Labour Day Weekend in Byron Bay

Oh Scott is so over not being able to lift anything heavier than 2,5kgs!!!  He's really not used to standing by while someone else does the heavy lifting.  So grumbling and groaning he went as I sent him to fetch pillows, duvet and all other things girls normally carry!  LOL!  So by Thursday night the CRV was all packed and ready for another camping trip down the coast.  

 

We had planned to go down over the ANZAC long weekend, but Scott was in hospital having his chest shaved in stylish patchwork while Guinness World Records officials carefully counted each pin prick.   Unfortunately he didn't beat the largest human pin cushion record.  But luckily for us, the next weekend was also a long one - this time Labour Day.  And the lovely people at Suffolk Park Holiday Park were kind enough to transfer our booking.

We'd got to work at 6.30am so we could leave nice and early to beat some of the traffic.  But our National Sales/Ops Damager was down for the week and maddening had other plans....  He decided that 2pm on a Friday afternoon would be a great time to start a meeting with Scott & the local sales manager.  Gggggrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!  I was NOT amused!  He assured us the meeting would last no longer than an hour.....  yeah right!  By 3.30pm, I sent Scott an SMS to say I was leaving without him!  LOL!  Luckily he also kept getting phone calls and messages from his installers, so Mr National Damager called the meeting to a close.  Lucky for him too, the Guinness guys were still in town and quite eager for another record breaker.....

We finally hit the road....  or should I say the traffic jam!!!  A trip that should have taken us around 2 hours took us just short of 5 hours!!!!!  

Brisbane to Suffolk Park, Byron Bay - 180km

Suffolk Park is just on the southern side of Cape Byron

Byron Bay is truly a beautiful spot!  Think Knysna's hippy, arty culture spread out in a lovely village filled with interesting little shops, cafes, restaurants.  An exquisite white sandy beach  as far north as the eye can sea, a historical lighthouse to the south and forests, farms and lush bushland all around.  The surf is legendary and the place is filled with tourists, backpackers, musicians, artists and interesting locals.  There is a campsite on the main  beach at Byron Bay, but we opted for the quieter side of town - Suffolk Park is just a few kms out of town and right on Tallow Beach. 

Just as well we've got a FABULOUS tent!  It was out first time having to set up camp in the dark!  It wasn't too bad at all.  We had a nice big site so could really spread out a bit.  They're doing some work at the campsite so it didn't feel that full either.

Getting set up in the dark!

Saturday morning - the entrance to the campsite

Just on our way to the beach for our morning coffee

Coffee on Tallow Beach

Tallow Beach with the Cape Byron lighthouse in the distance

Notice Scott's grin?  Notice the babe behind him?

That's the babe again...  Good reason for the grin!  :-)

Surfer heading for a morning wave

 

Pretty face!

Lunch at an awesome cafe - Mokha!

Scott at Mokha.  Wearing his super-duper-fancy-shmancy new Rip Curl watch!  

 

Scott's really difficult to buy for - he's extremely fussy and has been looking out for a new watch for as long as I've known him.  6 years is a LONG time to be looking for a new watch!  Anyway, we weren't actually looking for a watch.  I mean, really, why would we go all the way to Byron to look for a watch?  But we were wandering around the shops and walked into the Rip Curl store (behind where Scott's sitting) & Scott stopped in his tracks when he got to the watch cabinet.  Evan came over and unlocked the cabinet for us and Scott tried on a couple of really great watches. He was dead keen on one until Evan brought out one from a lower shelf which was on sales....  I swear there was a bit of slobber that leaked out the side of Scott's mouth as he tried on his new watch!  

 

A close-up of Scott's new watch

Now I inherited a very important rule in life from my parents.  When you go on holiday, you take your watch off.  We've embellished that to include switching mobile phones off as well.  So now there's a dilemma....  Scott's got a new watch......  and we're on holiday.....  LOL!!!  So we made a special allowance and he wore his new watch all day, stroking it, cuddling it, looking lovingly at it.....  I felt quite neglected so the watch just had to be taken off that night!

A tribute to Scott's old watch...  An O'Neill which he inherited from his cousin, Nick.

Sunday sunrise

Larger than life

Looking down towards Broken Head

Scott doing some chores

Some nutter trying to catch seagulls

Cheers!  Sunday sundowners

Cheers!

Twilight swim

Mr Patchy Chest

Monday morning coffee before packing up & heading home

We took a drive up to the lighthouse on our way out.  It was so crowded, we didn't stop.  That's Tallow Beach - we were staying about 2 thirds of the way up.

Our favourite spot for brekkie & lunch - Mokha

We took the scenic route home and stopped in Tumbulgum for lunch at the Tumbulgum Tavern.  My folks dream of living in Tumbulgum - it's lovely!

Scott's watch and Scott

Me outside the Tumbulgum Tavern

Scott's watch & Scott outside the Tumbulgum Tavern

Pretty face!