Byron Bay was the southern-most point of our 2 1/2 week Aussie Road Trip. Over the next couple of weeks we plan on driving north all the way to the end of the road at Cape Tribulation, stopping in on some far flung family in Tweed Heads, the Whitsundays for some sailing, and Port Douglas for a day's diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Lots to do, and lots of ground to cover!

We rolled into Byron just after sunset, the remains of the day a deep orange scar over the dark waters of the bay. We were staying at a campsite just out of town, and used our little gas stoves for the first time to cook spaghetti bolognese by torchlight. This proved tricky - we made a note to do our cooking before sundown in the future – but we managed. It must have smelled good at least, as we managed to attract a curious possom out from the undergrowth. He darted out from under our car as I was serving up, then darted back when I shone the torch on him, to Sarah's relief.

Not having been able to properly see the town the previous night, the next morning I was a little trepidacious as we drove back into the center. Having heard so much about Byron Bay as a surfing mecca, I expected it to be a little over-exposed, potentially filled with cheesy surf-themed bars and gap year kids getting smashed - like Newquay but with sun.

I was pleasantly surprised. Bryon is a small town, really only a few blocks of low rise buildings occupied by a mix of surf shops, coffee bars and restaurants. Not much to look at, but the whole place was wonderfully laid back. Lots of locals were happily ambling up and down the streets towards breakfasts and morning cappuccinos. It reminded me a lot of Hossegor in the South of France – another relaxed surfing town.

Of course, we weren't there to hang out and drink coffee all day (although we did actually spend a good part of our time there doing just that) – we were there to surf!

The next morning saw us wet-suited and wading into the cool waves of Byron's Main Beach. Jeff our instructor (a 40-something professional surfer dude who was the spitting image of Steve Tyler - Aerosmith's lead singer and Liv Tyler's dad) assured us that conditions were pretty much perfect – 1 to 1.5 metre high waves held up by a light offshore breeze, combined with a virtually empty beach and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect for Sarah's first surfing experience, and for me to demonstrate my remarkable ability to swallow large amounts of sea-water.

She was an absolute natural. Within 20 minutes Sarah was paddling, standing-up and cruising into the beach with a big grin on her face. Despite having several surfing holidays under my belt, I was less successful. It was a question of timing. I alternated between catching big waves late or small waves early – the former threw me off the front of my board and rolled me along the sea-bed, the latter required a hefty amount of paddling for not a lot of riding. After half an hour I was completely knackered and so decided to spend the rest of the lesson sitting on my board out beyond the breakers catching rays rather than waves.