Having spent a week in Brisbane, we left feeling very refreshed having done a tonne of washing and eating a heap load of pasta and sauce (to save money)!!! The morning we were picked up we were told we were about to go Zorbing, it was then we wished we had missed out on brekkie!! Zorbing is basically a huge plastic ball filled with air and there is a whole in the middle where you go along with a load of water and soap.You then get pushed down a hill and proceed to slide all over the shop, very entertaining! After a stomach churning morning we arrived in Surfer's Paradise, which surprisingly probably wasn't a paradise for surfers as there was no waves. We spent a few days bumming around and then made our way to Byron Bay. On the way to Byron we stopped at the town of Nimbin, which is famous for being populated by pot smoking hippies! Luckily for us when we got there they were having an annual Madi "Grass" , ha get it!! The place was full of stoned folk waving banners and they then proceeded to have a parade down the main street where they all rallied to try and get cannabis legalized! Very entertaining afternoon. On leaving the town after a few hours the bus got pulled over by the cops and they let the drug dogs on to try and find any naughty people. One lad got pulled off but they couldn't find anything on him (only coz the driver got everyone to put it in the luggage trailer as they never check it)!!! We spent a few days in Byron, went on a walk to the most easterly point in Oz and then had a drink in the pub Mick Dundee, yup the croc hunter himself used to own! After leaving Byron we boarded our last Oz Experience bus which would take us to Sydney stopping off at a few places so we could have some surf lessons!! Aaaaarrrrrr!! That afternoon we had a lesson about the ocean and dangerous things to look out for (even sharks). Then it was into the water for our first surfing lesson ever! After a few hours and a stomach full of salty water we both managed to stand up , Dan better than me but it was awesome fun! That night we had a few tins around the fire and went to bed ready for the next mornings surfing. (Actually I was taken coz I had a few too many)!! Next morning having a hazy head we headed for the waves and tried our best but it just seemed too hard, and when your not feeling top having salty water up your nose is not funny! We still had a wicked experience tho and it will be something we both want to try again soon. Shame the UK seas are too damn cold! Having left the surf camp we headed to Barrington where we were treated to proper pizza oven pizza's and a hot tub for the evening. Next morning- SYDNEY!! Arriving in Sydney for the second time was quite sad as we knew we were leaving Oz after 3 1/2 months, but I also knew it would be ace as Bex and Jane were coming out!!! Seeing familiar faces after soooo long was really weird but it seemed like we had never been away, and we blessed our first meeting by enjoying a few down the pub!! The weather in Sydney was a tad unpredictable but we tried to make the most of it and the girls were trying to go home a shade darker than they arrived, but it got a bit chilly from time to time. We went to Darling Harbour and had a tour around the inside of the Opera House, went to the Blue Mountains and spent the afternoon in the sea trying to body board!! We also had a few nights out too, sampling the Aussie grog and on the last day we went to the horse races which was cool and me, Dan and Bex even won some dosh but Jane just liked to bet on the 100-1 nags as it was more exciting- she never won tho!! Next time J!! The 2 weeks seemed to fly by and it was time for the girls to go :( after a sad farewell we realised we were back in 12 weeks, and also we would be in New Zealand before they had even left Oz! Cheers for a fab 2 weeks guys, it meant a lot to us to see some familiar faces xxxxxx