Byron Bay – A Food and Photography Guide

I recently spent a lovely long weekend in Byron Bay, NSW with hubby and my two dogs Otis and Ella. We hired a self contained granny flat from AirBnB which was awesome. It was about 5 minutes out of town heading towards Broken Head in a quiet street but still close enough to everything that we needed.

The great thing about where we were staying was we were close to a beach where we could let the dogs run free which they absolutely loved. Me, not so much because the weather had turned quite cold and windy but you know dogs, they are like kids, they never seem to get cold when there is fun to be had! After a run along the beach, we took the dogs back to where we were staying and headed off to Naked Treaties which I had been dying to try out because it is a raw, organic, vegan treat shop! They also do amazing juices and smoothies and all sorts of delicious healthy food. If you are ever in Byron, you have to check it out and try the Choc Chip Mint Balls. They are the bomb! And the staff are so lovely and friendly!

After that we cruised around and looked in some shops and then it was almost lunch time so we headed to The Top Shop as they are supposed to do the best burger in town (see, I do eat not so healthy food too!). The top shop is a little cafe perched up on the hill on the way to the lighthouse and is obviously a hit with the locals because it was packed. People sit on the grass out the font with picnic blankets and there is a really nice, chilled vibe about the place. Now for the burger….it was good, but it still doesn’t top Fergburger in Queenstown, NZ. Sorry guys!!   After lunch we went for a walk through Arakwal National Park. By the time we got back to the car it was getting late so we headed home to grab the camera equipment to head out for a sunset shoot at Wategoes Beach. I only just took the last shot before it started pouring with rain!

Once we were back at the accommodation it was time to get ready for dinner. We headed to The Roadhouse which was 5 minutes down the road from where we were staying. It was a cold, rainy, windy night and The Roadhouse was warm and cosy inside. They had a fire going and the place was dimly lit with candles. Its such a beautiful building with exposed brick walls and a real earthy vibe. Of a day they serve breakfast and lunch and at night it turns into a restaurant and whisky bar. These guys know how to cook. All the food is sourced locally from their farm down the road, so it is literally from farm to plate, which I love. And most of it is organic. They make there own kombucha and they do a pretty good chai tea, with ginger juice and turmeric. But dinner was amazing. I had the Slow Cooked Lamb Ragout which I am still dreaming about, it was that good. Andrew had the ribs which were delicious also. I highly recommend this place to anyone wanting good clean, hearty food!   Next morning we were up early for a dawn shoot at Cape Byron. There were a few backpackers lying around on the grass enjoying the last of their high from the night before and waiting for sun rise and heaps of people were out jogging and exercising. I just love the diversity of the place!

After sunrise we had to meet our families for breakfast in Bangalow which was lovely. It was good to catch up with both sets of parents and enjoy a lovely breakfast together. I had a bit of a look around the shops in Bangalow with my mum while Andrew and my Dad chatted, then we headed back to Byron. A pit stop at Naked Treaties for a green juice and some more choc chip mint balls before taking the dogs for another run at the beach. It was pretty rainy and overcast most of the day so we laid around at watched the latest season of The Walking Dead and relaxed most of the day. So did the dogs as they were pretty pooped after there fun at the beach!

The sunset that afternoon was a washout with rain unfortunately. The next morning we headed back to the lighthouse for the sunrise. Im not satisfied with any of the shots Ive gotten of the lighthouse so far and it eluded me yet again. After climbing over the railing and walking down the goat track on the side of the cliff or rather sliding on my bum (because that did happen at one point), I got to the bottom. I got all set up and fired off a long exposure shot and before I knew it my camera had turned itself off. I turned it back on and checked a few things a tried again. Another 20 seconds later, same thing happened. My cheap Singapore battery that was telling me I still had two bars left had gone flat! So after rummaging round in my camera bag for a few minutes I realised I had left my spare battery back home in Brisbane! Damn it. Luckily the sunrise wasn’t an amazing one so I packed everything up and worked my way back up the steep slippery track back to the car. This was the one and only shot I got. Its not the best, and the lighthouse continues to tease me yet again! 🙂

After that it was breakfast at The Top Shop and yes, the breakfast burger is the best breakfast burger I have ever had. And the Chai latte was pretty good too because it was a freezing cold morning! Afterwards we went for a walk along Belongil Beach. Even though I spent 14 year on the North Coast of NSW I had never been to Belongil Beach. Shame on me, because its a really pretty beach. The sun came out for a few minutes while we were there and showed how beautiful it is with is cystal clear waves that you could see schools of fish swimming in.

It was sad to be leaving after such a lovely relaxing weekend but it was time to head back to Brisbane again. On the way home we had a serious talk about buying a vintage caravan and traveling around Australia in it and like a sign from above there was one driving next to us on the highway! This was a quick snap I got of it from my iPhone!

And I can’t finish the blog without putting up a picture of my beautiful little girl Ella!

If you have enjoyed reading this article then sign up below for more just like it! Its free. I would love to know your experience of Byron Bay also. Does anyone want to sell us their mansion that sits right on wategoes beach for a couple of hundred dollars?? 😛