We spent two days in Surfers Paradise. On the first day we spent far too long updating the journal (see previous entry), walked around the shops, slept, and went into town in the evening for a few drinks. We bumped into our friend Owen who we started the Oz Experience with but he'd left us behind in Magnetic Island so it was cool to see a familiar face.

The following day we went to the big mall where I continued to replace all the clothes I brought on our travels. My purchases included white trainers shock horror - Tom you'd be proud. We also went to see Borat which was hilarious in places but utterly disgusting in others. You'll know what I mean if you've seen it. Yuck. We had an early night since the bus was leaving early the next morning.

We arrived in Byron Bay having lost an hour due to crossing the Queensland/New South Wales border. We've had a relaxing few days here doing very little. We can't quite put our finger on what's special about this place, it just has a chilled out vibe (I'm starting to sound like a hippy now). We're beginning to put that down to the incredible number of spectacular beards we are seeing. The number of beard/dreadlock/barefoot combos is brilliant. Last night I found a jibbering, meditating hippy in our hostel bathroom at 2am. Wonderful.

One of the highlights of our stay was the Byron Cape sunrise tour for $5. Although we had to get up at 4.30, it was a lovely hour and a half spent watching the sky change colour and the dolphins leaping in the waves below us. On our return at 6, it was straight back to bed.

It's our last night here in Byron Shire (just found out that's the name of the district/county, loving it) which we'll probably spend with some guys who we bumped into last night that we met in New Zealand. Then it's onto Surf Camp and Barrington before getting to Sydney on the 5th.

England are currently kicking ass in the cricket (427/3) and the Australian mocking has quietened considerably. Muwahaha. Hope you're all well and keeping warm :P

Lots of love

Mikey & Jo xxx