Hi guys,

Sorry its been so long since we last blogged!!
We did our bridge climb in syndey, that was great fun, we had perfect weather for it too!! We arrived in Byron Bay on Friday morning (4.30am!!) the bus arrived earlier than expected (was due in at 8.30am). The hostel wasn’t open that early so we had to hang around on a bench until 6.45 when it opened!!!! Once we finally checked into our 5 bed dorm, we headed to the beach. The dorm was tiny, no air con, and smelly!! Luckily we were only there for 2 nights. The beach is gorgeous at Byron, the water is perfect too!! On Saturday we had to be up and ready for 6.15am for our SKYDIVE!!!! AAAHHHHHH!!! We got picked up by the courtesy bus, started filling out our forms, which you had to sign and say that you are aware that doing this can result in injury or being killed!! Hmmm, nice and cheery first thing in the morning!! Didn’t have to wait around long before we got kitted out in our gear! My diver was really nice, chilled, and Lee’s was an absolute nut case…glad I didn’t have him, haha!! We had a run through of how to position ourselves when we exit the plane and how to land etc. Then we all bundled into the little plane!! We both paid extra for photos and video, so had to do the stupid little intros before hand!! Going up in the plane seemed to take for ever. I tried not to think about the fact that in a few minutes ill be hurling myself out of this plane and just tried to take in the amazing views from the plane!! It took about 20 minutes to get to 14, 000 feet. Then they opened the door, and that’s when it hits you…s*** ive gotta jump now!! I was 2nd to jump, so I didn’t really have much time to think about it, before I knew it I was free falling at 14,000 feet out of a plane!! I think I must have screamed most of the way down! Its such an amazing experience, one you cant explain unless you’ve done it!! I left Lee who was next to jump, after seeing me being thrown out……..!!!.
I just saw Lois getting thrown out of a plane… My turn now. My skydive expert started to push me towards to door and before I knew it he had both hands on the side of the plane and had launched us out!! Free falling is insane, just a mad rush which is quite relaxing even though you are falling 1000’s of feet. Before you know it the parachute is open and you are gliding towards your landing spot.
The parachuting after the free fall was quite enjoyable, you knew you were safe because the parachute opened, lol, and you can take in the incredible views!! After a bit of a damp landing on the dewy grass we had to wait around for a bit for our DVDs. We were still buzzing for a few hours after it, such an amazing ‘high’!! The DVDs are funny, and we got some really good photos too.

That evening we met up with Lee’s friend Ray who he worked with at Liverpool Victoria. We went to a really cool beach bar on the waterfront! Ray gave us some vouchers he had for Cheeky Monkeys (a typical Walkabout style bar) which got us a free dinner, and as it was Ladies Night I got a free glass of champagne (which was still only $3 a glass all night!!)
We spent every day on the beach/looking round shops/using the free internet at the travel agents booking our next tours/accommodation. Our last 2 nights we stayed at Nomads, this is similar to Urban Central where we stayed in Melbourne. Kind of like a hotel, we were in a 6 bed dorm, but had an en suite, so we only had to share it with a few people. Had a balcony overlooking the courtyard, and was really spacious! We walked to the “Buddha Bar” at the Arts Factory one evening, another hostel with a cool outdoor bar, good food, & live music! On our last evening, we walked up to a lighthouse (about a 40min walk) to watch the sunset. It was really nice. During the day you can see Dolphins from the top of the cliffs at the lighthouse, but as it was getting dark we didn’t manage to see anything!

We caught our bus to Brisbane on Tuesday lunchtime, and arrived into town about 5pm. We got our courtesy pick up bus to the hostel. Hostel is cool, rooms are basic, but we have a private double. We get a free meal every night at Birdee NumNum a bar/club which is attached to the Hostel. We ad our free Nachos, and entered into the Trivia Quiz! We joined forces with 4 other people to make up our team. We did pretty well in the quiz, seeing as we’d all had a few jugs of beer!! Its was $10 per jug!! We’ve got a few things to do whilst in Brisbane…the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin Zoo), shop (of course!) visit a Koala Sanctuary, and on Saturday we are meeting with Benton and Louise and going to the 20 Twenty cricket match. Then out for dinner and drinks (I think a Birdee’s!!) as they have also booked a night at the hostel save them catching a taxi back home, as they don’t live in the city centre, so that should be good fun! Then we leave on Sunday for Noosa!! If we don’t blog again before leaving Brisbane, we’ll catch up with you in Noosa :O) xxx Lois & Lee xxx