last day in lennox head.

Today is our last day in Lennox Head and I can't say I'm too disappointed. I've had a great time so far, but I'm ready to experience city life in Sydney. To commemorate our last day, I went on one last run on the beach--it was just as exhilarating as the others and I said goodbye to the fresh sea air. After a group reflection, some of us headed back into Byron Bay for our free afternoon. The original plan was to lay out on the beach, but the chilly weather and the lack of sun did not allow for that. Instead, Lexi and I went back to the health foods store, Fundies, and bought more delicious raw, vegan mint chocolate and coconut balls, Noah's fruit and vegetable juice, and lentil patties for the barbecue the group was planning on having that night. We then headed back to The Beach Hotel and ate our lunch. We sat in a far corner that overlooked the beach. It was relaxing and also a great people watching spot. Since people watching is already a hobby of mine, it is something I have been doing a lot more of since coming to Australia. Even though they are pretty similar to Americans, I still enjoy observing them and comparing their mannerisms. Since we had also already done so much shopping the previous Sunday, we decided to avoid the shops and not tempt ourselves so we moved tables across the street and read the local newspaper. It was interesting to compare their current events to ours, as well as to read their headlines (some of which would not be considered politically correct in the US). 

As evening approached, we started walking back to the bus stop and stopped at the grocery store, Woolworth's, to help the boys choose what foods to get for the barbecue that they were in charge of. We did not have very much faith, but they pulled through and dinner that night was great! They grilled chicken, burgers, and hot dogs (and lentil patties for me) at the barbecue by the cabin. Hope also grilled amazing corn on the cob that was the perfect compliment to my lentil patty and Australian barbecue sauce (which is my new obsession and I don't even know what makes it so amazing). 

To end the night, the entire group headed down to the pub for musical bingo, where they would play a song and we had to identify it on our bingo card. The first round was Australian hits, which was a little difficult, but the second round was new school rock, which was much more doable. Since Tuesday night wasn't exactly a bumping crowd for the little Lennox Head pub, our group dominated and won all the main prizes which were a six pack of beer, a bottle of wine, and a gift card to the pub. And because it was our last night and we had to head back to pack, we all shared that between the ten people there and headed back to the cabin. 

Overall, I am glad we started our trip in Lennox Head. It was the relaxing break that I needed after finishing up with finals a couple of weeks ago. I am not very good at relaxing  and Lennox Head is all about not being in a rush and taking it easy, so I feel like I was able to learn a lot from them. But I am done relaxing now and am more than ready for city life in Sydney!