The following statement has been extracted from Oliver James Kenneth Smith's recent State of address, regarding claims his blog in over two months behind:
'Friends, Family, fellow backpackers, I apologise yet i am not sorry. I understand your concerns and yes, it turns out I'm having so much fun, documenting it has become quite a chore! So each time you boot-up your personal computer, anxiously awaiting my next entry only to be broken hearted yet again-do not cry,curse or shake your fist! Smile, sing, do a litte jig! Because I assure you, yours truly is having a blast. That said, I have decided to fast forward my blog, you now join me in the present/future...Welcome!

The date is 23/5/12 and the world as we know it is now...hot! Arrived in Byron Bay around 11am, 4 hours later than planned! We boarded the 'Greyhound' coach 6pm in Sydney Central Station. The journey was supposed to take 13 hours, we presumed we had done well as we saved on accommodation for the night and would arrive with a full day to play with in Byron! Hannah made a point of taking a photo of our coach, it looked rather old and battered;'This could be interesting' I said as we boarded...
Around 10pm we stopped off at a petrol station for a 30min rest-room break; One hour later it became clear that the coach wasn't 100%-we hadn't left the station, and the dash board was letting out a high pitched screech each time the driver would get the engine going...after a couple of hours spent trying to fix the problem,the driver informed us we would have to wait for another coach. We were in that station for over 4 hours, but I can assure you it wasn't a dull wait...Two guys at the back started a fight with each-other. There were more 'C' words than a marine encyclopedia and once the driver intervened it all began to feel a bit like a school trip. My personal highlight was listening other passengers get in a flap: 'Driver, I need to know what time we will arive in Brisbane, i need to let my son know! He is picking me up!!'
'I'll let you know and you could call him shortly'
'I don't have a mobile!'
'dont worry,you can use mine, do you have his number?'
'...no'

We arrived in Byron Bay late morning, and soon realised our luck was yet to change as we watched the shuttle bus to our hostel drive off without us...
A pain staking walk to the hostel ensued,what was probably only 15 minutes was made to feel like 15 hours with the weight of our bags breaking us with each step we took. Luckily the hostel was really nice; The owner seemed very laid back and the three of us got our own room together. We decided not to shower or anything, the sea water would sort us out for now! TO THE BEACH! And what a beach it was! Since Adelaide my swimming has come on leaps and bounds, As soon as I saw people playing in the waves, I had to join them ASAP! The water was warm and crystal clear, it was awesome being able to swim with the fishys; my day was made when i saw a school of flying fish skim the water right in front of me!

After a lovely stroll back through all the shops Byron had to offer, I cooked us dinner back at the hostel. We were pretty tired after our eventful coach ride and had to be up early for our next coach trip to Surfers Paradise, so we went to sleep early Good news though! The hostel had free pancakes int morning! Whoop!

Kind Regards
Oliver James Kenneth Smith