Byron Bay, Tony Robbins and the Art House

Sometimes you walk down the street and interesting things just happen. Other times, you walk along looking for "cool stuff" and nothing comes along. We had spent the previous week in Sydney and it was, well, just kinda boring. Sure, we did neat stuff, but very little out of the ordinary. Things have changed since then.

We flew to Byron Bay, which is a tiny little town north of Sydney. It's reputed as a hippie hangout and that's relatively true though we've noticed a real tension in the town. There is definitely the hippie element, as demonstrated by the pot-smoking-look basically everyone seems to have. The hippie war protests are humorous as well -- the most famous being the 500 naked hippie women laying together on an empty field so that they spell out "No War" with their naked bods. On the other end of the spectrum, you have the old guard of folks who liked Byron the way it used to be, before the hippie invasion. It's completely sad as the town does so very little to welcome tourists. There's no public toilets. Signage is pathetic. The cops prowl the streets. There are no crosswalks, so crossing the street is death-defying. Sad, but kind of fascinating and the hippies just keep coming.

We're staying at the most interesting place as well. We just stumbled into it with no prior knowledge. It's called the Art House and I can best describe it as a resort for young hippies. It's built around a lake (really a stagnant swamp) and seems to blast Lenny Kravitz music all day long. You can take a free Yoga class, get a wheatgrass smoothie at the bar, or make your own Dijeradoo (those things Aboriginies blow into to make bass sounds). It wasn't what we expected, but has been a real trip.

I've also discovered my hidden talent: I have the uncanny ability to recognize minor celebrities in the street. First, we saw Tony Robbins on the street here in Byron Bay. If you don't know, he's a motivational speaker type guy who is all over late night infomercials. His website is here: http://www.tonyrobbins.com/noflash/. He talks about self-empowerment and all kinds of new-age "inner peace" stuff. Not all bad. Anyway, he and his barbie doll wife were having a substantial screaming match in the street. It was just so apropros that someone so into "peace and love" was chewing out his wife on the street. Funny. We also saw the lead singer from the Counting Crows in Sydney. He was unrecognized, except by yours truly.

Blazed through a few more books on the way up here. Most recent is Reminisces of a Stock Operator. A classic and great in terms of general business practices. I may write more on that later. I have to go now and help Shandelle with the digital photos.