We came to Byron Bay for the sea: miles of sandy beaches that slope so gently that we can stand in waist-deep water fifty yards from the tide line. Water so warm we can swim in it all day. We could have spent weeks in our coastal cottage.

But our friends told us our visit wouldn’t be complete without a drive through what they call the hinterlands. A mile or two inland, and everything changes.

The first thing that changed was road conditions. While much of Australia is suffering major droughts (with accompanying wildfires), here on the East coast we’re getting record rains dumped on us. Floodwaters cover roads and fields.

Climb into the coastal mountains and the roads are clear. Everything else is wet though, including us. Our friends describe this region as rain forest. How can it be anything else?

Mysterious driveways lead off through ferns and palms. People live somewhere back there.

Epiphytes cling profusely to trees. When I think about how hard I tried to get a stag horn fern to grow on my lime tree...

Children live here too. A rustic shed protects them from the elements while they wait for the school bus.

Dropping down out of the mountains, we come to rolling pastureland and lonely houses nestled in folds of the land. This one has a creek running through the front yard.

And it has more. Look closer. The back yard boasts a fifty-foot waterfall!

Along the road, small villages appear unexpectedly: here the town of Uki. We found the name humorous: the ooky café, the ooky grocery store... Turns out it’s pronounced YOOK-eye.

Uki by all rights should be a farm town with a grain elevator and a general store. But it’s actually a sophisticated community with new age touches. Our lunch at the Uki café included a pumpkin, avocado and macademia nut salad. (Macademia nuts are grown here and are cheap.) Laura is here enjoying a flat white (that’s what Australians call a coffee drink much like a cappuccino).

So where’s the best part of the Byron Shire for living? Mountains or coast?

It’s all so pleasing, so scenic, so inviting. There’s country life, jungle life, or beach life. And Australia’s third largest city, Brisbane, is less than an hour to the North.

I couldn’t possibly choose. Fortunately, I don’t have to.