Hi everyone,

Arrived in Byron Bay at lunchtime on Friday. Took us a while to find the hostel as it was above the dive centre! Spent the afternoon walking around Byron Bay and moaning about the weather, it was a little damp! Friday night we hit Byron Bay and had a bit of a drink and boozy.

We weren't so bight eyed and bushy tailed for our surf lesson at 8am on Saturday morning, and the weather didn't help to raise our spirits. Did the compulsary bit on the sand where you try and master the technique. Its one thing trying to do it on the sand, completely another on the water! The amount of times we got wiped out! I have to say the waves weren't the kindest to us! I think Lyd managed to get the futhest and actually stand up for longer than a few seconds. Rose really enjoyed it and I wasn't that impressed, don't think im the surfer kinda chick! Oh well another box ticked!

In the afternoon we changed hostels and moved to the arts factory, which is like a hippie villages a bit of a walk from the centre, its so cool. We are spending the next few nights sleeping in a teepee, how cool is that!

In the afternoon Lydia and I went whale watching, we can't get enough of them. Within half an hour we were spotting humpback whales. It was a little disappointing at first as it seemed that we were miles away, especially after our close encounter with the kayaks, but we weren't to be disappointed. Before long the mother we had been watching feeding her calf, started breaching, where they jump out the water, she did it 3 times, and then the calf started to do it too. It was amazing, apparently its something they commonly do after they have finished feeding. The afternoon continued and we must have seen over 20 whales at various distances from the boat. We had 2 futher close encounters though. The first was good enough, 2 fully grown whales, swam towards the boat and went straigh underneath us, bearing in ming we were in something a only a little bigger than a life boat and these guys are at least twice the length and weigh about 5 times more, it was pretty nail biting. The second time they came under the boat, it was a pod of whales, a calf, mother and we think a male, with 3 dolphins swimming infront of them. They swam towards us and got really damm close before they dived down under the boat, you could see the calf so clearly in the water as it just skimmed beneath the boat - breath taking! Definately worth every cent of the 75 dollars!

Saturday evening we just chilled at the hostel and had our first night sleeping in the teepee.

Love Hayley and Rose x