Last morning in Sydney - boo hoooo! Thankfully Margaret accompanied me to the train station, which made hauling my luggage around much easier.
Was going to check my suitcase into the guards carriage so I didn't have to haul it on myself, but it was overweight by about 3.4 kilos. I'd have to take out some of the contents of my suitcase to get it under 20 kilos as that's the maximum weight they'll take, or just haul it on myself.
I was thinking that I would do this (take out shoes and toiletries and so on and put them in a separate bag) but Margaret did say that the trains were quite spacious and so it probably wouldn't be a big deal taking the suitcase on myself. So, I just decided to do that. I did also want to see how much my case weighed and considering I got to Sydney with 24.1 kilos, that means I've gotten rid of almost a kilo in between then and now - yay! I have got stuff in there that I'll be eating and so on on the rest of my journey, so maybe I'll manage to fly out to Tokyo with just over 20 kilos like your supposed plane allowance! We'll see, seeing as I'm such a shopaholic, I'm sure I won't be able to leave Tokyo without buying at least 1 (or 10) things!!

I got really excited about my journey as the train is pretty nice (they're based on the London Intercity 125's fact fans) and it was also exciting to be moving on. As much as I'm feeling homesick, and would really like to spend more time in Sydney, it will also be really cool to go on somewhere else too! Coffs Harbour is also meant to be really nice, I just hope it won't get flooded out again! Met a couple of transit cops on the platform and had a bit of a chat to them. He warned that the weather is pretty up and down at the moment, so I could get stuck there! It's a really small world too, as he said his family is originally from Watford!
The train ride was actually really nice - quite relaxing really and so much better than going somewhere by coach or by long distance bus! I love travelling by train, but I'm still quite glad that I flew from Tasmania to Sydney as there wasn't really much to see in between Melbourne and Sydney. It did also save me about 12 hours travel time, as well as several hours hanging around time inbetween flying back to Melbourne from Sydney and then getting the train. I will endevour to plant more trees to alleviate my carbon guilt, or at the least I will remember to pay a nice fat carbon offset to whoever is the best organisation doing that sort of thing!

Have booked my two Coffs Harbour nights in the YHA and it's actually a really nice hostel. Found it ok once I got off the train, even though I wandered around the station for a few minutes wondering where I was meant to be going. The guy said turn right out of the station, pass a sports field, go along a bit, turn right, and then you'll see a petrol station, go through the petrol station and I'll see the YHA. Hmmmm. I had to actually go up a hill first before turning right and finding the sports field. Of course, it was quite dark by the time I got off the train, so I couldn't quite see if it was a sports field or not - it looked like a big green field as I passed, so I thought that was probably it. Luckily it was, as I passed a sign that said it was some school playing field. I couldn't see a petrol station as I turned right, so asked a restaurant guy and he said that if I went through the car park opposite and then turned right, I'd see the YHA in front of me. Yay - found it! I was heading in the right direction in any case, so I might have got there eventually without asking.
The petrol station was actually there, but you wouldn't have known it until you passed it! It also fooled me by having a big Cellarbrations sign outside (booze hut chain in Oz) so I didn't think it would be a petrol station next to it!

Sharing the room with a couple of Dutch girls (who say they aren't city girls when I asked them why the flew into Sydney and only stayed there a day), and a late arrival Canadian. The Canadian is a professional lumberjack believe it or not! She's competing with Team Canada in the Easter Show in Sydney and so is on her way down there and then back up the East Coast. It amazes me that people wander up and down the East Coast when it seems so much more simple to go along it in one direction....well, it does to me in any case.
One of the Dutch girls is doing the same, as she's got another month in Australia's East Coast and will probably spend a week in Fraser Island, and then maybe a week in the Whitsundays too. Her boyfriend is joining her in a couple of weeks and so they're going to race around the East Coast together, but she actually wants to see things and go places, which is fair enough. When will people learn that they should just see one place in Australia properly if they haven't got much time, instead of rushing around trying to see everything and then not having a good time? The weather is pretty unpredictable on the East Coast too, and seeing as a lot of activities involve the sea or the beach and generally being outside, if it rains and screws up all those activities, then there's not all that much to do!

The Dutch girls also said that Byron Bay is actually going to be chock-a-block full of people over the Easter weekend as there's a big Blues and Jazz festival going on. Uh oh. I haven't booked my hostel in Byron yet. Double uh oh. They tried about 4 hostels before getting in somewhere. Now, why didn't I learn my lesson in NZ and book my Bryon hostel ages ago when I knew I was going? Ah, when I booked my ticket to Coffs Harbour, I still wasn't sure that the train would be able to get here because of the floods, that's why I didn't book anything further ahead.
Oh well, I have been looking in my guidebook and have seen some alternatives to going to Byron if I can't get a hostel there. I'll ask at the desk whether the other YHA's are full and if they know about the festival. I probably should get up off my bum and have a look at the internet, but I really can't be bothered to stress myself out before going to bed! If I can't do anything about it and have to book a hotel in Byron, or change my train journey, then I'll just have to do that. I'm sure I'll figure something out in the morning!

Have also asked about booking a surfing lesson tomorrow which I'm excited about. The guy at the desk said that they'll need to ring in the morning to check whether they're going or not, and also to see if they can fit me into one of the classes.
It has been raining a bit whilst I've been on the train (at least it didn't pour on me whilst I was trying to find the place) and it's also started pouring again whilst I've been getting ready for bed! Eeeks - what if I do get stuck here??