Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez was not overly affected by alcohol the night he vanished in Byron Bay, an inquest into his disappearance has heard.
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European backpackers who met Theo on the evening of May 31, 2019 have given evidence of an otherwise ordinary night that started at a youth hostel and moved onto a popular bar in the coastal town.
The 18-year-old traveller went missing after being ejected from the Cheeky Monkey's bar and making his way to Tallow Beach, before his phone lost signal at around 1am.
The two-week inquest is probing why he walked towards Tallow Beach and what may have befallen him there.
Theo was staying at the Wake Up! hostel in Byron Bay, where a dozen or more backpackers gathered that evening for a barbecue.
Dutch man Alexander Stadegaard was among them. He was introduced to Theo by another Belgian backpacker before the group decided to head into town for more fun.
Asked whether people at the barbecue were affected by alcohol, Mr Stadegaard said people were drinking, but "just normal things".
"If people were drinking very much or very strong alcohol I would have remembered but I didn't, it was just very normal," he said.
When the group moved on to Cheeky Monkey's at around 9pm, Mr Stadegaard said he didn't notice anything about Theo that suggested he might be affected by alcohol.
The two talked about European politics at the bar, he said.
Also with the group was German woman Annika Wachter. Like Mr Stadegaard, she gave evidence to the NSW Coroners Court by video-link from her home country.
"No one was really drunk" when the group caught a shuttle bus from the hostel to Cheeky Monkey's, she said.
She did not observe Theo being unsteady on his feet at all when they entered the bar, she said.
Neither Mr Stadegaard nor Ms Wachter knew at the time that a security guard kicked Theo out of the bar at around 11pm after concluding that he was drunk.
When he left the bar, Google data shows Theo looked up the route back to the Wake Up! hostel.
For unknown reasons, however, he began to walk in the opposite direction. He paused at some cricket nets, then walked through a dark and difficult bushland track to reach the beach.
The police theory is that he eventually tried to climb some beachside cliffs, perhaps to reach the famous lighthouse, fell, and was washed away.
Both Mr Stadegaard and Ms Wachter were asked whether they recalled discussing the lighthouse that night.
Neither did.
The inquest continues.
Australian Associated Press