Australia East Coast - Three

Hey Everyone

I trust all is well back in the Home Land (and beyond for those elsewhere).

Well, we left Sydney (phew!) about two and a half weeks ago. We stopped at a very pretty but, very quiet, place called Coffs Harbour for two days. There we met the lovely Mel (or Melly as she's known to me). A very chipper young lady from the little known town of Boston in Lincolnshire! After this we headed to Byron Bay - Australia's most easterly point and caught up with our Melly again . On our first night we also met the equally lovely Amy (or Ames) from sunny Guildford and here we remained for just over two weeks! Needless to say, we loved it!

During our stay here in Byron we have sunbathed, swam in the sea, snorkelled with sharks (ok, there was only one and it was asleep but it was still a shark), boogie-boarded (unsuccessfully in my case), had many afternoon naps, danced on tables until dawn, visited the fabled town of Nimbim where even Grannies smoke weed, witnessed a truly spectacular sunset and, well, drunk lots (and lots) of alcohol!!!

The beach here really is beautiful and as it's only been a two-minute walk away the whole time, we've spent a lot of time there (not that I'm tanned or anything). The sea is lovely and whilst, ever-so-slightly brisk upon initial entry, it soon warms up and you just don't want to get out!

Ness and I have spent the majority of our time here in the YHA. It is a realy nice hostel with a good atmosphere also, you can't complain when you have your room hoovered every morning but a half-naked, somewhat attractive, young Englishman - not that we ever told him that!!! The hostel has boogie-boards (basically half surfboards) that you can use for free so...we did! You paddle out like you do for surfing but, instead of standing up when the wave comes you just lay on your board and let the wave carry you. It's great! If, that is, you don't do what I did which was to start off too close to the shore. If you do this, the nose of the board will clip the sea bed and flip, in turn, flipping you over, and over, and over again! I survived, obviously but, only just! When I stopped rolling and tried to stand another wave came and knocked me off my feet, and then when I tried to stand after that another wave came and then another wave came! Once I was FINALLY standing up and able to remain so, I found that Mel (our new best bud) and Ness had found the whole thing hilarious! It was only a few seconds until I absolutely agreed! Bless me!

One thing we've noticed since being in Byron is that you quite often find that, roughly around 2pm-3pm, you need an afternoon nap. All the excitement of waking up and recalling the events of the previous evening, along with the trek to the beach and the strenuous act of laying in the sun, you really do need to rest! Sometimes twice!!! He he!!!

Another thing that is a must during any stay at Byron Bay is a visit to the highly-sophisticated and up-market establishment known as, Cheeky Monkeys! An average night here involves drinking, at least a litre of Goon (a collective term referring to the cheapest, and usually worst, boxed wine) each, a short walk to the aforementioned location and dancing on the tables until 3am when everyone gets chucked out!!! It's fab! Many a night was spent upon the tables, on a few occasions we nearly fell off but, we always managed to find someone to grab onto in in order to avoid such a rapid descent! After two weeks, we have discovered (yes, it's taken that long) that you really do need to be completeld trashed so as to enjoy Cheeky Monkeys to it's fullest but still, we were happy to oblige!

We awoke one morning feeling that perhaps we should do something so, we went to Nimbim. This is a town that is famous for it's lapse views on smoking and eating weed! Within seconds (literally) of getting of the bus we were approached by young people, old ladies, single mothers, everyone, asking if we wanted to buy some weed! After a very tasty lunch (the bus journey built up our appetites) we took a walk around this very small town (one street). At first it was funny, that everyone was stoned out of their tree (even the Grandmas, actually, especially the Grandmas) but after about five monutes we all started to think it was really quite sad! To spend all day, everyday, just getting high - nah!!! The last straw was wahen we saw a young father with his baby boy asleep in his arms, buying a bag of weed! Not our kind of place at all. However, we did partake in a piece of weedcake and a few cookies! Much to our dismay, all they did was send us to sleep but, at least we gave it a go - when in Rome!!!

Along to thr right, down the beach, there is a lighthouse. We were reliably informed that to watched the sunset from this spot was really special so, we did it! And, well, it was fab! We got some really amazing pictures and were even more impressed when we turned around and saw the moon was just as amazing as the sun. The moon was bright white and the sky behind a whole range of colours from purples and pinks to yellows and blues - lurvely!!!

So, all in all our time here in byron Bay was pretty bloomin' brill! We slept, drank, ate and boy did we laugh!!! It's a hard life!

We're off to Surfer's Paradise today (Wednesday 24th May) and, by all accounts, it's not all that different from Benidorm! Sounds interesting, I'm sure you'll agree!

I must sign off now as it's nearing our nap time!

Love to everyone

Take care and keep smiling!

Love

Jacolyn

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