next stop was byron bay, about 2 hours south of the gold coast. byron was the complete opposite of surfers, just a small town full of hippies, cool jewelry and a beautiful beach where you could climb up to a lookout point and watch dolphins in the bay. we also had a day trip to Nimbin, about 2 hours inland, which was pretty mad - just a small village where pretty much everyone smokes weed and campaigns to legalise it. they have a cannabis museum, shops, a 'happy bus' with a pot-head driver to take us there and everyone offers you it in the street - bit like a mini amsterdam, although the police dont see it that way.

so we loved byron, and could have stayed and chilled out longer but had to catch the dreaded night bus to sydney...