I’ve been a wannabe surfer dude for the last couple of days. The area within a few hours of Brisbane has some of the best beach towns in the world, and I’ve been lucky enough to check them out. Aussies have a great canvas to create the perfect beach town in this part of the country – a stunning coastline with long stretches of perfect sandy beach, peppered with rocky headlands, great surf, warm water, and beautiful weather (I’m here in September – the equivalent of March in the northern hemisphere – and a late winter heat wave has the temperature in the 80’s with virtually no humidity). They’ve taken that raw material and created some of the best places to spread a towel on the sand and ride the waves that you’ll find anywhere.[1]
Americans looking for familiar comparisons may find that this part of the world combines the beautiful scenery and laid back beach culture of California – not to mention great surfing – with the warm waters of the east coast. It’s a mix that I wish we could replicate in the States – it would be great if we could have the culture of west coast beach towns without the "is this California or Finland?" water temperatures you get out there. On the east coast, the water's great is the summer, but the beach culture ranges from honkey tonk to "the Kennedys meet Donald Trump."
Fortunately, the water's pretty warm here, and the best beach towns definitely emit a California-like vibe. My two favorites, and two places that are increasingly on American travel radar, are Noosa and Byron Bay. Noosa is about an hour and a half by car north of Brisbane, in an area known as the Sunshine Coast. It feels like Santa Barbara or Laguna Beach – upscale but having a pronounced laid back attitude, with great restaurants, shopping and places to stay, and with a great stretch of beach and beautiful coastal scenery. You know you’re in Oz when you’re in Noosa, though; it’s surrounded by a national park that is famed for its koala population. Locals will tell you that you have a 75-85% chance of spotting koalas during a short day hike on the park’s trails.
Byron is even more fun and laid back – in Californian vernacular, think of mixing Santa Cruz with Venice Beach, and add a bit of Malibu. About two hours south of Brisbane, Byron has long had a reputation among Aussies as a place to chill out – stressed businesspeople from Sydney weekend here when their blood pressure is topping out – and there’s a relaxed but still obvious old school counterculture feel that’s present all over town in the most positive way (Byron is known as a health and wellness mecca, for example). At the other end of the spectrum, Byron attracts a number of celebrity devotees – Olivia Newton-John lives there, Russell Crowe has a house nearby, and Nicole Kidman vacations there – because they can relax and blend in. There is an upmarket element, with a surprising number of top of the line restaurants and great shopping for a small, relatively remote beach town. Add a gorgeous beach with some of the best surfing in Australia, and you have a great place to spend a few days soaking it all in.
Byron also has a world class resort going for it – called simply “The Byron” – that is irresistable. Holly Galbraith, their marketing czar and a total trooper for walking me to the beach in heels (see photo), gave me a tour of the place, and it’s spectacular. A beautiful infinity pool, an indoor/outdoor spa, acres of wetland and bush owned by the resort and kept undeveloped as a virtual nature reserve to explore, modern, elegant rooms with tons of privacy, and a private path to a stunning beach make this yet another Australian resort to add to my wish list.
Off to Sydney tomorrow, where I will reluctantly shed my two days of “Dude-Dom” and get the last bits of sand out from between my toes.
[1] The possible exception is the famed Gold Coast, where the Daytona meets Vegas glitz is a little too reminiscent of a weekend on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a trip halfway around the world – if you have to stay in this area, try Coolangatta, where you can see the lights from the high rises across the bay, but you can avoid the Hooters-like atmosphere.
Americans looking for familiar comparisons may find that this part of the world combines the beautiful scenery and laid back beach culture of California – not to mention great surfing – with the warm waters of the east coast. It’s a mix that I wish we could replicate in the States – it would be great if we could have the culture of west coast beach towns without the "is this California or Finland?" water temperatures you get out there. On the east coast, the water's great is the summer, but the beach culture ranges from honkey tonk to "the Kennedys meet Donald Trump."
Fortunately, the water's pretty warm here, and the best beach towns definitely emit a California-like vibe. My two favorites, and two places that are increasingly on American travel radar, are Noosa and Byron Bay. Noosa is about an hour and a half by car north of Brisbane, in an area known as the Sunshine Coast. It feels like Santa Barbara or Laguna Beach – upscale but having a pronounced laid back attitude, with great restaurants, shopping and places to stay, and with a great stretch of beach and beautiful coastal scenery. You know you’re in Oz when you’re in Noosa, though; it’s surrounded by a national park that is famed for its koala population. Locals will tell you that you have a 75-85% chance of spotting koalas during a short day hike on the park’s trails.
Byron is even more fun and laid back – in Californian vernacular, think of mixing Santa Cruz with Venice Beach, and add a bit of Malibu. About two hours south of Brisbane, Byron has long had a reputation among Aussies as a place to chill out – stressed businesspeople from Sydney weekend here when their blood pressure is topping out – and there’s a relaxed but still obvious old school counterculture feel that’s present all over town in the most positive way (Byron is known as a health and wellness mecca, for example). At the other end of the spectrum, Byron attracts a number of celebrity devotees – Olivia Newton-John lives there, Russell Crowe has a house nearby, and Nicole Kidman vacations there – because they can relax and blend in. There is an upmarket element, with a surprising number of top of the line restaurants and great shopping for a small, relatively remote beach town. Add a gorgeous beach with some of the best surfing in Australia, and you have a great place to spend a few days soaking it all in.
Byron also has a world class resort going for it – called simply “The Byron” – that is irresistable. Holly Galbraith, their marketing czar and a total trooper for walking me to the beach in heels (see photo), gave me a tour of the place, and it’s spectacular. A beautiful infinity pool, an indoor/outdoor spa, acres of wetland and bush owned by the resort and kept undeveloped as a virtual nature reserve to explore, modern, elegant rooms with tons of privacy, and a private path to a stunning beach make this yet another Australian resort to add to my wish list.
Off to Sydney tomorrow, where I will reluctantly shed my two days of “Dude-Dom” and get the last bits of sand out from between my toes.
[1] The possible exception is the famed Gold Coast, where the Daytona meets Vegas glitz is a little too reminiscent of a weekend on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a trip halfway around the world – if you have to stay in this area, try Coolangatta, where you can see the lights from the high rises across the bay, but you can avoid the Hooters-like atmosphere.
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