Nimbin has a magical feel about it. If you haven’t heard of this small town, hidden away in the hills west of Byron Bay, it is known as Australia’s hippie destination. After hearing that the famous village is a quirky and interesting stop, we decided to head down there and explore.
We had set off early morning to meet friends in Byron for breakfast, on our way to Nimbin. Unfortunately the weather had decided to turn and it was a miserable overcast morning. However that didn’t dampen our spirits as we drove down to Byron listening to some old school jams and singing away. We had intended to go up to Byron Bay Lighthouse, but because of the weather we gave it a miss and headed to the town to have a wander round, until our friends (slightly fragile from Blues Fest shenanigans) rocked up.
We went to the Balcony for breakfast, which I would really recommend. It’s a sweet spot to people watch over the street and the food is so good! I had avo on toast and it was delicious, I am totally addicted to smashed avocado on toast since being in Australia! We caught up with our friends and they refuelled, suffering from killer hangovers and then we stopped off at the beach, which despite the weather was still a pretty sight.
So then it was time to head off to Nimbin. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had heard it was weed capital and there was a rainbow road, so I was pretty excited to see what the village was like. The trip takes just over an hour by car from Byron, but there are heaps of tour buses that head that way too. You can take a day trip out there on the Nimbin shuttle bus and it costs $30 for the day.
The drive into Nimbin was beautiful in itself, along the road ‘roadart’ has drawn around the potholes along the road, brightening up the journey in, they look awesome! We got to Nimbin around lunch time and it was quite busy by then. Watching the mix of tourists (including us) and locals was interesting!
Funky and quirky shops and cafes line the main street. We were there on a Sunday, which is when the market stalls are in the village. There were some awesome craft stalls and food stalls, we refrained from buying anything due to our bank balances looking quite depressing, but there was so many cool things.
I can’t really describe the village to you, but if I try, it feels almost magical and colourful. It feels like there is a community spirit here and you can tell that its inhabitants are creative and open-minded. There are murals painted on the walls, random art structures and people just hanging out.
Definitely try and make the stop off to Nimbin if you are in the area, it is well worth a visit!
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