After umming and ahhing for ages over whether to book up a trip to Ayers Rock we realised that even though it's expensive, it's a hell of a lot cheaper to do it now than it would be to do it later from England. Five minutes after that we were handing over our credit cards and trying not to wince at the amount as we keyed in our pins. It didn't help that we booked up a 4WD camping safari on Fraser Island and a Whitsundays sailing trip at the same time, thus increasing the wallet damage considerably. Massively excited about all three tours though :-)

Our last day in Port Macquarie was rainy, again. We headed out to Douglas Vale vineyard in the morning as they offer free tours and tastings on a Saturday. They were pretty generous with the sample sizes and assured us that there was 'absolutely no need' to spit out the wine once we'd tried it. This seemed very sensible to us and we were both a tad light-hearted as we left, clutching a bottle of their delicious white wine (we felt we had to buy something after their hospitality!)

In the arvo (Ozzie for 'afternoon'; they shorten everything) we visited the local koala hospital. They have a few permanent residents there, such as a female with just three legs that would be unable to carry a joey on her back in the wild and a koala with no eyes, as well as some short-termers who are taken in for treatment before being released. It was quite a small hospital but definitely worth a visit; there were lots of 'ahhh' moments and heartwarming stories.

The next day we were sitting on a bus for most of the day and it was glorious sunshine. Typical, ey! We got into Coffs Harbour at about half three but the free transfer bus to our hostel didn't make it there until an hour later; when we rang up they said they'd forgotten about us! We had an ensuite room with a TV though so they were swiftly forgiven. The hostel backed onto a beach so we walked along that before heading to the supermarket for supplies and taking advantage of the hostel's $7.50 steak, salad and chips in the evening. We'd picked up a voucher for free drinks so the night was ridiculously cheap.

On Monday we climbed to the top of Muttonbird Island Nature Reserve, where you have a good view across the beaches, before taking a walk around Coffs Creek and the botanic gardens. In the evening we took advantage of the hostel's $7.50 barramundi fish, chips and salad. You can't beat cheap pub-style grub :-)

Yesterday we caught a bus up to Byron Bay. It didn't leave until half three and it wasn't especially sunny so we went to the local shopping mall in the morning and spent some time on the internet after lunch. We got to our hostel about 9pm and for some inexplicable reason we were both knackered so we decided to call it an early night.

The population in Byron Bay must be made up of at least 50% hippies as when we woke up and looked out the window this morning there were barefoot, dreadlocked happy people walking about everywhere. This made us both feel very square, especially as the first thing we decided to do in Byron Bay after sleep was laundry. I am turning into my mother (no offense mum).

The place we're staying at offers didgeridoo lessons and yoga classes and is set in the middle of a 5 acre plot complete with its own mini rainforest and creek. We got lost trying to leave the grounds after finishing our washing but eventually managed to break free and head into town. More barefoot people - do they not feel pain?? Jak's flipflop flipped right off at one point so he was forced to join them, albeit momentarily, and the yelps he made suggested that the stones here are as sharp as they are everywhere else. Odd.

At the moment we are sitting at the top of Main Beach stuffing our faces with Dominos pizzas and coca cola. Yum.