Byron Bay Round 2

This was my first rental car experience in Australia. That might not sounds like a big deal, but after 4 months of relying on public transport (or other people), the freedom was refreshing. On the drive down, we went through Nerang (a little bit inland) and then 15 minutes west of Nerang, we were in the hinterland. The contrast is pretty stunning. From coast to nothing all in less than 30 minutes. The scenery was beautiful though. All the land was super green. My mailbox fascination continued as we drove south. Apparently there are no restrictions on the type/size/shape of mailboxes in australia. I remember one that was a little plastic tub that had a slot cut in it and was turned upside down affixed to a post.

This trip to Byron, I stayed with my roommate's mom who has a house in Byron. It was a unique experience to say the least. The hospitaliy level was great. It's always nice to find a little piece of home while so far away from your own home. It is also fun to find insight into other families and how they do things.

On my second trip, Byron grew on me even more. The thing that I like most is that people just seem to do what they want. While that's generally true in beach towns, Byron is way less superficial than the gold coast.

On the drive back, we took the coastal route. Another sunny beautiful day. We headed south first to go for a swim in Lake Ainsworth which supposedly abounds with tea tree oil from the tea trees surrounding the lake. It was very refreshing.

I'm not going to lie, we totally embraced the tourist attitude on the way back. This means stopping at attractions such as macadamia nut castle and tropical fruit world. We sampled garlic, wasabi, and chocolate covered mac nuts. They were delicious and I was thinking they were pretty great until I learned that there are almost 1000 calories in 1 cup. I think the appropriate serving size is about 3 nuts.

Tropical fruit world had a giant avocado (sort of like a water tower, but in the shape of an avocado). Australia loves their 'giant' things. We gathered some info here on tropical fruits but didn't actually buy any. There's a whole world of exotic tropical fruit out there that I was unaware of.