Lismore - well if it's good enough for The Queen ....

Lismore

Whilst in Byron Bay, we decided to take a day trip out to Lismore. It's only about 30 miles away, and was a pleasant bus journey through countryside that probably included some of local agriculture like coffee and macadamia nuts.

On arrival, we had a good lunch at an excellent café next to the bus station, before braving the heat to go and look for koalas. We had read that a good place to find them is up at the Robinson's Lookout, so we walked up to that area to check it out.

Koala, Lismore

We felt a little strange walking along a street of houses, peering into the trees. We caught the attention of a dog in one of the gardens, but thankfully it wasn't too concerned. One of the residents stopped to speak to us as she went past, and said that she often sees a mother and her youngish cub in the trees along the road.

And sure enough, we soon spotted one, nestling up in the branches. it was the only one we found, but we were quite pleased to have seen one up here.

Gollan Hotel, Lismore

There isn't a great deal in Byron Bay. We had a look around the market and shops, and walked along past the Gollan Hotel, which still has a display in its window from when The Queen and Prince Phillip spent a night here, as part of their tour, back in 1954.

It seems they were lucky they left when they did, as heavy rains started as they departed, resulting in huge floods in the town.

Kookaburra, Lismore

Our bus didn't leave until the evening, so we had planned to have something to eat first, in that gap between the shops closing and the bus going. Which was a fine plan, until we discovered that nowhere opened during that time. We tried various places, to find they were just closing, and asked for suggestions of somewhere that might be open. We eventually got directed to an Italian place that they said usually opened earlier than most, and it was just opening as we arrived.

I can't say that Lismore is a place I would be rushing back to - though Nic will forever have happy memories of his lunch at Palate at the Gallery.