Nimbin Day Trip
Slept in a bit today until 9:00 AM and then got up with Kerry to eat our papaya and sip some coffee. It is very windy today and cold, so we couldn't figure out what to do with the day. We threw some laundry in and chilled while the clothes were in the wash. Then Axel had messaged me asking if we wanted to go to Nimbin, a famous little hippie town and alternative lifestyle capital about an hour inland from Byron. I have heard a lot about this town, about the communes and the history, so I was definitely keen to go.
Axel picked us up and off we went. We arrived to the cute little town, parked the car, and walked around. When I say little town, I'm not joking. It has one main street that takes abut 10-15 minutes to walk up. But everything is so colorful here! Rainbow fences, mushroom decorations, hemp shops plus bars, thrift stores, crystal huts and so much more. We roamed into some shops before finding a place to sit for a sandwich. The whole day we had conversations about traveling, music, passions, motives, Cabo, love, attachment, egos, gardens, spirituality, and so much more.
After finishing our lunch, we walked across the street to Pot of Gold for a hot tea and took it with us as we ventured into some more shops. We stopped by the hemp bar and embassy, where they didn't sell weed but it was definitely being smoked. I purchased some hemp sandals for $15, which I'm stoked about. And then proceeded to pull out my credit card for a beautiful silver ring and bead for my dreadlock. In the shop, a lady asked me "Were you in Fraser Island on Saturday?" I said yes and she said she knew she recognized me, how cool! Her and her two daughters were in the shop and she said they loved my shell necklace and noticed me right away. How cute! Casual run-ins everywhere! We even saw the two British dudes from our hostel that went out to reggae night with us last night. I love seeing this reoccurring patterns and trends.
Everything in town closed at 5:00 PM, so we walked to checkout the skate park and saw the beautiful sunset on the horizon. The sun is super red because of the fires but my goodness is it beautiful. We hopped back in the car and took off back to Byron. I think Nimbin is adorable and so vibrant with color but not so vibrant in life. There seemed to be a lack of energy, or something missing, which is interesting because it doesn't appear that way at all. I really did enjoy the town and I think it's 100% worth a day trip when in Byron.
On our drive home, we saw "Watch out, koalas about"s signs all over the road. Axel dropped Kerry and I off at the Arts Factory, and there happens to be a talent show tonight at the hostel. For an hour and 45 minutes, we sat listening to several different people perform. From acoustics with a melody to a British girl rapping and another guy singing in Portuguese, there was some unbelievable talent in the room and great tunes to rock out too. It was extremely enjoyable. I prepared a small salad after for my dinner and then went into my room to catch up on my writing. I decided to call it a night around 10:30 PM, put my laptop and journal away, and passed out all cuddled up with my four layers of blankets.
