A stay in Byron Bay

I've been here in Byron Bay since Friday afternoon. It's now Monday afternoon. The two backpackers hostels I tried on Friday (Belongil Beachouse and Cape Byron YHA) were full, so I tried another number out of Lonely Planet (the East Coast Australia edition) and ended up staying at Bamboo Cottage ('a touch of Bali in Byron Bay') for two nights. It's a beautiful house and very close to the centre - just over the railway track). But it was $88 a night, weekend rate. So after two nights I decided to book try Belongil Beachouse again and managed to get a bed in a 4-bed dorm there yesterday. It's a lot cheaper than Bamboo Cottage - $66 for a 3 night booking, with a YHA card. I've got a top bunk at the moment unfortunately and the showers and toilets (two of each) are pretty basic and a long way from my dorm - which is an issue when you have to get up to go to the toilet 3 or 4 times a night like I do! The larger dorms have en suite bathrooms, but Nicole (young German woman in my dorm) says her friend is in one of these and cannot ever get to have a shower because they are always being used when she wants one. The plus side of Belongil is its setting - just over the road from Belongil Beach - which isn't crowded like the main beach and the other beaches nearer town. There's a good restaurant next door too - the Belongil Beach Restaurant in fact. Another plus is that there's an 11.00 p.m. curfew on noise: the common room actually gets locked up at 11.00 p.m. Being about 2 km out of town there are no streetlights or noise from other houses. Actually the quickest way to get to and from town from there is to walk along the beach, as I did on Saturday

I liked Bamboo Cottage, but the bed was like a coffin - narrow and hard - and at night there was a lot of light and noise from outside making it difficult to sleep. There were some great people at Bamboo Cottage. I n fac there were a couple there from Manchester, Ash and Chetna. I got on really well with Sandra too, the young German woman who is kind of caretaking the place for Berenice (the owner). Sandra has been in Byron Bay for 3 months and still hasn't tried surfing, though she keeps meaning to book a lesson. That reminds me, I said I'd ring her to let her know how I got on today.

My reason for moving to cheaper accommodation is that there's loads of other stuff I want to do whilst I'm here. I went on a bus trip to Nimbin yesterday and had a diving lesson today. I've yet to book a dive or two out at Julian Rocks in the Cape Byron Marine Park. A couple of people I spoke to this morning recommended Sundive, so I'm going to go along there in a while and book - hopefully for tomorrow. I also want to go kayaking (with dolphins). There are a couple of companies in Byron that do kayaking trips, but I fancy the Ballina Kayaks Tour: it sound like it's got more interest in it as they take you along the river to the ocean (Ballina is inland); also it sounds less like a backpacker party experience. Oh, and the other thing I want to do (need to do) while I'm here is get a massage. I picked up a copy of Body and Soul from Tourist Info on Saturday. This is the local guide to alternative therapies and believe me, there's a lot to choose from here in Byron.

By the way, this area was named after Lord Byron's grandfather who did a bit of travelling in the late 18th century. Captain Cook named this are 'Cape Byron' after him.