a day in byron bay.

I started off today with a run and some yoga on the beach. Since it was a Sunday morning, it was slightly deserted and I took advantage of the tranquility by running to most northern point on the beach and ran back for about an hour. Then I finished up with some yoga and breathing exercises. There is truly no better way to start off your day than by breathing in that crisp ocean breeze.

As for the rest of my day, we had a free day and headed to Byron Bay--a larger seaside town 20 min north of Lennox Head. Since Lennox Head is on the smaller side and there isn't much to do, we were all really excited to finally explore a new town. We first walked to the lighthouse, which is the most easterly point in Australia. It was an absolutely mesmerizing view and the view while walking back to the town was equally as mesmerizing. We grabbed some lunch (some surprisingly good sushi) and then hit the shops. Did some serious damage, but to defend myself I only bought one item for myself and everything else is for friends and family so get excited :) 

I cannot get over how genuinely nice everyone I have met so far is. It may be because we haven't been in a major city yet, but regardless I appreciate their kindness and their willingness to help us clueless tourists. They have also given us recommendations of where to go and have made me extremely excited for the rest of the trip!

When dinner time hit, we hadn't realized how hungry we were. We went to a restaurant called The Balcony. I had a delicious Mediterranean platter of falafel, pickled eggplant, hummus, quinoa tabbouli, and roasted beets. We then walked to a local bar called the Beach Hotel which had live music and actually a really fun scene for a Sunday night. Afterwards we checked out another bar called The Junction, which also had a great live band. It was more of a chill scene with quite a few Australian hippies, but it was still fun and we ran into some people from Portland and Seattle! Since we had relaxed activities today, I felt like it was a true cultural experience because we were able to spend the day like regular Australians.