Byron Bay has an amazing vibe. 

Everyone is so chilled, and the place just makes you feel happy. 

We first headed there in the evening after our day at the motel. We were in search of food and an evening beach view. Byron was one of the most recommended places in Australia before we set off, so we were really excited to be heading there finally. I had always thought it was very near Sydney, but in fact, it is a lot nearer the Gold Coast. But then geography has never been my strong point. 

We headed to the main beach and pulled into the car park. The car parks are pretty expensive, so once we got a space we sat in the car people watching until it became free parking. The beach was so busy. It was 6pm and there were still people relaxing everywhere and people still in the sea. The place was full of camper vans similar to ours, and there was a bit of a 'hippy' feel. A lot of the men had long hair, and there were a lot of people walking around with no shoes on. Most people were wearing bit floaty clothing and there was a lot of peace signs and floral designs. 

When we were finally able to leave the van (we were just being stingy again), we had a walk through the town. There was a large selection of bars and cafes all buzzing with people. There is a lot of colourful street art, and general happiness everywhere you look. There was even an old man (with a long beard and a British accent) stood in the middle of the street with a hula-hoop and maracas singing "Shake your pineapple in Byron Bay", for absolutely no reason. He was just loving life. I mean maybe he was on drugs, but he was just so happy!

We ended up eating in a chain Mexican - Guzman y Gomez, because the queues were small and we were starving. It was still delicious. I had enchiladas and it was as good at it looked. 

The next day we headed back for a beach day. There was a field of free parking available a 5-minute walk away from the town. The place was super quiet which confused us a little because it was free and the car parks were so expensive?! 

We set up on the beach. Sadly it was very overcast, but it was still really hot! Whilst Hollie sunbathed, I spent most of my time paddling in the sea, because the sea water was so nice on my bitten legs. What we hadn't realised was that we had set up on the dog beach, which was also where a lot of the surf lessons were taking place. I spent a lot of time in the sea dodging both. Whilst sitting on the beach, it was amazing watching the experienced surfers. The waves were huge and their skill was incredible. I was fascinated. 

(A lot of photos are taken on my phone at Byron Bay as I didn't want to take my camera to the beach - it wasn't as dull as it looks - its just poor quality pictures)

For lunch, one of Hollie's friends had recommended Bayleaf cafe - which was about a 10-minute walk from the beach. They had the best coffee, and I had some poached eggs and bacon which was also great - definitely check it out if you are in Bryon! Supposedly Chris Hemsworth is a regular!  

After lunch, we met up with one of Hollie's friends and headed to a bar. Embarrassingly for me, I hadn't taken my ID to the beach, so we actually all got asked to leave the first place - even though I only ordered a Diet Coke. We headed to another one nearby that wasn't as strict and spent the afternoon getting some travel advice from a local. Whilst we were enjoying a nice ice cold drink, the heavens opened and it rained for the rest of the day. It was nice and refreshing, but there really isn't much to do at Byron when the weather is rubbish. As the evening was drawn closer, we had to head off to get to the Gold Coast in time for our next hotel check-in. 

I had been a little disappointed by the weather on our trip to Bryon, and by the fact, we hadn't had a chance to head up to the lighthouse. So later in my trip, I went to stay with my friend Shelby on the Gold Coast. Whilst telling her how much I liked it there, she suggested we head back there one afternoon so I could check out the lighthouse.

The weather was incredible when we went back. Shelby didn't live too far from Byron, so knew a couple of different areas to stop in. We stopped first at another beautiful beach - Cape Byron - on the way to the Lighthouse. It wasn't as busy as the main beach, but there were still plenty of travellers parked up, having barbecues and enjoying the beach life. 

We headed up a steep winding road FULL of potholes, to reach the lighthouse. There was a parking attendant there when we arrived, but she didn't spot us, so we got away with not paying the $8 parking charge. Which I think is a crazy price, because we were only there for about 15 minutes. 

At the lighthouse, there is a small coffee shop where you can stop for a drink and a bite to eat, and at the top of the hill, there are more incredible views. The weather was perfect, again, so it was amazing up there. 

We headed back into the Byron Bay and headed to a bar - yes the same one I had previously been asked to leave. When I was ID'd on this occasion I was happy to wave my passport around and not get kicked out. As we walked in, I spotted a friend from school, which was a bit crazy considering I was in a bar on the other side of the world! 

We spent the afternoon enjoying cocktails, okay that was me, Shelby had a cider because she was driving. And then before we set off again, we got a slice of pizza from a pizza stall - a perfect day out. 

I enjoyed Byron on my first visits, but going back when the weather was fantastic made it even better! 

I've decided to mush all these places together because we only spent a short amount of time in each, and so I don't really feel like I can write a whole blog post for each. We had 6 days to get to Brisbane so we made a road trip of it. We had some amazing times, but also the worst times during this week.

Following a successful day at the Blue Mountains, we set off in search of a campsite for the night. One of the rules of campervan rentals with Travellers Autobarn is that you are not supposed to drive when it gets dark, because the animals come out and the roads become more dangerous. Therefore each night consisted of a race to find a campsite. Our first campsite on the East Coast was an experience. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of this place because I was too traumatised. The drive seemed okay, we had a little laugh at 'Baldy Knob Road' - yes that was actually the name of the road (FYI the campsite was near that one, I looked on the map but couldn't remember). We turned at the sign that said campsite, and we were greeted with another 10km dirt track - these were becoming the bane of our lives. Back to 20km/ph and we slowly made it down the track. About halfway, the sun was slowly setting, and things started to get a bit creepy. The first thing we came across was what can only be described as some kind of cuddly toy shrine. In the middle of nowhere. Loads of toys, all around a tree, lots of different colours. It almost looked like some kind of tribute to someone that had died. But there was nothing else there other than cuddly toys.

A little further down, and we spotted a burnt out car with 'Turn back now' written in graffiti on it. I felt like I was in a horror film, but it was too late in the day to turn back. I was worried that we would get there and there wouldn't be anyone else there. Luckily that wasn't a problem as there were quite a few people there fishing, but I didn't really sleep at all that night.

When we set off again in the morning, and our first stop was Port Macquarie. A beautiful beach town. We stopped here for the morning and took a walk along the seafront. There was a path from the harbour to the beach, with hundreds of painted rocks. There were lots of activities available here from boat trips to jet skiing and a huge holiday park/campsite along the front. It would have been a great location, but I imagine it is pretty expensive to stay in. We stopped for lunch at an Italian cafe - Cafe 66. The food and service were both really good. They had a lunch menu which was a great value. They also did a great coffee - which we were both high in need of after our spooky night.

After lunch, we took a little walk around the town and stopped in the mall and visitor centre. We found a leaflet for a nearby beach and lighthouse so we hopped back in the van and went to check it out, and I am so glad we did because it was such an amazing place. The beach was stunning and even the lighthouse was cute - it was very small, but still very picturesque.

As it was time to find somewhere to sleep we set up the sat nav to a campsite featured in our camping book. As we reached Kempsey, we took a wrong turn - again. But as we did I spotted another campsite that hadn't been mentioned in our book, and they had a sign outside saying vacancies for $25. This was a lot closer to our route that where we were heading, so we decided to check it out. 

It was perfect - showers, proper toilets, a swimming pool, and lovely staff - the caretaker there was even from Bristol! We set up and had a great evening. But in spectacular Megan style, this is where things went wrong. I had a great sleep, but when I woke up I knew something wasn't right. My legs were so itchy. I opened up the van and jumped out, and looked down at my legs. I had pretty much been eaten alive. I have never seen so many bites. My legs must have had about 100. They were everywhere. At first, I just considered this a small inconvenience, so we set off and I planned to pop into a pharmacy and get some bite relief cream.

Our first stop was Nambucca Heads. There wasn't much going on here, so we didn't stay long. A lot of the residents appeared to be older, and the town was very small. We drove down to the beach and relaxed in the van for a while. It was really pretty there, but it's not really somewhere you need to stop.

Next up was Coffs Harbour, somewhere that had been recommended by a few people. We arrived just in time for lunch so we found a nice burger bar - Attitude Burgers - in the harbour area. The burgers were good, and we did a bit of people watching. 

After lunch, we took a walk to the beach and had a little look around. Honestly, we were a little disappointed by Coffs Harbour. We felt like maybe it was recommended more for a nightlife (which we were not there for) because there wasn't really much to do that was different from anywhere else we had been. 

We checked Trip Advisor and we found that Forest Sky Pier was nearby so we decided to check that out. We had to drive up a steep mountain - cue the nervous passenger palm sweat - but eventually, we reached the top and found a viewing point that provided fantastic panoramic views of the coast. The views were incredible, and the best part was, there were only 2 other people there so we were able to get some great photos. The area also has some hiking trails, so you could probably get some more amazing views and have a whole day out there. 

We decided to keep driving. We were heading towards Grafton as that's where our next campsite was, however on the way we spotted a sign for Emerald Beach. How could we not stop somewhere with a name like that?! We drove through a cute little village of beautiful houses and arrived at a small beach. It was so quiet with only one other lady paddling her feet in the sea. It was like having our own private beach. By this point, my bites were starting to become more uncomfortable so I also had a little paddle in the sea to get some salty water on my feet. It was like we were in a little paradise on this beautiful beach with wonderful weather, we almost didn't want to leave. I feel like the photos really do not do it justice, but it really was beautiful. 

We found our campsite, and it was a bit of a different one, it was at a greyhound racecourse, so for once it wasn't in the middle of no-where, it was actually a pretty good location. We paid $20 for a spot and then headed to the mall in search of ice cream - because, priorities. I was slowly getting more and more uncomfortable, and by the time we had reached the mall, I was close to breaking point. I could feel my eyes welling up and the sting of the bites were becoming unbearable. I didn't want to sleep in that van again. At this point, I just wanted to go home. Whilst Hollie disappeared to join the worlds biggest McDonalds queue, I sat indoors with my sunglasses covering my teary eyes and searched on Expedia. Tomorrow we would be nearing Byron Bay, which I had been so excited for. But I knew my trip was going to be spoilt whilst I was in this state. I found a really cheap deal for a hotel in a place called Ballina, which was about 30 mins from Byron. It was just a cheap basic motel, but they had a pool and air-conditioned rooms and it meant no more camping. To my delight, Hollie was just as keen to book it as me. We just had one more night to get through.

Here are a few pics of my hideously deformed legs. This would only happen to me, right?

As imagined, that night was horrific, I barely slept and when it was finally time to get up, I felt even worse. My feet had swollen, at this point, I couldn't even put my trainers on. I couldn't stop crying all morning, and I felt terrible because I didn't want to put a downer on the trip for Hollie. Luckily she understood how I was feeling and was so nice about it all. It was raining when we woke up, and I was secretly delighted by this, as it was cooling on my skin. 

We set off for Ballina and had made the decision to just have a chill day. There wasn't much chance of me getting very far, so we found a local shopping complex and I made my way straight to the nearest Pharmacy. They hooked me up with $40 worth of drugs to make me feel better - including a drowsy one to help me sleep. To be honest I was at the point where I would have given them all the money I had.

When we checked in to our motel, we got upgraded - yay! Okay so when I say upgraded, we actually just got a bed each. Hollie was super nice and let me have the double bed - because then at least I had a bit more room to slowly die. The weather had majorly improved so she headed straight out to the pool. I chose to stay and hide in the dark air-conditioned room and watch kids TV and rub a whole bottle of soothing lotion onto my legs - because I know how to live.

In the evening we took a little trip to Byron in search of some dinner. But I loved Byron so much, I'm going to give it its own post, so stay tuned.....