Alritey!

Sorry it's been a while since the last update, we have been busy bees!

Jem and I are in Byron Bay at the moment - awesome place, very chilled and friendly. Very good cake shops too! Arrived here on Sunday and leave tomorrow for Surf Camp. Spent some time on the beach but the weather is getting more and more dodgey as we head south - blue sunny skies in the morning when you wake up, clouds forming as you walk down to the beach, then torrential downpour appears from nowhere the second you have finished putting suncream on... still having a great time though. The waves are enormous and so powerful you can 'surf' them without a board - amazing, although can result in the occassional flashing incident :s We have taken to going on little walks to sights of interest. These usually involve us getting lost/having to traverse croc infested creeks/climb over rocks in the sea/not reach intended destination. They also tend to end up being more 'hikes' than walks. Our most recent took us half way to Cape Byron lighthouse (it looks a lot closer than it is!). On the way we discovered a little bay where the real surfers surf - some of them were absolutely incredible!!

We were pleased to leave Brisbane or "Bris-vegas" as it is locally known... it's an ok city but not really a lot going on for backpackers, esp in constant drizzle - bit like going to Peterborough for 3 days! Good shops tho, and went to a really good art gallery (!!) where there was an Andy Warhol exhibition (which we didnt actually visit due to financial reasons). Hired a drum kit and rehersal room one day for an hour cos I was missing my pots n pans! Good fun!! We also had a walk around looking for iconic Brisbane sights to photograph... limited success there.

After Brissy we headed to Surfer's Paradise. That was a mad town - enormous sky scrapers just yards from the beach. I hired a surf board but spent more time being scraped along the sea bed than 'catching waves'.

Went zorbing on the way to Surfers.. for those that dont know, it's when you and two friends sit in a giant inflatable ball filled with water and get rolled down a hill! Yes it is as fun as it sounds!! Jemma loved it - I think she's getting a taste for extreme sports ;) So skydiving in nz or fiji may be on the cards...

After Surf Camp we head to Sydney for a week where we will be picking up a camper van and road tripping to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road!! Jemma is very excited as she has managed to get tickets to see Stereophonics in Melbourne... apparently seeing them in another country is going to be a whole different experience.... hmmmm.

Fraid I gotta dash as my time is up!

Hope everyone is well and it has stopped snowing!!

lots of love jot n jem

xxxx

p.s. Jemma's phone has died so if you need to get in touch with her it's probably best to text/call my phone - +447843921284

p.p.s. Jemma has put a lot of photos up on facebook - I'll get her to post the links on here for the non-facebookers if you wanna see them!