Byron Bay

Let's see, where did I leave off?

Oh yes, Ballina being beautiful. I wrote that before we visited The Big Prawn.

Now for those of you who don't know, Australia, and particularly the east coast of Australia (I don't think the rest of the country partakes), likes to create giant tributes to local produce. In Coffs it is The Big Banana. The Big Banana is exactly what it sounds like - a large replica banana that you can take your picture in front of and an accompanying gift shop that sells all things Big Banana. At that particular Big tourist attraction there is also a banana plantation tour, a cafe where you can get banana splits (as we did) or chocolate covered bananas (as we wished we did), a big waterslide complex, a confectionary maker, and an unlikely ice skating rink. It's huge, and a bit of fun.

Ballina is a prawning town. You can see the big prawn trawlers (I'm not sure if that is the right name but it sounds good so there you go) travelling down Richmond River to the sea. Local prawns are on sale everywhere (and cheap! Another reason to eat locally). So we thought we'd check out The Big Prawn and grab some dinner in the restaurant underneath that advertised its prawns and chips special on a sign out the front.

Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for renovations. Or maybe fortunately. This south end isn't the best representation of Ballina, and the whole Big Prawn complex (which also has a truck stop) is fairly dingy and icky. It was also abandoned, and we weren't the only ones to take advantage of a free place to park for the night. When we woke up, we discovered that the little playground was sticky and gross and the whole area was fairly depressing.

So on that unfortunate note, we decided to move on. We didn't even check out the lake or the river, or so many of the beaches. But the best medicine for a yucky place is to move on, so we did.

First stop Lennox Head, just a few kilometres down the road. We decided to check out Lake Ainsworth which I had read is brown because of the tannins from the tea trees on the shores. It was! But not in a dirty, off-putting way at all. It was just like swimming in a cup of tea. And it was almost unsettlingly warm. Usually there is a bit of a chill when you get into any body of water, but none here. Tepid bath territory. Weird. But nice.

We are now in beautiful Byron Bay. We went to The Pass this morning, which is an incredible beach backed by lovely trees which means... shade! Always a plus in Australia in summertime. It was weird though - last time I went to that beach (in October) there was gobs and gobs of sand; the water was so far away from where we sat up near the trees. This morning when we got there, there was only a few metres of sand, so it was like a completely different beach. But still gorgeous. Calm bay waters, and crystal clear. Awesome.

I scouted around a bit for a birthday cake for Eli who turns 2 tomorrow! My baby! We'll have a little celebration, and then celebrate again with a mini party on Wednesday with my friend Suzy and her little fam who are coming to Byron for a few days. That will be a lot of fun. Our kids have a ball together, and I adore Suzy.