After leaving the Australia Zoo, we almost missed the Greyhound to Brisbane as we were standing at the wrong stop. Luckily the bus was late so we were fine and got to Brisbane safe and sound.

On arrival we had a bit of a walk to get to our hostel through the city centre. First impressions of Brisbane were good as it had a nice city feel to it. We checked into Base Embassy and once we had put our things in the room we went to explore the city. We walked to Victoria Bridge which had lovely views of the city lights.

We spent 3 nights in Brisbane spending most of the time walking around the city. On our first full day the weather was great, we went to the Queensland Museum and Modern Art Gallery then spent some time in the state library uploading photos (free internet is very important to us poor backpackers). On the evening we went out for a meal and a bottle of wine before going to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1. We were very disappointed by the film as we both had read the book and it didn't match up to that.

Our last full day we went to the Roma Street Parklands, which were lovely but it started to rain so we spent the rest of the day trying to stay dry. We went to a nice market in between the rain bursts and had some free food samples.

We took the long walk back to the transit centre to catch our next Greyhound bus to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. We arrived there in the afternoon and went to explore the local area. We already had a presumption of what it would be like as people had said it was a party town. As predicted we were correct. When we were there it was when schoolies (kids who had just finished school and came to party) were in town. Surfers Paradise in general was like Blackpool, very touristy with lots of amusement areas and shops. The weather was not good whilst we were there and there was nothing much to do apart from party (which we couldn't afford to do) so we spent most of the time in the hostel.

Gladly we left Surfers and headed into a new state (New South Wales). We arrived in Byron Bay and were picked up by the hostel. We spent some time exploring the town, it was not as hippyish as we had expected but had a chilled atmosphere to it. We had been told that the schoolies were in town but it did not feel as party orientated as Surfers Paradise. On the evening we felt very tired so decided to go out for a meal to the Hog's Breath Café. We both had burgers and treated ourselves to dessert (Strawberry Pavlova and Chocolate Mud Cake). It was very nice and was a nice change to pasta!

The following day we had an adventurous day. We went to the local market which had lots of hippy stalls, mainly clothes but I managed to get a book that I have been looking for, yey! In the afternoon we went for a long walk along the beach and across the cliff sides towards the lighthouse. They had lovely views of the beaches and we went to the most easterly point of Australia. The walk took 3 hours in total so we had a good sleep that night.

Matt decided to give surfing another try the next day and I took a free body board from the hostel. The water was a nice temperature once we were in. I did some body - boarding but still managed to spend most of the time in the water instead of on the board. I did some sunbathing whilst watching Matt getting frustrated with himself when he couldn't stand up. To his defence the waves were strong and there was a very strong current which moved you further down the beach without even realising. It was a fun day!

Next stop was Coffs Harbour. We were picked up by the hostel staff and they took us to a lookout point to get an idea of the local harbour area which is where the hostel was located. We got a lift to the main town area which was the same as most towns. After a look around, we walked back to the hostel which took about 25 minutes and had a nap (its hard work this travelling). Feeling refreshed, we walked to the marina and to a small island called Mutton Bird Island at the end of the marina. We walked to the top and looked at the beautiful views of the marina, beaches and mountains as the sun was setting. We both felt that the scenery reminded us of home, something you would see in the Lake District. Very beautiful!!!

We went for a nice walk the next day to the Botanical Gardens. The gardens were very diverse with lots of different cultural sections to it. In the visitors centre we spoke to some Pommes (Aussie name for people from the UK). They had moved here over 20 years ago. One lady was from Hepburn which was very strange. We had a long discussion about the difference between UK and Australia.

We checked out of the hostel and left our luggage in storage as our next greyhound was not until late afternoon. We used our time to take advantage of the free hire of canoes and took them to the creek across the road from the hostel. I had forgotten how much hard work canoeing is and we spent most of the time getting stuck at the banks of the creek. At one point at the side of the creek a green snake tried to get onto the canoe where I was sitting. As it was sliding up the canoe, Matt redirected it to a tree branch using his paddle. I was very scared but I stayed very still (that's what I've been taught to do during this trip). We worked out how to row and headed back.

We got to our next destination, Newcastle, at 10.30pm and walked straight to the YHA hostel. The hostel was lovely, very homely with big Christmas trees, lots of dark wood and a big fire. Our only full day in Newcastle was busy, we walked around the local town and shopping area. In the afternoon we walked to the beach which was 2 minutes away from the hostel. There were two ocean baths which were nice. There were actually two separate couples having their wedding photos taken there. We walked along to the lighthouse and way out in the distance spotted a traffic jam of big tankers waiting to get into the harbour. On our way back to the hostel there was an event in the park, the local soccer team (Newcastle Jets) were meeting fans, signing autographs and making them a BBQ. Of course we joined in and got a free sausage sizzle and drink then left!!!

We checked out of the hostel very early in the morning and the greyhound to Sydney was an hour and twenty minutes late. We could have had a lie in! It's off to the big city. Sydney here we come……..