40 km South of Byron Bay on the Pacific Highway and the coast. Once upon a time there was a gold rush at Ballina. The gold ran out more than 100 years ago, and nothing of any great significance has happened here since. The only remnant of the gold rush is Shaw’s Bay Hotel, where drinking has continued uninterrupted since the first nugget was spent over the counter in the 1880s.

Nowadays Ballina is a popular holiday resort, occupying the island at the mouth of the Richmond River. It’s famous for its beaches and its bars. Both of these are renowned for their quantities of foam-topped liquid, which the surfers seem to enjoy in equal amounts.