East Coast Australia with Kid, Part 5
Editor’s Note: This is the 5th in a series of posts from John “traveler, father & wit” Ryan. He’s taking the family from Melbourne up along Australia’s eastern coast. Have kid, will travel is John’s motto. Read John’s previous post here.
We’ve arrived in Brisbane, Queensland, our little boy (20-month-old Seamus), mum and dad. We’re in the northern suburb of Ferny Grove staying with my wife’s sister and her unstoppably Canadian husband.
Our days in Byron Bay were a delight, though not without their challenges. We kicked off with an attempt to walk around the lighthouse. We’d called, and the park ranger said it’d be fine with a kid in a pram. NOT!!! There are about a million steps, high winds and lots of precarious rocky outcrops. The lighthouse and the view are stunning and the walk looks great; but DON’T shell out if you’ve got a toddler in-tow. No refunds…
Byron has some great beachside playgrounds, and the long, flat, sandy beaches are a delight with a toddler. We met up with an old friend who gave us a spare DVD player for our cottage room! Bananas are back (click here if you missed the Bananas)!
After a great dinner with our DVD friend and an old mate from university days at the only respectable pub in town (the Rails on Jonson St), we enjoyed a unique breakfast in the nearby town of Brunswick Heads. Yami’s served fabbo – if surprising - Israeli food on an outdoor deck. Our little kid ran around a bit, but there was enough space for him not to annoy too many people! This little town was a welcome respite from the clamour of Byron Bay.
Another day of beach-bumming and some Bananas in Pyjamas on DVD and suddenly, today, we had to leave beautiful Byron. We took a breakfast detour to Bangalow where there was a really fantastic, small organic produce market. Bangalow is a really delightful hinterland town – so much more relaxing and ‘real’ than Byron. We’ll stay here next time. We picked up some absolutely amazing strawberries and were on our way.
It’s not the most scenic drive from Byron to Brisbane, despite the fact that we pass some of the most wonderfully majestic beaches Australia has to offer. Problem is, you can’t see them for all the road works, construction and ugly 1970s high-rise developments. This really is the worst of the best. Still, the freeway makes it a mercifully short trip.
Brisbane is a growth town. For a long time it was a staid, sleepy city. Now it’s booming with property values rising as quickly as the morning temperature. There aren’t many tourist attractions in Brisbane, but few cities in the world can claim to be surrounded by so many drawcards as Queensland’s capital. We’ve just settled Seamus in yet another strange bed. The little fella is doing remarkably well – he really seems to be engaging with the frequent changes. Tomorrow, we explore!
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December 10th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
[...] Editor’s Note: This is the 6th in a series of posts from John “traveler, father & wit” Ryan. He’s taking the family from Melbourne up along Australia’s eastern coast. Have kid, will travel is John’s motto. Read John’s previous post here. [...]