Soggy but spirited

Julietta Jameson finds the right accommodation can make a rainy break perfect.

Rain was teeming in the already sodden Byron shire. With Huey delivering a lemon of a weekend, what else was there to do but make lemonade? Our accommodation was at the18-month-old East on Byron, across a quiet road from Belongil Beach and 500 metres from Byron Bay township by sand.

It's a part-residential, part-holiday apartment complex with that things-of-stone-and-wood, open-plan neutrality architects favour these days. Not that there's anything wrong with that. These apartments are built for living, not just staying, and the vibe is homely and relaxing. Forced indoors with the out-of-action Wi-Fi rendering the laptop useless, we were happy to hang out in the apartment with puzzles and books.

At night, when I took to the caramel-carpeted white-walled main bedroom with its plantation shutters and fluffy pillows, louvre windows let in the sounds of the bucketing rain, the ocean crashing, and frogs and gekkos chirping in the Belongil Creek bushland out the back. I woke from a restful sleep before seven to take a long walk along a rainy, abandoned stretch of glorious Byron shire beach.

The helpful and cheery management had put us in the Belongil bungalow, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom (both with tubs) sprawl that also included a study with a good quality fold-out sofa so the whole place could sleep six. There was a well-equipped kitchen and two six-seater dining tables, one inside and one out.

The outdoor area had a good barbecue and there was a fairly sizeable private garden planted with native flora featuring a lap pool with a plunge area up one end. Other apartments at East on Bryon have use of a lagoon pool in the communal garden.

There were two plasma TVs, one in the living room, another in the study. The temptation was to stay put my entire stay. But a girl's gotta eat. The Byron Bay town centre is a gentle walk up the beach from East, or a pleasant 15-minute amble on roads. We headed to the Byron Beach cafe, which has been sitting in the scrub at Clarke's Beach forever. New owners have spruced it up - though it's still a classic beachside cafe where you can be comfortable wandering in off the sand. It features casually classy food, an interesting wine list and a view to die for.

I downed half a dozen Sydney rock oysters and a plate of salmon cakes with a fennel and caper salad accompanied by a refreshing cranberry and mint leaves drink while watching beach life go by.

We walked back down the sand and, by the time we hit town, it was pouring again. It seemed like a good excuse to exercise my inner hippie; when in Byron, do as the Byronians do . . . I ducked into a New Age store for a half-hour reading of the tarot. Then it was home to a massage from mobile masseuse Bethanie, who put some Miles Davis on the apartment's entertainment system and worked magic with a combination of Hawaiian, shiatsu and reflexology techniques. I was out for the count by 9.30pm, dreaming of the big change that was in the tarot cards.