After we got to Sydney, we had about three weeks of free time before school started, so of course, Julia and I had to go on a trip, and we chose the beautiful Byron Bay. Back in elementary school, I met this girl named Zoe at a Halloween party where she was dressed as a super toilet and I was a very original vampire. We had kept in contact over social media, and it just so happened to be that Zoe was also studying abroad in Sydney at the same time as us. When I mentioned Zoe’s name, Julia instantly recognized her because they were in first grade together. So naturally, we invited Zoe on our Byron trip. Little did we know that this petite, crazy ball of energy was going to bring us an experience, to say the least.
Arriving in Byron, the three of us spent the afternoon baking in the sun on the beautiful white sands of Byron Beach. Later, we wandered around and explored the cute beach town, pregaming our dinner with multiple orders of french fries. We were lucky enough to catch a street performer playing guitar and singing Vance Joy on the beach right at sunset. It was an incredible moment. Although we could have sat and listened to him forever, we had to hurry back to the Aquarius Backpackers Hostel so not to miss free dinner, because you know, everyone wants that. Surprisingly, free dinner was DANK.
Earlier that day, we talked about renting a car to see the waterfalls, however, none of us wanted to drive on the other side of the road. Jokingly, we said we would try to convince some random guys from our hostel free dinner to drive us around. Take one didn’t go well, the guy was just confused, and probably a little afraid of Zoe. Moving on to her next target, Zoe started talking to these two very tall, very blond Swedish men, Sam and Axel. Somehow, we convinced these two complete strangers to rent a car with us and drive us to Killen Falls and Nimbin the next day. Little did we know, these two were going to become our best friends.
The next day we spent driving around blasting Big Wild’s newest album on replay. Our first stop was Killen Falls, where we went swimming under the waterfall and exploring the surroundings. All was successful, besides a snake slithering across the path right in front of me. Later on, I found out my friend was bitten by an eel there months before. Julia was glad we didn’t know this beforehand. Venturing on, we walked around the rainbow colored town of Nimbin, supposedly once the “weed capital of Australia,” but now more of a weird tourist destination. The main street is lined with apothecaries, small hole in the wall restaurants, and hippie clothing shops, where I picked out some new funky pants for LIB next year.
At the end of the day we explored the nightlife in Byron, which was surprisingly very fun. We met up with our aussie friends from Sydney, Matt and Chris, who introduced us to the highly praised, Australian classic, espresso martini. Of course, we had to bring the Swedes along, and the six of us ended up meeting two new British friends and finishing the night by dancing in the rain and devouring more french fries.
On our last day, Cyclone Oma hit. Periods of sweet sun turned into vicious wind and rain throughout the day, but that made it all the more fun. Zoe’s friend raved about how we have to see “the quarry” when we are in Byron. Trusting the aussie, we drove two hours to find signs that say “stay out, danger” and something about contaminated water. Since we went all this way, we climbed under the suspicious fencing, only to find what looked like a gross watering hole that is used as a water treatment plant. Needless to say, never trust anyone that tells you to go to a quarry…
The day finished off great as we did the gorgeous lighthouse walk, and spent time at The Pass. However, our luck ran dry when we got to the top of the lighthouse and Cyclone Oma was almost blew us off our feet. We retreated back to the safety of an Uber and free dinner at Aquarius.
Overall, Byron was an incredible trip full of surprises and characters, and thanks to Zoe, our new best friends Sam and Axel.
The Pass 
Most easterly point of Australian mainland 
ALINA KADYNTSEVA 