Australian Adventure, Week 10: September 25-October 1

This week we explored two beach towns on Reading Week! We spent time scuba diving, kayaking and laying on the beach.

On Sunday and Monday, we woke up early for two days of scuba diving on the Sunshine Coast! We had two extremely wavy days with lots of current. Webster was able to get four dives in, and I only did two (it sucks being seasick!). We were happy to get back to it after so long!

On Monday after our dives, we headed to the Noosa Chocolate Factory for some treats. Then, we spent the evening at the beach right near our AirBnB - it was less than a two minute walk!

On Tuesday we kayaked the Noosa Everglades by kayak. The Everglades are a swamp like area home to unique wildlife and plants. The only other Everglades system in the world is in Florida. Our return kayak trip was about 6 hours, or 25km.

That afternoon, we went to the main beach about 10 minutes down the coast. It is school holidays here (similar to March Break) and the main beach was packed! It was nice to be part of the excitement. In the evening we went for dinner at a burger spot recommended by some locals! When we got there, we realized the burger place was co-owned by a Canadian.

On Wednesday we checked out of our Noosa AirBnB and headed south to Byron Bay. Our drive was about 5 hours.

When we arrived we spent some time on the local beach. We were lucky to again be a 2 minute walk to the beach!

On Thursday we woke up early to watch the sunrise at the most easterly point of the Australian mainland, the Byron Bay Lighthouse.

Then, we picked up some fresh produce at the farmers market. Byron Bay is known for their “organic” lifestyle and everything for sale was locally grown and extremely fresh.

We spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach, reading, having a nap, and people watching.

On Friday we spent the morning at The Farm. A local farm, store, restaurant, bakery, and gelato bar. We had a delicious breakfast with ingredients grown on site, then explored the property.

We spent the afternoon walking the Cape Byron Hiking Track, a coastal trail connecting the beach, rainforest and hinterlands. We were lucky to see lots of whales and dolphins!

Then we enjoyed the sunset on a patio near the beach listening to live music!

On Saturday it rained and never stopped. We had a lazy morning packing up our things while we had the time. Of course Webster still had to have his daily ocean swim … so we walked over to the beach in the rain. Then, we headed to Stone and Wood, a Byron Bay brewery with distribution all over the country. It seemed like everyone else had the same rainy day idea as we did because it was packed!

We ended our vacation with some appetizers at the Byron Bay Beach Hotel!

This week we are back to reality - school and work. We have some plans to explore more in Brisbane next weekend, stay tuned! Thanks for following along with our adventures.