View allAll Photos Tagged capebyron
Byron Bay from way back up in the hills. The Cape Byron headland is clearly visible and you can even see the lighthouse if you zoom in.
© Iztok Alf Kurnik,
All Rights Reserved
Please fav this photo if you like my work.
Check out my other photos on my Photostream or start following me not to miss any of my work.
pinhole image
1 second
zero 2000
map project J15
I waited for the truck to move but it didn't so I took the picture anyway because the sky was so lovely that day.
Byron Bay. Population 9,300.
Captain James Cook sighted and named Cape Byron in May 1770 as he sailed past it. A couple of days later he named Mount Warning as the coast has dangerous rocks there for sailing ships. Cape Byron is the most easterly point of Australia. The Colonial Architect James Barnet designed the lighthouse in the 1870s but it was not proceeded with until 1899 when another architect designed a lighthouse for the cape. It was completed in 1901 at a cost of over £18,000 which would equate to millions of dollars these days. The lens with 760 pieces of prismatic glass reflected the light into the ocean from a six wick light. This was updated in 1922 and again in 1956 when the light was electrified. The lighthouse was fully automated in 1989 and the last lighthouse keeper left at that time. The white light can be seen 50 kms out to sea. In 1954 a new whaling station was built at Byron Bay to capture and process humpback whales. The whale oil was first used in the Australian margarine industry and the flesh was sold for livestock fodder. A quota of around 120 whales a year was set for the factory. The whaling station closed in 1962 and over those eight years 1,146 whales were slaughtered. Australia ceased all whaling in 1978. The old lighthouse keeper’s house built in 1899 is now a small museum. For those with time to spend you might see humpback whales on their annual migration northwards from Cape Byron, between June and November.
Although red cedar cutters went into the hinterland in the 1840s and 1850s permanent settlers as such did not begin to arrive until around 1870. The first white land purchaser arrived in 1881 and the town was not surveyed until 1883. Town land sales began in 1886 when the first postal service began, several stores and a hotel opened and the government began work on a jetty which was completed in 1888. The first official Post Office opened in 1888. The town grew and by 1890 the surrounding farmers were growing bananas, pineapples, corn and potatoes. They grazed cattle and soon had dairy herds. The railway from Casino reached its terminus here in 1894. In 1895 Norco opened a factory and cold storage facility to handle dairy and meat products. By 1925 Norco had the largest butter factory in Australia at Byron Bay. Sadly it closed in 1975 after Britain joined the European Common Market and vegetable oil based margarines entered the Australian market place in competition with butter. What you see in Byron Bay today is largely an early 20th century town. Although the railway from Casino closed decades ago the old tracks have been turned into a tourist railway. Fares are $8 for a return trip to north beach and they run hourly from 10:15 am using NSW carriages built from 1949 to 1970. A round trip with a 35 minute stop at North Beach takes just under an hour.
In the 1970s when Nimbin became popular with down-at-heal hippies Byron Bay went in a different direction and became popular with the wealthy escaping city life but still with people with an interest in the “alternate lifestyle”. Some celebrities including Paul Hogan, Elle MacPherson, Johnny Young and Olivia Newton-John have purchased properties here. Other artistic and literary people moved here too including Craig McGregor author of several novels and many social critiques of Australian society. The annual Blues and Roots Festival is the major music event of the northern rivers each year. The residents and politically green dominated Byron Shire Council has prevented Club Med from establishing here as well as McDonalds and other drive in take away food outlets. Buildings are limited to three storeys as the locals do not want any crass Gold Coast style development!
Early breakfast at the easternmost point of the Australian mainland.
#capebyron #byronbay #newsouthwales #australia #downunder #oceania #focusunknown
Although red cedar cutters went into the hinterland in the 1840s and 1850s permanent settlers as such did not begin to arrive until around 1870. The first white land purchaser arrived in 1881 and the town was not surveyed until 1883. Town land sales began in 1886 when the first postal service began, several stores and a hotel opened and the government began work on a jetty which was completed in 1888. The first official Post Office opened in 1888. The town grew and by 1890 the surrounding farmers were growing bananas, pineapples, corn and potatoes. They grazed cattle and soon had dairy herds. The railway from Casino reached its terminus here in 1894. In 1895 Norco opened a factory and cold storage facility to handle dairy and meat products. By 1925 Norco had the largest butter factory in Australia at Byron Bay. Sadly it closed in 1975 after Britain joined the European Common Market and vegetable oil based margarines entered the Australian market place in competition with butter. What you see in Byron Bay today is largely an early 20th century town. Although the railway from Casino closed decades ago the old tracks have been turned into a tourist railway. Fares are $8 for a return trip to north beach and they run hourly from 10:15 am using NSW carriages built from 1949 to 1970. A round trip with a 35 minute stop at North Beach takes just under an hour.
In the 1970s when Nimbin became popular with down-at-heal hippies Byron Bay went in a different direction and became popular with the wealthy escaping city life but still with people with an interest in the “alternate lifestyle”. Some celebrities including Paul Hogan, Elle MacPherson, Johnny Young and Olivia Newton-John have purchased properties here. Other artistic and literary people moved here too including Craig McGregor author of several novels and many social critiques of Australian society. The annual Blues and Roots Festival is the major music event of the northern rivers each year. The residents and politically green dominated Byron Shire Council has prevented Club Med from establishing here as well as McDonalds and other drive in take away food outlets. Buildings are limited to three storeys as the locals do not want any crass Gold Coast style development!
Byron Bay. Population 9,300.
Captain James Cook sighted and named Cape Byron in May 1770 as he sailed past it. A couple of days later he named Mount Warning as the coast has dangerous rocks there for sailing ships. Cape Byron is the most easterly point of Australia. The Colonial Architect James Barnet designed the lighthouse in the 1870s but it was not proceeded with until 1899 when another architect designed a lighthouse for the cape. It was completed in 1901 at a cost of over £18,000 which would equate to millions of dollars these days. The lens with 760 pieces of prismatic glass reflected the light into the ocean from a six wick light. This was updated in 1922 and again in 1956 when the light was electrified. The lighthouse was fully automated in 1989 and the last lighthouse keeper left at that time. The white light can be seen 50 kms out to sea. In 1954 a new whaling station was built at Byron Bay to capture and process humpback whales. The whale oil was first used in the Australian margarine industry and the flesh was sold for livestock fodder. A quota of around 120 whales a year was set for the factory. The whaling station closed in 1962 and over those eight years 1,146 whales were slaughtered. Australia ceased all whaling in 1978. The old lighthouse keeper’s house built in 1899 is now a small museum. For those with time to spend you might see humpback whales on their annual migration northwards from Cape Byron, between June and November.
Although red cedar cutters went into the hinterland in the 1840s and 1850s permanent settlers as such did not begin to arrive until around 1870. The first white land purchaser arrived in 1881 and the town was not surveyed until 1883. Town land sales began in 1886 when the first postal service began, several stores and a hotel opened and the government began work on a jetty which was completed in 1888. The first official Post Office opened in 1888. The town grew and by 1890 the surrounding farmers were growing bananas, pineapples, corn and potatoes. They grazed cattle and soon had dairy herds. The railway from Casino reached its terminus here in 1894. In 1895 Norco opened a factory and cold storage facility to handle dairy and meat products. By 1925 Norco had the largest butter factory in Australia at Byron Bay. Sadly it closed in 1975 after Britain joined the European Common Market and vegetable oil based margarines entered the Australian market place in competition with butter. What you see in Byron Bay today is largely an early 20th century town. Although the railway from Casino closed decades ago the old tracks have been turned into a tourist railway. Fares are $8 for a return trip to north beach and they run hourly from 10:15 am using NSW carriages built from 1949 to 1970. A round trip with a 35 minute stop at North Beach takes just under an hour.
In the 1970s when Nimbin became popular with down-at-heal hippies Byron Bay went in a different direction and became popular with the wealthy escaping city life but still with people with an interest in the “alternate lifestyle”. Some celebrities including Paul Hogan, Elle MacPherson, Johnny Young and Olivia Newton-John have purchased properties here. Other artistic and literary people moved here too including Craig McGregor author of several novels and many social critiques of Australian society. The annual Blues and Roots Festival is the major music event of the northern rivers each year. The residents and politically green dominated Byron Shire Council has prevented Club Med from establishing here as well as McDonalds and other drive in take away food outlets. Buildings are limited to three storeys as the locals do not want any crass Gold Coast style development!
we.
slept in the car.
woke up in darkness.
sat down on the most eastern point of australia.
ate a rockmelon.
waited for the first sunrays to hit us and the continent itself.
#capebyron #byronbay #newsouthwales #australia #downunder #oceania #focusunknown
Cascading cliffs on the headland at Byron Bay on the NSW North Coast of Australia. Byron Bay is the eastern-most point on the Australian continent.
Cape Byron is the easternmost point of the mainland of Australia.
The cape was named by British explorer Captain James Cook on passing here on 15 May 1770, to honour British explorer John Byron who circumnavigated the globe in the HMS Dolphin from 1764 to 1766.
Cape Byron lighthouse, at the most easterly point on the Australian mainland.
I only took a lightweight kit for our Xmas road trip - just a couple of lenses and my 5D. The late December cyclonic rain cleared long enough for a few evening snaps.
I particularly like the couple at the bottom left.
Canon 70-210 f4 zoom (20+ years old) stabilised on my 4WD's spare wheel.
Bangalow. Population 1,700.
This town was named after the local Bangalow palm. After the cedar timber cutters left a few farmers moved into the district in 1881. A school opened in 1884 and the Post Office and general store began servicing the locals in 1891. The town became better established when the Casino to Murwillumbah railway reached the area in 1894. The station was named Bangaloe but this was changed to Bangalow in 1907. In 1901 a Catholic convent school opened and a local farmer added 100 town blocks to the settlement in 1903. Most of the town buildings were wooden and fires ravaged the town in 1907 and again in 1911 and in 1930 and in 1939. After 1939 more buildings were constructed in brick. Between the fires the town was flooded several times. Bangalow is basically a one street town and most significant buildings are in this main street. On the way into the town we will see on the left the terracotta roofed Anglican Church; on the right is the old timber framed Police Station; next corner on the right is the Presbyterian Church; next on right is the red brick primary school; over the main intersection on the left is the red brick Post Office and on the right a series of fine wooden two storey commercial buildings; at the top of the street is the Bangalow Hotel and some red brick banks. If you turn left at the roundabout beyond the hotel you will see St Kevin’s Catholic Church in red brick. In the side street at the main intersection (Station Street) is the impressive Masonic Hall, the quaint little RSL and the Uniting Church.
The golden sands of a pristine, wind-blown and deserted Brunswick Heads beach stretching 13 kilometres (8 miles) south to Cape Byron in the distance ... the most Easterly point on the Continent of Australia.
Casino. Pop 10,000. This historic town was named after a pastoral cattle estate on the Richmond River. In early 1840 George Stapleton and Mr Clay took out the Cassino run which Clay named after Monte Cassino in Italy. Stapleton and Clay were unsuccessful as squatters and sold the leasehold in 1844 to Clark Irving who renamed the station with an Aboriginal word Tomki. It comprised 30,700 acres. Irving was the first on the Richmond River to establish a boiling down works to produce tallow from his cattle for the Sydney market in 1847. Irving died in 1865 but his son kept the property. In 1880 most of this estate was subdivided for closer settlement. The district is an important beef region and calls itself the “Beef Capital”. Once a year it holds a “Beef Week” which includes markets, fairs, educational programs, livestock sales and social events including near naked young male body builders showing their “beef” in the Mr Beef competition! The Northern Cooperative Meat Company has an abattoir at Casino.
Casino is the oldest town along the Richmond River. This first settlement emerged in the early 1850s and was known as The Falls. The NSW government surveyed a town in 1853 and later that year a hotel, general store and a rudimentary police station opened. In 1854 the first Courthouse was erected and in 1855 the name was changed to Casino. By 1861 the town had a public school, a doctor and a second hotel- the Tattersalls. In the 1870s more permanent buildings were erected. The Commercial Bank of Sydney opened a branch in 1870; a newspaper began publication; a telegraph station began linking Casino to the world; the first bridge across the Richmond River was built (and a second one in 1908). Selectors came to take up small holdings around Casino after the passing of the Robertson Land Act in 1861. By 1875 Casino could boast an Anglican Church, a school, a Post Office, bank, newspaper, two hotels, saddlery, photographic studio, 3 blacksmiths, slaughter house, Courthouse, four stores etc. A Catholic Church was erected in 1876 and the town had around 600 residents. Once it became a municipality in 1880 the big issues were water supply, kerbing, street paving and drainage during downpours. The first Town Hall opened in 1890 but was replaced in 1937. Drought and three days of temperatures around 47 degrees made the Council do more work on water supply in 1903. One of the far sighted ideas of the local council was to encourage construction in brick rather than easily burnt wooden structures.
Big changes came with the arrival of the railway in 1894. The first wooden railway station opened in 1903 although the railway line from Murwillumbah had reached Casino in 1894. It was 1905 when Casino got a line southwards to Grafton but the Clarence River had no rail bridge until 1932. The Casino to Kyogle line was built in 1910. When it was extended to Brisbane trains could travel from Sydney via Casino to Brisbane from 1930. A new railway alignment and station with refreshment rooms was built in 1930. The old station closed in 1974 and became a museum. Casino has had a roundhouse for engine maintenance since 1928. Undoubtedly the biggest disaster to hit Casino was the Spanish flue pandemic in 1919. The first public hospital in Casino was built in 1886. Although there had been an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1905 the big disaster was 1919. In January 1919 Casino was ready for an outbreak of the flue with a temporary hospital in the showgrounds if needed. In February nursing staff were inoculated and citizens warned of the symptoms. On 5 February some Lismore residents fell ill with the flue and the first death in Sydney was recorded. Street patrols in Casino began late February in case people needed help at home. Confirmed cases were announced in Lismore and Kyogle. A horse race was cancelled and some no longer attended church. On 14th May two cases were confirmed in Casino. On the 21st May the first Casino death was recorded and hospital patients were moved to the Masonic Hall as Spanish flue cases were in the hospital. By then there were 26 cases in Casino. By July 2nd the showground pavilion was also in use for Spanish flue cases. By 9th July there were 150 cases in Casino and 13 people had died. The School of Arts was taken over as another pandemic hospital. Three days later there were 180 cases and 26 deaths. By July 23rd there were 37 deaths from influenza in Casino. Travellers needed clearance papers to enter Casino or leave it. By August the worse was over but 45 people had died out of a few hundred residents but 6,000 people died in NSW. Around 40% of Sydney’s population got the Spanish flue.
Unlike many towns in Australia Casino continued to grow and expand during the depression so it has an array of Art Deco buildings erected in the 1930s. Through much of the 20th century saw milling, the beef industry and slaughtering and dairying were the main economic supports of Casino. Our heritage walk begins at Canterbury Street.
1. St Mary’s Catholic Church. Opened in 1940 of local bricks. This stunning building has an Art Deco interior. The first Catholic Church was built on this site in 1876. The church also had Romanesque features.
2. On the left is a quaint red brick Federation style building but with some 19th century cast iron lace work. Built for the London Bank in 1911. Later became an English Scottish and Australian bank. Turn right here into the Main St.
3. Next on left are some nice Art Deco stores which need painting in Art Deco colours.
4. Next left on the corner with the lane is the bakery with a cupola on the corner of an Art Deco building. Thomas’s bakery began here in 1892. This building was erected 1911 when Rimmington was the baker.
5. Opposite is the ANZ Bank. Another Art Deco building erected in 1911 as the Union Bank.
6. Next on left the Casino Centre buildings in Art Deco style. Built 1912. Was the largest store in the region.
7. On the next corner right is the School of Arts. It is the third building erected in 1934. The first School of Arts was erected in 1873. The first Council meeting was held in it in 1880. The new 1907 building burnt down in 1932.
8. The Art Deco building opposite on the left was built in 1937 as a department store.
9. On the other corner is the Westpac Bank. Built in 1905 but the Bank of NSW began trading in Casino in 1889.
10. On other corner is the Commercial Hotel. Began trading 1869. Current hotel built 1890. Turn right to Barker St.
11. Next on the left is the former Rural Bank built in 1907. One of the most elaborate buildings in Casino. Note 1907 in the cartouche on the façade, upper storey bay windows, roof parapet and large rounded Art Deco window.
12. Next on right is the Casino Post Office built in 1879. Architect Walter Liberty Vernon. The upper floor post master’s residence was added in 1915. Georgian style rounded windows, double pillars perfect symmetry.
13. Next to it is the former Commercial Bank of Sydney the oldest bank opening in 1870. A two storey Greek classical building, triangular pediment and built in 1884 in front of the original Courthouse. The second Courthouse was built in 1882 on the corner of Walker and Richmond Streets.
The view from the (surprisingly short) walk up to the Cape Byron lighthouse from the beach. I saw a massive stingray in the ocean from here until it disappeared into the darkness of deeper waters.
Two shots merged manually in photoshop.
It was our last morning at Cape Byron, so we decided to rush out at 430 in the morning to try and catch sunrise. It was cold and windy but fun nonetheless.
Casino. Pop 10,000. This historic town was named after a pastoral cattle estate on the Richmond River. In early 1840 George Stapleton and Mr Clay took out the Cassino run which Clay named after Monte Cassino in Italy. Stapleton and Clay were unsuccessful as squatters and sold the leasehold in 1844 to Clark Irving who renamed the station with an Aboriginal word Tomki. It comprised 30,700 acres. Irving was the first on the Richmond River to establish a boiling down works to produce tallow from his cattle for the Sydney market in 1847. Irving died in 1865 but his son kept the property. In 1880 most of this estate was subdivided for closer settlement. The district is an important beef region and calls itself the “Beef Capital”. Once a year it holds a “Beef Week” which includes markets, fairs, educational programs, livestock sales and social events including near naked young male body builders showing their “beef” in the Mr Beef competition! The Northern Cooperative Meat Company has an abattoir at Casino.
Casino is the oldest town along the Richmond River. This first settlement emerged in the early 1850s and was known as The Falls. The NSW government surveyed a town in 1853 and later that year a hotel, general store and a rudimentary police station opened. In 1854 the first Courthouse was erected and in 1855 the name was changed to Casino. By 1861 the town had a public school, a doctor and a second hotel- the Tattersalls. In the 1870s more permanent buildings were erected. The Commercial Bank of Sydney opened a branch in 1870; a newspaper began publication; a telegraph station began linking Casino to the world; the first bridge across the Richmond River was built (and a second one in 1908). Selectors came to take up small holdings around Casino after the passing of the Robertson Land Act in 1861. By 1875 Casino could boast an Anglican Church, a school, a Post Office, bank, newspaper, two hotels, saddlery, photographic studio, 3 blacksmiths, slaughter house, Courthouse, four stores etc. A Catholic Church was erected in 1876 and the town had around 600 residents. Once it became a municipality in 1880 the big issues were water supply, kerbing, street paving and drainage during downpours. The first Town Hall opened in 1890 but was replaced in 1937. Drought and three days of temperatures around 47 degrees made the Council do more work on water supply in 1903. One of the far sighted ideas of the local council was to encourage construction in brick rather than easily burnt wooden structures.
Big changes came with the arrival of the railway in 1894. The first wooden railway station opened in 1903 although the railway line from Murwillumbah had reached Casino in 1894. It was 1905 when Casino got a line southwards to Grafton but the Clarence River had no rail bridge until 1932. The Casino to Kyogle line was built in 1910. When it was extended to Brisbane trains could travel from Sydney via Casino to Brisbane from 1930. A new railway alignment and station with refreshment rooms was built in 1930. The old station closed in 1974 and became a museum. Casino has had a roundhouse for engine maintenance since 1928. Undoubtedly the biggest disaster to hit Casino was the Spanish flue pandemic in 1919. The first public hospital in Casino was built in 1886. Although there had been an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1905 the big disaster was 1919. In January 1919 Casino was ready for an outbreak of the flue with a temporary hospital in the showgrounds if needed. In February nursing staff were inoculated and citizens warned of the symptoms. On 5 February some Lismore residents fell ill with the flue and the first death in Sydney was recorded. Street patrols in Casino began late February in case people needed help at home. Confirmed cases were announced in Lismore and Kyogle. A horse race was cancelled and some no longer attended church. On 14th May two cases were confirmed in Casino. On the 21st May the first Casino death was recorded and hospital patients were moved to the Masonic Hall as Spanish flue cases were in the hospital. By then there were 26 cases in Casino. By July 2nd the showground pavilion was also in use for Spanish flue cases. By 9th July there were 150 cases in Casino and 13 people had died. The School of Arts was taken over as another pandemic hospital. Three days later there were 180 cases and 26 deaths. By July 23rd there were 37 deaths from influenza in Casino. Travellers needed clearance papers to enter Casino or leave it. By August the worse was over but 45 people had died out of a few hundred residents but 6,000 people died in NSW. Around 40% of Sydney’s population got the Spanish flue.
Unlike many towns in Australia Casino continued to grow and expand during the depression so it has an array of Art Deco buildings erected in the 1930s. Through much of the 20th century saw milling, the beef industry and slaughtering and dairying were the main economic supports of Casino. Our heritage walk begins at Canterbury Street.
1. St Mary’s Catholic Church. Opened in 1940 of local bricks. This stunning building has an Art Deco interior. The first Catholic Church was built on this site in 1876. The church also had Romanesque features.
2. On the left is a quaint red brick Federation style building but with some 19th century cast iron lace work. Built for the London Bank in 1911. Later became an English Scottish and Australian bank. Turn right here into the Main St.
3. Next on left are some nice Art Deco stores which need painting in Art Deco colours.
4. Next left on the corner with the lane is the bakery with a cupola on the corner of an Art Deco building. Thomas’s bakery began here in 1892. This building was erected 1911 when Rimmington was the baker.
5. Opposite is the ANZ Bank. Another Art Deco building erected in 1911 as the Union Bank.
6. Next on left the Casino Centre buildings in Art Deco style. Built 1912. Was the largest store in the region.
7. On the next corner right is the School of Arts. It is the third building erected in 1934. The first School of Arts was erected in 1873. The first Council meeting was held in it in 1880. The new 1907 building burnt down in 1932.
8. The Art Deco building opposite on the left was built in 1937 as a department store.
9. On the other corner is the Westpac Bank. Built in 1905 but the Bank of NSW began trading in Casino in 1889.
10. On other corner is the Commercial Hotel. Began trading 1869. Current hotel built 1890. Turn right to Barker St.
11. Next on the left is the former Rural Bank built in 1907. One of the most elaborate buildings in Casino. Note 1907 in the cartouche on the façade, upper storey bay windows, roof parapet and large rounded Art Deco window.
12. Next on right is the Casino Post Office built in 1879. Architect Walter Liberty Vernon. The upper floor post master’s residence was added in 1915. Georgian style rounded windows, double pillars perfect symmetry.
13. Next to it is the former Commercial Bank of Sydney the oldest bank opening in 1870. A two storey Greek classical building, triangular pediment and built in 1884 in front of the original Courthouse. The second Courthouse was built in 1882 on the corner of Walker and Richmond Streets.
Byron Bay. Population 9,300.
Captain James Cook sighted and named Cape Byron in May 1770 as he sailed past it. A couple of days later he named Mount Warning as the coast has dangerous rocks there for sailing ships. Cape Byron is the most easterly point of Australia. The Colonial Architect James Barnet designed the lighthouse in the 1870s but it was not proceeded with until 1899 when another architect designed a lighthouse for the cape. It was completed in 1901 at a cost of over £18,000 which would equate to millions of dollars these days. The lens with 760 pieces of prismatic glass reflected the light into the ocean from a six wick light. This was updated in 1922 and again in 1956 when the light was electrified. The lighthouse was fully automated in 1989 and the last lighthouse keeper left at that time. The white light can be seen 50 kms out to sea. In 1954 a new whaling station was built at Byron Bay to capture and process humpback whales. The whale oil was first used in the Australian margarine industry and the flesh was sold for livestock fodder. A quota of around 120 whales a year was set for the factory. The whaling station closed in 1962 and over those eight years 1,146 whales were slaughtered. Australia ceased all whaling in 1978. The old lighthouse keeper’s house built in 1899 is now a small museum. For those with time to spend you might see humpback whales on their annual migration northwards from Cape Byron, between June and November.
Although red cedar cutters went into the hinterland in the 1840s and 1850s permanent settlers as such did not begin to arrive until around 1870. The first white land purchaser arrived in 1881 and the town was not surveyed until 1883. Town land sales began in 1886 when the first postal service began, several stores and a hotel opened and the government began work on a jetty which was completed in 1888. The first official Post Office opened in 1888. The town grew and by 1890 the surrounding farmers were growing bananas, pineapples, corn and potatoes. They grazed cattle and soon had dairy herds. The railway from Casino reached its terminus here in 1894. In 1895 Norco opened a factory and cold storage facility to handle dairy and meat products. By 1925 Norco had the largest butter factory in Australia at Byron Bay. Sadly it closed in 1975 after Britain joined the European Common Market and vegetable oil based margarines entered the Australian market place in competition with butter. What you see in Byron Bay today is largely an early 20th century town. Although the railway from Casino closed decades ago the old tracks have been turned into a tourist railway. Fares are $8 for a return trip to north beach and they run hourly from 10:15 am using NSW carriages built from 1949 to 1970. A round trip with a 35 minute stop at North Beach takes just under an hour.
In the 1970s when Nimbin became popular with down-at-heal hippies Byron Bay went in a different direction and became popular with the wealthy escaping city life but still with people with an interest in the “alternate lifestyle”. Some celebrities including Paul Hogan, Elle MacPherson, Johnny Young and Olivia Newton-John have purchased properties here. Other artistic and literary people moved here too including Craig McGregor author of several novels and many social critiques of Australian society. The annual Blues and Roots Festival is the major music event of the northern rivers each year. The residents and politically green dominated Byron Shire Council has prevented Club Med from establishing here as well as McDonalds and other drive in take away food outlets. Buildings are limited to three storeys as the locals do not want any crass Gold Coast style development!