Cape Byron

Byron Bay has long had a reputation in Australia for being hippy central - a beautiful mecca for dropouts and potheads spanning three generations. The beach side town, hugging the east coast of New South Wales, offers shops selling crystals and belly button rings, dread locked girls hawking palm readings and hundreds and hundreds of beaten-up, crudely muralled VW Kombi vans.

The combination of stunning beaches, clement weather and easy access have spiraled property prices making the original hippies who bought their patches of land for next to nothing in the 60’s very wealthy indeed. Still, once a hippy, always a hippy - the homes may now be mansions with sea views, but the Kombis are still parked out front. The children, often with names like Chi or Rainbow and an education from the local Steiner school, are all grown up and back from their O.E. through South America, ready to take over the family surf shop. So there’s now a new generation of dreadlocked, body-pierced fire jugglers to preserve Byron’s well deserved place as the jewel in the hippy crown.

If hippy chic isn’t your thing, though, the good news is just one bay around from Byron: Watego’s. Byron and Watego’s may be only a couple of miles away from each other physically, but emotionally they’re a million miles apart.

Watego’s is chic and sophisticated yet still understated and chilled out. There are definitely no backpackers or bed bugs and it’s home to one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. It’s small enough to be intimate with coarse, golden sand and has craggy rocks and steep cliffs at either end. The perfect surf rolls in constantly, reeling right to left across the bay. Most days you can see the pod of local Bottlenose Dolphins surfing the waves into the bay, happily cohabiting with the human surfers, most of whom are on Malibu long boards, which adds real a touch of nostalgic beauty to an already sublime landscape.

Watego’s Beach sits on one side of a narrow peninsula jutting out from the main Pacific coastline. This is the most easterly point of Australia, and behind it, on the other side of the peninsula, is Tallow Beach. The two are separated by a towering ridge, covered in rain forest and crowned with a beautiful 100-year-old lighthouse. It looks like a giant pawn and still warns ships of the cliffs that are constantly pounded by the huge Pacific waves.

Twice a year several pods of Humpback Whales stop at this point to rest on their journey from Antarctica to the Pacific. Though we weren’t lucky enough to see them, if you’re here at the right time, you can apparently stand at the top of the cliff and hear them breathing in the ocean below.

It’s a 10-minute walk from Watego’s up the cliff and through the forest to the lighthouse, and another 10 minutes down to Tallow Beach. The best times for these walks are in the early morning, while the mist is still clinging to the forest canopy, and late afternoon, when the sky is swathed in a pink sunset.

There are no cafes or convenience stores at Watego’s, but there is Rae’s. This is the legendary hotel that everyone thinks of when you say Watego’s. The rooms are amazing, and the restaurant is terrific with a view of the sea and the overwhelming scent of Frangipani. Rae’s is a popular spot for weddings so it pays to book ahead rather than drop in on the off chance of getting a table. The food is great though definitely at the pricey $12-for-a-side-of-asparagus-or-fries end of the scale.

An even better spot to stay though is the newly revamped and terribly chic Watermarks at Watego’s. Directly across the road from the beach Watermarks is a two-room boutique hotel in the best possible position. The lawn off your room offers the most wonderful view of the beach and the waves are the best lullaby there is.

A day on the beach at Watego’s is superbly peaceful. There are few people, and the ones who are here seem like locals. Every morning and afternoon a modified Kombi that’s had its roof and sides cut off and is laden with fresh fruit drives around making fresh fruit juices and smoothies.

One of the dubious selling points at Watego’s is that for some reason that was never fully explained to me there’s less chance of shark bites here than at the main ocean beaches. I guess less is good right? But in my book none is better. But then this is Australia so you have to take the good with the bad. On a brighter note Watego’s beach has no rips so there’s also less chance of drowning. (According to the hotel no one has ever drowned here but then they would say what wouldn’t they?) One of the things that won’t hurt you though are the local Bush Turkeys, don’t be alarmed by their size and their shear numbers, they’re just hanging out, but it is odd to see these enormous foul pecking around the beach instead of seagulls.

Being November, every afternoon the clouds roll in from nowhere. The sky goes from bright blue to inky grey in about half an hour. That’s when we sit in the living room of our magic spot at Watermarks with the doors onto the lawn wide open, the view filled almost entirely with the ocean. The afternoon rain is torrential, so heavy you wonder how it will ever manage to stop itself, and curled up with my book and the lightning and thunder exploding around us every 30 seconds, the slow sweep of the lighthouse’s beam rolling over the water every minute or so, I’m thinking this is really a pretty nice spot to be.

Picks for Cape Byron

Rae’s On Watego’s Marine Parade, Watego’s Beach. + 61 2 6685 5366; http://www.raes.com.au/

Dish Restaurant
In the heart of Byron Bay, Dish offers well-put-together contemporary Australian cuisine.
Cnr Jonson and Marvel Streets Byron Bay NSW 248. + 61 2 6685 7320; http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/restaurants/NSW-Sydney-dish.htm

The Beach Front Cafe
Just above the beach away from the main drag, this offers easy relaxed lunches and brunches with stunning views. Lawson St.

Belongil Beach Cafe
As hippy as it gets in a great little street tucked behind a lovely beach. Flourless chocolate cake a speciality.
Childe St, + 61 2 66 85 71 44; http://www.belongilbeachouse.com/Cafe.htm