Byron Bay

Oh my gosh, we had the greatest day! Steve and I woke up early and headed off to Byron Bay. It's about a 2 hour drive from Brisbane, just outside Queensland (the state where we live), in New South Wales. Steve heard about a dive/snorkle place that takes you to an area called Julian Rocks, which is basically big rocks in the ocean. The diving and snorkling there is supposed to be among the best. It was pretty cool! This is where we met up with the group...

We all piled into this 4 wheel drive and headed to the beach...
From the beach, we all piled in this boat and headed out about 2 km offshore to Julian Rocks. On the boat ride there (which was so much fun!), we saw dolphins and a HUGE humpback whale! It was pretty amazing. They stopped the boat and we just sat in the ocean watching the whale come up for air. You could hear it breathing and splashing in the water. It was really close to the boat! I loved it. Very cool. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures because we couldn't take our camera on the boat (it was too wet). We need a waterproof camera! As for snorkling, we saw 2 sea turtles (which look SO peaceful in the water!), a GIANT jellyfish (and by giant I mean about 2 feet wide!) and lots of very colorful and interesting fish...some quite large! Here's a link to some of the creatures you can see at Julian Rocks. We saw quite a few of them! Steve even saw the huge rays! http://www.julianrocks.net/index.htm It was absolutely terrific! We'd like to do it again sometime. The price was great too. $50 to be taken to the beach, taken on the boat and for all your equipment if you need it. We used our new dive stuff and everything worked great! Snorkling today really made me look forward to diving!

Snorkling worked up a pretty good appetite and we found a great little fish and chips place. The town of Byron Bay is sooooo cute. Exactly what you would imagine a surfer town right on the beach to be like. I loved the energy there! Everyone walking around town in swimsuits and flip flops! Very laid back.
The above pic is of Steve waiting for lunch.

We plopped in the grass to eat and before long, we made a new friend...
Man, the birds were pushy! They were really fighting for any scraps but this guy patiently waited and would only take food if we laid it in the grass for him. We had to sneak it to him when no other birds were around or they would have attacked him for it!

After lunch, we hung at the beach, did some swimming and even watched a wedding that was happening on the beach!
This is Julian Rocks, where we snorkled.
The beaches in Byron Bay are really beautiful.

I know I said this before but I really am soooo grateful for our opportunity to live here! I'm having such an amazing time! Nothing gets old to me...I still marvel at every lizard I see and enjoy every beach we visit! Today was just particularly great!