As we didn’t have so far to go today, it was an excuse for a little extra time in bed. However, the weather was looking as though it was going to be another blue sky day, so we decided to have breakfast on our balcony. We were on the road just after 09.00, but only as far as the lighthouse at Byron Bay, which like the one at Yamba is a picture postcard image against the deep blue morning sky. We were able to get parked right up alongside the lighthouse, which was just as well as the morning temperature was already 24 degrees and it was only 09.30.
The view of the beaches was stunning from the lighthouse and the view over the Pacific Ocean was equally fantastic, especially as we could see sting rays in the sea as well as turtles swimming. Byron Bay is also the Eastern most point in Australia. Having emptied the battery in the camera, we drove back into town and strolled along the main road. The street was almost empty as either everyone was either sleeping off the antics of the night before or they were all out surfing.
Departing for Kigscliff we headed up the Pacific Highway, but made a slight navigational error and took highway 40 instead. It was of little consequence as they both ended up near to Kingscliff. We turned off the highway and stopped for morning coffee at the YumYum Tree cafe near to Condong.
This little cafe was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by bush and a spread out development of expensive looking properties. The place was really busy considering its remote location. Back onto the highway and we were soon close to our destination, when up popped a sign for Tropical Fruit World, a place that John had suggested we visit.
Before doing so, we opted to continue into Kingscliff for lunch and also to find some accommodation for this evening. We stopped on the foreshore and ate our packed lunch before looking around for a motel. At one location they had vacancies for this evening, but the rate they wanted to charge us would have made this small town motel more expensive than the 5 star hotel we stayed at in Auckland. The owner looked almost hurt when I explained that we would not be taking up her offer. Just because it’s school holidays some proprietors seem to think they can charge whatever figure that come into their heads. We had paid through the nose for a second rate motel a couple of days ago and we were not about to do it again. We headed off to Tropical Fruit World and decided to look further up the coast for tonight’s lodgings. Tropical Fruit World is a working fruit farm that specialises in growing and researching all sorts of exotic, tropical fruits, most of which we have never even heard of such as Custard Apples, Jak Fruit, Dragon Fruit and best of all Miracle Fruit to name but a few. After a tour round the orchards, the animal enclosures, a trip on a boat and a small steam train, we ended back at the main building for a sampling session. Many of the exotic fruits were quite delicious and some not so, but the most amazing one was the Miracle Fruit. It looks like a raw coffee bean, which if you pop it in your mouth, chew off the fleshy outer layer, spit out the large pip inside, it makes anything you eat that is sour taste really sweet. We were given a Miracle Fruit, then just a minute or so after we were given a slice of lemon to suck and it really did taste as sweet as sugar. If you eat anything sweet, then it makes it taste even sweeter. You can’t taste anything different in your mouth, but lemons genuinely do taste very sweet! A most peculiar sensation and it lasts for about an hour or so.
Leaving Tropical Fruit World we headed back onto the highway heading towards Tweed Heads and to our surprise we went from rural countryside to major built up conurbation in the blink of an eye. We stopped at the first of a number of respectable looking motels and booked a room at almost half the rate that was being asked in Kingscliff. After a cup of tea and a catnap we took an early dinner and returned to the motel. Tomorrow we will be meeting up with one of our other friend who emigrated out here 40 years ago with John, so more reunions.
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