Ant arrived in Brisbane on 12th March, 2 days before Dave and James were due to descend. This gave Ant ample opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep after his 5am starts, as well as aclimatise to the new cityscape. Come the 14th, Dave and James staggered in from Cairns delighted to be met with overcast but dry weather.

Soon after the 3 travellers were reunited, food was once again top of the agenda. Having explored Brisbane over the previous 2 days, Ant had a good grounding in the geography of takeaway outlets across the city. However, James' stomach and patchy memory from the coach ride in took us into the sleepy Chinatown district and away from the Western food outlets he was craving. Having rerouted to the city centre after an hour detour, James stood a weak and disconsolate figure, only to find a new lease of life at the sight of a Subway. Having spent the rest of the day exploring, we soon realised that Brisbane was a very commercial city lacking in character and tourist appeal. The most interesting part of our explorations was noticing the damage the recent floods had done to the city, particularly to the scenic boardwalk along the banks of the Brisbane River.

In such a dull city, the next day was spent plotting our route out of Brisbane down to Sydney, including booking our bus tickets to Byron Bay. We also happened to notice a "traditional British pub", the Pig 'N' Whistle, which served up large helpings of football on TV, something that had been missing from our lives since we left Asia. After a swift pint we headed back to the hostel for the evening's entertainment, Bogan Bingo.

A early start for the bus was made even earlier by Dave and James who decided to get up at 5.30am to watch the champions league matches between Man United and Marseille as well as Bayern Munich against Inter Milan at the aforementioned Pig 'N' Whistle. After this healthy portion of footy and following an equally healthy portion of McDonald's breakfast, we caught the bus down to Byron Bay. Along the way we passed through a town called Coolangatta, a place we know only for it's terrible irony. Frankie Boyle would have been proud of the indecency of the name of one of the restaurants we passed whilst driving down the main high street: Tsunami Japanese Dining.

Upon arriving in Byron Bay, we were greeted by a friend from Cairns walking down the street past our bus. This was not the first and nor was it to be the last time we would meet up with past acquaintances, one of the many great things about travelling. We dumped our bags down in our hostel, Backpackers Holiday Village and got ready to take the long arduous walk all the way across the road to Cheeky Monkeys Bar for our free evening meal and a few light beverages. This was to be our favourite haunt in Byron Bay in the evenings as it was literally stumbling distance from our hostel.

Our first full day in Byron was spent on the beach, making the most of more light cloud and mild temperatures. James briefly darted towards Dominos only to be halted by the healing hands of hippies. After minor back pain throughout the trip they stopped him asking if his name was James and told him they were there to help him out as he was on their 'list'. Minutes later, James came bounding down the beach like a gazelle, free from aches and pains and contemplating life's unanswered questions.

The following day we hired bikes from the hostel in order to cycle up to the lighthouse and most easterly point of Australia. En route, we stopped off at Hertz to check on prices of hiring cars and campervans down to Sydney. We were informed that the cheapest available was a small car at AU$90 a day with a AU$350 relocation fee. We thanked the gentleman for his help and scurried away very quickly. With the prospect of getting a bus to Sydney looming large we nipped into Thrifty on the off chance their prices were drastically different. We were delighted to find that they had a campervan available for a total price of $155 for 5 days, something that even took the saleswoman by surprise! With this remarkable deal done, we headed up to Cape Byron Lighthouse very chuffed with ourselves. After a very long cycle up the hill we realised that the many takeaways and lack of exercise over the last couple of months may have taken it's toll on our previously ripped bodies. Puffing and sweating buckets we were rewarded with great views along the peninsular and a brief glimpse of dolphins swimming close to the rocks. The best was yet to come though. Ant pulled off the best timer photo of the holiday to date with a masterpiece involving the lighthouse, window ledge acrobatics and a short sprint to get into position. The bewildered public looked on in wonderment as the photo was perfected once again without the use of outside help. A good days work came to a close with Ant's baptism of goon and another trip to the infamous Cheeky Monkeys.

Saturday was set to be another beach day as a game of sandball was long overdue, so despite the light drizzle we headed onto the very quiet beach to get our fill. Ant's poor run of form continued whilst James and Dave continued to excel on the big stage, battling it out for the ultimate prize. After yet another night in our favourite Byron establishment, we decided to sample somewhere different on the Sunday. The evening kicked off with a cultural feast as Ant and James headed off to see the future Glastonbury headliners, Tim Stokes and the 2 Strokes. After returning to top up on goon to make for a cheaper night, we headed to the $64 million redevelopment of the Beach Hotel, impressively topped off with a Jaws style plastic shark. After a great nights entertainment, each of us headed to our respective takeaway stores where we had become well known. James got his final kebab, Ant his final hot dog and Dave his final pie from the bakery that unfortunately only opened for 23 hours a day.

Come Monday morning, it was time to depart Byron on our drive to Sydney. Having requested a change in campervan from our allocated luminous pink number, we drove to the 'Yard' where it appeared sick campervans went to recuperate. This theory was supported when our second campervan, a non-pink and well-appointed machine, appeared to be nursing a coma as there were no signs of life from the engine. Finally we were upgraded to a premium camper that got us the luxury of a working engine and even air conditioning, but didn't extend far enough to warrant an intact windscreen. With everything appearing sorted, the saleswoman left us to get on the road. This proved slightly difficult as the van had no petrol in it whatsoever. Thankfully, a helpful Aussie mechanic from the "Yard" was on hand to provide us with enough petrol to crawl to the nearest fuelling station. After this very stressful and traumatic morning, we took solace once again in comfort food. This time it was a Dominos that came to our aid and once our heartrates reached an acceptable level for driving, we were finally underway on our drive south to Sydney.

Ant, Dave and James