Days 8-9: Byron Bay

So... I've been wandering around Byron Bay for the last two days... it's a quaint/eclectic little town.  After doing some laundry yesterday AM, I checked into another/nicer shithole of a place.  I'm not saying the Belongil Beach House was a bad place at all... but it was a bit far from "the action".  So now I'm shacked up in the Lord Byron Resort, which is a much shorter stumble from all the sites/restuarants/pubs in Byron Bay... and it's got a more sophisticated ring to it.  After finally dumping my belongings/car at the new digs... I began exploring.  I decided to stop off and have a nice Aussie Beef Steak at The Rails along the way.  While wolfing down a fat slab of charred meat and slugging back a pint of Toohey's, I was approached by 3 Aussie folks. .. who seemed nice enough.  They asked if they could have a seat at my table... and of course I said "OK".  I should've known something was up considering there were 3 of them... 1 of me... and a plethora of other empty tables.  The one they called "Olivia" did most of the talking... and within minutes it became clear why they chose me... and btw, it was NOT so "Olivia" could get into my pants (in the biblical sense).  Turns out the 3 had traveled to Byron Bay to rally with other Christians from around Oz and divy out pancakes for Christ (I can't make this shit up).  After being grilled about my beliefs and upbringing for long enough... I kindly asked them why they were doing what they were doing in Byron.   I listened to the highly inspirational banter for a while, then when it was my turn to talk again I took the easy way out citing "I feel sort of guilty talking about God while slamming beers".  They tried to reassure me that it was OK to drink beer and talk about God simultaneously, at which time I had to rattle off a reading the Book of Ben Franklin... "I know that 'God invented beer because he loves us and wants us to be happy'... but,seriously, can we change the subject".  So... I was able to talk my way of that situation, while maintaining my invite to the Christian Pancake Cookoff.  After my longer than anticipated lunch... I strolled down to the beach to admire the scenery and catch some sun.  Following my unforeseen nap on the beach, I made my way up the fairly steep footpath to see the Cape Byron Lighthouse.   The view was amazing even though the clouds were starting to roll in.  Along the way back I took another path which led to the Eastern Most Point on the Austrailian Mainland (according to the sign)... and for one brief moment... I was the Eastern Most tourist in Oz (then some other tourists showed up to snatch the title from me).  While walking back to my hotel... it started drizzling.  I passed by the site of the supposed Pancake and Prayer festival, only to find it was rained out (and I was really looking forward to the "wayne pancake" the one named Olivia promised me).  It was probably an omen, since at this point I was not feeling very well.  Believe it or not... I've spent two nights in party central and have NOT gone out on the town yet (for those of you keeping score at home... it's Wayne's Sinuses: 2 and Wayne: 0).  On day 8 I was passed out by 830PM with a chemical cocktail of over the counter Sinus/Cold meds going to work in my body... which wasn't a bad thing seeing as I had to wake up at 0600 the next day to go fishing. 

So... today I got up at 0600 (still feeling groggy from the meds), but ready to catch some fuckin' fish.  Paul picked me up ontime and the 5 hour fishing tour clock started ticking.  We found a "nice little spot" on 7 Mile beach just north of Lake Ainsworth (which is a tea tree lake).  The tea tree lakes are popular places to swim do to the anesceptic properties of the tea tree oil leached into the water by the neighboring tea trees... but I digress.  So we fished a bit and didn't catch anything big... I caught 2 stingrays,  a shitload of annoying little fuckers called "Darts" and one 36cm Bream which Paul dubbed "a beaut mate!" (i think he said that cuz he was taking my money).  Overall... it was a good time and I thoroughly satisfied my urge to fish.  Afterwards, I went back to my hotel... took some more Sinus meds and passed out.  I figured I need to try to knock this Sinus shit out... cuz I'll be damned if I'm gonna let a stuffy head ruin my vacation.  OK... now it's time to go pack my bags for tomorrow's drive to Sydney and then head out to the Cheeky Monkey for a beer or two or ten before I leave this town.