Following on from my last post; I would stay in Byron for a few days before heading onward to Brisbane in the search for work.
After the first nights antics on the town, most of us packed our bags and headed onward in different directions. This left me, another James and Lisa, on our own. We decided to spend the day exploring Byron. Sadly the surf was rubbish, but we went swimming in the sea and then took the long and famous walk up to the lighthouse and Australia’s most Eastern point for sunset. Lisa left later that night leaving me and James to discover our shared love of 90’s punk rock and guitars over a couple of beers.
The following day James also left, which meant I was alone once again. I was staying at The Arts Factory (later featured in the Inbetweeners 2 movie), which although quite a cool spot, I didn’t find particularly conducive to making new friends. I had one trip I wanted to do before leaving town, which was to take the bus out to Nimbin. I’d seen some cool photos friends had taken and I wanted to see it myself.
I booked onto what looked like an ace trip … it would taken in the town, waterfalls and scenic lookouts. The morning of the tour arrived and with it, a distraught driver. His mum had just been taken seriously ill into hospital and he would have to cancel. The Arts Factory immediately booked me onto another trip – ‘Jim’s Alternative Tours’. This trip was packed with people from the hostel – it seems they wanted to stock up on something …
Walking into Nimbin museum a pretty blonde girl asked me if I wanted to purchase some cookies. $15 for 3 of them. I said OK, and she warned me not to eat all at once. I went outside and ate 1/2 of one immediately. 30 minutes later, I figured I should probably eat the other half. We then got back on the bus … and I felt fine. So I ate another 1/2.
We drove out to Paul Recher’s house. Some kind of hippy heaven in the midst of the forest. He seemed a nice guy, slightly out there, but a friendly chap who seemed happy to show us where he lived. We shared a smoke overlooking the late at the back of property. And this is where things became a little hazy.
He took us on a walk though the gardens/forest … and I quickly found myself at the rear of the line. I became paranoid that I would become lost … and the plants … the plants were moving, dancing and talking to me. Somehow I made it back. We drove out to Minyon Falls and I was tripping. The crazed looks from the rest of the crew meant I wasn’t the only one. We drove back to Byron with Pink Floyd playing loudly as the soundtrack. I felt greener and greener. This video I found on You Tube (filmed just a few days before I did it) sums it up perfectly.
Getting back to the hostel I went straight to bed, avoiding all people and barricading myself in the dorm. I slept for a few hours and woke up with the worst munchies. Walking into Byron I ordered the hugest cheeseburger and fries that I could find. Then ate it all in a cave on the beach because I thought a nearby girl wanted to steal it!
I will never, *ever again eat a cookie from Nimbin!
* Apart from the following day when Liam and I shared the final cookie on our reunion. Lunch was entertaining …
