Byron Bay- the food

If you've been to Byron Bay recently you'll know that the food there is simply amazing. It has come leaps and bounds from my trips there as a teenager when you'd struggle to get a decent cup of coffee or anything that wasn't pub food. 

It is so easy to eat healthily in Byron, whether you're sugar-free, dairy-free, vego, vegan or anything in between. We ate super healthy but ate a lot. A LOT. 

On our first morning we visited the Byron Bay farmers Markets. After getting up at the crack of dawn with Marcel of course, and realising that not a lot of places do early morning coffee. No matter, the food at the markets was worth the wait. 

This was our breakfast from one of the hot food stalls. At the bottom is a potato frittatta and a dandelion crepe. At the top is Poached eggs in a minty broth- divine! The stall was so Byron, the lady in front of me had exactly $6.20 and wanted to know what she could get for that, they were more than happy to (generously) help her out.

The Conscious Cafe was on our must list. 

The Conscious Café is  one of only two of Byron’s Bays 100% certified organic café. It is gluten free, dairy free, processed soy free, genetically modified food free, Teflon cookware free, canola oil free & everything is cooked in organic coconut oil- & a whole lotta love goes into the food!

We are there three times in a week. Including to take Mr B's huge-meat-eater uncle there for lunch (he loved it!) I still didn't get to try everything I wanted to. You must go there, the atmosphere is so chilled and you would never know you're basically sitting in the Woolies carpark. 

The menu

The Awakening

Activated buckwheat, millet & chia seed open crepe w/ seasonal salad, roasted & spiced sunflower seeds, tahini turmeric dressing, homemade hommos, pesto & almond turmeric nut butter $14.50

Naked Treaties is a newish shop in Johnson St selling smoothies, juices, raw cakes and other delish stuff. Word of warning, it is LOUD in there. The acoustics are terrible but the staff are just so happy and helpful it doesn't matter. 

Chocolate beetroot mudcake (better than it sounds, I promise!) and a lemon tart

A macadamia ball and an orange and chia seed cupcake

The liquid menu

The Topshop. I don't know where to start with this place. Firstly, THANK YOU to the owners for being open so early. When you have a French Bulldog who thinks 5:30am is an acceptable wakeup time, holiday or no holiday, you need a coffee shop open early. Great, great, great coffee. Dog friendly. Seats in the sun on chilly early Spring mornings. What more could you ask for? My only criticism is that there is no difference between take away or eat in, you get disposable plates and country no matter what. Seems like such a waste! You could see locals bringing their own cups and plates which I definitely would be doing as well. 

Field mushrooms and avocado on corn bread

Goats cheese, cherry tomatoes and basil on sourdough. 

After having both of these dishes I couldn't decide my favourite, so I combined them and had the goats cheese and tomatoes on corn bread. Win! Mr B ate all manner of porridges, acai bowls, granolas, which he is going to recreate at home. Me, I like some substance to my brekky. Now I'm thinking about corn bread. 

For my birthday dinner we went to the Italian at the Pacific. Fantastic service, great vibe and the food... duck arancini balls anyone? No photos from here because I was too busy being romantical with Mr B and deciding which cocktail to have next. Have the negroni. I did. 

Other places that get three thumbs up:

• Fishmonger's. I am not a fish and chip fan but I am here. 
• Asia Joe's for great noodles, stir fries and big, fresh salads (when you've had too much of a good Byron thing) 
• Santos Health Food for more great smoothies and treats
• The Pass Cafe for a top burger on your way home from the lighthouse walk 

Let me tell you about my trip to Byron Bay

I love Byron Bay. I know everyone loves Byron Bay but I really love Byron Bay. ‘Me too,’ I’m sure you’re saying.

The reactions I get from people when I tell them I’m going there crack me up. Everything from ‘ooh you’ve got too much money’ to ‘are you going to go and smoke pot and live like a hippy? (snigger snigger).’ But Byron Bay (like a lot of places I love to visit) are what you make of them. I love that you’re surrounded by all walks of life. Seriously, stupidly rich people either flashing their wealth around or going about their business in their faded gear so you’d never have a clue what they are worth. But there are also lots of people living simple, awesome lives. I relax there. Really, relax. Which I don't do easily.

I do not, repeat, do not, plan spontaneous trips. Well spontaneous anything these days. But the chance came up to have a week away in between my crazy work schedule and I jumped at the change. It also happened to coincide with my birthday, so why not? I jumped online and looked for pet-friendly accommodation and can’t believe how easy it was to find a really cool place for really cheap.

Anyway, this post I’ll talk about what we got up to up there. Lots of eating, lazing around, enjoying the beautiful weather and relaxing. I love big, adventurous overseas holidays as much as the next person but it was so lovely to have a holiday with no deadlines, no transport logistics to figure out, no searching for hotels on street names not in English. It’s been too long. We basically planned our days around what markets were on and what we felt like eating that day (a lot). Marcel also came with us so that was… interesting. He was a bit funny being in a weird place but soon settled in and loved lounging around as much as I did. It was a very different holiday to trips I've done in the past, which have all been massive group holidays for partying or for Splendour. I saw a lot more of the mornings this trip! 

Markets

Byron farmers market (every Thursday, Butler St reserve 7am- 11am)

http://byronfarmersmarket.com.au/

Bangalow farmers market (every Saturday - 7-11am Behind Bangalow Hotel)

The stalls at these markets are usually the same suppliers as the Thursday Byron markets, so skip this if you have been to these. Bangalow is just the most beautiful town, like a postcard. Fantastic shopping and food there and one of my favourite op shops in Australia. 

Uki village markets

http://www.ukivillage.com.au/community/markets/

This town is a-dor-able. Loved it. Tiny, one adorable cafe in a federation building with a big verandah to sip tea on, a little school, mountains everywhere you look around you. Mr B ran up Mount Warning before dawn one morning (he's insane) and took the most breathtaking shots from above the clouds. Above the clouds, people. 

Uki has really great little markets, in that you will definitely see things you haven't seen before. We bought a lot of soap and some beeswax cleaner/ moisturiser/ protector/ everything-er. Some very colourful characters as well. 

On the morning of my birthday we walked up to the lighthouse. On all my trips to Byron Bay I've never done this, I've driven up there but never done the amazing walk. It's about 3kms from the main beach near town, lots of steps but not that challenging. We stopped a lot on the way to see the WHALES and DOLPHINS that were right there. I seriously got all teary watching them. Is there any other birthday present? Nope. 

I'll do another post on food. And probably another on shopping. Because, why not?