Not the same as it ever was

I’ve been in Byron for few days now after a fairly uneventful 30 km ride down from Wooyung. It’s a bit different here in Byron than it was back in August of last year – much more busy for one, and chock full of very young backpackers, mostly British and Canadian. Is this a rude awakening to what backpacking in Oz is really all about? I fear the worst. I was sad to see upon arrival that the Share House, Tiny’s wonderful little retreat that made Byron so special for me last year, is gone – the house is now abandoned and grown-over. Tiny was well aware that the big backpacker factories were trying to shut him down, and I guess they succeeded. What a bummer.

I rode my bike around town looking for another place to stay, not knowing what to do really. First I checked out the Art Factory, but I was immediately unimpressed. It should be called ‘Backpacker Disneyland for Hippie Wannabees,’ complete with teepees, gamerooms, internet, restaurants, and a campground full of about 200 tents all crammed into the ‘jungle.’ When I asked to see the tentsites and the guy said sure as long as you leave a photo ID, I knew it wasn’t the place for me. So much for peace, love, and harmony.

In desperation I checked out another backpacker’s but decided against that one too. In the end I found a home at the campervan park by the beach for a hefty $20/night, but luckily after the first night I found someone to share the site and cost with.

Overall Byron has been disappointing. The place is still very beautiful, there’s no doubt about it, but the VIBE is all wrong. I’ve been at my tent site for 3 days now, and none of my neighbors have spoken or introduced themselves or even said hello!!! I?ve got about 5 Aussie guys on one side, and I have a young Canadian couple on the other who seem to be in the midst of relationship troubles. The girls in the bathrooms are busy putting makeup and hairspray on in the mornings just to go to the beach! Weird, I tell you. Plastic. As I said, the vibe is all wrong.

So my original plan was to hang out here for a good 10 days or so and then stay to see the 5-day Blues Festival, but now I don’t really think I want to hang around here for that long. Luckily I didn’t buy tickets in advance. Getting the most out of travelling is knowing when to stay and when to move on and this time round I’d say it’s time to move on.

Tomorrow I’m back on the bike again, heading north, via Nimbin, another ‘famous’ little hippie town.

1 comment April 10th, 2003