I spend another 3 days in Byron bay after the festival, getting to know the town and meeting some new people. I did sleep for about 15 hours before I was able to do anything. The next day I went around the hostel looking to find friends and people to talk to as I always do when I get to a new place. No luck. There didn't seem to be many people about, the weather wasn't great so al there seemed to do in Byron bay was shop. I know what your thinking not to bad a place for me to be but there wasn't a great selection of shops and most stocked the same surfer type stuff. That evening I was laying in bed reading my book as my luck of making some friends had not gone well when a crazy Irish girl came into the room and demanded that I go out. One that will never turn down the opportunity to drink with a new person got myself out of bed put shoes on and went and said on the beach with my new Irish friends and drank whisky J

I booked onto a tour to visit Nimbin the next day. Those that haven't travelled the east coast probably wont have heard of Nimbin. It is a place about an hour and half away from Byron bay that has a very high tolerance of weed. When I say very high I mean practically legal. Within 5 minutes of getting off the bus I was offered weed 3 times and cookies a few more. Needless to say the place was kind of lost on me but I met a girl that also felt the same as me. We soaked up the atmosphere, visited all the shops (brought some very cute one off craft pieces) went for lunch at the rainbow café, I was concerned about ordering a smoothie as I was aware of some of the magic milkshakes that were available but everything went fine. We then retired to the pub for the remaining hour in the town. It was a real eye opener when a lady walked into a shop and said "I just cant concentrate today I have not had enough cones" I had to walk out the shop because I couldn't stop myself from laughing. The girl that I had met was lovely and after the tour we went for a drink at the brewery next door so that I could try all the different types of beer that they had on offer. We then sat in the hostel and watched the talent contest that was put on at the hostel. The music was surprisingly good, usually these things result in a lot of drunk people attempting to sing but not in the Acts Factory, a place that prides itself on the acceptance of artists and creative people.

The next day I had a dive booked for about 11am, I was really excited as this would be my first dive in a long while. An hour before my dive I got a text to tell me that the dive was cancelled due to weather conditions. So I ended walking along the beach with a girl in my dorm, we visited the lighthouse and completed a 6km walk. Then it was time to get things sorted for the bus to Surfers Paradise.

Arrived in Surfers paradise and was met at the bus station with a stretch limo. Yes you heard correctly the hostel I had booked came with a stretch limo but that is as good as it sounds. The driver was a young English lad that came in the exit and abandoned the car in between 2 bus parking spaces. Impressed and slightly embarrassed I put my bag in the back of the car. My driver also informed me that this was his first time driving the car, my response…."really? never would have guessed!" He was also the rep for the pub crawl that was on that evening. Never one to turn down a good party I joined the party, made friends by walking up to a group of girls and said "Hi, can I please be your friends for the evening" The night was brilliant and Surfers paradise sure does no how to party. The night clubs are huge, busy and with a great atmosphere and it was only a Wednesday! The next day I met up with Kev and he showed me around some of the local attractions taking me to a waterfall in the hinterlands. That evening was followed by more drinking…well what else do you do in a place where everyone tells you to party? The beaches in Surfers paradise are beautiful, surrounded by high rise buildings and I was told that it is similar to Miami. I don't know if that is true but was certainly an experience that I had not had before.

Saturday was here and it was time to party again, this time in Brisbane. I was going to meet up with Niamh and some of her friends for a party Brisbane style J We of course stayed in the centre of town and went out in fortitude valley (where I usually stay in Brisbane). The night was a very good night, started off with some good old fashioned goon drinking.

Sunday was back to Noosa. I hadn't seen Danny, Britt, Chelsea, Gabby, Corey, Nate and Zac for so long it was good to spend the afternoon there. I was also surprised to find out I now had my own room at the bottom of the garden. My own space complete with ping pong table.

The next few weeks passed without too much drama and then of course it was my birthday. I had a fantastic day, I woke up to a million messages from my mum and sister, Skyped my mum first thing then headed to the beach for a early morning walk along the beach (just because I could on my birthday). Then I headed to the spa for the day. I had booked myself in for a complete pamper day as I was determined I would not work on my birthday. When I got home Chelsea and Gabby had banned me from going in the house, they were busy cooking dinner for me. When I was allowed in, the house was decorated with balloons, the dining room table had place mats and settings were all ready. They had cooked me roast chicken and beef with roast vegetables. It was amazing. After dinner we lit some sparklers and played outside. Then it was time for cake, chocolate cake and ice cream cake. Then (yes there was another then) we had party bags with lollies J It was so nice to have a family birthday again and made a brilliant change.