Byron Bay, January2019
Going to Byron felt like the next natural thing to do. As I was running out of money fast I decided to settle down there for a bit to earn and save. I arrived on a Saturday and was completely overwhelmed. Not by the town itself, which is small and hardly rises above 2 stories but by the amount of people. Tourists and locals alike were all out and about on the streets. I had not realised it was the last Saturday of the summer holidays so the town was absolutely packed. I planned on saving money and staying on a campground outside of town but on arriving I decided I needed to be in hub to get that social contact going again, which is another reason why I ditched the campsite far out of town and checked in to a hostel in town.
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| Christina and I on the eastern most point of mainland Australia |
The same afternoon I met Christina, a lovely girl from Spain with whom I spent the rest of the day on the beach and after we did the lighthouse walk for sunset. It was a great way to start my days in Byron. It’s always so incredible to find someone, between all the people you meet along the way, with whom you can relate to in so many ways. Christina told me how she had been looking for a job here for a week already now and hadn’t had any luck so she ended up flying to Melbourne on Tuesday. Obviously this made me worry as I was getting in desperate need of a job as accommodation was really expensive with the summer still in full swing. Despite this I still walked around hours handing in my resume to every- and anyone who could give me a job.
My first few hours in Byron were super overwhelming which sent me spiralling. It was another moment of crisis in my head which I let run me over for a bit. And almost made me leave again. I’m so glad I didn’t though, thanks to a Skype call home and this beautiful new friend I met I pushed through, once again.
The following day I started talking to some other guys in the hostel which ended up in us going to the silent disco on the beach, with the full moon. Needless to say it was awesome, it felt so good to feel so alive and happy in the moment again.
After a couple of days in my first hostel I decided to move as I just didn’t feel the ‘vibe’ going on there (the vibe being: party). So I walked across the street and around the corner to the YHA and asked for a room. Of course this place was almost as expensive as the last but I walked around and had a way better feeling about the place than the last so I moved. And thank god I did. Funny how life sends you across the street like that sometimes (literally haha).
Life had it that I was able to score a job for accommodation there which would save me sooooo much money, so naturally I immediately took it with both hands. Around the same time I had started working at Cypress tree, a small Mediterranean restaurant in town which serves magnificent seafood. It was quite a fun job and the hours were perfectly combinable with my work at the hostel. Unfortunately this wasn’t the place for me to work after all, after a good week the owner told me they weren’t in need of my help anymore. So I received my pay and was thanked politely for my help.
But as if they were waiting for this to happen the very same day I got a message from a restaurant where I had walked in with my resume, if i was still looking for a job and if so, if i would like to come in for a trail in a couple of days.
And so I started working at Fishheads, a nice little restaurant right on the beach. Better pay, more hours and still manageable with my other job made me a happy kiddo.
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| from housekeeping |
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| to the front of house |
The whole “work for accomodation”thing was the best opportunity I could’ve gotten as this enabled me to live super social while saving big time on acc. costs. Most hostels work with volunteers who work about 15hours a week for acc. The work depends obviously on the time of year and what the hostels needs having done but I got a position with housekeeping. And even though I don’t think you’ll ever find me doing that full time I was easy work in shifts of 4 or 5 hours 3 mornings a week.
During my very first day at the hostel I did the free lighthouse walk, which was one of the activities done by the hostel.
side note; I always try to do the activities organised by hostels I go to, they’re usually either free or very cheap and it’s an excellent (and easy) way to meet people.
So on the walk I met Yanina, a not your typical backpacker girl from Germany who was on a vacation in Australia from her life on the (cruise)ships. Anyway, we started talking about the horse tattoo on my back.
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| Yanina and I after yet another fun night out |
again side note: I have found that tattoo’s are also always such an easy way to start up a conversation with perfect strangers.
We ended up spending most her time in Byron together, going out for drinks and diner and to the beach. I was great and I was able to see her again a couple of weeks later due to a change in her itinerary and I hope to be able to see her again somewhere around the world wherever we may get to!
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| Loreto and I at the tea tree lake |
The other good friend I made is Loreto, from Chile. We met as we were in the same dorm at the time and stayed in contact throughout my entire time in Byron which was so great. We both had jobs and she moved places but we still managed to get together for waterfall adventures, strange meditation sessions and just beach chills.
Even with the rocky first few hours in Byron I am so great full for the opportunities I got (and took) in my new home away from home, the beautiful Byron Bay.
So as life in Byron settled and I was working almost 45hours a week some weeks I learnt some new things in life.
Stay tuned for more Byron livin’ !
xoxo Liz
