They say that getting there is half of the journey… but it's not ideal when that journey involves a Greyhound bus for 12 hours that breaks down if it rains, and it's raining!After limping into Coffs Harbour the bus finally conked out and the driver left us all in McDonalds until a replacement could be found.Luckily that only took a few hours, but I was so grateful to be off the bus by the time we reached Byron!

Byron Bay is chilled to the moon and back (description courtesy of David from Toulouse).I am staying in the Arts Factory which has teepees, camping (some people have been there for 9 years and takes camping to a completely new level!) as well as dorms.The hostel is really friendly and there is a great vibe.It's pretty easy to while away the days chilling on the powder white sandy beach or playing in the crystal clear water or even just hanging out at the hostel pool.I have managed to hike up to the lighthouse at the most easterly point of mainland Australia with great views over the bay and take a couple of yoga classes - how very Byron…Walking down the beach the other day I was following someone's footprints in the sand when I noticed something odd about the right foot.On closer inspection I saw that the reason why was because it had 6 toes!!!Thankfully I couldn't see the perpetrator around!

Today was fairly action packed with a dive first thing on the Julian Rocks Marine Park.Conditions around the rocks were really varied but we saw numerous large leopard sharks and some big rays amongst the more usual stingrays and eels - a great first dive on mainland Australia!This afternoon I went kayaking around the bay, not only was paddling through the surf lots of fun we saw heaps of turtles and then when diving I saw another shark and a couple more small stingrays.As the nightlife is pretty good in Byron, and after a quiet night last night chilling at the hostel, I think I'll probably hit the town again tonight with some people that I have met from the hostel.Fairly early start again tomorrow to head up to Noosa - keep your fingers crossed for me that this bus makes it!