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Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia

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Australians refer to Byron Bay as the “hippie” town.  It is a small coastal town with lots of cafes, surf shops, and a handful of oceanfront hotels.  The main beach has a variety of surf breaks.  Our apartment was located right in front of the Wreck because the remains of an old ship wreck can be seen above water where the waves break.    At the south end of the beach is the Pass, where the waves wrap around the point to form multiple right hand breaks all the way to the shore.  There is a lovely coastal walkway that is great for running and follows the shoreline south from the Wreck all the way to the lighthouse. Just south of the light house is Lennox head, another beautiful surf break.  Willie says it was the best surf he had in all of Australia.

The Wreck surf break.  The black thing that looks like a dragon head is the remains of an old ship wreck.

The beach at Wreck’s in from of our apartment.

The light house at Byron Bay.

One day we went to check out the surf at Wategoes and saw this stand up paddle boarding surfing with a pod of dolphins.

Lennox Head.

Leaving Fiji, Off to Australia

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We left Fiji and flew into Brisbane, Australia on April 27th.  The next day we headed up to Noosa Heads and for the following 3 weeks surfed our way down the coast to Sydney.  Prior to our trip we had heard a lot of negative things about Australia.  People had told us that it was very expensive, crowded and too developed along the coast line.

We found the small coastal towns to be quite charming and the beached beautiful.  There are lovely coastal walkways that extend for miles with amazing views of the ocean.  We arrived just as the low season was beginning, so we missed a lot of the crowds and prices for accommodations had dropped.  By renting small apartments, we were able to cook at home, saving quite a bit of money.

Everyone in Australia surfs, so there are crowds at most breaks.  Luckily, we had the time to seek out uncrowded surf. There were beach breaks and point breaks, lefts and rights, big waves and small waves.  It was a great place for the whole family.

We also LOVED seeing the koalas, kangaroos, and wallabies!  The kids are still trying to talk us in to buying a wallaby.

 

Wylie’s 15th Birthday – Tavarua

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Excerpt from my journal, April 22nd

 The boys were up before the sun rose.  I was only slightly aware of the movement in the room, but awake enough to know that I wanted to eek out another hour of sleep.  I rolled over and in my slightly wakened state, remembered it was Wylie’s birthday.  I mumbled a “happy birthday” that must have been clear enough to understand, because he replied with a very prompt and awake, “Thanks, mom!”.  I could hear the excitement in his voice.  He was celebrating his 15th birthday on a remote island in the South Pacific surrounded by world-class surfing.  I didn’t need to open my eyes to know that he had an ear-to-ear grin on his face.   In his mind, he had already ridden Cloud Break.  He had already been barreled.  Now he was making his dream a reality and on his birthday no less.

 

While the boys were out surfing, Aimee and I wrapped Wylie’s gifts and arranged them on his bed to await his return.  He had already opened his first gift – new fins for his surfboard.  His second gift didn’t need to be wrapped or opened.  It came in the form of water, in the shape of a wave.   Each wave he caught that morning was a gift.  For him, the best gift of all was to be here on Tavarua, riding waves and forming memories of a lifetime.  I loved that he understood the value of this experience and appreciated every moment.

 

As he walked through the door, the smile was even bigger than I imagined.  His eyes had captured the blue of the ocean and sparkled like the late afternoon sun on the water.  A lump formed in my throat.  I was flooded with emotion.  I held back a tear as I went over to give him a big birthday hug. My son was now 15 years old.  He was taller than me, stronger than me, and in so many ways, more intelligent than me.  I call him my sage.  He is the calming force in my life.  When things get hectic, he is the one to lay a hand on my shoulder and tell me everything is all right. 

We all gathered on Wylie’s bed and watched him open each gift.  There were just a few small items that we had bought during our travels.  There was a carved wooden

mask and tiki from Tahiti, a new brush and body spray, and a t-shirt with a Kiwi using his beak as a record player needle.  But, his favorite gift of all was the possum fur shoe inserts that we found in New Zealand.  He had seen them in a store and fell in love with them.  He was so excited when he discovered that we had bought them for him.  He couldn’t wait to “rock the awesome, possum, feet”!