Arriving at the Nomads Art Factory hostel I had imagined it to be arty, hippy, easy going and lots of stuff to do. There were Aboriginal paintings and if you had $350 you could paint your self a didgeridoo (bit steep for backpackers). It was quite hippy like but also very cliquey with groups keeping to themselves and not much easy conversation. There was a brewery on site that claimed to brew British style ale... Brilliant!! I tried it at $4.00 (£3.00) for a half pint. It was nothing like any British ale I have every tasted, for a start it had bubbles!! eh?? After a morning of watching people surfing in the rain I caught a glimpse of some whales jumping and flipping further out to sea.

Byron Bay has many craft shops, surf shops and fancy coffee shops but it was mostly over priced and had a pretencious feel. I felt quite a few store holders were a little snooty and above their station. The pinnicle of this attitude was when I was in the tourist info and a wet and soggy couple asked if there were a McDonalds or Subway in Byron Bay and the lady behind the counter laughed in an exasberated way and then loudly told the couple that "no, no, we don't have places like that in Byron Bay". I felt so sorry for them. Not everyone was like this and I did find an amazing chinese dumpling stall.

The rain stayed for most of my 2 days at Byron Bay meaning that there was little else to do after I had been round the shops 2 or 3 times apart from read or draw. When the time came for my overnight bus to Sydney the bus stop contained 8 lairy middle aged drunks who were a little intimidating so I sheltered from the rain in a shop door way untill the happy site of the Premier coach was here.