Our penultimate OzLap week 29 from Monday 25^th  – Sunday 31^st October took us in to New South Wales and along the surf coast past some or favourite surfing towns. We blissed out in Byron Bay and watch surfers carving up the two national surfing reserves at Angourie and Crescent Head. Watch all the action in our Week 29 OzLap video.

Three days of bliss in Byron Bay

Byron Bay. Oh how we love, love, love this blissful place. Especially with hardly anyone in town due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. We rolled in Sunday afternoon and after checking in to the Clarke beach caravan park, we headed straight out on the lighthouse walk past The Pass, Ray’s at Wategos, Little Wategos then up to the iconic lighthouse perching over Clarke’s beach to the west and Tallows to the East. This place has it all for our tastes: fantastic bars and restaurants (Bang Bang for dinner, Fresh for breakfast, The Pass café for lunch our favs), beaches facing every direction (Little Wategos our favourite), clear water for swimming and some great point breaks for longboard surfing, awesome cliff top walks with sunset viewing platforms (The Pass lookout and the Lighthouse Walk our favs), a great creative craft-makers district (Byron industrial park), a weekly market and outdoor cinema and some super stylish shops plus nearby cute hill towns with organic delicacies.

Our top three things to tick on a trip to Byron Bay are: 1. The Clarkes Beach to Lighthouse walk past stunning Wategos and Little Wategos beaches 2. Bang Bang for sticky, spicy, Asian-fusion dishes bursting with flavour 3. The Pass Lookout at Sunset to watch surfers catching their last waves as the sun settles over the hinterland.

Beach Bonanza at Yamba

With nine beaches facing every direction of the compass, Yamba offers a place to walk, swim or surf out of the wind no matter what the weather.  Whiting Beach runs along Hickey Island and is a shallow sand dog friendly beach with sheltered swimming, Turner’s Beach tucked behind the South Wall breakwater boasts big white sand and sheltered swimming, Main Beach below the surf lifesaving club has packed sand that loses the sun after 4pm but is patrolled and has a café at the club on weekends,  Convent Beach has a natural sea pool and is quite rocky, Pippi Beach is a long, fairly wild and exposed beach which has off leash section for dogs. The nearby Angourie headland offers another three beaches: Spooky’s which is famous for its surf break and has lovely white sand and clear water, Point Beach a small cosy corner tucked under Angourie Point and Back Beach a long stretch of beach with glossy black rockwalls, some good waves and forms the start of the 66km Yuraygir National Park coastal trail that stretches all the way to Red Rock. The small hilly township offers two sections, one up along the eastern hilltop where the lighthouse perches, the pub hugs the clifftop and a spattering of shops include an Italian restaurant, two cafes, clothing and homewares. On the flat lower part of town there’s plenty more shops and café’s with a few of the highlights being the popular pie shop, the organic grocers and an eclectic eatery called Sweet and Spicy that offer delicious Asian fusion dinners.

Three things to tick on a trip to Yamba are: 1.  Spooky’s beach for surfing/swimming and the Angourie Bay picnic point for lunch with a view 2. Sunset over the Clarence River from the ferry wharf or up on the lighthouse hill.. 3. hTe Yuraygir National Park Coastal Walk S

Crazy big waves at Crescent Head

We rolled in to Crescent Head Saturday on a storm surge that whipped up the waves to legendary size and the place was crawling with combi’s, the surf club was pumping and the waves were packed with longboards. The campground that runs along the ocean and river was jammed which surprised us as the Covid travel restrictions were not due to lift until Monday November 1^st.

The east-southeast swell and offshore wind from the west caused waves to slam in to Little Nobby headland throwing spray up to 20 metres high and caused havoc for the golfers teeing off the top of Big Nobby golf course. The focus of this town is definitely surfing although there’s Kilick Creek that flows in to the ocean that provides a sheltered spot for families to swim and people to fish. There’s a couple of nice walks, one up to Big Nobby and along the South ridge that overlooks the unreachable Goolawah beach and the other along the long stretch of Kilick beach (beware the high tide!).  The scattering of shops in town offer a couple of good outdoor balcony dining options at the Tavern and the Country club plus two Mexican cantinas, one a casual eatery called Chanchitas and the other La Costa Cantina which boasts a Margarita menu and DJ on Saturday nights plus the surf club has a hole in the wall café with outdoor tables to much an egg and bacon roll while watching the early morning surfers.

Three things to tick on a trip to Crescent Head are: 1. Little Nobby for sunsets, crashing wave and surf watching 2.Walk, swim, surf the long stretch of Kilick beach 3. Walk up Big Nobby to the Lookout and around the back ridge overlooking Goolawah beach.