Last days of Oz (7th- 10th August)

On an average sized map of Australia, the trip from Brisbane to Byron is roughly the width of a toe-nail clipping. But that is still an inter-state journey, with Byron bay being the first major town in the North East of New South Wales.

It's a laid back hippy village by the beach that seems to have more to offer tourists than Aussies themselves- a nice beach, good weather and a lookout that is the Eastern most point in Australia ( it also boasts a hilltop that apparently catches the first rays of sunshine of the Australian day, but it is QUITE some hill, and neither of us were feeling that adventurous). I managed to witness the lighthouse and its viewpoint more than once, as I left Jens hoody at the lookout and only realised this after a good half hours descent.

It was only a fleeting visit however, and the next evening we were on the bus for a 12 hour bus journey to Sydney. We didn't feel so bad about this when the guy beside us, from Liverpool, told us he had been on that same bus for 56 hours already- all the way from Cairns. Madness!

I all honesty, we came to Sydney for one thing and one thing only- the obligatory cheesy photo outside the Sydney opera house- we were worried people wouldn't believe we had been to Australia otherwise! But with that out the way, we could also soak up some of the other sights. Our friend Fi took us for a cruise along the harbour to Manly beach, where we tried the most indulgent ice cream we have ever had, (the three most beautiful words on the English language- Caramel.On.Tap.) then the next night we stayed in "colourful" Kings Cross- the red light district, which, come evening was more full of backpackers than seedy characters. We also took a trip to Newtown, which has the highest concentration of bars and restaurants in Sydney, to put to use some of the free drink vouchers we aquired, and went to see a fellow Scot, Malcolm Middleton of Arab Strap (from sunny Falkirk) perform in a bar.

If we had the time over, we would have hoped for more time in Sydney, but we just had too darned much fun elsewhere. So with that, off we flew to South East Asia!

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