Leaving Sydney behind we jumped aboard the (very late) Oz Bus bound for Surf Camp, our first stop! The people who work there are just what you imaging the stereotypical Australian surfer to be, bleached blonde, tanned and very, very laidback. The evening was spent drinking 'Passion Pop' (Fizzy cheap wine, lovely) and chatting whilst being entertained by a busload of Oz Drivers in training, acoustic guitar, harmonica and didgeridoo and all, great fun.

The following morning, bright and early at 6, we head out for our surf lesson. We had a three hour lesson and were taught about safety in the water and surfing 'technique'. I think the technique element was pretty lost on me as I kept tumbling and tumbling into the water, after about an hour of this and at the edge of getting very stroppy, as everyone else was standing, I finally managed to ride a wave, for 3 seconds, until face planting yet again, all good fun! I spent the remainder of the day fooling myself into thinking that I would have another lesson the next day, however when I woke up to find that I couldn't lift my arm above my head due to the efforts of the previous day, the enthusiasm left me.

Onto Byron Bay we went and arrived at the Holiday Backpackers Village across from what would appear to be the world famous, Cheeky Monkeys party bar. We had met a really good group on the bus and that evening we all went into the bar for food, drink and some dancing on the tables!

Byron Bay is lovely, very relaxed calmed atmosphere to it. The days mainly comprised of going to the beach, attempting to get a tan, eating in Cheeky Monkeys and drinking 'goon' at the hostel, just what was needed after being on the move for a while! On the penultimate day there we decided that we should do something at least a little productive so off we went to the famous lighthouse at the most easterly point of the Australian mainland, the lighthouse was built in 1901 and is a really cute little building. The views of the bay from here are really lovely and we decided to sit there and have lunch and some lovely yummy Hokey Pokey ice-cream! We also found a few cute little beach bays along the way that were a lot quieter so we enjoyed an afternoon of sunbathing there before returning to yes, cheeky monkeys, for some cheap eats and free champagne, result!

Really enjoyed Byron Bay, its certainly one of those places where you could think 'ah i will just stay a little longer' and find the days passing very quickly, really friendly town where backpackers and normal 'Holidaymakers' coexist nicely.