Well, we had one of the worst nights sleep since we've been travelling. The american girls came in at 3.15am! All we could here is there big gobs for about an hour and a half. They were actually sat outside most of the time, but we could still hear them because there are window slats open at the top of the sliding doors to let air in. Eventually they went to bed!

I woke up again at around 9am...because quite a few people were packing up to leave including the noisy americans. I looked out the window and it was raining. Back to sleep.
Woke up again at about 10.30am and it had actually stopped raining. We didn't rush getting ready because we just expected it to start raining any minute but it seemed to be holding off.

We arranged with some friends from the OzEx bus to all go for a Coastal walk up to Byron Bay lighthouse at 1pm. Still no rain. And then we couldn't believe that the sun was actually shining through! We walked down to the beach and there were lots of people down there too. Then we walked across to this rock that has one of the lookout areas and got a fantastic view of the beaches on the coastline. Loads of surfers out today. The view was pretty amazing - really contrasting. The sun was shining through the clouds in patches so we got these really blue and turquoise sea colours but then also the deep and dark blues of the sea with patchy golden sand. Then in the distant background there's this really hilly terrain covered in mist and rain clouds and we could actually see the patchy rain up there and also out at see.

We carried on walking and stopped at some really nice viewing points. We saw dolphins, a turtle, a ray and a goat. Its brilliant to see wildlife at random like that, rather than just at zoos! And then we walked right up to the 1901 Lighthouse. By this time it was baking. Really warm and sunny but still cloudy. We could see a huge area of dark cloud at sea, and could also see the rain falling from it! We took a break for drinks and ice-cream. Me and Therese resisted on the ice-cream - mainly because of calories (!) but also because it was $4.50 (£3) each! We relaxed there for a while and actually had to scramble for shade because it got so hot in the sun.

We took a walk back through a nature reserve. We kept thinking we'd got lost, but it just takes you through a small forest - felt like we were in the jungle with all the strange animal noises.

It was a really good walk and we couldn't believe we'd managed to get good weather. Although it had got really cloudy by that point. I wish we'd have gotten out earlier now. Could've gone down to the beach after the walk for a bit of surfing!

We got back to our hostel and started with the tedious task of packing. We got new room mates coming in today though. First one was a girl from england who's nice. Then there was a lad from Scotland - again seemed nice. Shame we didn't have these guys the other nights.

We went down again our free dinner at 7pm again tonight. Not as good this time though. Pasta in a creamy sauce with chicken and mushrooms, salad and a slice of bread. Still not bad for free. Better than beans on toast too!

Straight after that we went up to the hostel where the other guys are staying. There's Dean and Jodie, and Laura and Andy. We made a quick stop at the bottle shop for a 6-pack of beers and also had our Passion Pop left over from New Years. Their hostel is pretty good. Each dorm consists of two four-bed rooms and then they have a kitchen and lounge area to share. Everybody in the dorm was from the bus too.

Learnt a new card game tonight called Ring of Fire. Really good drinking game where a deck of cards are scattered around the table in a small circle. Then you take it in turns to pick up a card and then, for example, a Jack might be all the men drink, or a 6 might be where you have to drink 3 fingers worth of your drink. Stuff like that anyway. Funny game to play! Could be lethal though. Fortunately, we didn't have that much alcohol so couldn't get in too much of a state.

After that we played charades! It's always a funnier game when people have had a few drinks! Therese got stuck with a really difficult one...CSI Miami, haha! I was given Wizard of Oz. I was clicking my feet together (Dorothy), put myself under a chair and only had my feet sticking out (wicked witch), and then the lads eventually got it with my acting for Ruby Slippers...
Dean was doing some praying and cleaning the kitchen...Desperate Housewives. I'll never forget that one.

Had a brilliant night, but had to head back to our hostel just after midnight as we've to be up fairly early in the morning for a our bus out of here! Had a really good day today actually and made us feel much better after such a crappy day yesterday.

(3 blogs for Byron Bay, change the dates at the top)