It’s been a busy day, starting with a 6.30am alarm call and an early drive over to Byron.

Andy then sent off on his daily 10k pilgrimage and a run up to Cape Byron Lighthouse.

After the early morning excursions, we decided to take it a little more easy and visit the Bohemian Farmers Market in Byron. Without wishing to stereotype, there was a lot of laid back types selling high end sourdough bread and toxin free smoothies and every organic food type that has ever been grown in Australia. Added to this there was a local, singing classic folk and country music to an audience of barefoot onlookers.

Keen to return to the joys of the beach, we wandered out on to the sands only to be told there had been a shark sighting meaning no swimming. Fortunately no soon had the sign gone up, then we were told the shark had ‘gone’ and we were free to return to the ocean….

With the weather forecast mixed for the most of the day, we took advantage of the cooler temperatures and walked up to the Cape Byron Lighthouse to take in the views from the most Eastern point in Australia.

Having reached the highest point on the headland, we then walked down the 250+ steps down to the beach level to get as far east as we could possibly get.

Here we were able to spot a few turtles and what we think may have been dolphins…..

Keeping with wildlife we did get up close to a Wallaby which was happily feeding on the scrub land at Cape Byron.

After our second walk of the day, we returned to the beach and some needed sunshine. Sadly it was short lived, before the rains returned one more time and we accepted defeat and said goodbye to Byron and drove on to Killen Falls.

The drive to Killen Falls took us through some pretty villages and open countryside, notably Newrybar, home to Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth. Sadly for Michelle there was no confirmed sighting!

By the time we parked up at the falls, the rains returned and we were putting on our mack’s for the first time since being in Milford Sound in NZ.

The walk to the viewing deck for the falls was well marked and straightforward, however for those foolhardy types who want to get up close and personal, the path then became very tricky and with flip flops on the potential for a fall was high. Thankfully we survived and got some great pictures of the wonderful falls including some brave swimmers who ignored the rain and jumped straight in!

Our next stop was also water related, Lake Ainsworth, a fresh water tea-tree lake with dark tannins from the surrounding paperbark trees. It is a popular spot with both Lennox Head locals and visitors alike.

We took a stroll along part of the lake before retiring to the ‘Shelter’ an Australian restaurant. We loved this place – the ultimate for service, ambience, excellent drinks and a location opposite the beach.

After a long day out and about, we decided to treat ourselves to an Indian meal at Mumbai Masala, where we indulged in a chicken korma, Keema Naan bread and lots of popadoms. What a feast and just what we both enjoy.

Tomorrow we are heading back north to Brisbane to visit our friends Paul & Naomi who we’ve known for over 25yrs and who have lived in Oz for 20yrs. We’ve not seen them since 2019 so it’s going to be great to see them after so long.