G'Day! (I couldn't resist..)

Hope everyone is well. We've added some more pictures so you can see some of the things we've been up to in Australia. For some reason the last batch of photos from China are refusing to show on this site, so we'll have to show you them when we're home.

Well, we're basically loving Australia and want to stay!! Chris said he has found in Sydney a place he'd rather live than London - and that's a BIG thing! Sydney was fun but flew by, so we're hoping to get a few more days there at the end of our tour. Since Sydney, we've visited Byron Bay and Surfers Paradise...again, both lovely..!

Our first proper day at Byron saw us rising to catch a bus at 5.15am - very early by our standards! However, it was worth the effort as we travelled to Cape Byron and saw sunrise. As you will see from the pictures, it was pretty amazing. I really enjoyed it and may rise early more often to catch the sunrise! Cape Byron, at this time, was completely calm and the sky looked like a beautiful painting - the colours and scenery were stunning. Apparently dolphins gather at this spot, but we didn't see any (much to my dissapointment). However, as few days later we spotted a dolphin whilst sunbathing on the beach! - This is the life! That evening we attended a trivia night where we met two Australian girls, Beckie and Bree. The girls were really nice and we spent some more time with them during our stay in Byron, including dancing till the early hours in a bizarre nightclub! The four of us also went on a Bushtucker Walk (I think Chris mentioned we had booked it) with a guy called Cockatoo Paul (!) Here we learnt survival skills and which fruits to eat if we ever find ourselves lost in a rainforest....hopefully we will never need to put these particular skills into practice! I think Chris was secretly jealous as Cockatoo Paul nominated me his 'Xena Warrior Princess' and I got to hold his dagger during the walk! Another day at Byron was spent on Jim's Alternative Tour visiting a town called Nimbin. This was the most random day EVER - from the bus journey to the people and the town - I guess we will divulge more information when we get back home....

Apart from the odd trip we mainly spent our days chilling on the beach and watching the surfers tackling the massive waves - well, we thought they were massive, but Bree laughed her head off when I told her this (I think Australian's are more adventurous than us British). We've been in Surfers Paradise for the past 3 nights and leave tomorrow morning for Brisbane. Our hostel is pretty good, feeling more like a hotel with a pool, spa, sauna, bar, balconies etc. Plus, it feels like even more of a luxury compared to the hut in Byron Bay. Although that was a great experience, I kept envisioning coming across a Huntsman spider and made Chris scour the hut whenever we returned! The weather's been on and off here - when it's sunny, it's beautiful - when it rains, it pelts it down!! The town is pretty laid back and very clean! I feel like I'm walking around a theme park where the roads are spotless and eateries and shops are dotted about. Apart from chilling out, there isn't too much to do here - the main thing are the water sports, which I may attempt! The other main attraction here are the themeparks� - Surfers having four within close proximity. Yesterday we visited 'Dreamworld' and attempted some pretty big rides. One particular ride called 'The Claw' really messed with my head - it was absolutely crazy and I wanted to jump off it to end the bizarre feeling!!! Another feature completely freaked me out: Called Nightmare, you walk through a dark building holding onto the shoulders of the person in front of you. Then people, dressed in black, appear out of nowhere and basically scare you half to death! They can't touch you but come right up to your face and say things in your ears! It was awful and I think I deafened the poor woman in front of me!! Needless to say I won't be doing anything like that again in a LONG time..!

Since today has been on and off raining we ended up visiting a bizarre place called Robert Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum - see pics, don't think we need to say more...!

Well, we're trying to be good with our money and have been cooking for ourselves - so we're off to the supermarket now to grab some ingredients. We'll update more shortly so for now take care and keep in touch!

Much love, L and C - xx