Byron Bay reverie and musings
A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a training workshop at Byron Bay. I was even more fortunate to have a free day, which I spent exploring the jungles and isolated beaches of nearby Broken Head reserve on foot. The most rewarding of all however, were the casual everyday opportunities I had to interact with the local citizens of Byron and Tallow Beach, where I stayed. The following is a note I wrote while enjoying an evening Indian curry accompanied with a refreshing, cold beer after an rather arduous and rewarding hike through the reserve.
630am. The skies are bleak, darkening with foreboding grey and mountainous cumulonimbus clouds. Rain had already begun moistening the receptive landscape. I remained determined, and gathered my backpack, some food and water. Inclement weather was not going to deter me from my plans for the days exploration. I had a rough idea of where to hike after chatting to locals the night before. My goal was to find White's Beach, apparently one of Australia's best kept secrets and not easy to access. I was informed that this beach was rarely populated, serene and at times can be swallowed up by a heightened tide.
I began my hike trekking South along the soft, welcoming white sands of Tallow Beach. Its sand and its sensate caress on my bare feet fostered an early sense of meaningful connection to the coastline. I also felt incredibly but not in the least distressingly small as I continued to observe the sky. The rolling thunderclouds appeared to have commenced a titanic struggle with the rising Sun. The Tolkien nerd within me conjured up images of Sauron’s Shadow trying to consume and overwhelm the Light of Galadriel.
Regardless of the cosmic nature of this endless struggle between opposites, my attention was subsequently redirected to a more mundane, human and thus significant sight. I spotted a few hundred meters in front of me a beautiful local in her ageing years. She was dressed in bright yellow, and was already out on I am guessing her regular dawn walk, incorporating swinging arm movements with each graceful step. Her movements, flow and poise was a perfect illustration of graceful ageing, and painted a picture of one who was paying homage to her surrounds implicitly through her actions. It was truly hypnotizing.
As I progressed leisurely toward the Southern end of this coast, my first encounter with non-human but fellow citizens of this earth occurred. A group of eight of them, sleek as missiles, were gliding just beneath the ocean's shimmering surface, to-ing and fro-ing in several directions. They then decided to hitchhike along an incoming crest of a wave, and it was then that I observed these beautiful dolphins face to face. These intelligent, sentient beings of the ocean were herding schools of small fish into the shallows for their breakfast meal. Again my gaze was fixed on this spectacle, even though I remained aware of the concomitant awe I was feeling on peripherally seeing another drama being played out on the deeper, bluer waters: hundred of various Sea-terns dive bombing into and out of the sea similarly feeding from the same banquet.
After an hour or so, I reached the end of the sandy coastline, signified by the rise of majestic and rugged red cliffs fringed with Pandanus and other greenery in front of me. The rocky island formation known locally as 'The Three Sisters' sat neutrally in the surrounding ocean. I viewed them as silent welcoming sentinels, whose warm greetings were also colored with a sense of warning of potential dangers ahead. My perspective was based on Indigenous folklore from the Bundjalung people. They inform us that these rocks represent three sisters who drowned when they ignored family warnings against swimming in those treacherous currents.
After a respectful mental acknowledgement of their presence, under their watchful gaze I followed a small trail upward toward the base of that Red Cliff-face, where I discovered a basic, rustic caravan park. The locals as always were very helpful in pointing me in the (approximate) correct direction.
The way on foot took me through coastline, grassland, tropical rain forest and sheer jagged cliff faces. All manner of wildlife, ranging from dive bombing sea terns, shimmeringly graceful Dolphins, all manner of colourful birds including the wompoo fruit dove, a shuffling echidna, intricate insects, frogs of all kinds greeted me, an appeared like Nature's jewels glimmering in greeting in their presence.
White's beach itself was amazing, as was the exhilarating and somewhat risky cliff climbing and rock hopping required to get there. This activity allowed me to appreciate at a direct sensate level the beauty and potential treachery of the jagged rock and pandanus-boundaried coastline. The swim I had in the ocean there....words cannot describe the feelings.....a pristine combination of sheer gratitude, exhilaration and a blurring of boundaries between 'I' and the surrounding world.
I also discovered another small path to the right of the main one, and followed it...to nature's own Infinitiy pool! Once again, I had to mindfully negotiate the sheer drop of a razor sharp cliff face made slippery by the morning's rain. Sure, I endured a few cuts, but got there and immersed myself accordingly. I made my way back as the blanket of rain increasingly became heavier, and found a track that took me through a 'Ti Tree lake Aboriginal area'...I have no idea what this means, but will look it up. However, the flora was infinitely diverse, with tropical ferns of all sorts co-existing with eucalyptus and native grass trees. After 8 hours, I finally found myself barefoot, wet, ragged, bleeding and entirely blissed out and satisfied!
....And so the sun sets on a perfect day, a poignant reminder of the transience of things. However, what lives on is the experience through memory....the challenge of the 20km plus at times treacherous hike, the exhilaration and joy of discovering new places, the soaking of the soul and dissolution of boundaries in the dynamic caress of the ocean, the unplanned meetings with the denizens and spirits of the rainforest and coastline.
The repeated message such journeys tell me in how small, how minuscule yet how utterly SIGNIFICANT we all are.The happiness of sharing these with you! After all, reality is partly what we can prove, preserve and share. What I cannot share is the personal aspect: the directness and genuine-ness of my inner experience of these things, but I hope you at least get a 'feel' for this through the pictures and words.
Now to end the day with a beer, some cheap and amazing Indian food, and just watching the naturally beautiful people of Tallow walk on by. With 'The House of the Rising Sun' playing in the background and hint of ganja in the air.
