Lismore 19 – 20 January 2008

Said goodbye to Kerrie and Di and drove straight down to Byron Bay. Peter was not keen to visit as he remembered the tourism of the place. But it was more than 20 years since Heather had been, so it was on!
As the council doesn’t welcome motor homers, unless they pay up to $70 a night at a caravan park, we certainly found it unpleasant! Parking on all the beaches is limited and parking metered. Even the light house is $7 to park! The place is very tight so we parked away from the main area next to the sports field and disconnected the car. We were parked only a few minutes when a lady from across the road came off with a very rude rant about us parking there. Seems that the town hates tourists and are very edgy and unfriendly. It is not working well at all. The shops were a bit of fun and Heather enjoyed her time in a little Bali environment! But it is full-on with young schoolie type teenagers and back packers with foreign accents! We headed for the water at the most southern end of the immense beach and really enjoyed the crystal clear water and warm water. Of course we did not even contemplate staying and drove on to Lismore and parked outside of town next a field of cows!
Up early and into town. Contacted Natalie about meeting up and finding out how Miriam was going with the new baby Elijah. We enjoyed a café morning tea with Natalie and Miriam’s partner Nathan and poured over the lovely photos of Elijah who was just a week old. Miriam came home from hospital at lunch time and we got to visit for a short time in the evening. Mother and baby looked serene and our cuddle of a new baby was a lovely reminder of what is to come in 4 weeks! We went out for tea with Natalie and really enjoyed our time together. We had a really interesting discussion about aboriginal issues in Alice Springs! Love you Natalie!
Settled in at the Lismore Showgrounds for a very peaceful night!

Up early again and into town for remedial massages! Lovely!