G'day g'day pommie possoms!

Well sorry it has been some time since my last update - it's been all go, and here was me thinking this travelling thing was all laid back! It's tiring stuff!

So, when i last wrote i was still at Ali&Tony's, which now already feels like yonks ago. Had an AMAZING last night with them on the Monday evening - Tony & I took a walk through some proper auzzie bush land in the day and then that evening we had a barby (my FIRST authentic Oz barby, what a treat) and THEN Ali & I put on Kylie Showgirl dvd's and sang along to locomotion and i should be so lucky. Im practically an aussie now myself! Aw, it was so great! So as you can probably imagine, after feeling so at home with them, leaving on tuesday was tough. Felt VERY lonely again, but it wasnt long before i got chatting to a Dutch girl on the bus up the coast (the Dutch are faring extremely well on my european travellers scale at the moment, meeting a fair few and they are all great). So we agreed to meet in Byron where she was heading, once i arrived there after Bellingen.

Soooo....onto Bellingen. What can i say to form an appropriate image in your minds? Thiiiink.......organic supermarkets, views of the bush, pictures of nakes hippies laying on grass and bathing in waterfalls on the walls of the hostel, think old aussie bush-walking guide with long hair.....getting the picture?! Well, it was very cool! Laid back, beautiful views, chilled out atmosphere. Had a bit of a jungle trek, played some table tennis, ate some ice cream, walked from one end of the village to the next (which takes about 10minutes), played some more table tennis, chatted to an 'interesting' lady who told me about her new anti-dairy lifestyle, got offered some cheese from the anti-dairy lady (!!!), slept, played some more table tennis! So, in brief, that was Bellingen!

I am now in Byron and absolutely love it. Spending a fair bit of a time with some nice lads i met in Bellingen, but also met another lovely Dutch girl on my surfing lesson today (that's right, i've been surfing, i need now only meet a koala and a kangaroo and i reckon i could pretty much pass for an aussie - got the lingo, got the surfing technic, thrown some meat - no shrimps were available - on the barby, have developed a new found love for Kylie - got it all!) and yet another lovely Dutch girl who works in the hostel im staying at. Hence the good Dutch rating. My dorm, and i suspect Oz as a whole, is overrun with Germans but (shocked to even be admitting this) while reserved and bit sour-faced the last few iv met have been surprisingly pleasant. Im discovering that its not just me who has a bad track record with Germans and Austrains though, all of the Dutch i've met so far have agreed with me. Anyhow, friendly Germans, so im happy. How did i manage to gloss over that surfing reference back there anyway......it was INCREDIBLY!!! Swallowed loads of saltwater, got a bruised bot, lots more salt in my eyes, etc, etc, but it was probably the best thing i've done in Oz so far, if not since i left home full stop. It was brilliant fun, even when my arms felt like they were going to drop off and the current was almost taking my feet out from underneath me, i was so determined to get to the next wave and back up on the board....i cant describe how good it felt to be standing up and gliding along. SOOO much fun! So, im doing it again tomorrow! Just hiring a board, going with the same company, but not paying full wack for a lesson. I will then move onto Brisbane on wednesday, meet with the two girls Joe & I met on our tubing adventure in Laos who live there, maybe surf some more, then Noosa where il surf again if poss. I then have my Fraser 4WD trip booked, and Whitsundays sailing trip, my PADI diving course booked in Cairns and a Cape Tribulation trip booked also. Pheeew! I've been busy planning, organising and decision-making here (oh, and spending!) in Byron, so funds have drastically dropped but then i've basically got everything set and payed for that i want to do on the east coast, so not feeling too panicked (though i did have mild palpatations last night when the card was swiped...nothing a beer and some Woolies home-brand tinned tuna with cheese on toasted pitta breads couldnt fix!)

I bought a cd of surfing pics today also, as a professional photographer/surfing pro came out with us, so proof of me defying the forces of gravity and the waves all at once (though perhaps not particularly elegantly) will soon be up on the blog also!

It's starting to warm up here, slowly but surely, though i am without doubt losing the tan. Bit sad about that, though im sure as concerns go it's nothing compared to having to get up every morning in rainy cold England and go to work. Sorry about that guys. Have i gone a little too far?!

Ooooooh, haha, i've completely forgotten to mention possible the most memorable part of this week! Went over to a little town called Nimbin on Saturday, just for one night, before coming back here to Byron. Not sure how best to describe it, the pictures should give you a pretty good impression, but think Bellingen stuck in the 60's. Hippy-tastic! It was quite an experience! As was having to share an 8bed dorm with just boys...i have nothing against mixed dorms, in fact id rather be in there as girl only ones can be a little hostile, but these boys were smelly. I even woke up on Sunday morning to one of them farting in their sleep. Not the most pleasant of experiences i can tell you. There's only so far you can go in getting used to sleeping in dorms, and i will never get used to that! Though, as Joe pointed out to me on the phone last night, im not the most pleasant sounding and smelling sleeper myself so im perhaps not really in a position to complain....though im going to anyway!

Okidoke, well thats all the news from me this end of the world (where, you may be interested to know, or perhaps already do, not only does the water go down the plughole the wrong way, but the moon is also upside down - weird) so i hope everyone is well and i'll hopefully update a little sooner next time.


Lots and lots of love to you all in Pommie land - im doing us proud over here and representing us well, i hope!

Love Vic x