Exotic foliage. Crystal-clear water. Empty white beaches. Bright-blue skies. Endless sunshine.

Northern New South Wales is a big, fat, subtropical, coconut-and turmeric-laced cliche of heavenliness.

Where else can you surf with dolphins in the middle of winter, climb to the most easterly point in Australia to watch migrating whales, hop on a naked-activist bike ride, and honour the Stillness of Being, all before lunch?

But what's it like to live here all year round? Is paradise all it's cracked up to be?

'To the eccentric world of Byron Bay, Valerie Morton brings a bemused and filmic eye. She blends wry wit with affection; acute observation with a dash of the macabre. You might think you're with the Coen Brothers sometimes, but you're really in the Australian bush, ancient home of the wonderful and freaky, close up with a cool, original and worldly guide.' Don Watson - author of The Bush- Travels in the Heart of Australia.