We joined the Oz Experience bus last week and headed up the coast - our first stop was in Coffs Harbour which was about a 9 hour drive away. Not as unbearable as it sounds, and there was good music playing on the radio. I was happy. It's a quiet little town on the coast, Mike had wanted to fish so we got up early and hired one of the hostels free rods. This was where we should have stopped and taken stock. If it's free, that means it's rubbish.

So after about 40 minutes of trying - he gave up trying to make the rod function properly and headed back to the hostel. We thought we'd try our luck with the free bikes. Again. Mistake. Bearly down the driveway I am suddenly aware that my hands are round my ankles. It appears that the handlebars don't lock into place. Not people to be dissuaded easily we made a quick fix option and carried on. It soon became apparent that this wasn't going to work, so the bikes were abandoned and good old fashioned walking was put into place to explore the rest of the area.

We rejoined the bus later that afternoon to continue on our way up to 'Spot X' and the Mojo Surf School, where we had a 3 hour free surf lesson. As I may have mentioned earlier, I sink. So I wasn't overly looking forward to attempting to balance on a small board of balsa. Now, I cannot pretend to have been any good. I wasn't. But - I didn't drown and left with my dignity still intact. May even give it another attempt one day (once the bruising on my knees has disappeared). I also know why you don't have fat surfers, every muscle in my body hurts.

We quickly moved further up to Byron Bay which we arrived in on Saturday. It's a nice little town that's pretty full of backpackers and surfers in the day, quieting down as the sun sinks. Had a couple of beautiful days with the temperature rightly back in the 20's. Took a trip inland to Nimbin and a Mardi Gras yesterday which was an entertaining experience...

Wasn't quite organised enough to book our bus out tomorrow, so there is a slight chance we'll be still here in a few days. But with around 6 weeks to go until I need to be flying out I'm not too concerned!

Off to have a nap now. My lovely room mates last night woke me up by screaming and banging on the door at 4am. Lovely. xx

Oooh, being meaning to add this for a while - I have a new mobile number for Oz 0061 420 799 203