The blue skies and sunny days of winter have been phenomenal. With beautiful weather on our mind, a couple weeks ago we woke up feeling like an adventure, so we jumped in the car and headed down to Byron for a day full of market shopping, sunshine and good food.
Byron Bay never disappoints, and market day brings out the hippy in everyone, with the smell of incense, DIY tie-dye, dream catchers and fisherman pants for as far as the eye can see.
We had to make a stop for coffee at our favourite, Bay Leaf, and were excited to find that they have maintained their top notch coffee we remembered from our last visit (so much so that we came back for another during the afternoon). It is also the perfect spot to sit and watch the world go by, so that’s what we did!
We finished off the afternoon with a relax on the grass at the beach, eating some delicious felafel and people watching, while fending off the seagulls. It was a fabulous afternoon to forget our responsibilities, books and to-do lists and get out and enjoy life!
Photos from: my camera
Despite officially being part of the hotel lobby, the design is fantastic in that the cafe area has been fitted in dark wood and fixtures, so that it feels cozy and separate from the hotel that is decked out in light marble.
The menu looked appetising and really reasonably priced, contrary to what I was expecting for the location.
But we didn’t sample the main meals as the real reason we were there was for the coffee. The Food Store use beans from Toby’s Estate, which are arguably the best in Australia, and the barista treated them with the respect that they deserved, producing an excellent coffee.
We couldn’t resist having a little treat to go with it, and were very impressed by the mini-lemon meringue pie, so much so that I think we both regretted sharing it! What a delicious (and beautiful) little thing!
A fabulous start to our holidays and our first taste of a week of freedom, we would certainly recommend checking out The Food Store, particularly if you are already in Surfers and don’t have to drive in and find a park. Despite getting caught in a massive storm on the huge walk back to our car (Surfers definitely isn’t known for its ease of parking) – it was well worth the trip and we will be back to sample the menu at some stage soon.
Within a stones throw of the beach and outside of the craziness of the main strip, Elk is a favourite with the locals. Great coffee, fabulous food and above all an inviting atmosphere make Elk a place we will keep coming back to.
Despite the fact that we had a table of 10, the service was fantastic, the people were friendly and it was a warm and cozy spot to shelter away from the wild weather.
After seeing a picture on a friend’s Facebook, I couldn’t go past the spring tasting plate – even though the weather was more reminiscent of autumn. 
Before we left, we couldn’t go past a treat from ‘The Wicked Waffle’. We just had to revisit the flavours of one of our favourite treats from the Netherlands, 