Day 144 - Monday 11 February Not surprisingly I was up a little later than usual and the sun has made a welcome return. So after getting lunch, I went back to Hyde park to do a bit of sunbathing. Although its only been a week, my tans already starting to fade a little. At 4pm Ji-Won phoned to say she'd knocked off work early. Were going to the gym again so I gathered my things and went round. Before using the sauna and pools, we spent about half an hour on the wights and machines. Despite the fact I haven't [View Full Entry]

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Day 133 - Sunday 10 February Were off to Port Stephens today to go dolphin watching (unfortunately its out of season for the whales). The bad news is I had to be up by 6 am to get the coach there. I haven't been up this early since I got my flight from Singapore almost 2 months ago, and I felt knackered. Infact its so early people are still making their way home from a saturday night out (They have proper 24 hour drinking here). Its also freezing, with clear skies thankfully it will be lovely and sunny later but as [View Full Entry]

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Day 114 - Tuesday 22 January Arriving in Sydney at half ten we didn't have far to walk to our hostel. We'd been offered a cheap deal in Byron Bay and its only costing us $17 a night. Not only is it ok, but it happens to be right across the road from Ji-Wons apartment block. That'll be handy. Unlike me though shes on a working holiday and is currently working for Greenpeace, so i've had to delay meeting up until tonight. After doing my laundry I went for a walk around the shops with Russ, where I came across a [View Full Entry]

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Day 112 - Sunday 20 January Although I like surfers its time to move on. Next stop Byron Bay a town named after myself. Although only an hour and a half's bus journey from surfers you cross a time zone thus losing an hour. It was already early afternoon when we arrived in town. Everybody raves about the place but I don't think its anything special. Don't get me wrong its a nice town but its just the same as many other places. It does have quite a nice beach though so we headed down there to spend the afternoon. Unfortunately [View Full Entry]

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Day 109 - Thursday 17 January I had to check out by 10am and for the first time since leaving the uk I had a hangover. To make matters worse its a bad one. Luckily I'd packed last night and somehow I struggled to reception to claim my free minibus ride to the bus station. After visiting the toilets there, I boarded the bus that would take me to our next destination Surfers Paradise. Its a couple of hours journey so as I wasn't feeling well I slept the whole journey. I'm glad I did, as when I woke up I [View Full Entry]

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Day 105 - Wednesday 16 January After checking out at 10 am we took advantage of our free transfer to the bus stop before catching the bus to Brisbane. Just after lunch the bus pulled into central Brisbane where we awaited our free pickup to the hostel. After checking in we headed back into the city centre to have a walk around. We had planned to do the xxxx brewery tour but have heard there's a better one in New Zealand so we'll do it there instead. Russ has been struggling to get over Asia the past few days and suddenly [View Full Entry]

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Day 105 - Sunday 13 January We'd been contemplating skipping the canoing through the everglades trip, as we've just spent the past few days camping in the rain, and don't really want to spend the next few days doing the same. However as the sun is shining were going to risk it and hope the rain holds off. At half ten we took the bus to Noosa. On arrival after a little difficulty in finding somewhere to stay we managed to get in somewhere. Its holiday season at the moment we really should book ahead. We had another deliberation about the [View Full Entry]

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Day 101 - Wednesday 9 January At half nine the bus pulled into Hervey Bay and most people including luckily the German next to me got off. This is where most people do their Fraser Island trip. Not us however our budget trip although the same, departs from Rainbow beach a quiet village instead. As this particular bus doesn't stop at Rainbow Beach, we had to get off at Maryborough and wait for an hour for the next bus. We also said goodbye to Simon who is carrying onto Brisbane. He's flying home tomorrow and will be back at work on [View Full Entry]

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Day 98 - Sunday 6th January Thanks to a valium tablet i'd had a good sleep even though the German bloke had done his best to disturb it. I was quite refreshed when the bus pulled into Airlie Beach a little before lunchtime. Its a very hot sunny day so i'm glad its a small place as we haven't pre booked accommodation and I didn't fancy carrying my bags for long. Even so by the time I dumped my bags in the room I was covered in sweat and wanted to cool down. You cant swim in the sea at this [View Full Entry]

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Day 96 - Friday 4 January Had to be up early to catch my flight to Cairns. When I'd returned last night everybody had been in bed and the lights were off. As I still had to pack I had to get up just after 6:30 am. This meant for about half an hour I woke everybody up by rustling plastic carrier bags and banging my locker but thats the perils of hostels. Its happened to me plenty of times. My 2 hour flight was a little boring as the only film they were showing was the Bourne Ultimatum and i'd [View Full Entry]

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