Byron Bay, quixotic, transmogrifying, eclectic. Whatever adjectives you can throw at it, and there are many, the experience always leaves an impact. Byron Bay just has that magical, indefinable quality about it.
Aboriginal elders will tell you that the land has been a sacred healing ground for well unto 20,000 years. Perhaps this is why many claim it to be the spiritual heart of Australia. Geo-physically the land is traversed by massive veins of obsidian crystal and at the vortex of several major ley lines (energy lines that run around the planet). Indeed many are drawn to Byron to initiate change, this seems to be its raison d'etere - transformation and integration for people to step forward into a new life.
Paradoxically Byron Bay started out it's Anglo Saxon version of life as the antithesis of spiritual healing. Originally it came into being as a source of cedar, the land was steadily plundered as it's forests were ripped out for farms, whilst it's local aboriginal population was systematically destroyed. at one point a whole community of 100 was shot and thrown off the cliffs. Another had their damper bread poisoned with arsenic.
Then the gold miners moved in causing dreadful erosion to the beaches. By the mid 20th century it had become the main whaling station in Australia. Combined with the local meat works, during whaling season the stench was said to be unbearable.It would have been more akin to scenes from Auschwitz let a lone any images of a tropical paradise!
Perhaps this is the slight uneasiness one feels in Byron, confronting the dark night of our soul is never on ones list of priorities. However, big changes don't come easily and our resistance often clashed with our excitement .......that damn paradox again!
Finally by the late 1960's these industries were on the wane and the the Californian surfers discovered its magnificence. By the 1970's the hippies began to move in, with the turning point marked by the Aquarius Festival held in Nimbin in 1973. From here the green rebellion took hold and thankfully for this Byron Bay is surrounded by a marine park, nature reserves and a national parks.
Byron Bay has something for everyone, whether it is a physical adventure such as learning to surf at Watego's, considered one of the best beaches in the world for beginner surfers, Kayaking with Dolphins, hang gliding off the most easterly point in Australia, horse riding along 7 mile beach. Or perhaps taking advantage of the many spas and retreats, Byron is considered the yoga capital of Australia also. Maybe just absorbing the beauty of its surrounding Rainforests, lazing on the beach, checking out the eclectic shops and cafes. Even if you don't time it for a music festival and there are many internationally acclaimed ones, there is always live music playing somewhere in Byron, 7 nights per week.
Whatever your purpose Byron Bay will leave its mark deep in your psyche, perhaps it will simply ask you the deeper questions about your life that you may have been avoiding. Maybe it will inspire you to step out radically in a new expression of yourself.
