A lighthouse, another couple of beaches and a farm trip. All in a busy day’s work when on holiday.

Lighthouse Walk

One of the most popular walks in the Byron Bay area is undoubtedly the coastal path from the town to the lighthouse. The route takes you up and down and through forested areas as well as right alongside part of the main town beach. The final climb up to the headland peak is also a great spot for land-based whale watchers.

Sadly the classically built lighthouse was surrounded by fences as there was some kind of maintenance work going on. This meant that we couldn’t get a proper view of the building. But they can’t take away the sights out to sea. You can clearly see whales along this walk. Some playing in the distance but some also surprisingly close to the shore.

Tallow Beach

Only just the other side of the Cape Byron headland to the south of the lighthouse is Tallow Beach. Over 3km long and almost deserted. Incredible for such a busy town – despite this being the middle of winter. The southern suburbs of Byron Bay seem quite salubrious. More so than the area north of town between the centre and our caravan park. The streets of houses are separated from the beach by the Arakwal National Park and other dense areas of rain forest. There is certainly no shortage of trees in this part of the world. And no sign of the ‘total destruction’ we (in the northern hemisphere) were led to believe had taken place during the summer fires.

While the “Main beach” right off the town centre is quite sheltered in parts, Tallow beach is wide open to the ocean and fairly wild. Fewer surfers seem to go out in these waves. Definitely not for beginners.

The Farm

‘The Farm’ was a fairly well known Liverpool band from the late 80s/early 90s.  It is also the name of a place near Byron Bay for kids to meet farm animals close up. The place also grows a lot of organic food and has a restaurant called the Three Blue Ducks. Perfect organic meals freshly prepared with their own produce and also from the surrounding area. We did the little walk around the site and booked an evening meal for the Friday night.

This place even has nut trees where you can pick and crack your own macadamia nuts. This rural tourist trap is certainly very popular.

Belongil Beach

In between our camp site and the “Main Beach” is Belongil Beach. Another fantastic stretch of fine white sand. Also another great suburb with a mix of residential and motel/rented properties as well as cafes and restaurants.

Even though these were taken on a weekend day the beach seemed almost empty. Fantastic.