So the coastal journey had began!
Our first stop was Byron Bay which is a 12 hour bus journey North of Sydney!

We arrived at 11am and the weather was extremely hot and muggy the humidity was very high and mozzies were everywhere, it had rained over night! We checked in and were shown to our shack which had 8 other people in. It was cute :) we were back into the swing of hostel living!!

We immediately made friends with a Canadian guy- Andrew and then another English girl- Neesha which we're staying in our dorm and we headed to the beach to meet their friends another Canadian girl- Mel and a German guy- forgot his name haha.

We chilled at the beach before heading for a trek to the most easterly point of Australia- The Byron Bay Lighthouse. It was a strenuous trek in our flipflops but we made it in less than an hour and enjoyed the fantastic views!! I got to try out my new Garmin watch too which was thrilling! Afterwards we all tucked into a dominoes as it was 2 for $10 they went down a treat after not eating all day!! We grabbed some goon (cheap boxed wine) and headed back to shower etc and play drinking games. We had so much fun getting to know one another we didn't even make it out we sat and shared travelling stories till the early hours. We must of had around 20 people in our dorm at one point!

On the 26th we decided as a small group to visit Nimbin, a small town in the valleys of NSW that is home to the craziest street you'll ever visit. It's stuck in the 60's and filled with groups of people that believe cannabis should be made legal. Police decide to turn a blind eye as it stays within that area and let these people carry on as they are harming only themselves and have been renown to protest and cause trouble if disturbed.
We were amazed at the sights and the museum that voices their opinions! A lot of people approached us to purchase cannabis but we visited a local coffee shop instead and tried a pack of herby cookies! They tasted strange and had little affect apart from making us sleep on the hour bus journey home. We spoke to a local and he told us some fascinating stories about local traditions like the mardi grass festival that no one wears clothes and smokes pot, dancing in the streets and fields!! A little different to Reading Festival anyway haha!!

Ed and I cooked up something easy- pasta and we ate together as a group it was lovely. We then formed a group for the trivia evening and had a fun night answering general knowledge questions for all countries around the world, which was fun. We then relaxed in the dorm and watched an episode of breaking bad on a tablet of which we are now itching to pursue watching.

The next day was such bad weather we were so unhappy as we could hardly leave the hostel. So Ed and I started talking to a lady at the hostel and she helped plan with us our plans up the coast and start booking everything of which she managed to get us a fantastic deal that meant accommodation worked out to be around $10 a night!! We were chuffed and happy things were booked as we no longer had to worry about a thing and just turn up!

When the rain cleared Catriona and Emma two English girls I had befriended walked into town with me to use the wifi. Ed came along and we took a wander around the shops and got groceries for the next few days. We planned to have another night drinking and playing card games as the rain was far too heavy to leave the hostel. The girls had blow dryers and straighteners which was thrilling so we done our hair and had girly time whilst Ed went and chilled with the boys he had met and befriended. We had fun and ordered pizza as we got hungry late and chilled out another great night. The first guy to fall asleep in our room got doodled on by the girls which was funny but brutal!

Another rainy day in Byron! We said bye to Neesha after having breakfast together and chilled in our room. We grabbed some food from the free food shelf and tucked in together. As we sat there it was a miracle the rain stopped and we practically ran down to the beach altogether. We had fun relaxing and I got to start my new book- The Wolf of Wall Street, Marnie gave me!!

We went out but beforehand played a few funny drinking games before leaving which amused us. Again our room was filled with new people and we had a fun night at the famous cheeky monkeys club where you can only dance on the tables! Afterwards we visited the famous pie shop that were amazing the Aussies sure know how to make a pie!!

On the 29th we packed our things, showered and checked out to head to Surfers Paradise. We arrived just after lunch time and regained an hour as we were now in the Gold Coast Queensland which don't use daylight saving so we are now only 9 hours difference to back home, Yey!

We checked in and left our bags. The hostel was so cool like an apartment where 8 people share a kitchen, balcony and living area. A lot of people were in our room and not very welcoming but Ed and I were excited the weather was great again and we had plans to meet my school friend Collette and her boyfriend.

We met them at the beach and enjoyed the sun and had a dip of which was so much warmer than the sea down in NSW. After the sun had set we grabbed BBQ essentials and enjoyed a BBQ on the beach, it was soooo yummy and great to catch up!! We then went to see where Marcus and Collette were living which was really sweet similar to what we had in Sydney and we enjoyed a few bottles of wine together with some yummy discounted doughnuts! We spontaneously decided to head to the beach for a late night dip and a stroll watching the stars it was lovely. The guys walked us home to help with our bearings which really isn't too far from theirs.

The 30th of March- Happy Mother's Day! We found wifi and made sure we wished you both a lovely day. We headed into the city and rented bikes as we had planned a day with Marcus and Collette showing us around the area.

We chilled at theirs for a bit and watched a film and ate lunch together before hopping on our bikes and heading 10km up the coast to view the city from the spit. The views were amazing and we visited various spots along the way like the harbour, the Versace hotel and sea world. It was so peaceful and lovely a lot nicer than the centre of town that was so touristy!! On the way back we enjoyed a cold cider at a cool harbour bar which we definitely needed after all the heat!
We got back to surfers enjoyed a dip in the sea together before heading back to shower. Marcus and Collette took us to a local Thai restaurant they love. It was delicious and the staff were fantastic and entertaining, we took our own alcohol and had a merry evening of course on a low budget!!

We still had our bikes on rent till lunch time so awoke early and biked another 10km towards burleigh heads! We could see the NSW boarder it was gorgeous. We enjoyed a swim our picnic and a sunbathe and headed 10km back. Once we returned the bikes we went and done exciting grocery shopping, unloaded things back home and then headed back down the beach for an hour and a mooch around the seaside shops. I checked wifi and Dad had sent some lovely pictures of Mother's Day lunch back home which was nice. When we returned newbies had checked in and we instantly hit it off with two German girls and a Swedish couple. We cooked separately but enjoyed dinner together. That night we stayed up chatting and Ed and I were so tired we headed to bed fairly early. One room in the apartment slept 3 but they brought in 10 more that slept on sofas etc and didn't pay rent. This evening they decided to have a party at 3am and kept so many people up, of course Ed and I just slept through it haha!!

The next morning Ed and I decided to wake up early (5am) for sunrise. We made our way down to the beach and it was spectacular, one of the best I've seen. When we got back we went back to bed as we were so tired, but when we awoke at a normal hour we sat together and ate breakfast and were livid to find they had stolen some of our food and drink. Ed had treated himself to fresh orange juice and they had finished it and left the empty carton! Anyway we left for the beach as a group and lay on the white sand till late afternoon. We decided to eat together again and tonight head out and see the nightlife. We got ready, ate and played drinking games. The room that had rude individuals in brought more people back. For an apartment that was meant to only hold 9 people we had around 25 people which made it tough to find cups for drinking. The Swiss couple had had enough and went and complained as one of the girls had had her phone now stolen too, the hostel were livid and tried to get them to leave but they wouldn't so the police had to come and remove them. They were not happy with us haha but we headed out and enjoyed drinks at the beer garden and clubliv the evening was really fun and of course ended with a pie!!

Feeling worse for wear the next morning we planned to stay at the beach. As the unwanted housemates got kicked out in a hurry they left all their food and as everyone was checking out Ed and I cashed in, we were VERY happy!! They left expensive hair clippers which we returned to the reception but kept their copious amounts of food- yum!! We spent the day relaxing on the beach and headed back fairly early as the sun was scorching!! We waved off the couple and the girls and napped and enjoyed a few nibbles before showering and getting ready to go see the Gold Coast parade. It was a lovely show with children around the area singing and dancing and it finished with a fantastic firework display in the middle of the ocean which we watched on the beach!! We met Collette and Marcus and had a mooch around the stalls etc before heading back. We had plans to cook up a storm with our free food. To apologise for what had happened the hostel left our apartment empty so Ed and I enjoyed a night relaxing enjoying spaghetti bolognese yum yum!! We had so much we had enough for dinner tomorrow night too :)

The next morning we decided spontaneously we would climb the Q1 building which is one of the tallest buildings in the Southern Hemisphere the views were incredible way up there and we only had a small group so the guide let us hang from the edge which was scary!! After our thrilling morning we headed to Collette's as she had the day off and we enjoyed a lay on the beach which was lovely!! We said goodbyes to meet later as we planned farewell drinks at ours. We ate and got ready and they arrived, they were intrigued to see what hostel living was like and were pleasantly surprised!! We had a lovely evening on the balcony drinking and talking and once it got late said our final farewell :( they were great hosts and showed us the best parts of Surfers- thanks Cols!!

On the 4th of April (Beth's birthday) I knew Beth had planned her skydive so wanted to check on wifi how she got on! She had an amazing time which makes me feel better about doing mine in a months time eek!!

We used up a lot of our food and said goodbye to sunny surfers paradise and headed for the greyhound coach to travel up to Brisbane!! The drive was only a couple of hours.

Keep checking to here more of our adventures......