When we first arrived in Australia, it certainly took some getting used to after Asia. Australia did nothing wrong, but we just missed the culture, cheap food, and hustle and bustle. But this place is certainly winning us over, and we've got John to thank for that. The places we get to sleep in the van are just stunning, and there's a lot of fun to be had when you've no idea where you'll end up by sundown... Oh, and the gorgeous beaches, perfectly sunny days, and endless supply of fish and chips have helped us to settle in too!

This morning all we knew was that we wanted to get to Byron Bay - 260km up the coast - but what we did along the way was anyone's guess. We didn't waste much time getting up to move the van though, (in case any rangers were on the prowl) and drove around the corner to park up beside the harbour for some breakfast from the back of the van,

Unlike other coastal towns, Coffs doesn't have a main street slap-bang on the waterfront, so we instead took a short stroll along the harbour to a pretty little creek, until we reached a place called Dolphin Marine Magic. We'd read about this place - a centre of conservation for dolphins and other marine creatures that encourages hand- on interaction with the animals, in a bid to increase understanding and respect for them.

We were probably the only adult-only group there; most were families on Easter holidays so we stuck out like right wallys, but hey-ho…. The dolphins were swimming around inside a large pool when we arrived, and we were encouraged to go down to touch them and throw balls for them to catch. Neither of us had ever touched a dolphin before, so that was pretty special.

The best was yet to come though, as each visitor was invited to have a dolphin kiss. Of course it was super touristy, but the smiley Australian staff made it seem unmissable - so we joined the line for a fishy kiss. One at a time, we each knelt beisde the pool as the dolphin leapt out of the water for a big smooch on each of our cheeks. After that we had another kiss from a rather friendly seal. It was ridiculous; it was toursity; but it was oh-so Australian, and oh-sooo much fun.

The show that followed was also great as most of us got to join in - Nat played catch with a seal, and Bret got to help the dolphins perform jumps. And after that we hand-fed some big ol' ugly fish, including leopard sharks, as well as some cuter looking little penguins.

Although the centre was small, and certainly wasn't as big and snazzy as many of these kinds of places in Australia, it was obvious that the animals were cared for well, and we had no problem paying for our dolphin and seal kiss photographs in order to support the centre's conservation work.

Within a few hours, we were back on the road again, heading towards Byron Bay. And, finally, FINALLY, we spotted our first wild kangaroos and koalas on the side of the road along the way.

....Australia, we have arrived!

Once in Byron Bay we had enough time to mooch around some of the shops (We're both in desperate need of smaller swimmers to fit our new backpacker physiques if we care at all for our modesty) before finding a place to stay. Byron Bay is quite a trendy seaside town, full of surfers and backpackers too - and there are plenty of shops for us to look around. And Bret filled up on his daily ice-cream quota with an Easter Egg ice cream… yum!

Before the sun went down, we decided to find somewhere to park for the night. We wanted to be stingy and find another spot for free, but here in Byron it was a bit tricky. It's fairly developed, with limited parking - and a whole load of 'no camping' signs. We drove up and down the bay, and even took to following another group in a campervan to see if they knew some secret spot... but in the end we caved and forked out for a camping site. (There goes Bret's ice cream money for tomorrow!)

So here we are in the camp kitchen where we're watching the Australian version of Who Wants to be a Millionnaire and counting our lucky stars, once again, for an amazing day of experiences to remember...

Kissed by a seal... check!