Following our first few days in Brisbane, Lex and I thought it was now time for some camping! Fully equipped with some brand new camping gear and of course our faithful little tent Tweedle Dee, we set off for Brunswick Heads close to Byron Bay.

Upon our arrival we were given a great little camping spot right on the river bank. We were very lucky... or so we thought at the time. It didn't take us long to feel the Australian hospitality once again as about 20 minutes after setting up camp we were invited for drinks and a barbeque by an Australian couple and their dog Beanie. However, there was one couple in particular who really took us under their wing and went out of their way to give us advice, tips, and make is feel even more welcome then we already did. Wayne and Debbie were a couple in early retirement and they really made us feel welcomed and cared for. They have even given us their details for if we need a place to stay.

Our first day in Brunswick we explored the little town and went for a walk on the beach. Apart from the usual beach scenary we were treated to two very naked men running into the ocean (a sight not easily unseen). After this beach excursion we went back to the campsite where we settled into camping life with some chippies and a nice glass of our stanley box wine chardonnay.

Our plan for the next day was to finally explore the infamous Byron Bay. On the way into Byron we found ourselves at the Arts Factory hostel where I had a much needed cup of coffee. I now understand why they call Byron Bay a bit of a hippie town because this place was literally hippie central all barefoot and like wow cool man like ice! We decided that this lifestyle was not exactly for us and went into the town itself to explore the beach. We had a nice walk on the beach and Lex was introduced to his first Blue Bottle (don't worry nothing dramatic, there was no peeing on each other needed). We then treated ourselves to a burger and I treated myself to some retail therapy at Cotton On (what else?) before heading back to our little tweedle dee. We had decided that we would definately do a beach day at Byron but little did we know.....

When we got back to our tent our good friend Wayne came with the first weather warning. Unfortunately cyclone Debbie had had more of an impact than we expected and there were heavy storms headed our way. Lex and I decided that we would be tough and whether the storm (We're from Holland, we're used to a little rain :P) but we maybe should've followed the example of basically all the other aussies at the campsite who packed up and left early.

Wednesday morning was still very sunny so we decided to putter around the campsite a bit and enjoy the sun and the surroundings. By the late afternoon, however, the wind was starting to pick up and big dark clouds could be seen in the distance. Lex and I decided to prepare Cornelius as a back up shelter just in case our tent could not cope with such heavy rain fall (thank heavens for this bright idea). After dinner we tucked ourselves safely into the tent and braced ourselves for what was to come. The night that followed was one of very little sleep, not only did the rain come down in buckets but a fairly substantial spider decided that our tent would be the perfect shelter from the storm and took residence on the outside of our tent. My worst nightmare basically come true. A couple of hours of steady heavy rainfall followed and the first puddles started to form on the inside of our tent. At 6 am Lex was forced to get out of the tent to check that the spider would not fall on my head (yes I have the best boyfriend ever) before we fled to Cornelius to keep dry and get some sleep. We woke up after a few hours of sleep and treated ourselves to a breakfast of biscuits we had in the car. Around Lunch time we went to the sheltered barbeque area to eat some two minute noodles and play some cards (we weren't going to let a little bit of rain spoil our good vibes) when the campsite owner came up to us and offered us one of their cabins to stay in for free. We were over the moon and the cabin was to date the most luxerious place we'd stayed in since arriving in Aus. The Aussie hospitality and kindness continues to surprise me!

We were extremely happy campers ( no pun intended) in our dry, warm, comfortable cabin (equipped with dishwasher, our own shower, and sattelite tv) and decided to settle down for a good night's sleep only to be woken up at 4 am by an sms telling everyone in our immediate area to evacuate as the rivers were flooding. We unfortunately had to leave the tent behind (assuming that this would be the end of our tweedle dee) but took all of our belongings and moved ourselves to the nearest evacuation centre. We spent about a day at the evacuation centre and I can tell you it was one of the most positive and heartwarming experiences of my life. Everyone at the centre was so helpful and you really felt the sense of community and coming together to help those in need. We were treated to bacon and egg rolls by the salvation army for breakfast and a group of evacuees decided to do a big cook up before they had to leave so treated us to fresh salad and veggie curry for lunch. They also played some guitar and sang for everyone to lighten the mood and cheer everyone up. The State Emergency Service had even organized accomodation for us for the night if we needed. Lex and I spent most of the day playing cards and at the end of the afternoon the rain had almost stopped. We decided to give the campsite owners a call and low and behold, they told us that our tent was still standing and that they road to the campsite was now open. They once again generously offered us our cabin for the night and extremely grateful, we accepted. We got back to the campsite at the end of the afternoon on Friday and immediately safely packed up our tent. We had our first good night's sleep in a couple of days in our cabin and decided to head of to dry ground the next day.

My old housemate Pete came to our rescue and said we could come and stay with him for as long as we needed. We had to wait until the main highway opened to get to him so spent the following morning at the beautiful Byron Bay Lighthouse and watching a movie at their local cinema.

Around 16:00 the road was declared open and so off we went to our next stop: Pete in Burleigh Heads.