fact, we were in such hurry because I had to catch my bus to the airport.

I find it hard to explain service and food in words (maybe because I wasn't born to be a food blogger at all) but I hope rating in numbers help.

Service : 3 out of 5
Food Waiting : 5 out of 5
Food : 4 out of 5

The highlight would be this dukkah poached eggs on toast and its coconut cold brew!

SPECIAL THANKS :


To Yukari-san, 
Thank you for coming to Byron Bay and spent your precious 24 hours with me, 
for sacrificing your skirt and fell in the water while crossing to The Pass (Haha!),
for running in the rain with massive wind at the most easterly point of Australia 
where we thought we'd be blown away by the wind and 
we were scared to death and prayed for the rain to stop
 just because we were starving and 
going back down after almost reaching lighthouse would be a joke.

It was such a happy and memorable birthday I had, 
and it wouldn't be possible without your companion. 

I am most grateful for our spontaneous friendship
 that was formed in such a short period of time (2 weeks) yet memorable. 
We both started a trip solo in Cairns and 
we continued to explore Byron Bay for 24 hours, in that short hours, 
I had so much fun and I hope you did too.

For saying yes to a spontaneous trip offer
 from a stranger you met for 6 hours and barely knew, 
for being such a lovely person despite our language barrier.
I am most thankful for the opportunity to meet and know a person like you.

I know for fact that we will be reuniting for another wild & crazy trip,
until then, I wish  you the best in life,
because a person like you is a rare gem in this world x