Epic Round The World Trip Adventures! Stunning Photos & Articles - A fascinating gap year travel journal covering every stop of their journey.

Byron Bay - East Australia
Round The World Trip Journal

Text By Jo & Photos By Mike

(3rd May) Byron Bay & Lennox Head
This place is well and truly on the backpackers’ route. It used to be a very hippy place but Mike says it’s changed a lot from 10 years ago – much more surfy than hippy these days. The beach was full with groups of young backpackers and people out surfing and having lessons. We spent most of our time up at Cape Byron where there is a lighthouse and amazing 360 degree views back over the town and out over the beaches in both directions. We even walked out towards the most Easterly point on the Australian mainland (you may remember that on Fraser Island we went to the most Easterly point in Australia), but it was so windy that we didn’t actually make it all the way – although you can see it in the photo of a rocky headland! Jo’s actually holding on to the fence in one picture here to stop from being blown over! We stood and watched several rays swimming around the base of the cliffs and then were honored when a pod of dolphins swam by too. A little further down the coast we stopped at Lennox Head to see Lake Ainsworth (photo with Jo stood by a low fence). This is a lagoon with water softened by tea tree leaves from the trees surrounding the lake. We also stopped at the main beach here because, as you can see, Mike actually spotted windsurfers out. Not a common sight on this coast at all but there are a few based here. We liked the feel of this place – much more chilled out than Byron Bay. Pity we had to keep driving south otherwise we could have spent a few days here. Our final pit-stop today was at Maclean. I had read that this is the “Scottish Town in Australia”. It was almost dark when we drove through so no photo’s, but every power pole in town was painted with the tartan of a different clan. They sell haggis, the street signs are bilingual (Gaelic-English) and they have a Highland Gathering every Easter! We also saw a surreal sight as we’d headed into town. We thought it was a huge flock of birds, like a giant black cloud swirling across the twilight sky but as we got beneath them we realized they were fruit bats – thousands of them.

Highlights of our round the world trip:

Stop 1 - Capetown---> The City | Simonstown Penguins | Table Mountain Cable Car | The Waterfront Seals | Windsurf Action.
Stop 2 - West Australia---> Perth City | Perth Zoo | Cohunu Animal Park | Rottnest Island | Rockingham Penguins | Yanchep Park Koalas | Cervantes Pinnacles | Geraldton Windsurfing | Kalbarri Gorge | The Pink Lake | Coronation Beach Windsurfing | Gero Road to Cervantes | Carnarvon Jetty & Quobba Snorkel | Denham Lagoon | Monkey Mia Dolphins | Coral Bay Termite Hills | Coral Bay Quad Biking The Dunes | Exmouth Kangaroos | Mandurah Canals | Margaret River | Margaret River Wine Tour | Margs Windsurfing | Bunbury Windsurf | Bussleton Pier | Towns near Bussleton | Augusta Nature | Pemberton Camping | Pemberton Tall Trees | Cape D'Entrecasteaux | Walpole Tall Trees.
Stop 3 - East Australia---> Cairns Sky Rail Cable Car Over The Rainforest | Mossman Gorge | Cape Tribulation Rainforest | Port Douglas | Daintree Crocodiles | Captain Cook Highway | Beaches Near Cairns | Atherton Tablelands Fig Trees | Bowen Beaches | Airlie Beach | Whitsunday Islands Boat Tour | Great Barrier Reef Snorkel | Whitsunday Snorkelling | Town of 1770 History | Fraser Island Beach Driving | Tin Can Bay Dolphins | Noosa River | Australia Zoo Wombats | Sunshine Coast | Nanango Bush | Gold Coast Beaches | Byron Bay Beaches | Woolgoolga Beaches | Coffs Harbour | Port Macquarie Cafes | Forster Pelicans | Great Lakes | Nelson Bay Dolphins | Sydney By Day | Sydney By Night | Sydney's Manly Beach.
Stop 4 - New Zealand---> Auckland Revolving Restaurant | Rotorua Volcanic National Park | Lake Taupo & Waitomo Glow Worms.
Stop 5 - French Polynesia---> Tahiti Island Waterfalls | Moorea Island Water Bungalows | Moorea Shark Feeding | Bora Bora Island Buggying.
Stop 6 - Hawaii, Maui---> Maui Snorkel Videos | Maui Snorkel Photography | Maui Windsurfing | Maui East Coast Hana Highway | Maui North Beaches 1 | Maui North Beaches 2 | Maui West Coast Surfing | Maui South West Lava Fields | Haleakala Volcano.
Stop 7 - Hawaii, Oahu---> Kailua Beaches | Round Oahu Island Drive | Honolulu Pearl Harbour | Oahu Snorkel Videos.
Stop 8 - West USA---> Los Angeles City Tour | Venice Beach | Long Beach | Queen Mary Tour | San Onofre Surfing | Route 66 Drive | Las Vegas Casinos | Grand Canyon.
Stop 9 - East USA---> Miami Beach Art Deco.
Stop 10 - UK, HOME---> Back To Heathrow, Bringing To A Close Our Amazing Round The World Trip.