Rahhh! I wish I could get this thing up to date. Note to self: where blogs are concerned make a decision at the beginning and stick to it!

So, we left Sydney on 13th October and our home from home, the Oz Experience bus, took us to a little spot they call Surf Camp. I'm not sure what I was expecting of this place, but for some reason wood chip heaven and what I can only describe as tin huts for sleeping in were not it! This was clearly ultra laid back surfer dude country - bare feet, board shorts and blonde curls, combined with a 'whatever' attitude were the order of the day!

We ate the provided dinner as a big group outside and settled in for the evening with some distinctly dodgy, cheap, fizzy wine known as Passion Pop. (And 'pop' it does - the plastic cork flew off with such force it nearly burst through the roof!) There was a bus of trainee oz ex drivers trailing us in their bus at this point, and they provided lots of entertainment through a little jamming session involving guitars, singing and didgeridoos, then some adventurous fire breathing and twirling (what's that called? poi or something? you know what I mean anyway).

The next morning Soozie headed off for a surf lesson with the group, but my negativity and stubborn attitude meant I stayed in bed, determined that there was no way I would have any success at standing on a surf board. I maintain this belief, by the way. I've since spent lots of time watching various people attempting this and know that it is not something I am capable of!

By 11am we were back on the road and heading to Byron Bay. Finally some sun and beach time!! Unforunately our journey was punctuated by a stop off at the most vile of all human creations: a giant prawn. I'm not even exaggerating. It was taller than a house. You may be aware that the East Coast has an obsession with 'big things'; well this is one of them. Along with the big banana, big sheep, big lawnmower, big chainsaw...

Byron was awesome. We stayed at this great little hostel and it felt like a mini holiday destination, especially after all the cold weather we've been stuck with so far! We managed to get in a room with Denise and Pamela - two Irish girls we'd met on the way from Melbourne to Sydney. So nice to be in a room with just 3 other people! Byron Bay can be pretty much be summed up in three words: beach, cheeky and monkey's. Meaning that by day we baked in the hot sun on the beach, and by night we dined on $5 meals and lots of wine in Cheeky Monkey's, the bar over the road from our hostel, where dancing on tables and making as much noise as possible are the only requirements. Being on the Oz bus meant we got treated to lots of free drinks so good nights inevitably ensued. We had nice little group, comprising of (among others) Sooz and I, the two Irish girls, a Londoner called Tom (who talked of nothing but wanting to escape London and become a laid back Aussie) and 'the two Robertos' - Italians who were clearly not both called Roberto, but gained nicknames as a result of Tom's drunkenness and inability to remember what they were called. We had a great few days with those guys and were sad to be leaving them behind.

We did manage to drag ourselves off the beach one day, and set off for the walk up to the Lighthouse and the most Easterly point of mainland Australia. This was a lovely walk, and caused minimal complaining on my part! The lighthouse is beautiful, as is the view from there. It was made better by the presence of our new favourite ice cream 'In The Pink' which has the most divine flavours. Taking the walk to the lighthouse meant we discovered a lovely little bit of beach where the water was calmer and there were fewer backpackers and volleyball nets. We spent the afternoon there, until the tide started to come in and threatened to sweep us, and our belongings, away.

I think I can say with confidence that both Sooz and I loved Byron. It's such a lovely little town. The good weather, ice cream and the amazing 'Fundies Cafe' (where we had a very healthy, organic and slightly more expensive than homemade lunch one day) were all bonuses which contributed to our sadness at moving on. The only bad parts were the cockroaches (ewwww) and the big scary lizard that insisted on plonking itself right in the middle of the hostel. :-)