The Sydney to Brisbane drive (Day 6)

Byron Bay is famous for its sunrise because it is the most easterly point of Australia. The reason we stopped for a night at Byron was so that we could catch that infamous sunrise. BUT IT DID NOT HAPPEN!!! It rained throughout the night, through till morning. Just look at how gloomy and wet the weather was!

Disappointed, we started our drive early towards Mullumbimby, where Crystal Castle was.

We were so early, we were the first to arrive and had to wait for them to open!

After purchasing our entry tickets, we were greeted by the Sand Castle.

Then, we walked past the Water Pourer Pond to the music of croaking toads.

There was a piece of giant Sahara fossil...

... and a statue of Dewi Sri.

On the other side, there was something called the Rose Quartz Sacred Circle.

Look at those gigantic pieces of rose quartz!

There were two amethyst gateways, with one leading to the Elephant God, Ganesh.

I followed the path through the gateway onto the Buddha Walk and passed Lakshmi, Goddess of Abundance.

At the end sits Lord Buddha atop his lotus mosaic. They claim that the statues are all carved from Gunung Merapi volcanic rock.

Audrey walked the Labyrinth, which was a walk of spiritual reflection.

Inside the main building, there was a spiral staircase that led up to the Reading Tower, which was where I had a go at my very first session of tarot card reading! Quite interesting, I would have to say. Now, I would have to see if part of what she said comes true (one issue I would have to wait till the end of the year!).

We fed ourselves at Lotus Cafe.

We both had balsamic mushrooms and tomatoes on pesto paste, which I thought spruced up every taste sensation in my mouth very well.

I gave something called the LSD a go. It stood for latte with soy and dandelion. Hm, interesting combination, I thought. The taste needed some getting used to, though.

We did some shopping, too. Audrey bought herself a lovely little suncatcher while I bought two windchimes. Both made from agate, I bought one in bright pink and another in brown.

Crystal Castle
81 Monet Drive, Mullumbimby, NSW 2482
02 6684 3111 (Tel), 02 6684 1196 (Fax)
E-mail: info@crystalcastle.com.au
Daily 10:00am to 5:00pm
Adults $14.90
Concession $12.90
Children $10.90
Family (2 adults, 2 children) $39.00
Byron Shire residents by donation

As we spent a longer time than expected at Crystal Castle, we had to cut short our walk at Wollumbin National Park.

We were both wondering what 'fruit' this was, as it was as big as a fifty cent coin!

From the originally planned three hours, we made it half an hour. Actually, next time (if there is a next time), a day or two would be dedicated to this park.

We were, or at least, I was pretty glad to be driving in the direction of Gold Coast, finally. That would mean that we would be in a different state, a different time zone!

Raffles Royale was just like how I remembered it to be.

The only difference was that when I was here back in 2008, I shared a two-bedroom apartment with five other people.

I totally forgotten to take a picture of the pool, which Jenny, Angeline, Chee Sing and I fully utilised the last time we were here.

Raffles Royale
69 Ferny Avenue, Surfers Paradise, QLD 4217
07 5538 0099 (Tel), 07 5538 0688 (Fax)
E-mail: info@rafflesroyale.com.au

One other down side was that we did not have an empty bottle for Audrey to collect some of the sand from the beach at Surfers Paradise.

Distance covered today: 163km

The Sydney to Brisbane drive (Day 5)

We left Lismore with an impression of a funky Christmas tree roundabout.

Alstonville had two venues penned into our itinerary. House of No Steps, or Summerland House, was where we stopped first, as we thought of having brekkie at Turning Point Cafe.

The special thing about this place is that almost everyone here has a disability of some sort.

Both of us ordered the same thing, scrambled eggs on toast and chai latte.

If Mum were here, her favourite location would be the Garden Centre, where they sold different kinds of plants, pots, accessories, statues and whatever else you could think of for your garden.

We also visited the Watts Cottage Museum, dedicated to founder Lionel Watts who became quadriplegic after contracting poliomyelitis. The House With No Steps was established after he found a lack of training and rehabilitation programmes for people with disabilities that would help them re-enter the workforce.

There are fun stuff for the children, as well!

Summerland House With No Steps
253 Wardell Road, Alstonville, NSW 2477
02 6628 0610 (Tel), 02 6628 3718 (Fax)
E-mail: functions@hwns.com.au
Daily 9:00am - 4:00pm except Good Friday and Christmas Day

Situated just a few minutes drive along the same road is Amaze 'n' Place.

After paying the entrance fee, we were asked if we would like to attempt one of their seeker's games and thought, hm, why not?

Our challenge was to find the answers without climbing through the trees. And so, off we went into the maze!

We had to look for statues or plant ornaments, which matched the questions. It made us very dizzy looking for a particular mushroom (there were so many of them!), as we were walking in circles trying to find the right route.

It was not as easy as we thought it would be! We underestimated this maze, which comparatively, looked easier and smaller than the one we visited a few years ago.


Amaze 'n' Place
149 Wardell Road, Alstonville, NSW 2477
02 6628 7518 (Tel), 02 6628 0822 (Fax)
E-mail: info@amaze-n-place.com.au
Daily 10:00am to 5:00pm
Adults: $12
Children and Concession: $10
Children under five: Free

I was a little worried that we may not be able to find our next destination but little did I know that this 'unknown' place on Google Maps had tourist signposts leading the way!

Where? Yes, the Bexhill Open Air Cathedral.

Ideally located at Inspiration Point, worshippers have the luxury of an extremely big screen of rolling green hills, as it overlooks the Corndale Valley with views of the Nightcap National Park in the distance.

Just a few hundred metres down the road sits the Church of the Good Shepherd, which serves as an alternative venue should the weather becomes unsuitable.

We quickly grabbed some KFC before re-living the 70s at Bangalow.

I wonder which part of the 70s were these part of... haha...

It did not take us long to arrive at Arts Factory Backpackers Lodge.

The dormitories had quick access to the pool.

You could choose to sit outside to relax or just hang out on a hammock near the creek.

If not, play some volleyball.

We thought it was quite funky, the choice of 'room' we chose...

It was like this gigantic tent with the luxury of two single beds!

The downside of this was that we had to walk all the way back to the dorms, where the toilets where situated to answer nature's call. And with the rain, it made going to the toilet a big hassle.

Arts Factory Backpackers Lodge
1 Skinners Shoot Road, Byron Bay, NSW 2481
02 6685 7709 (Tel)
E-mail: info@artsfactory.com.au

With the entire evening to kill, we spent the whole time walking around Byron Bay town.

And boy, walk we did! We checked out almost every shop there was in town. One shop particularly caught my attention, and after covering the whole place, I returned to Institute of Cute.

They were most friendly and helpful and to top that off, I was given a free 'lucky little ladybird'!

While paying, I asked where to go for something nice and we were pointed to Fishmongers Gourmet Fish & Chips.

Audrey and I shared a half family box, which was a seafood selection for two.

We could not finish the whole serving but it was worth the effort (however much we put in) because the seafood was fresh. I would not mind trying their Manly and Bondi branches. At least I would not need to travel that far.

Fishmongers Gourmet Fish & Chips
Bay Lane (Behind the Beach Hotel), Byron Bay, NSW 2481
02 6680 8080 (Tel), 02 6685 9726 (Fax)
E-mail: byron@mongers.com.au
Daily 12:00pm to 10:00pm

Distance covered today: 65km (we made up the lack of driving with heaps of walking!)