Day trip to Byron Bay
Experience the bliss of Byron Bay - Content and Images by Fiona Waterland - Gold Coast Traveller
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Gold Coast > Byron Bay
Byron Bay is just over an hour’s easy drive south and a favourite destination for day trippers from the Gold Coast (like me and my sister). We’ve been going there for years and it’s a go-to for a guaranteed chilled time. Feeling like we were playing hooky, we headed off on our mid-week escape with no real agenda in mind, except to make the most of another spectacular winter’s day. After stopping for a caffeine fix at the very chilled Top Shop Byron Bay, we drove up the road and found a free (yes, free!), unrestricted parking spot just outside the “restricted parking area” – winning! Our parking spot also happened to be close to the start of the Cape Byron walking track – a great, mostly cliff-side walk up to Cape Byron lighthouse, passing through Palm Valley (The Pass) and Wategos Beach along the way.
Byron really turned it on for us, with endless blues skies and not-too-hot winter temps in the early 20s – great for walking! My sister patiently waited while I stopped to take many, many photos of the spectacular views that met us around every corner.
The track is very well maintained and whilst there were some “ups” and some “downs”, we found it fairly easy, although I would recommend taking a bottle of water with you, no matter what time of the year you venture along the track. There were plenty of viewpoints along the way (which I took full advantage of) and we saw many whales out to sea. I would also recommend bringing along a pair of binoculars, especially during whale-watching season. The whales were too far away to photograph without an expensive lens (I had an 18-200 mm on my camera, which didn’t cut it), but exciting to watch, nonetheless. The best whale-watching (for us) was to come when we reached the lighthouse.
On our way up the track, we had a quick chat with a lovely lady who was heading back from the lighthouse. She told us about a free lighthouse tour being held by volunteers all morning. I don’t know that we would have found out about this if we hadn’t bumped into her, and it’s only held on Tuesday mornings – how lucky were we?
The tours are held every 30 minutes, the last one starting at 12.15pm. We learned about the different ways the lighthouse had been powered over the years, the size of the lenses used to refract the light over 44 kilometres out to sea and many other interesting bits of information about this iconic building.
We were also taken out onto the brick balcony below the light for the best views you will ever have of Cape Byron and surrounds. Two whales and a calf plus a huge pod of dolphins passed by close to the cliffs while we were taking these breathtaking views and I happily clicked away, taking way more photos than I probably needed to.
All too soon, we had to head back down so the next group could enjoy the sights we had just been given the lucky chance to soak up. If you ever manage to catch this great service, make sure you bring some coins or cash with you for a donation at the end. We really enjoyed our guide’s tour and felt terrible at the end, as we’d only brought cards and phones – who carries cash these days?
We had planned to stop at The Farm for lunch, but our walk had made us pretty hungry, so we headed back along the track and stopped at The Pass Cafe to satisfy our hunger. The cafe served up a great veggie burger with haloumi cheese for $13, with a lovely view through the trees, over the sea to Mount Warning and the Byron hinterland.
Such a fabulous day, we vowed to head back soon! If you have any questions about our day out, or would like some more information, feel free to send me a message. Enjoy your day!
Ready to set off on your next road trip from the Gold Coast?
Byron Bay is an absolutely beautiful place and we highly recommend taking the time to visit! Byron Bay is full of friendly people, stunning beaches, delicious food and it is also very rich in history – especially if you visit the Cape Byron Lighthouse.
Hire a Campervan from Gold Coast Campervans today!
The road trip from the Gold Coast to Byron Bay is a relatively short one so why not continue your journey down the spectacular East Coast of Australia. You will be spoilt for choice!
