Day 13 - Byron Bay Beach, Lighthouse & Pub Crawl

Day 13 was an all-day exploration of Byron Bay. Let us start by saying we want to move here. Byron combines gorgeous beaches and scenery, an eclectic cross section of people and fun daily and nighly entertainment. It has a small town vibe with a touch of commercialization. The parking lots are filled with hippie vans and the sidwalks have a variety of street performers, but there are also nice high-end restaurants and a vairety of name-brand shops.

The streets of Byron Bay.

With the large amounts of greenery, Byron had the look of a central California town.

Byron Bay in the morning - this was the beach path from our hotel.

The biggest site to see in Byron, other than it's beautiful beaches, is the lighthouse. Sitting atop Cape Byron, the lighthouse is a massive structure, but the highlight is the walk to and from it. The 20-30 minute stroll starts at sea level and slowly ascends through rainforest-covered paths to the peak of the cape. Along the way there are spectacular views of Byron, the sea and beyond.


The start of the Byron Bay lighthouse walk.

Mo and Matt on the treck through the rain forest to the lighthouse.

Travel in Sandals crew taking a look over the cliffs of Byron.

Cape Byron is the eastern most point of the Australian mainland.

East side!

Byron's famouse lighthouse.

The altitude got to us as we started using the lookout viewers as gatling guns.

Dave's wings blowing in the wind.

After our lighthouse walk, we returned to town to start exploring the town. With an abundance of bars, restaurants and clubs to try and only half a day to do so we decided the best way to cover ground was a pub/restaurant crawl!! We started around 5pm at the Beach Hotel across from the sand and made our way inland. We hit the Great Nothern Hotel, The Railway Friendly Bar, St. Elmo, Soul Bowl and finished with sake bombs at the Orient Express.

Byron pub crawl stop 1 - The Beach Hotel. Matt and Mo kickoff the impromptu pub crawl.

Stop 2 - Great Northern Hotel. No alcohol.....NOT!!!

Mo, Dave and Matt hanging with the locals at the Great Northern Hotel.

Stop 3 - The Railway Friendly Bar. Mo, Dave and Matt enjoy Byron's vibrant live music scene.

Stop 4 - St. Elmo Restaurant & Lounge. Money was running short so we took improtu jobs as wait staff. There was no drinking and socializing with the patrons so we resigned immediately.


St. Elmo's zucchini fries alongside a chorizo, harissa (a hot chili sauce) and black olive piadini (flatbread).


We were big fans of St. Elmo's piadinis. Here's the pumpkin, fetta and basil piadini.


Stop 5 - Sake bombs at the Orient Express.


Being our last stop, the sake bombs began to take a toll on Matt and Mo.

After a productive early evening pub crawl, we jumped back to the hotel to hose off and were right back on the town. Our night time destination of choice: Cheeky Monkeys! To give you an idea of this place, instead of a dance floor, everyone dances on tables and furniture...NICE!! Plans for a Cheeky Monkeys 2.0 in Los Angeles have commenced.

Word to the wise - If you challenge a girl to an arm wrestling match in order to talk to her, make sure you win otherwise she thinks you're a panzy. Matt lost and never talked to this girl again.


Mo and Greg enjoying table dancing at Cheeky Monkeys.

Matt and Sarah, a new friend from England.

Greg and a few Cheeky Monkey patrons.


What would a night out be without Greg stopping for a late-night kabab.


Day 14 will include lounging on the beach in Byron in the morning and then driving an hour or so up the Gold Coast to Surfer's Paradise.