Vol. 2, Issue. 6: Did someone say Chris Hemsworth?

On a weekend trip to Byron Bay and the Gold Coast... I got jealous of an Uber driver.

INT. Uber Driver’s car after being picked up from Ballina Byron Airport

Uber Driver and I are making small talk about restaurant and beach recommendations in town.

Emily

So… I’m sure you get a lot of famous Australians coming to Byron Bay, right?

Uber Driver

Yeah, they all fly into Ballina Byron on their private jets. It’s the warm weather, good place to escape.

Emily (now incredibly curious)

Have you ever met Chris Hemsworth? We heard he has a house here!

Uber Driver (chuckles and looks at me briefly)

Actually, I have a set of twins, and Chris Hemsworth also has twins. Our twins play soccer with his twins every weekend, so I see him all the time. He’s a super chill guy, always very friendly.

Emily (is now spluttering because Uber Driver is buddies with Thor)

You see him every weekend?!

Uber Driver

Sure thing, except when he’s gone shooting who-knows-what. Actually, I see way more of Matt Damon around these parts of town. And, Zac Efron used to pop by every so often.

Emily (is now contemplating whether she should spend the weekend staking out little kids’ soccer games)

Wowwww… That’s cool. So, you basically hang out with Thor, Jason Bourne, and Troy on the regular.

[Scene ends]

If you’re wondering why the sleepy surfer town of Byron Bay attracts mega-celebrities, just picture your typical American beach town (Outer Banks, Hilton Head, etc.) and then infuse it with 5x the charm, 5x the cute Aussie surfer boys, 2x the Acai bowl shops, and 10x more gorgeous, turquoise coastal views. As soon as we checked into our hostel and started walking towards the lighthouse trail which wraps itself around Cape Byron, we immediately felt more relaxed. People are walking their dogs along the paved coastal walk, and even on a cloudy day, the weather was still warm and balmy. Our gait turned into a leisurely saunter, and we already started to think about the tacos and gelato we would have later. Even animals seem attracted to Byron Bay’s good vibes. At the summit of our walk, we spotted a huge pod of dolphins hanging around the cliffside. Later, we would see tons of cockatoos, iguanas, and turtles!

The view from the lighthouse trail!

Not a bad work view! Our hostel had its own pool :)

Byron Bay Highlights

1. Surfing

As one of the surfing capitals of Australia, Byron Bay is known for its long, forgiving waves that are perfect for longboards and beginners. So, while Juliana and Christina (our surfing pros) rented boards and headed off to try out the waves, Allison and I decided to take a lesson.

Now, it definitely wasn’t ideal weather when we went, and the waves were actually quite short and choppy. They died pretty much as soon as we stood up, and because we were surfing on the white water, the water only really came up to our waists. This meant that every five minutes when I wiped out, I would knee the sand really hard, so my legs were faintly purple with bruises for the rest of the trip.

Our surfing instructor was a French dude with the classic long surfer dreads who kept telling me that I was almost there and to “stop looking at my damn feet!” I caught one or two waves but the most fun part was watching Allison, who was petrified in the beginning, battle the waves and eventually hang onto one!

Bruised and battered but still cheesin’ with my super big foam board.

1. Sea Kayaking

In our hopes to see more dolphins, we decided to do a tour that would kayak out to the easternmost point in Australia and then loop back. Allison and I paired up, and I wore my shorts with the foolish hope that we wouldn’t get too wet. The jokes were entirely on me, because in order to get past the waves on the shoreline, our kayak basically crashes straight through a wave, meaning we were absolutely soaked from the first five minutes. It’s much harder to kayak on the sea than on a calm lake, so we definitely got an arm workout from the tour. While we didn’t see any dolphins, we spotted some turtles, fish, and even a spotted leopard shark.

Yeah, Allison and I definitely weren’t great at rowing in sync. I have some newfound respect for competitive rowers.

2. Piano Bar

Byron Bay has some pretty fun nightlife for a small beach town, but the piano bar at The Northern Hotel is one of the highlights. The first thing you spot on the dance floor is two grand pianos facing each other, the keyboards on both sides occupied by kooky old men. As the dance floor filled in through the night, they encourage you to leave your suggestions on a slip of paper (preferably with a tip too). Now, you can prepare yourself for some frolicking fun throwback music like “Sweet Caroline” and “Mr. Brightside” while also getting in your feels with “Rolling in the Deep.” There’s nothing like two old white men banging on the piano while 20-somethings dance to “American Pie.”

Right at the beginning of the night, I wrote “Country Roads” on a slip of paper and put it on one of the pianists’ music shelves. It almost immediately got lost among the slips of paper for “Love Story” and “Wouldn’t it be Nice.” But right before we decided to head out for the night, I heard those familiar first few notes of that good ol’ song inspired by Maryland’s Clopper Road (yes, the song was first created in Maryland not West Virginia). Soon enough, the whole room was YELLING “COUNTRY ROADDDSSSS, TAKE ME HOMEEEEE.” Yes, a whole room of Australians singing together about the most hillbilly state in America. It was a grand time.

You can see the pile of suggestion slips each pianist got, and somehow mine got picked!

1. THE FOOD

Who knew that a town with less than 10,000 residents would have some of the most delectable food I’ve had in Sydney thus far? Not me, but we had yummy-licious ice cream, acai bowls, tacos, and some phenomenal Asian fusion food. Per our uber driver’s recommendation, we first hit up Chihuahua, a cute little taco stall in a covered arcade. The pulled pork taco with tangy pineapple bits and indulgent crackling was undeniably delicious. We also got a side of corn on the cob covered liberally in butter, oaxaca cheese, and chipotle aioli.

The most memorable meal of the trip was at Yulli’s, a vegan Asian fusion restaurant. Now, I’m fine with your typical vegan salad bowl restaurant, but I was still skeptical of vegan Asian

food, despite the glowing reviews. But, we were all so impressed by the execution. We got noodle dishes with vegetables instead of meat protein, but the flavors were deep, spicy, salty, and sweet. My favorites were the Massaman curry, which was so creamy and laden with the perfect proportion of Indian spices, and the Kratontong, crispy wonton wrappers filled w water chestnuts, peanuts, corn, coconut jam, and fresh herbs.

Gold Coast Highlights

Moving on… we took an hour bus up to Surfer’s Paradise in the Gold Coast, situated just a little south of Brisbane. Gold Coast feels like a modern, cleaner version of Miami. It’s got your kitschy wax museums, tiki bars, mini golf, and ice cream parlors. But, at the same time, the pristine beaches stretch for endless miles in both directions and hyper-modern skyscrapers dot the Gold Coast skyline, which is more impressive than Sydney’s, in my opinion.

On one of my morning walks, I stumbled upon this gorgeous view of the Gold Coast skyline.

One cool aspect is Surfer’s Paradise is filled with these natural and manmade canals that run straight through neighborhoods and shopping districts.

The day we got there, we already had a feeling that the weather wasn’t going to be kind to us. It was overcast skies for our entire first walk along the beach, and as soon as we sat down at a restaurant for lunch, it started downpouring. I didn’t even feel like we needed to see any more waterfalls on this trip because the deluge pouring down from the shop’s awning was more than enough. Unfortunately, Surfer’s Paradise is purely a beach town, there’s not much that you can do while stuck inside. However, Allison and I got lucky with the weather the next day, and it cleared up enough so that we were able to do a light hike to Echo beach. On the way back, we spotted the first snake of the trip. After making it back from the Australian bush, we went shopping and got boba to reward ourselves for surviving a tiny snake.

This was the view from the hike to the viewpoint near Echo Beach.

Sunsets and palm trees are always a great way to end a trip.

Overall, I’m glad that I went to the Gold Coast, but I preferred the quieter vibes of Byron Bay. It was the small moments like when I visited a cute bookshop with the plushiest armchairs or the bakery next to our hostel that had delicious carrot cake and meat pies. I’ll especially fondly recall the hazelnut chocolate ice cream I ate while sitting on the street downtown. Those are the memories that I’ll crave when I’m slogging through homework back in Durham.

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Now, here are some book recommendations you didn’t ask for…

This is strictly to itch my book blogger dreams, but I’m proud of keeping up with my reading challenge in Australia. I’ve already completed 15 books this year, and here are some of my favorites so far:

1. Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

I first went into this book thinking that I would be only mildly interested. As a non-gamer, I didn’t think a book about programming a game would be up my alley. But, as I alternated between the audiobook and reading, I got sucked into this book, and I started going on long walks around Sydney just to listen to more chapters.

We start off learning about the childhood friendship between Sadie Green and Sam Masur, both near-geniuses and gaming fanatics. Coming from starkly different backgrounds but having a professional and platonic chemistry that makes them unstoppable, the pair create a brilliant game, so well-described in the book that I desperately wished it was real.

But, the pair chaotically clashes in all stages of their lives. From their first game to breakups to creating a company to the consequences of other friends, obstacles, and opportunities, we observe how the value they place on their friendship fluctuates over the years.

The book centers around the concept of platonic love. Is it possible for a guy and girl to remain strictly friends and business partners while not exploring the forays of romantic love? Will their game remain successful when the pair has different views on success?

I could rave about the unique narrative structures, sidekick characters, and smart use of flashbacks, but please pick up this book if you’re looking for a heartfelt, bittersweet adventure, set both in the virtual and real world.

2. How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

I feel like the author of this book basically took some of my favorite books over the recent years (Cloud Atlas, Exhalation, and The Anomaly) and mashed them together into a new collage. It’s a short story anthology — which, has become one of my favorite genres because it’s low-commitment, high reward format for a busy student — focused on literary stories of how a plague (that makes Covid seem like a drop in the ocean) can wreak havoc on society and upend ways we interact with illness, death, and love.

We visit a theme park designed for terminally ill children, a hotel that also functions as a morgue, a lab that accidentally creates a speech-capable pig, and more. The settings become more fantastical as we read how communities deal with death but then slowly evolve to overcome the steep population loss. It’s easy for pandemic topics to seem pragmatic and dreary. However, the author artfully creates these stories with sympathetic characters and imbues each narrative with themes of collectivity, hope, and love.

For a book about a plague, it’s unexpectedly tender, and I was dazzled by how the author artfully identifies the best of human nature. No, I didn’t love every single story in the anthology, but there were enough that had me genuinely reeling, grinning, or tearing up.

And finally… a foreshadowing for next week’s newsletter:

3. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

I know I’m so late to this book, especially since I was a voracious reader in middle school. But, I picked up The Hobbit recently and was glad I did. If you’re looking for a fantasy odyssey set in a lore-filled world of Middle Earth, this is for you. Screw the critics who say this is a children’s book because I think all ages can enjoy Bilbo Baggins, our diminutive hobbit main character, and his antics across the land to find a secret door and find treasures. What I appreciated was that Bilbo isn’t your normal strong, superpower-fueled protagonist. He’s cautious, polite, physically limited, and gentle. He’s not there for power or wealth but rather to make himself better and take care of his squad of dwarves. How much better would our world be if we valued Bilbo’s characteristics of kindness and selflessness instead of physical strength and ruthlessness?

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If you’re an LOTR fan, you definitely have an idea where I’m headed in the following newsletter! Thanks for sticking around, and I’ll be back soon!