Boarding the bus as our usual foursome, Joel & I headed to Spot-X surf camp & the girls stopped off for a night at Coffs Harbour. Arriving at the surf camp, we tucked into a lovely lunch that was provided for us & then got ourselves ready for our surf lesson. Upon looking at all the potential teachers we could have had, we spotted a few tasty surfer chicks. But as is typically our luck, we got put with Matt, who was a stereotypical surfer with scra...

Leaving Queensland & heading into New South Wales, took us to our first stop, Byron Bay. The rain was determined to follow us & for the first couple of days, it was fairly persistant. We stayed at Nomads Hostel, which was a bit of a party hostel, quiet nights in weren't on the agenda. Byron consisted mostly of a beach & one road of shops & restaurants. Most nights out saw all the backpackers head to a bar called 'Cheeky Monkeys'. You could ge...

We left Brisbane & caught a bus down the Gold Coast to Surfers Paradise. It was time for a little beach relaxation & the sun had made a reappearance just in time. We checked into our hostel & headed into the town to look around. With a mixture of souvenir shops, fairground rides & neon lights, it was like being in Australia's version of Blackpool. We found the strip of clubs & pubs fairly easily & spent the evening at an Irish Pub that...

We jumped on to the Oz Experience bus, naturally with Sally & Lou in tow, & headed towards Brisbane. The two girls got off the bus a bit earlier as they were staying a couple of nights in Noosa, so we would meet up with them again once they arrived in Brisbane. We had arranged to meet up with Anne-Marie (who we had met on our Vietnam & Laos tours) & she kindly let us stay with her at her apartment. We arrived at hers & promptly had a chill ...

I awoke the following morning & heading to the nearest bush in order to answer the call of nature, I stumbled across Joel.....asleep in a bush!! Although he doesn't recall anything, he apparently got up in the night & decided that a bush was much comfier than a tent & sleeping bag. It was amazing that he didn't get bitten or attacked by one of the wild dingoes that inhabit the island. Whereas mainland dingoes (they look like a mangy cross between a...