Dienstag, 17. August 2010

Dicky Beach - Brisbane - Byron Bay (260km)

The first half of the day we spend at Dicky Beach and much of it on the beach and in the water.


Although only 22c air temperature the sea is fresh but not really cold.


And here are some more beach photos from Dicky Beach.


The beach which, besides Newhaven Beach on the Whitsundays and Ellis Beach south of Port Douglas, we enjoyed most.


The beach has the right mix of everything:
- a bit of waves
- nice clean sand
- (relative) shallow water
- not busy
- life guard


And should the waves be to high, there are the Currimundi Lakes just a few minutes away. Specifically for small kids the lakes are very recommended.











And here is a goodbye picture from Dicky...


After 260km on busy roads around Brisbane, we reach Byron Bay just at sunset.


Here is what Wikipedia knows about Byron Bay...you read our view in the next blog tomorrow, when we had a little walk in the village.


Byron Bay is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is located 772 kilometres north of Sydney and 165 kilometres south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a headland adjacent to the town, is the easternmost point of mainland Australia. At the 2006 Census, the town has a population of 4,981 people and is the nucleus of Byron Shire, which has in excess of 28,000 residents. Captain James Cook named Cape Byron after circumnavigator of the world John Byron, grandfather of the poet, Lord Byron.

The town has several beaches which are popular for surfing. It is a resort popular with both domestic and international tourists, including backpackers, who travel along the Australian coast, and the scenery attracts sky divers. The area is also noted for its wildlife, with the whale watching industry a significant contributor to the local economy.

An oceanway runs from the centre of town to the Cape Byron lighthouse. Visitors are encouraged to use sustainable options for moving around town like walking and cycling.

Temperate and tropical waters merge at Byron Bay, making it a popular area for scuba diving and snorkelling. Most diving is done at Julian Rocks which is part of the recently established Cape Byron Marine Park and only a few minutes boat ride from Main Beach.

History:

For thousands of years Aboriginal people came to the Bay to swap stories, find marriage partners and trade goods. They called it Cavvanbah.

European history began in 1770, when Captain James Cook found a safe anchorage and named Cape Byron after John Byron, who had circumnavigated the world and who was later the grandfather of English poet Lord Byron. In the 1880s, when Europeans settled more permanently, streets were named for other English writers and philosophers.

The first industry in Byron was cedar-getting, the "Red Center" from the Australian red cedar, Toona australis. The timber industry is the origin of the word "shoot" in many local names – Possum Shoot, Coopers Shoot and Skinners Shoot – where the timber-cutters would "shoot" the logs down the hills to be dragged to waiting ships.

Byron Bay has a history of primary industrial production (dairy factory, abattoirs, whaling until 1963, fishing) and was a significant, but hazardous, sea port.

The first jetty was built in 1886, and the railway was connected in 1894, and Cavvanbah became Byron Bay in 1894. Dairy farmers cleared more land and settled the area. In 1895, the Norco Co-operative was formed to provide cold storage and manage the dairy industry. The introduction of paspalum improved production, and Byron Bay exported butter to the world. The Norco factory was the biggest in the southern hemisphere, expanding from dairy to bacon and other processed meat.

The lighthouse was built in 1901 at the most easterly point on the Australian mainland. In 1930, the first meatworks opened.

Despite this success, Byron Bay struggled to become a viable community, and was always a poor working town. The smell from the meat and dairy works was, by all accounts, appalling, and the annual slaughter of whales in the 1950s and 1960s made matters worse. Sand mining between the World Wars damaged the environment further, and one by one all these industries declined.

After all the factories and industries closed, surfers discovered the wonderful natural breaks at The Pass, Wategos and Cosy Corner and the longboarders arrived in the 1960s. This was the beginning of Byron Bay as a tourist destination, and by 1973, when the Aquarius Festival was held in Nimbin, its reputation as a hippy, happy, alternative town was established.

Today Byron Bay is no longer a secret and so the development of mass tourism takes its turn...

—-- Artikel wurde erstellt auf meinem iPad

Position:Shirley St,Byron Bay,Australien

1 Kommentar:

  1. Here I would like to say thanks for sharing such a nice blog. However my experience of Whale Watching Byron Beach Resort is really great.

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