Tag Archives: Byron Bay

Whale watching in Byron Bay

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I can’t believe this day. It was too good! I’m really glad mom got to experience this during her limited time in Australia. We will probably have another good whale watching one day, but it definitely will be hard to top getting mugged by seven whales and seeing countless of breaches. While the sun was out the full time, without scorching us. One of the best days ever I would dare say.

As we had such an amazing time exactly a year ago, there was no question about it, we wanted to go with Blue Bay Whale Watching Byron Bay again. Small boat with only 10 passengers at a time, nice crew, whale spotters from high ground telling where the action is, very mindful of the whales, and they seem to attract good passengers. Highly recommend!

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Mikael’s 30th in Byron Bay

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A few weekends ago, on 2nd November, Mikael turned 30! In the spring, when it’s warm and light outside. That is so strange! My own normal spring birthday will now be in the fall. Land of upside-downs.

He was welcomed into his 30’s with two night’s spent in Byron Bay and some rain, but all in all by a very cosy weekend down south.

After the most incredible visit to Coombabah, we packed our car and drove down to another timezone. It is so weird that you right now travel one hour into the past, just across the border to New South Wales just south of Gold Coast.

The weekend was all about camping and just soaking in the Byronshire atmosphere with mother in law while celebrating Mikael’s 30 years on this planet as well as our first year as engaged.

His birthday started at The Farm in Byron Bay. Super busy even if it was raining a lot! Really good breakfast and cute place with animals.

We then drove up to the lighthouse and were so lucky the weather was not optimal, there were pretty much no people and we managed to get a parking spot. As with the whale season being over, there were no whales. But the views were still incredible! Up there, we took a fika break and Elise and I had a very funny encounter with a magpie friend. He was walking on the rail, right next to where we were sitting, Elise was filming it and it was cheeky enough to keep walking and then hide behind a pole, just for it to pop its head out around it as she just stopped filming. It was hilarious!

This time, the most eastern point of Australia was accessible and we have now stood on one of four corners of this continent.

This poor guy had the biggest tick I have ever seen right under his eye. Also, these water dragons are everywhere now when it’s getting warmer outside.

Birthday dinner!

Byron Bay 4/4; Whale Watching

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One night of planned camping spontaneously turned into two nights because we were too spontaneous and didn’t look up availability for the whale watching we wanted to do. All good though, we got a really good weekend out of it down in Byron Bay. It can be divided into four parts and there will be an equal amount of posts because one will be way too long:

  1. Brunswick Heads Market
  2. Killen Falls
  3. Byron Community Market
  4. WHALE WATCHING

The highlight of this weekend was for sure the whale watching.

We went with Blue Bay Divers and were so happy that we did. They start from Brunswick Harbour, have a small but dry boat and the guys going with us were both friendly and informative. $119 for a 3 hour tour.

It was a very calm day out on the water and we actually only saw a few breaching whales. They all seemed to be on a mission to go somewhere. They had a whale spotter on shore up high and they called the boat every now and then when they saw activity. The first couple of whales we saw were close to shore, hoping for a mother and calf, but they were both adult.

Next, they had spotted a group of active whales way out, so we rode straight out for about 10 minutes where we found a large pod of whales and more kept adding to it. They were going straight north with us along its side for a good 45 min. The guys estimated them to be 12 at most. They did nothing more spectacular than just being the huge beings they are but that is more than enough. It is so incredible how big and gentle this giants are. And these were only humpback whales, not even the biggest type of whale there is. A blue whale is twice as big and up to four times as heavy!

Our boat always kept a good distance to the pods which felt really good.

I was the dedicated photographer on this trip. Mikael filmed. His plan is to make a video of it all and post it on your new Youtube-channel within short. It was a cloudy day, but it was perfect for whale watching. Not as much reflections on the ocean. This one was flapping its flipper on the surface for so long. I wonder why.

Then we found a smaller pod of 4 whales who were super curious about our boat and swam around and under it several times. It is hard to believe how big they truly are! And it is amazing that we live on this planet alongside them and all other living animals. And devastating how we are destroying it…

I am so glad I got this smaller breach on camera. WOW! This one was so close!

 

And lastly, some of the photos from the guys of Blue Bay Divers. He looked so casual but still managed to get the one big breach we saw. I guess when you do this every day for the whole winter season, you get good at it. Such a wonderful day!

Byron Bay 3/4; Byron Community Market

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One night of planned camping spontaneously turned into two nights because we were too spontaneous and didn’t look up availability for the whale watching we wanted to do. All good though, we got a really good weekend out of it down in Byron Bay. It can be divided into four parts and there will be an equal amount of posts because one will be way too long:

  1. Brunswick Heads Market
  2. Killen Falls
  3. BYRON COMMUNITY MARKET
  4. Whale Watching

After sleeping like babies for almost 10 hours, because while camping in the middle of winter, there is nothing to do after the sun sets and it gets dark, so you go to bed, we woke up and were ready for the new day!

We headed straight to our next camping spot after check out and hoped they had early check in. They did. Which meant we had somewhere to park our car in central Byron Bay on the first Sunday of the month for the Byron Community Market. We went straight out to the market, which was even bigger then the one in Brunswick. But very similar, many stalls were at both markets, there were lots of food stalls and live music. We bought a few things, like dragon coasters, a natural loofah, and some keychains to our car key and Mikael’s home key.

But I think the best part of the market was Mikael’s celebrity spotting. None other than Jeff Ling from Parkway Drive. He was so starstruck but managed to humbly ask for a picture and tell him how much he influenced him personally to start playing the guitar but also how much of an inspiration Parkway Drive was to his own band Reborn as Phoenix. He was such a down to earth guy, super kind and seemed to appreciate Mikael’s praise. We were told that the concert in Brisbane will be special, so we have something to look forward to on 18 September.

After the market, we walked along the beach to Cape Byron Lighthouse for a rematch with the sunset. We caught it along with so many whales and dolphins. It was a magical evening.

Out there between the boats was a whale earlier in the evening splashing with his flippers. Like a lot! Just above the trees to the left is a small small dot. That’s a dolphin.

Byron Bay 2/4; Killen Falls

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One night of planned camping spontaneously turned into two nights because we were too spontaneous and didn’t look up availability for the whale watching we wanted to do. All good though, we got a really good weekend out of it down in Byron Bay. It can be divided into four parts and there will be an equal amount of posts because one will be way too long:

  1. Brunswick Heads Market
  2. KILLEN FALLS
  3. Byron Community Market
  4. Whale Watching

After the market, it was still early, so we drove down to Killen Falls in the Country of Widjabul. It was an easy trek to the top of the fall, but a little bit rougher to go down to the bottom of the fall. Not impossible, but steep and lots of roots and rocks. Apparently there could be platypi, but we didn’t see any.

I had almost forgotten about my favorite animal when I was a kid, the platypus! We (I !) was looking really hard for them in the water, but we saw none. I have been too focused on the most obvious animals since moving here, the roos and koalas. Rainforest is so beautiful! Our setup for the night at Broken Head Holiday Park. Such a pretty caravan park. Very clean, super close to the beach. Only $53 per night. Really good spot. Falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves was nice. It was cold though, haha! But as soon as you get the heat up inside our queen-sized sleeping bag, it’s really comfy! It’s so dark here. So little street lighting which makes the stars super visible at night.

Byron Bay 1/4; Brunswick Heads Market

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One night of planned camping spontaneously turned into two nights because we were too spontaneous and didn’t look up availability for the whale watching we wanted to do. All good though, we got a really good weekend out of it down in Byron Bay. It can be divided into four parts and there will be an equal amount of posts because one will be way too long:

  1. BRUNSWICK HEADS MARKET
  2. Killen Falls
  3. Byron Community Market
  4. Whale Watching

Our first stop for this tiny road trip was the Brunswick Heads Market in Brunswick. We were lucky to find a parking spot reasonably close. People were crazy and even if they nicely waited in line for a spot, there were not as nice people rushing in to take their spot before them. It was crazy!

At the market, they had live music, lots of food stalls and anything you can imagine would be at a monthly farmer’s market in Brunswick which is very similar to Byron Bay vibe-wise. People were walking barefoot, dogs everywhere and it was just a cosy feeling. For lunch, Mikael had a German bratwurst and I had a falafel pocket. Very yummy!

After the market, we went to Torakina Beach, which was where we parked and out on the pier by the Brunswick River inlet. The waves there were insane and there were several signs saying how dangerous the water was there. Still, people were surfing there.

After the market, I got a magpie friend. It was looking at me from ALL angles and finally got himself a little treat from my banana lotti desert from the middle eastern food stall. Torakina Beach to the left and the inlet to the right. Two stone laid piers were on each side. The beach to the south and Byron Bay. The lighthouse is way back there.

Byron Bay

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We left Queensland today, and not just for a short while on foot, but actually going down south for a bit with an Uber. 45 minutes south of here lies Byron Bay, home to Australia mainland’s most eastern point. And also hometown to Parkway Drive.

We got up at sunrise, took an uber with an amazing driver all the way down to Byron Bay. First thing we notice, the wind. Holy schmoly! I think it was windy back in Kirra as well, but I doubt it was as windy. This was ridiculous! And with the clear skies and lots of sun, I just knew we would be dead by the time we came home. Which was true.

We started by walking around in central Byron Bay, just to get the feel of it. Had breakfast at The Hum, close to the beach. We then started walking toward the lighthouse. Our initial plan was to watch the sunset from up there, but we got too tired and were on our way home when the sun set.

On our way up there, we stopped all the time, looking at the beautiful nature. There were signs telling us there were wild Koalas in the roadside trees. But we never saw any… We stopped at The Pass, a pretty cool rock formation and Fisherman’s Lookout where I saw some whales through my new binoculars, but due to the wind, they were shaking so much it was hard to see. Tons of kitesurfers! Some jumped extremely high. Lunch/fika at The Pass Cafe where they had saffron buns and really good smoothies.

When we neared the Cape Bay Lighthouse, we noticed a lot of people standing by the rails overlooking the ocean. Of course, the ocean is beautiful. But we quickly learned that there were so many whales out there! Like countless of them. Breaching and breathing everywhere. There were two swimming so close to the shore that we could see their shadows under the surface and follow them exactly where they went. It was magical! I saw it all through my binoculars and could count the humps on their backs. MAGICAL! Mikael managed to film them.

We had a second fika up at the cafe by the lighthouse to gather some strength before trying to get back home. Which turned out to be harder than we thought. No Uber wanted to drive all the way up to Coolangatta, across the border. So we had to get a normal taxi, for three times as much. Not fun. But oh well. We came home and had the sweetest taxi driver and his son drive us back to Kirra.

All in all, Byron Bay was small, cosy, but windy. And the best part were all the whales! Don’t really see what all the hype is about though if I’m being completely honest.

Sunrise in Kirra. Downtown Byron was tiny. Reminded me a lot of SLO, CA (San Luis Obispo) which was nice. Julian Rocks, a pretty cool diving spot that I wish to dive soon. On our way to the lighthouse. Lunch/fika at The Pass Cafe. They had saffron buns! The Pass. So many kitesurfers. I actually managed to get a picture of a whale. Our second kookaburra.