First stop up the east coast was Port Macquarie - more to break up the 14hr journey from Sydney to Byron Bay than anything else but it turned out to be well worth the 24hr stopover.

It was a real shock to go to the beach here having spent the last couple of weeks squeezed in among thousands of other people on Bondi and Manly. Shelly Beach probably had a maximum of 20 people on it when we were there which was amazing after so long playing sardines. Not the most beautiful beach in the world but well well worth it for a relaxing morning...

Sadly it didn't last and the clouds arrived so off we went to the koala hospital - the only one in New South Wales. You get a free tour around where they tell you all the horrid things that have happened to their patients (apparently chlamydia is a big problem among koalas!) and then hear about all the incredibly generous tourists who have donated vast amounts of money to help the hospital expand! Sadly I wasn't really in the position to join them and have a wing of the hospital named after me but the koalas were absolutely adorable and should I ever need to, I now know how to pick one up without getting scratched.

Then it was back to the hostel with just enough time to cook a ginormous risotto with a group of others before I had to jump on the overnight bus to Byron Bay...