Hi everyone!
I will stay 3 months in Byron Bay Sept, oct, nov 2013.
I heard and read that is cool for surfing but do you know places around to windsurf?
I will buy a van to sleep into, but is there some cheap place to stay in Byron for me and my girlfriend?
Thank you very much for your answers!!!!
See you there
Matthieu from Switzerland
there is heaps of backpacker accommodation in and around Byron, plus camping grounds etc.
Lennox Head is just down the road which offers up great wave sailing, plus there are a number of worth while spots up and down the coast from there, all with-in about an hour of Byron. There is a crew of local kitesurfers in Byron that usually kite off the main beach in summer northerly winds, you can sail it but it's onshore and pretty rubbish.
Can't help with flat water, I believe Ballina river might offer something.
I'm surprised at the subdued response so far.
Be aware - millions of backpackers have the same idea. You won't just be able to park your van somewhere and sleep easily for free. There is probably somewhere you can find but it will be some paddock 20m drive away from town where all the vans go at night because they are tolerated there that week.
Give you an example - 15 years ago I took a swedish backpacker ladyfriend down there. We had a fire on the beach 10km north of byron. Slept in car in dunes behind beach at end of long dirt track off highway. Woken at 3am by rangers, questioned about fire (denied everything), moved on. They stood staring while we started car & drove off. At 3am. In the middle of nowhere.
****...
Things looked easy from here in Switzerland where we can quite easily stop anywhere in the countryside for a night in the van. like a lot of backpackers, I will spend a entire year travelling with a minimum of money...
I'm beginning to worry about that... But my flight tickets are bought... So I need to improvise...
If someone has good advices....
Thanks by the way for your answer.
Matthieu
If you want to sleep in the van without being in a park - either private camping or national park - stay away from the "backpacker areas"
Places like Byron, Noosa, Cairns etc wont tolerate overnight parking in many places.
Keep your eye out for national parks, there are camping areas in them that you can stay at for very little to in some cases nothing. http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/national-parks
The "Camps Australia Wide" books identify many free camping or low cost camping locations.http://www.campsaustraliawide.com/9-camps-books
Hope it goes well for you.
Select to expand quoteaus301 said..
Places like Byron, Noosa, Cairns etc wont tolerate overnight parking in many places.
Just out of curio, how do they know? If he parks in the burb where actual people live, and just goes to sleep there, nobody will find out he's not a resident, no ??
Thanks everybody!
I can understand Aussie authorities fighting against vans everywhere and protecting the environment from ****ting places everywhere, toilet papers, garbage...
I'm a mountain guide in the Alps aware of environment issues and very respectful of the places I visit. But all the travellers are not like that, I can figure it out when camping in south of France or Spain or...
I hope that free way of travelling without paying fees all the time just to park and stay a night somewhere will continue and that the people can preserve the areas free of any disturbing of nature and also local people.
Well, we'll see....
Anyway, I'm very pleased by your answers, advices... and sorry about my English writing....
Take care of you and enjoy windsurfing!!
Matthieu
if 'backpackers' are treated similarly to those in Manly & the Eastern Suburbs they are hounded by the
Council Rangers who went as far as creating and placing signs specifically to ban them from parking
in any carpark/reserve/park etc. Anything to make some more $ from parking enforcement and
hassling people.
I know it was near Christmas, but last time I was in Byron an unpowered camp site in a caravan park was well over $100 a night. I actually laughed, before I started to cry. Everyone who slept on streets or beaches was fined.
