But Byron in the offseason didn't really live up to the people watching rep we'd heard about. Most the backpacker bars were sleepy, and the beach was the first ewan agreed was too cold to swim. So instead of getting our tans on and beach bumming like we'd planned, we went for a tramp to the Byron lighthouse. It was a gorgeous walk, packed with tourists. All kinds of tourists, too, from buses of Japanese groups to these guys sharing their passion for weed with the world. There's the Byron spirit we'd heard off!
Two days in Byron was more than enough for us, so we hit the road to Brisbane with a few extra days to spare. On the way we stopped off at mt. Warning to get our sweat on, and do some hiking through the rainforest.
The hike started off a bit weird. We'd heard it was a challenging trail, ending with a steep chain climb at the top, so we were expecting the warning signs and usual notices. But we didn't expect the sign at the beginning explaining the trail was a sacred Aboriginal Site, and the local tribes ask that no one climbs it. We weren't sure whether to keep going, or turn around... But other hikers assured us that the trail was fine to do, and not to be put off by the warnings. We decided this time to press on, but figured we should really do some more reading up on the issue.
We felt weird about doing it... But the hike was fantastic. Sure enough the last climb had us scrambling up the side of the rocky mountain on our hands and knees, using a metal chain to keep from slipping down. We passed an older hiker on the climb and stopped when ewan recognized the accent he was swearing in- we'd met another Geordie! This guy was a retired cop from Newcastle and relocated to Australia in the 1970s. We had to get a photo.
Just goes to show, you can find a Geordie everywhere!
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