The Road South and Sydney.

After a week of parties upon finishing in the pub, concluding with a cracking BBQ and wild night, it was time to leave Brisbane and head south to Sydney. We decided to have two days in Byron Bay, in north NSW, for a party in Cheeky Monkeys and some relaxing in the chilled out, hippy town. It was our second time in Byron after a mad weekend which included falling painfully from one of the tables that make up the dance floor and then getting thrown around in the waves trying to surf and body board. There was a surprise there for me as well...Grant had come down for one night for one last party before we headed off. That was fantastic. Byron is a really cool place, totally chilled with no sign of commercialisation anywhere, not a McDonalds or Burger King in sight, just really nice restaurants and bars. The Lighthouse is also the most easterly point of the Aussie mainland (just in case you wanted to know). It was then on to Sydney. We thought it would be a good idea to break up the journey with a stop in a beach town called Woolgoolga. It probably would have been had it not poured with rain for the whole time we were there. Class bar there though (Seaview Hotel) with $10 steaks and open mic on a Thursday. The bus arrived in Sydney in the morning and I must admit, it was pretty cool driving over the Harbour Bridge with the Opera House on one side and Darling Harbour on the other. Sydney is class, 6 days there was never enough time, there is lots and lots to do. Yeah theres the Opera House and the Bridge and its definitely best to see them and the skyline from the ferry coming back from Manly (pretty cool itself and apparently named by Captain Phillip after the "Manly" Aboriginies who lived there), but there is museums and art galleries galore, beaches where you can spend a day, aquariums and zoos, cool pubs where you can sit on the street with a beer and much more that I dont know about Im sure. The diversity of the city is incredible as well. People there from all over the world. You can have Greek one night, Thai the next, Italian or just plain Aussie after that. It is one of the most mulicultural cities I have visited and it is pretty fun cause of that. The nightlife there is class as well...We partied pretty hard with Mikes friend Shoena (who very kindly put us up for the week) and her friend Gemma and had a couple of mad nights. Kings Cross is an experience itself, full of hookers and junkies but with all the best bars and clubs its the place to go. Had a really good time in Sydney but ready to go and start the adventure round South America and after a 6 hour delay due to the ash cloud (at least we flew this time) it was off to Buenos Aires.

P.S Big thanks to Grant, Heli, Hazel and all of the Meys for being so hospitable and making our time in Brisbane so good. Really appreciate everything that was done for us and all the great times we had.

P.P.S Australia turned out to be a pretty good place. We travelled and also called Brisbane home for 7 months and both aspects of life in Oz were pretty sweet. On a final note, if you go to Australia and only have time to do one thing, make it Fraser Island (try and get your own 4x4) and enjoy all the beauty and thrills that the place has to offer.