If you haven’t been to Byron in a while, be prepared to be surprised – and not just by the traffic jam going into the township.
The beach will take your breath away, but not in the usual way.
We’ve been coming here for over 20 years and we’ve never seen it quite like this.
Over the past few months of wild weather, metres of beach have been ripped away, including the fringing coastal heathlands, remnants of which now litter the usually pristine sand.
At the Clarke’s Beach Caravan Park, a place of many memories of crazy camping days with our kids, the stairs to the beach have been trashed.
Stairs to Clarke’s Beach Caravan Park…
It looks like the beach has been totally transformed, ripped away, never to return.
But wait. Long buried fences, uncovered by the waves, are a clue that the dune levels and the beach itself were once at about the same level it is now.
Waves, currents and tides constantly change the shape of our beaches. One day they can be carved away, and days, months, maybe years later, they can be built up again with huge deposits of sand and silt carried in from other beaches along our coastline.
Somehow, Byron’s beaches and surrounds still hold their charm. There’s just something about this place that makes you feel totally zen. And that works for me…
Flight path 