Winter in Byron

Tea

There is a lovely little tea-house just outside Byron, Starseed Gardens. Run by hippies, catering to hippies. You know.

Went there today in celebration of hubby's birthday. Long gong are boozy all-nighters that end up in 6am taxi rides and hangovers from hell. Instead we have discussions about which tea is milder, so we do not get too wired. White tea, as it turns out. And was the cake vegan? No. Thus birthday boy ended up with dahl, not cake.

Baby quite enjoyed outing. Had two hour sleep upon returning home. Longest ever. Baby not a sleeper.

Trying for first time to settle baby in cot. Have always held her, but at 6 kilos it is getting more and more unfeasible. Baby not having a bar of it. Looking at me with large accusing eyes. Pick.Me.Up...

I'm wondering if the white tea has made baby feel wired?

Day 9: my favourite time of year (and Tallow winter morning pics)

Summer. Summer, summer, summer.
Preferably a real stinker, rendering everyone else uselessly sprawling across lounges underneath AC-units, panting and begging for mercy.

At the moment we are in winter! Remember my NYE-resolution of walking on beach every day at sunrise? Well. Finally done it! Not exactly sunrise, as such though. But at least was early!

Nice, right?

Until we picked up a piece of plastic.

And another one.

And another.

You can't stop.

This is only about ten minutes worth... on one of the most pristine beaches around. Truly.

Noticed as part of the list that I will write about things that upset me... Well, here is a taste.

Plastic, and other assorted garbage ending up in the ocean! Because people are ignorant, lazy and wasteful. Buying CRAP we do not need, replacing things that are not broken. Littering.

Plastic in oceans kill wildlife and end up inside fish; thus polluting the food-supply of those who still believe it is a good idea to eat fish (sure, there are some health-benefits, though nothing we cannot get from other sources - which are far less detrimental to the earth, and far less toxic).

When was last time you heard about this on the news? Right, me neither. On news this morning (admittedly, channel 7, but still): Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes split. Whaaat..? Let me get notebook.

More to come...

Uki

Adventure to little town Uki, inland from Murwillumbah - at the base of Mount Warning. Very small town, but very alternative. Like! Recommend going here anyday over going to Nimbin for sure.

And in this pristine mountain environment, we came across sure signs that the human sub-species "the bogan" had been active overnight: (...)

Update

Bangalow Farmers Markets today - a much smaller version of Byron. But will check it out, and also grab LSD in town.

Would love to get some photos, alas camera battery has died.
And no, do not have iphone. Would like one... very much. This is new. Am always last person in world to have anything new from technological sphere. Was last to catch on to CDs. To mobile phones. To CD walkmans. To digital cameras (only got mine a year or so ago). And anything else you can imagine. So have only just started to notice the iphone.

Actually, probably would not get the iphone, as such. Would get a similar thing from other brand.

One day... one day.

Blues Fest Snaps

Done and dusted. Had amazing beautiful weather, 25 degrees and sunny - every day. This, I believe, is unheard of.

Hubby. A sincere smile.

With in-laws.

Easter Full Moon. So the witches may find their way to their yearly... big party. Don't all cultures believe this?

Seasick Steve - classic.

John Fogerty - one of my highlights. Surprisingly knew most songs, had no idea was a fan.

And standing up all day and night leads to backache. If you are, well, old. The sight of myself and hubby doing yoga in front of stages did not make anybody look twice. This, in Byron, is considered normal.

Blues Fest and some Karma

Lots happening here!

Have house full of people and we are attending the Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival, can warmly recommend it. Great vibe, people mostly good (with few glaring exceptions) and good music.

Therefore very busy being perfect hostess, and am not spending so much time on blog.

Thought would mention, however, Neighbour behind who is currently using his beloved grass-trimmer, again. The trimmer, henceforth to be referred to as Morgan the 2nd (long story) normally gets a good use on weekend-mornings around 8 am. So too today - Easter Sunday (whilst blues fest is on, people have guests and so on).

Am very displeased with this type of behaviour.

Have decided that tonight, at around 1.30 am when we get home - might play some well selected tunes. Loudly. Say, for example, some Death Metal. Or Marilyn Manson. Something tells me Neighbour not fan of Marilyn.

This, I believe, is Karma.

Entertaining

Entertaining at the moment. So bit busy.

But this morning took guests down to main beach for some kayaking, had some nice light going. Unlike now, now is overcast, cold and rainy. Wonder how girls are going out at sea..?


Hrm. Just started pouring down. Here in Byron, it never rains. It POURS.

Might pack some jackets for the girls and go and pick them up.

Busy Beach

What is this - Bondi Beach???

Very busy beach this weekend. And no, it is not Bondi - although you could have thought so! It is of course Main Beach, Byron Bay...

Have discovered virtues of going to beach late in afternoon and staying until dusk. A time habitually referred to as "Shark Feeding Time" by me. This undoubtedly makes the swimming experience more exiting.

We all like to believe that sharks never swim between the flags. Between the flags is people-area. It is, however, unlikely that the sharks are aware of the flags. If they are, they most likely refer to it as "the buffet."

Hubby always says sharks are non-aggressive. Sort of like black-snakes.

Sure.

Birthday

Birthdays are a good time of year to reflect on changes that occur as we grow older and wiser. According to tradition I always think back on previous birthdays as far as I can remember; what did I do, where was I - and so on.

Until I get to about 2006/7 - anything before then is kind of a blur.

Anyway.

2011: Byron Bay: Lovely meal at restaurant outside Byron - early night, home.

2010: Sydney: Out on the town with bunch of friends - in spite of having some sort of eye-ailment rendering me practically blind, still managed to have too many drinks and stay out too late. Was middle of week but friends are hardcore drinkers...

2009: Amsterdam: Japanese restaurant with a couple of friends. Fairly early night, rode bikes home - nobody fell over.

2008: London: Was terribly depressed, hated what was doing and also thought was getting too old. Can now look back on this moment in time knowing life was about to get a lot better; also I was not bloody old! Now I am old.


Things I have said in recent time which I would have sworn blind I would never say if asked 10 years ago:

"Old toothbrushes are excellent for cleaning purposes"
"I need a good grater"
"I don't eat dead animals"
"I couldn't live in a big city"
"I'm always asleep before 10"
"I have to do some gardening"
"I just ordered five new recipe books"
"I simply must get a leaf-blower"
"No thank you, I am not drinking today"
"Is it Friday? I didn't realise"


Hubby took me to lunch this year - awesome little cafe called the Concious Cafe, in the Bay.

Raw cacao and banana rice-milk smoothie - very nice, as it would want to be for 8 bucks! But the food was quite cheap...

Lucky

Main Beach this morning - how gorgeous is that!?! I'm so lucky.

Surfing Comps and Rain-Events

Headed north yesterday to take in a surfing competition in Burleigh Heads with Louise. Did not see very much of the actual competition though.

Burleigh Heads, with the cityscape of the Gold Coast in the background. This area is a lot more developed than our immediate vicinity around Byron. Thankfully.

Was mostly a beautiful day - got burnt in spite of factor 30 and an overcast morning.
Also got stuck in Downpour-from-hell when on highway going back south - approximately 2 metres visibility and going 70 in a 110 zone - accompanied by the usual hyperventilating and ordering of self to stay calm. No choice - had to keep going. Have heard on news that worst thing to do is to pull over on side of road in case of severe rain-event; cars behind you may not see that you have in fact stopped - and "follow" you - resulting in them crashing into you from behind.

So kept going. Was trying to work up nerves to reach for Rescue Remedy inside handbag, when finally rain stopped and sun emerged again as if to pretend nothing happened.

Oh the life living in a rainforest!

Brunswick & Vegan Cooking

Brunswick Heads yesterday, for those of us who prefer to swim without waves...

Also tried new yummy vegan recipes:

Chickpea Cutlets (served with vegan gravy)

Sweet Potato Fries

Beach Again!

Have not done this in a while:

Main Beach this morning...

Swell too high for me, but the surfers looked happy.