I had really been looking forward to staying in Byron Bay, so it was disapointing to say the least when we arrived and it was hammering down with rain. It had started when we were on the coach from Coffs Harbour, and had just grown progressively worse. I couldn't help thinking 'Typical!" We didn't arrive until about 9ish in the evening though so we just went to the hostel and sorted ourselves out before going straight to bed. When I woke up the next morning I prayed that the rain had stopped - but no! It stayed pretty much the same for the next three days which was very depressing. It was really heavy too, and seemed like it would never stop. Byron is pretty much centred around the beach so there isn't much to do when it's raining except hang around the hostel. Our hostel was in a good spot in town but it was a bit of a dive and our room was a complete mess when we arrived. It wasn't somewhere you wanted to hang around all day. Also a lot of the social areas and corridors were outside which was a pain when it was wet.

On our first full day there we explored the beach and shops for a bit while the rain died down, and then went to the cinema to see "There will be blood" and had pizza for dinner as it was "tight-arse tuesday." For the next two days the rain was so bad we just stayed in except for the occassional wet dash to the shops to buy dinner. On our third night we braved the rain as we couldn't bare another night in and went to the Northern which was the nearest pub. It wasn't that busy but it was a good night anyway. The night after there was a storm so we bought some wine and stayed in and played Upwords - all very exciting I know.

The storm must have been for the best though because amazingly the rain stopped the next day, and we all practically ran to the beach we were so happy. It stayed like that until our last day, and was boiling hot all the time so we went to the beach for the next three days after that too. It was nice just to be able to chill out and work on our tans! The beach was one of the nicest I have been to here and never seemed too busy. Justin also hired a body board a couple of times as they were free from the hostel. There were really good views along there and always people to watch surfing.

On the Friday night we went for our first proper night out. We stayed at the hostel until quite late and had some drinks there, then we went to the bar called Cheeky Monkeys. It had a bit of a notorious reputation and apparantly you have to go out for a drink there when you're in Byron. They don't have a dnace floor so everyone has to dance on the tables! It was very cheesy but we had a good night all the same. As we had been doing so well cooking for ourselves over the past few weeks we decided that once a week we would treat ourselves to a meal out; still a cheap one though. We went out to eat on Saturday but after a long day on the beach by the time we got out we were all starving. We looked around everywhere trying to find something but everywhere seemed too expensive. In the end we gave up and went to a steak restaurant where we had a meal for $30. I know it's only 15 pounds but it's a lot to us! It was all really nice and well worth it but it meant we had to go back and have drink at the hostel after as we had spent too much. Claire had bitten into a toothpick which was left in her steak though so we got 10% off!

We stayed in again the next night to drink at the hostel. It was a good night in the end though because we met some other people from the hostel that we got along really well with, Kelly, Nicole and Matt, and have ended up travelling up the coast for a bit with too. We went back to the pub the following night because Justin's friend Leejay from home had come to meet us. He was also travelling up the coast with one of his friends in a camper van and had only just arrived there. We stayed out for a couple then all met up the next night along with the others from the hostel for a big night out. We all had a really good laugh and it was a great night. We went to another bar called Cocomangas and then back to Cheeky Monkeys. Everyone got very drunk, especially after drinking wine at the hostel first. It's lethal stuff!

On Tuesday which was our second from last day Justin, Claire and I went on a day tour to Nimbin which is a small hippy town about an hour outside Byron. It is really famous in the area and was well worth a visit apparantly. We got picked up at 10 by the bus. There are loads of different tours to choose from but I'm glad we picked the one we did because the bus was great fun and probably the best part of the day. The bus driver was hilarious and gave a commentary telling us about Nimbin and the surrounding area on the way. Also he played loads of good music, all perfectly syncronised to the tour, or so he said. He even timed bits of the road so he could get a song the exact same length - very dedicated. Nimbin was much smaller than I thought it would be but very chilled out and hippyish. There are people that came there for a festival in the '60's and have never left. We had some lunch and a wander around, then went to the Nimbin museum which was just a house full of random stuff and was very strange. When we got back on the coach we went to visit some hippy man called Paul who lived in the rainforest all on his own. We went for a tour around his land which he had all planted himself, and then to his house. This is when the trip started to get even more surreal. The man was absolutley crazy, but seemed quite nice and friendly, and we had to walk for ages to get to his house. I even ended up with a leech on my foot which wasn't pleasent. His house was weird and he had left loads of random stuff in the wood like old dolls and things. It was like something out of a horror film and a bit creepy! After that we started off on the journey back, stopping at Minyon Falls, which is a nearby waterfall. That was very nice to see. Overall we had had a very good, but strange, day out!

On our last day we hit the beach again the in the morning but the weather seemed to turn so we went back to the hostel in the afternoon. This was lucky as it then decided to rain. Our time in Byron ended as it started. We had some drinks that night and dinner, then left early in the morning to leave New South Wales for good, and head up the coast to Queensland! I hoped that the weather may be better there but somehow I wasn't quite sure about that...