Byron Bay, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Byron Bay is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is located 772 kilometres (480 mi) north of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and 165 kilometres (103 mi) south of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. Cape Byron
Cape Byron
Cape Byron is the easternmost point of the mainland of Australia. It is located about northeast of the town of Byron Bay and projects into the Pacific Ocean...
, a headland adjacent to the town, is the easternmost point of mainland Australia. At the 2006 Census, the town had a permanent population of 4,981. The town is in turn the nucleus of Byron Shire
Byron Shire
Byron Shire is a Local Government Area located in the North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Pacific Ocean coast between 50 and 80 kilometres south of the Queensland border. The shire, administered from the town of Mullumbimby, covers an area of , and has existed as a local...
, which has in excess of 28,000 residents. Captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
named Cape Byron after circumnavigator of the world John Byron
John Byron
Vice Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN was a Royal Navy officer. He was known as Foul-weather Jack because of his frequent bad luck with weather.-Early career:...
, grandfather of the poet, Lord Byron.
History
For thousands of years Aboriginal people came to the Bay to swap stories, find marriage partners, and trade goods. They called it Cavvanbah.The history of Europeans in Byron Bay began in 1770, when Captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
found a safe anchorage and named Cape Byron
Cape Byron
Cape Byron is the easternmost point of the mainland of Australia. It is located about northeast of the town of Byron Bay and projects into the Pacific Ocean...
after John Byron
John Byron
Vice Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN was a Royal Navy officer. He was known as Foul-weather Jack because of his frequent bad luck with weather.-Early career:...
, who had circumnavigated the world and who was later the grandfather of English poet Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS , commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement...
. In the 1880s, when Europeans settled more permanently, streets were named for other English writers and philosophers.
The first industry in Byron was cedar-getting, the "Red Centre" from the Australian red cedar, Toona australis. The timber industry is the origin of the word "shoot" in many local names – Possum Shoot, Coopers Shoot and Skinners Shoot – where the timber-cutters would "shoot" the logs down the hills to be dragged to waiting ships.
Byron Bay has a history of primary industrial production (dairy factory, abattoirs, whaling until 1963, fishing) and was a significant, but hazardous, sea port.
The first jetty was built in 1886, and the railway was connected in 1894, and Cavvanbah became Byron Bay in 1894. Dairy farmers cleared more land and settled the area. In 1895, the Norco Co-operative
Norco milk
Norco Co-operative Limited is an agricultural supply and marketing co-operative based in northern New South Wales, Australia.Established in 1895, it sells products and services locally and internationally...
was formed to provide cold storage and manage the dairy industry. The introduction of paspalum
Paspalum
Paspalum is a genus of the grass family . Commonly known as paspalums, bahiagrasses or dallis grasses most are tall perennial American grasses. They are most diverse in subtropical and tropical regions....
improved production, and Byron Bay exported butter to the world. The Norco factory was the biggest in the southern hemisphere, expanding from dairy to bacon and other processed meat.
The lighthouse was built in 1901 at the most easterly point on the Australian mainland. In 1930, the first meatworks opened.
Despite this success, Byron Bay struggled to become a viable community, and was always a poor working town. The smell from the meat and dairy works was, by all accounts, appalling, and the annual slaughter of whales in the 1950s and 1960s made matters worse. Sand mining between the World Wars damaged the environment further, and one by one, all these industries declined.
After all the factories and industries closed, surfers discovered the wonderful natural breaks at The Pass, Wategos, and Cosy Corner. The longboarders arrived in the 1960s. This was the beginning of Byron Bay as a tourist destination, and by 1973, when the Aquarius Festival
Aquarius Festival
The Aquarius Festival was a counter-cultural arts and music festival organised by the Australian Union of Students and sponsored by Peter Stuyvesant and held at Nimbin...
was held in Nimbin
Nimbin, New South Wales
Nimbin is a village in the Northern Rivers area of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately 30 km north of Lismore, 33 km southeast of Kyogle, and 70 km west of Byron Bay....
, its reputation as a hippy
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
, happy, alternative
Alternative lifestyle
An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle generally perceived to be outside the cultural norm. Usually, but not always, it implies an affinity or identification within some matching subculture...
town was established.
Geography
Byron Bay is part of the erosion calderaCaldera
A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...
of an ancient shield volcano
Shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. They are named for their large size and low profile, resembling a warrior's shield. This is caused by the highly fluid lava they erupt, which travels farther than lava erupted from more explosive volcanoes...
, the Tweed Volcano
Tweed Volcano
Tweed Volcano was an early Miocene shield volcano in northeastern New South Wales, Australia. In the course of about three million years, Tweed Volcano was formed over the East Australia hotspot when this part of the continent passed over it around 23 million years ago...
, which erupted 23 million years ago. The volcano formed as a result of the Indo-Australian Plate
Indo-Australian Plate
The Indo-Australian Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes the continent of Australia and surrounding ocean, and extends northwest to include the Indian subcontinent and adjacent waters...
moving over the East Australia hotspot
East Australia hotspot
The East Australia hotspot is a volcanic hotspot that forces magma up at weak spots in the Indo-Australian Plate to form volcanoes in Eastern Australia. There have been no eruptions in Australia during historic times. It does not produce a single chain of volcanoes like the Hawaiian Islands...
.
Education
Byron Bay is home to several schools and educational institutions. Schools include Byron Bay Public School, Byron Bay High SchoolByron Bay High School
Byron Bay High School is a comprehensive public high school on Broken Head Road, Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia, and part of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training....
, St Finbarr's Primary School, Byron Bay Community School, and Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School
Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School
Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School is an independent, co-educational, non-sectarian school providing education from Kindergarten to Grade 12." Located approximately six kilometres west of Byron Bay in the suburb of Ewingsdale it draws students from the Byron Shire and wider Northern Rivers region....
. Among these are a number of early childhood facilities including Byron Bay Preschool and Periwinkle Preschool. In the fields of adult education there are Lexis English Centres (previously Global Village English Centres) and Byron Bay English Language School (BBELS) (both organisations providing English language tuition to international students), the Byron Region Community College, which is a registered training organisation and the SAE Institute Byron Bay which is a government-accredited, degree granting institution in the fields of audio engineering, digital film making, multimedia and animation.
Tourism
The town has several beaches which are popular for surfingSurfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
. It is a resort popular with both domestic and international tourists, including backpackers, who travel along the Australian coast, and the scenery attracts sky divers. The area is also noted for its wildlife, with the whale watching
Whale watching
Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and other cetaceans in their natural habitat. Whales are watched most commonly for recreation but the activity can also serve scientific or educational purposes. A 2009 study, prepared for IFAW, estimated that 13 million people went whale watching...
industry a significant contributor to the local economy.
An oceanway
Oceanway
An oceanway is a form of foreshoreway that provides sustainable public access along an oceanfront area. The terminology was derived to avoid the perception of a pavement favouring either pedestrians or cyclists ....
runs from the centre of town to the Cape Byron lighthouse. Visitors are encouraged to use sustainable
Sustainable transport
Sustainable transport refers to any means of transport with low impact on the environment, and includes walking and cycling, transit oriented development, green vehicles, CarSharing, and building or protecting urban transport systems that are fuel-efficient, space-saving and promote healthy...
options for moving around town like walking and cycling.
Temperate and tropical waters merge at Byron Bay, making it a popular area for scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
and snorkelling. Most diving is done at Julian Rocks
Julian Rocks
Julian Rocks is a pair of small islands, surrounded by marine reserve 2.5 kilometers offshore from Byron Bay.According to a story from the Bundjalung people, a jealous husband threw his spear at the canoe of his wife and her lover. The canoe broke in two and sank to the bottom of the ocean...
which is part of the recently established Cape Byron Marine Park and only a few minutes boat ride from Main Beach.
Byron Bay also lies close to subtropical rainforests, and areas such as the Nightcap National Park
Nightcap National Park
Nightcap National Park is in New South Wales, Australia, 35 km north of Lismore. It is classed by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas as Category II...
with the Minyon Falls
Minyon Falls
Minyon Falls is a waterfall in the Nightcap National Park, New South Wales, Australia. Standing at over high, this waterfall is a popular visitor attraction and is located within easy reach of the nearby town of Byron Bay....
are all within easy reach of the town.
Byron Bay is now also a popular destination for Schoolies week
Schoolies week
Schoolies or schoolies week refers to the Australian tradition of high-school graduates having week-long holidays following the end of their final exams in late November and early December."Toolies" refers to older revelers who participate in Schoolies week but are...
during late November and early December.
Heritage
The following places are listed on the Register of the National EstateRegister of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...
:
- Cape Byron Lighthouse, built in 1901
- Broken Head Nature Reserve (south of Byron Bay)
- Brunswick Heads Nature Reserve (north of Byron Bay)
- Julian Rocks Nature Reserve
- Two Sisters Rocks, located on Broken Head
Events
Events held at Byron Bay include yogaYoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
retreats, pagan
Neopaganism
Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...
gatherings, music festivals such as the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival
East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival
The East Coast International Blues & Roots Music Festival, also known as Byron Bay Bluesfest, is an annual music festival held for five days over the Easter long weekend at Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia...
at Easter and Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass is an annual Australian music festival held in July at Woodford, Queensland, and previously held at Belongil Fields, outside Byron Bay...
(which has since moved to Woodford, Queensland
Woodford, Queensland
Woodford is a small town in Queensland, Australia, on the D'Aguilar Highway 72 km north-west of Brisbane and 24 km west of Caboolture. Its Local Government Area is the Moreton Bay Region. The town is noted for its folk festival that takes place over the New Year holidays. The Woodford...
), the Byron Bay Writers Festival
Byron Bay Writers Festival
The Byron Bay Writers Festival is a literary event taking place annually in Byron Bay, New South Wales. The festival commenced in 1997, and is run over a weekend. As of 2010 it included presentations by over 100 participants...
, the Byron Bay Film Festival
Byron Bay Film Festival
The Byron Bay Film Festival is an awards-based film event usually held in the late Australian Summer at the Byron Community & Cultural Centre, in the coastal town of Byron Bay....
and the Byron Underwater Festival. The vibrant musical community has produced internationally renowned bands such as Blue King Brown
Blue King Brown
Blue King Brown are a Melbourne-based, Australian urban roots band. They have released a self-titled EP and a full length album, Stand Up . They released their follow-up Worldwize Part 1 - North & South on 20 August 2010...
, Parkway Drive and 50 Lions
50 Lions
50 Lions are an Australian band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. The band is named after a poker machine called '50 Lions'.-History:...
.
Byron Bay also has a number of regular markets including a weekly farmers' market
Farmers' market
A farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...
at the Butler Street Reserve every Thursday with over 70 local farmers selling fresh produce. There is also a craft market held on the same site on the first Sunday of each month and an artisan market held on Saturday evenings at Railway Park.
The Byron Bay Triathlon is held on the second Saturday in May every year.1300 competitors from many different countries enter this Olympic Distance event.
Media
The Byron Bay area has a number of newspapers:- The Byron Shire EchoByron Shire EchoThe Byron Shire Echo is a weekly independent tabloid newspaper which is published in the Byron Shire, New South Wales, Australia.The Echo, as it is also known, was founded in 1986 as a result of marijuana raids by the NSW Police in the surrounding valleys. The paper claimed that the Police were...
(Independent weekly A3) - The Byron Shire News (APN weekly A3)
- The Northern Star (APN daily)
- The Saturday Star (Independent A5 monthly)
- The Bagg (Independent weekly A3 gig guide)
Radio stations in Byron area:
- 2LM 900 AM (commercial)
- Triple Z FM 100.9 (commercial)
- Triple JTriple Jtriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
96.1 FM - ABC Radio National 96.9 FM
- ABC Classic FMABC Classic FMABC Classic FM is a classical music radio station available in Australia, and internationally online. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established in 1976 as "ABC-FM", and later for a short time was known as "ABC Fine Music" , before adopting its current name...
95.3 FM - ABC Northern Rivers 94.5 FM
- Bay FMBay FM (Byron Bay)Bay FM is a community radio station serving the Byron Shire and beyond from Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.Totally volunteer run, Bay FM aims to provide independent community-responsive radio informing and entertaining locally & globally.Locally the Radio Station's frequency is...
99.9 FM (community)
All major television channels are available in Byron Bay and the wider Northern Rivers region. The networks and the channels they broadcast are listed as follows:
- Prime TelevisionPrime TelevisionPRIME7 is an Australian television network owned by Prime Media Group Limited. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as CBN/CWN in Orange and Dubbo, New South Wales, and has since expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory as a Seven Network...
, 7Two7Two7TWO is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel which was launched by the Seven Network on Sunday 1 November 2009 at 12pm....
on PRIME, (Seven NetworkSeven NetworkThe Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
affiliated channels). - NBN TelevisionNBN TelevisionNBN Television is a television station based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. The station was inaugurated on 4 March 1962 as the first regional commercial television station in New South Wales, and has since expanded to 39 transmitters throughout the northern half of New South Wales and...
, Go! (Australian TV channel)Go! (Australian TV channel)GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
channel, (Nine Network Australia). - Southern Cross TenSouthern Cross TenSouthern Cross Ten is an Australian television channel broadcast by the Macquarie Media Group in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The channel is owned by the Macquarie Media Group as is affiliated to Network Ten...
and One HD, (Network Ten Australia). - (ABC Television) including ABC1ABC1ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
, ABC2ABC2ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia...
and ABC3ABC3-Future shows:Programming confirmed for future broadcast will include:* After School Care * Bindi's Boot Camp * Bushwacked! * Dance Academy * Dancing Down Under...
, part of the Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
. - Special Broadcasting ServiceSpecial Broadcasting ServiceThe Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
, SBS ONE and SBS Two.
Filming location
East of EverythingEast of Everything
East of Everything is an Australian drama television series which began screening on 30 March 2008 on the ABC. It is produced by Deborah Cox , Fiona Eagger and Roger Monk...
is an ABC television drama series filmed in Byron Bay and released on 30 March 2008. The program is broadcast from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
Notable residents
- Renee BarghRenee BarghRenee Bargh is an Australian celebrity and TV presenter, who is best known as a host of Channel [V] Australia. She is currently the weekend co-host and correspondent for Extra.- Early life :Renee was born in Southport, Queensland...
, TV presenter. - Space CowboySpace Cowboy (performer)The Space Cowboy is a world record-breaking sideshow, street, and freak show performer born in Byron Bay in Australia on 13 April 1978.-Act:...
is a record-breaking "sword swallower" and street performer who hails from Byron Bay. - Parkway Drive, a Metalcore band formed in 2002 that have toured around the world several times.
- Daevid AllenDaevid AllenDaevid Allen , sometimes credited as Divided Alien, an Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist is co-founder of psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine and Gong .-Biography:In 1960, inspired by the Beat Generation writers he had discovered...
, musician. - Eka DarvilleEka DarvilleEka Darville is an Australian actor. He went to Byron Bay High School and currently lives in Byron Bay, New South Wales, and Sydney...
, actor.