5. Byron Bay June 19-23

This felt like a quick one! It was hard to come down from the high of paradise in Port Douglas. This trip will be happily remembered for Luke’s 10 Birthday! Byron Bay is great. A chill vibe…surf and funky. I am not sure we got the full experience, though. We had rain, a sick mommy and a birthday. I have been suffering terrible allergies since we have been traveling. My Denver allergist told me to never ever live in a humid climate due to my severe dust mites allergy. I guess he was right! I tried so hard to suck it up, but these allergies have been sucking the life out of me. Getting outside is the best medicine. We ate some yummy meals and the coffee was delish. Very impressed with the beautiful beaches. I do wish we could have stayed longer… I’d stay closer to the action (or learn to drive!) and come when it’s a little bit warmer.

MONDAY Our travel day was LONG. We drove from PD to Cairns. Flew 2 hours to Brisbane and then drove 2 hours to Byron. It wasn’t our smoothest trip (bags too heavy, couldn’t find food, rental car took forever, etc…) But any trip that ends safely is a win in my book. We arrived late to our new place in Byron. It was dark and pouring rain. We were all in good spirits and happy to get a good night sleep. We didn’t do air bnb here. We rented in a complex of sorts. It was a treetop house. Very cool! Our house was literally in the trees! We could see then ocean from our back deck and the birthday boy got to choose his bed. He picked the top floor loft pull out couch. Gave him some privacy….and the TV. There was a gym and pool and tennis courts and we could walk through the woods along a path to get to the beach. It was a short drive to the action.

TUESDAY Rain! Didn’t really know where we were or what to do. We ventured out when the rain let up. We checked out some shops and a beach and a park. We kept getting caught in downpours. Ended up having lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant and headed to a movie. I didn’t join them…instead, I shopped around the mall for some birthday supplies. This was the first time I drove! Just from one shopping plaza to another. Pretty straight. Only one roundabout and I was the only car around.

WEDNESDAY Weather improved so we went on a walk to the lighthouse. It wasn’t perfect weather, but we managed to spend a few hours outside. Our friend recommended this walk from Wategos Beach up to the lighthouse and it was perfect. Beautiful views and lots of stairs (my favorite!) And different than other costal walks we have done. Just the right length. Unfortunately, it wasn’t clear enough to see the whales. Had some yummy sushi and called it a day. Ended with a swim at the pool and some tennis.

THURSDAY LUKE’S BIRTHDAY! We let Luke plan this day. I got up extra early to decorate. He wanted to go to a movie and play Minecraft with his sisters. We went out for pizza and had gelato back at the house. Luke opened presents and enjoyed video messages from friends back home. I wish you could’ve seen him smile when he saw his friends wishing him a happy day. We ended the day with a swim and hot tub. The highlight for Luke was winning the claw machine at the movies. He’s been studying how to win by watching YouTube, but I never say yes. Since it was his birthday, I gave him a dollar coin. And he won. He was so happy. Great day for my sweet 10 year old.

Last photo as a 9 year old.

10❤️

FRIDAY Another travel day! We weren’t quite ready to leave Byron Bay and the sun was shining, so we visited the beach near our house. Then we had a surprise for Luke. He wanted to go to an arcade, so unknown to the kids, we found one on the way to our new house. It was one of those HUGE places kind of like Dave and Buster’s. It was on the Gold Cost in Surfer’s Paradise. I would have preferred to be surfing, but he’s 10 and this is fun for him. All 3 kids were so excited. We spend so much of our time at the beach or taking nature walks. They got to take a break from being a tourist and just play! They had a blast.

Morning at Tallows Beach