24 reasons Byron Bay is heaven on earth

When I first got to Byron Bay, I wrote a blog post about my initial thoughts on the place. Now I've been here almost 3 months (which makes it the longest I've stayed anywhere in Australia so far) and here are the reasons I think it's the greatest place on earth.

Welcome to Byron Bay!

1. Beautiful beaches - on both sides of the lighthouse, stretches of coastline with fine golden sand, warm, clear waters and happy people reach for miles. At the end of town centre is "Main Beach" - a golden paradise for swimmers, surfers and sunbathers alike. Before reaching the sandy shores you'll be greeted by the grassy banks where you can experience the beach without getting covered in sand. Further along the bay is "The Pass" which is favourite spot for surfers and resident dolphins!

Byron Bay from the lighthouse

2. Cape Byron Lighthouse - It's about a 45 minute walk from town to the lighthouse (a lot of steps though, I warn you, I nearly died!) but a walk well worth it. Venture alongside Main Beach, The Pass and Wategos Beach before walking through rainforest and parks. See how the other half live with the  absolutely stunning (and extremely expensive) houses on this side of town, and eventually you'll reach the lighthouse and witness more dramatic views. Watch the sunrise here and you'll experience a high that you can't get from drugs.

Cape Byron Lighthouse

Got up early to snap the sunrise from the lighthouse, and... wow!

3. Most easterly point of Australian mainland - marked by the lighthouse (and this plaque), it makes for an excellent viewing of the sunrise, seeing the beautiful coastline, and looking out for whales and dolphins.

4. Strong community - it's a warm place to live, and I'm not just talking about the weather. It's clear the residents care about their community.

5. Chris Hemsworth said so - the Thor star owns a $7.2m house in the area and describes Byron as the "greatest place on earth".

6. Hinterland - the surrounding area has some absolutely stunning settings such as Rocky Creek Dam and Minyon Falls.

Rocky Creek Dam

7. Surf - if in Byron, you've gotta try it. Alternatively (or as well as!) get a bodyboard to ride those waves! Luckily we got one with our van and have been having a whale of a time with it in the ocean.

My birthday surf lesson!

8. Dive - keep an eye out for sharks and rays at Julian Rocks (2k from the bay, a 6 min boat ride away)

Joe and I scuba diving at Juilian Rocks

9. Snorkel - not up for a dive? Julian Rocks accommodates snorklers too, and there's plenty to see!

10. Kayak - it's a lot of fun kayaking in the sea, and you'll probably see some wildlife. However, if you don't, "Go Sea Kayaks Byron Bay" will give you another session for free! You can also go kayaking on local rivers and creeks inland for more thrill and adventure!

11. Skydive - next on my bucket list once I work up the courage!

12. Swim - of course there's an amazing ocean right there, but if you fancy the experience minus the salt in your eyes, there's a lovely pool right on the beachfront that only costs about $4 (£2).

13. Wildlife - Common sealife includes turtles, dolphins, whales, manta rays, grey nurse sharks, wobbegong sharks, pufferfish and more. There have been a few large scary sharks sighted recently, but it's their ocean too and great to see that we can share this world with them! Snakes, bush turkeys and water dragons also frequent my back garden.

Spotted my first ever whale!

These guys greet me every morning.

14. Food - pretty much my favourite thing ever because I love to eat. Byron accommodates every different diet and specialises in vegan, vegetarian, organic and healthy! You can still get a burrito or a fat-off steak if you're not so fussy.

15. Byron Bay Film Festival - held in September over 10 days, the festival showcases the work of indie filmmakers sure to make you laugh, cry and feel inspired.

16. East Coast Roots & Blues Fest - music festival of the year welcoming some big names such as UB40, Joe Bonamassa, Mary J Blige, The Lumineers and more! Unfortunately I won't be here for that!

17. Art - galleries, street artists, weekly artisan market... there's even a park dedicated to art, decorated with paint, colourful stones and beautiful words. Grafitti art brightens up the town, anything that can be painted, will be painted.

18. Music - a plethora of sounds soothe your ears as you walk down the street as buskers come in every form. Young talented children playing ukeleles and saxophones. Musicians playing allsorts from didgeridoos to flutes, japanese guitar to bongo drums. There is often a band or solo guitarist/singer performing on the grassy beachfront banks and creates an awesome atmosphere.

19. Coconuts - You don't drink drinks in Byron Bay, you drink coconuts. There's a guy with a cow bell selling them ice cold on the beach every day.

Drinking a coconut on the beach

20. Shopping - looking for a new look that you can't find on the high street? Byron's shops and markets are great for any kind of looks from retro, vintage, hippy and chic.

21. No shoes needed - you may have just found your perfect outfit, but don't worry about wearing shoes with it. No-one else does!

22. Diverse city - You can find just about every type of person in Byron Bay and it adds to that "loving" vibe. Young, Old, Aussie, Pom, French, Korean, Straight, Gay, Transexual. Like no matter what hatred is going on in the world right now, there's at least one place you can all come together and it's right here.

23. Byron is not too big - personally, I'm not much of a big city person. But Byron is the perfect compromise of being big enough to keep you entertained but small enough to not feel intimidated.

24. Chug! Chug! Chug! - and then at the end of the day, chillout with a drink. There are bountiful bars to drench yourself in. "The Beachy" on the beachfront often has live bands on and "The Sticky Wicket" is usually showing some kind of sport on the screens. Or chillout on "The Balcony" or at "The Railway". If you're night reaches new depths of debauchery, try "Cheeky Monkeys". I haven't been there yet myself, but the vibe I get from the place definitely suggests it's the kind of place you go to drink yourself stupid and probably take a stranger home with you. So, have fun!

Where's your heaven on earth? Share with me your experiences of paradise!

Beginner's Guide to Street Photography

Mastering the art of street photography can produce some very rewarding images and experiences, yet for some reason most of us find the idea of street photography a little intimidating. This is probably due to the fact that we live in an age of judgement, where people wonder what we're doing and why we're doing it. The truth is, when it comes to taking pictures in public most people really don't care, so keep snapping! Here's my top street photography tips:

"Bicycle" - Brighton, England

Be discreet
My Panasonic GX7 camera is perfect for this as it's small, has a completely silent shutter, and has the option of coming in a discreet black colour (ironically I prefered the silver version). If your camera has wifi, you can even control the shutter from your smartphone without even looking at the camera. Doing this you'll join the other 98% of the public looking at their phone. These are all factors that help me to go unnoticed while I'm taking pictures. I don't need to feel nervous about being watched because I'm not drawing attention to myself, and they don't even know when I'm taking a picture meaning I can capture genuine expressions.

Look like a street photographer

"Grafitti Artist" - Brighton, England

Now this is the complete opposite of the last point and makes me sound completely contradictory, but actually the feeling that everyone knows your motives are of an arty theme and not sinister can put you, the photographer, at ease. It's like announcing you're about to fart before you do it so that people don't laugh at you (but with you). So, how do you look like a street photographer? Just do your thang! Get high, get low. Take time to frame each shot. Use whatever camera/lens you want no matter how big, bright or noisy (but be aware that you might get mugged!). People will most likely see you and go "oh, that's just a street photographer. Nothing interesting".

Master shooting from the hip
This is a common technique that photographers use so that people in the street don't know they are being photographed. Having a camera held up to your face is obvious, but shooting from the hip without looking at your camera makes you almost invisible and allows you to capture genuine emotions, relations, body language and facial expressions from relatively close. It also creates a new and different perspective in the low angle, producing much more interesting pictures. This can be a difficult technique to master, as shots can be blurry from movement, and can also have terrible framing. But practise makes perfect, and eventually you'll find a winning shot! Use a fast shutter speed, a wide angle lens, and if possible a silent shutter (mirrorless cameras).

"Stripes" - Byron Bay, Australia (shot from the hip)

"Family Outing" - Byron Bay, Australia (shot from the hip)

Shoot familiar places
We all love to go somewhere new, but shooting a place you know well is the best way to practise street photography. You'll already have insight into where the best spots are, where you might find some interesting artwork or where a local street musician hangs out. You know the streets and don't have to add getting lost onto your list of worries. Maybe there's a good place to sit where you can take time to frame your shots without being in the way. If you're photographing somewhere new, go back there a few more times if you get the opportunity. You'll find yourself feeling more comfortable and able to take better pictures.

"The Street Artist" - Byron Bay, Australia

Take a patient friend with you

"Moi" - Rouen, France

Safety in numbers and all that. Even photography can be more fun with a friend, as long as they are fine with you stopping to photograph something every 30 seconds. You may find that you feel more comfortable photographing in public with someone with you. They can add in their artistic input and ideas, and can even model for you if need be!

Make your shots different
This is quite important in all genres of photography, and is what makes it an art! Find a new perspective. Use natural light and shadows to add depth and focus to your work. Point the viewers eye away from the 'ordinary' to make it 'extraordinary'. Find an interesting structure, or make a boring structure interesting by shooting it in a different way. Play around and have fun!

"Arches" - Venice, Italy

"Green Man" - Brighton, England

Ask to take someone's picture

Feeling brave? Go up to someone and ask to take their picture. If they're not in a hurry to get somewhere they'll probably say yes. Be friendly. Be genuine. Get chatting. Be interested but not intrusive. It's a fact that as humans we love ourselves, we love talking about ourselves and we love attention, so pay a little attention to someone else and you might even make a friend. How do you even start talking? Just say something like "Hey, I'm just doing a bit of street photography and I think you look pretty awesome sitting there, do you mind if I take your picture?"

Tell an enigmatic story
A picture says a thousand words, right? Well tell a thousand word story with your shot. Capture a scene or a subject that leaves your viewer wondering what happened before or after, or what is going on in someone's head. Leave these questions unanswered and your audience will make it up for themselves.

"Unfinished Story"

There's my tips for street photography. Be prepared to delete 4/5 of your pictures and don't be disheartened if you only got 1 or 2 good shots out of it. Like anything, it takes practise, so get snapping!

Share with me some of your shots in the comments section of my Beth's Babbles and Travels facebook page, or links to your street photography online, I'd love to see some!

Beth's 5 favourite campsites in Queensland

"Hodor"

So as I'm sure you already know, Joe and I spent 4 months living in our trusty van, Hodor, and went from campsite to caravan park - sometimes staying in a different place every single day. We found all these using the Wikicamps app, which gave us offline access to prices, reviews, contact information and map. Some spots we stayed in have been particularly notable. Here I'll tell you my 5 favourite ones, the stories behind them and why I loved them so much.

Here I've marked where they all are

5. Bajool Hotel, Bajool, near Rockhampton
Cost: free
Occassionally we found a free spot on wikicamps in the back garden of a pub, which was the case with this one. You can stay free of charge but are encouraged to support the business by buying food or drinks so of course we did, for lunch and dinner. Located between Rockhampton and Gladstone and near the small town of Mount Larcom is an even smaller town called Bajool. This place consisted of this one pub hotel, a small convenience shop and, to be honest I couldn't find much else there. We stayed here because we had a job working at the Mount Larcom show the next day.

Why was this place so great? Well it started out as a normal pub experience though it was very quiet and in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly the place started filling up with truckers as they finished work for the weekend, and the evening entertainment of the night was watching the state of origin series rugby match. This is an annual best-of-3 tournament between the 2 aussie states of New South Wales (Blues) and Queensland (Maroons) and it's HUGE in Australia. The people all wear the colours of where they are from, and get together to watch the games. So, being in Queensland, Joe and I quickly ran back to our van and put on whatever maroon clothes we could find (a venetian flag t-shirt and a "Hodor" t-shirt) and the truckers loved it! The owners were so friendly and welcoming to us both. They could even see that we clearly couldn't afford alcoholic drinks so gave us a couple on the house! It really was a fun and unexpected experience from such a tiny town.

4. Cairns Holiday Park
Cost: $35 per night
Despite all the negative reviews on Wikicamps, our stay at the Cairns Holiday Park was most pleasurable.  One of the more expensive parks we've stayed at ($35 a night) but still one of the cheapest in the city centre. People who complain that the unpowered spots are too cramped have clearly never tried camping at a showground! The park offers a very large and well facilitated camp kitchen, with a "free stuff" shelf which was pretty much my favourite thing ever. I found allsorts here, from a 5kg bag of rice to a pair of tracksuit bottoms that fit me perfectly! There is also a small pool, TV room with free book exchange shelf, laundry facilities and clean toilet/shower block. DVDs can be rented free of charge from reception and there's free limited internet.

One evening had cracking entertainment in the form of a whipcracking show from world record holding whipcracker Nathan Griggs. This was actually one of the best things I've ever seen! The staff at the park were friendly and helpful, especially when it came to booking us a last minute place on a Great Barrier Reef snorkling trip.

The first turtle we saw whilst snorkling the Great Barrier Reef!

3. Murray Falls, TNQ
Cost: $6.15 per person per night (standard for all QLD national parks)
Though we didn't actually camp here, I wish we did because we had 2 days of insane fun. The only reason we didn't stay at the Murray Falls camp site was because all national parks in QLD must be prepaid online or by phone, and we had no phone credit or access to internet at this time as we didn't plan to come here but rather stumbled upon it.

Joe enjoying the natural waterpark at Murray Falls

Murray Falls is a stunning waterfall situated in tropical north queensland near the town of Cardwell. We found it during an awesome road trip from Townsville to Cairns, find out about it here. Now I absolutely love waterfalls, but the most exhilerating part of this place was the swimming hole upstream. We initially came here but had to return the next day once we'd charged the Gopro. There were rocks to slide down and rope swings to jump off in the stunning setting of the rainforest. The water was warm even in winter and it was definitely one of my best experiences of Australia so far.

Murray Falls

2. Scarness Beachfront Tourist Park, Hervey Bay
Cost: $15 per night
This was one of three council-run caravan parks in Hervey Bay, and they are all very similar with the same $15 backpacker rate, but I'd say this was my favourite of the three. Though the cheap price is supposed to be for an unpowered spot, they'll probably give you a powered spot anyway which is a bonus for electrically rigged vans. Otherwise you can charge phones, laptops etc in the camp kitchen.

The parks are all situated on the beachfront, and if you have a front facing spot you will pretty much be ON the beach. It doesn't get much better than waking up to that view!

Sunrise at Hervey Bay, taken from the front of my camp spot

Caravan park resident possum

The kitchen here is well equipped with hobs and barbequeues while some of the other beachfront parks also have a microwave. However, my favourite part of the kitchen in this particular park was the resident possum who was absolutely adorable, especially when Joe fed him a bit of fruit. There was a TV/chillout room with pool table. Wifi is charged at $2 per hour (Pialba beachfront park down the road should but don't charge for wifi!) The staff were incredibly friendly and accommodating, and helped us a book a tour to Fraser Island. You can read more about our adventures in Hervey Bay and Fraser Island here.

1. Mount Nimmel Lodge, Gold Coast
Cost: $10 per person per night

Set up camp at Mount Nimmel Lodge, with roaring fire!

This is my #1 camp spot for the whole of Australia (so far). I loved this place! Situated 20 minutes outside of the Gold Coast city centre at the base of the Springbrook mountain, this is the ultimate bush camping experience. Owner, Tony and caretaker, Cymon are two of the friendliest people I've ever met and will go out of their way to accommodate their guests. Cabins are available to rent but unpowered camping spots are available in the large grassy area in the centre. Campfires are encouraged, and fire pits are there for you to use. If you're nice, Cymon will even give you some free firewood that he'd chopped up earlier in the day. There's a small camp kitchen with stove, oven, microwave etc.


The animals love this place too, as the friendly kookaburras, magpies and possums will eat from your hand. And this handsome little fella pictured below posed for my camera for a good 10 minutes!

Inquisitive Kookaburra

The site is a great base for seeing both the Gold Coast city and the hinterland. From here we took a short drive to Movieworld, Wet 'n' Wild and Seaworld. It's also just 20km up the mountain to Springbrook national park (which is where "I'm a Celebrity..." is filmed) The Springbrook circuit follows waterfalls, creeks and rainforest, as well as picturesque spot "natural bridge" and glow worm cave. Sadly we were here in the daytime so couldn't see the glow worms, but still an awesome place! Cymon tells us it's even better to visit the mountain at night, as completely away from the city you get the most perfect view of the milkyway. Hopefully we'll get to experience that on our next visit to the Gold Coast!

Waterfall in Springbrook National Park

Natural Bridge, Springbrook National Park

I've had an absolute blast camping around Australia so far and these are some of the best spots I've come across. If you've stayed at campsites in Australia and have some awesome stories, leave a comment! Until next time...