The last few days have been so interesting! Camping in an Aussie campsite was great fun! We camped right alongside a beach. Everyone was so friendly and when they heard our accents they came and asked us where we were from and how we were enjoying our travels etc! That night Chelsey, Abel and I cooked a sweet BBQ and then hung out on the beach for the evening! We saw a big campfire at one end of the beach so took a wander up to see if we could make some more pals but unfortunately it was a family but they were just leaving so left us with the fire which was pritty nice of them! Luckily we had some goon to help us get to sleep that night because we were sleeping on the ground with no sleeping bags! For those who do not know what 'goon' is....it's a backpackers wine, you can't really call it wine because it isn't classy/nice enough to be called that, but it does the job, so hey, we won't complain!
That morning we went for a swim in the sea but were slightly unimpressed by the surf so headed to the pass at byron bay. Byron bay is beautiful! The surf rolled into the shore for such a long time so surfers were able to ride the waves for ages! The current was pretty strong at byron so we used this to our advantage....we made ourselves run against the current, this was all fab until a wave came along and took my legs out....face splatting the water isn't going to impress the surfers now is it! We arrived at a place called Nimbim late afternoon. Well what can I say about Nimbim.....firstly I had never seen a more colourful place, all the shops are colorful, street art is colourful, we walked down one little alley and there was a family painting a wall. The second thing about nimbin....I have never walked 50m down a road and been offered 'cookies' and 'herbs' so many times, which leads onto the final things about nimbin...the people! I have never seen such a variety of 'interesting' people (Nimbim beats melbourne, hands down!).
That evening we met our helpx host 'Tina'. Tina is lovely, and just as we imagined her to be, pritty hectic, lots going on but someone with a huge heart that just wants to help everyone and everything! Tina's place is about 25mins out of nimbin and is a beautiful little hobby farm in the middle of nowhere! She introduced us to the two horses, rabbits, alpacas, chickens, puppy, dog, wallabys (who pass by for dinner) and the goat! Now this goat is a naughty goat, he was given to a goat sanctuary but he was such a naughty goat that they sent him back to Tina!
Our first day in the farm involved gardening which we actually really enjoyed! Mum this does not mean that I love gardening and want to do it every weekend but I certainly will help out now and then :) Tina took us to her daughters house for lunch where the rest of the family were. When I say the family, there were 7adults and 8children! It was so much fun, they were all so welcoming! In the afternoon they took us to a waterfall where we could go swimming and jump off of ledges! I freaked out (clearly doing a bungy and a sky dive has not cleared my fear of heights!) i stood on the edge of this ruddy rock for about 30mins before Chelsey held my hand (which I almost crushed with fear) and jumped/pulled me off! It was a lot of fun!
Oh...on the way to the daughters house (as well as stopping next to many people in Nimbim, and hollering out the window to a few, I think Tina is a well loved women in nimbin, she comes across as everyone's best friend and agony aunt!) we picked up a hitchhiker, as you do, I think anything goes in nimbin! He was a funny man! Started hitchhiking at 9am to get to his chiropractors appointment at 10am and the hitchhiked back again! His name was Richard!
We are loving working on the farm! Tina only has helpx helpers a few times a year, we feel like we are really making a difference because she lost her husband last year and has got a bit overwhelmed by the farm. Yesterday we did lots of moving, lifting, sorting..every job is like a small workout! And jumped in the creek at the end of the garden to cool off!!
Today was a great day!! We went to 'Channing Market'. Channing market is the most colourful market I have ever been too! We pottered around the stalls for hours....of course we refrained and didn't buy too much!! Once the stalls had closed down we went and sat under this brightly coloured tent, then the most craziest thing started happening! One guy started playing his drum, the some more drummers joined, and then some more, then a guy and his trumpet joined, then a flute, guitar and more drums! And everyone got up And danced! It was beautiful too see! Yes Nimbim is known for the amount of marijuana that is smoked there but above that Nimbim has some of the most happy and positive people I have met! So many people came and spoke to us, interested in where we were from, what brought us to the Channing etc. It was so lovely that stranger could speak so freely to each other!
Today we were leant to a friend of Tina's, we helped out at a tea rooms which was good fun and then we were given such a yummy meal as payment! I think we are both really enjoying meeting the locals and seeing the non-tourist spots!

The last few days have involved working on the farm and going for a couple of walks. We both had the bright idea of hiking to the top of the hill near us.....in the mid afternoon sun....with little water, and no hats. As you can imagine it wasn't great fun, what with the heat and the flies landing on us every 2 seconds! We both went very quiet but made it to the top and the view was worth it! We are surrounded by mountains and volcanic scenery, the area is covered in lush trees and vegetation due to the amount of rain that they receive here!
Tuesday 14th January, close encounter with a brown snake!! For those of you who don't know, if you get bitten by one of them, your dead! It wiggled it's way past Chelsey, thank fully she stayed cool, called for Tina, Tina gets out her car, grabs a spade and chops it up into 3 pieces!!! Everyone needed a strong cuppa tea after that!! (I think we would have preferred a strong alcoholic beverage but this place seems to be alcohol free!). 15th January, both tasted a bug, flew into our mouths as we were trying to get to sleep! I guess that's what you get used to when living in the outback!

That brings us to now.....we are lying on byron beach after swimming in the ocean (swimming/being smashed by waves!)
This brings us