The lAst of Sydney, Surf School and BYron BAy

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Hey,

Long time since our last blog, have spent the last wek in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal and no internet- how backwards eh?

Okay so i have to think all the way back to Sydney, On the Monday of our last week we had another day's work at the Consortium warerhouse which was kinda crap but we are thinking bout the money.

Tuesday We had a pretty lazy day because it decided to rain and also we are poor so we did our washing and watched a few films. In the evening Grace , Imogen and i went out to Imogen's Bar for a drink and to try and win that weeks jackpot- (think i explained before that every week they have a draw for members and you can win cash) but unfotunatley we had no luck. We had a good drink- Cider and black of course and then went for dinner at Betty's Soup Kitchen which ended up being one of the best and cheapest meals we had in Sydney!! $10 for help yourself salad bar, massive bowl of pasta and loads of fresh bread and butter- we ended up with a doggy bag in true travellers style. Wish we had discovered the place earlier!
Wednesday Grace and i walked over Sydney harbour bridge and had a look around the North of Sydney. There wasn't much there at all apart from a great fish and chip shop! They have something here called chicken salt they put on chips and it is amazing, why have we not got it in England? We took loads of pics which unfortunatley we can't share with you because the internet is pathetic here so you'l just have to wait i'm afraid.
Thursday Grcae Imo and I ventured out to Manly to walk the manly scenice walkway, a walk that goes through national park. It was a gorgeous day and we started out witha coffee. They told us it should take 4/5 hours and we did it in two because we were rushing. It was a beautiful walk and we encountered Wildlife on the way, Grace nearly trod on a huge lizard and we saw some pretty massive scary looking spider, Nana would have loved it!!
Friday Grace and I sorted all our stuff for leaving and Dropped into Paddy's market for a few souvenirs and prezzies. There was loads of rubbish but we did manage to find some bargains and we bought Sydney Badges for our collection. in The Evening we went for a curry at Maya Dhaba as our last night out in Sydney with our roomies! we of course got doggy bags before heading to Clock bar, a bar set on a balcony in Surry Hills. It was a very nice bar and we felt a little out of place in our flip flops but we didn't let it bother us as we splashed out on the most expensive drink of our trip- $16 cocktail, ouch!! Grace had a Mocha express which as you guessed was coffee flavour and i had a 10 ways, a mojito with lychee and raspberry- yummy. We then went to another bar in Surry hills which was a little bit more down to earth and of course i had a cider and black haha. The couple next to us started having an argument and decided it was a good idea to get us involved. That was fun!! The women was asking us if he had been with other women whilst she was in the bathroom, He was Welsh- Crazy welsh people eh?

Saturday we woke up with sore heads and decided a trip to our favourite bakery would be just the thing so we dragged Imo down there and i had a pie and grace had pizza- mmm breakfast yummy! We made our way to Darling harbour to visit the chinese gardens which were very pretty. It was Buddah's birthday today apparently so the had massive celebration down by the gardens because there is a massive Chinese community down there. Grace and i then went and spent all the money left in our accounts on two splurges!! A bondi hoody and a pair of crochet uggs each. We are now poor but extremely happy so never mind.

Sunday we had the pleasure of claening before we leave. Our $1000 bond depends on it so we went all out. Unfortunatley our roomate Claire decided not to show up so Grace Imogen and I did it alone. We scrubbed the bathroom with bleach and it was super sparkley when we'd finished. We all had a lovely shower in our nice slean bathroom and then went to the Burger Bar, a gourmet burger place where we devoured a huge burger and chips but we figured we earned it! In the evening Grace and i went down to see Imogen at the pub and had a drink. Unfortunatley we didn't win the Jackpot.

Surf School---

Monday we left Sydney on the Surf school bus and drove up to- well- the middle of nowhere!! We dumped our stuff in our room, where sharing with Ashley who we really get along with luckily. We then headed for Seal Rocks beach which is part of a National park and is one of the nicest beaches i've ever been to. Today we learnt to stand up, our instructor NAz and Matt are extremely funny and ar good teachers too, it would be nice if Naz would where underwear though, never mind. Surfing is bloody hard work and we had our fair share of tumbles, the waves are so powerful. We ended the day with some impressive cuts and bruises and aches!! In the evening we all put $10 in for drinks and sgot given some jugs. We played a game called never ever have i, very shameful, lucky we were all too drunk to care!! We stumbled to bed where there was no heating whatsoever and nearly froze to death. We all looked like eskimo's wrapped up in our sleeping bags with wooly hat's on.

Tuesday i had a hangover and the swell was up, bad combo, inexperienced surfers vs Ocean- ocean wins everytime!! Today they got us to swim out back so we got to sit on the boards in the middle of the sea like you see in the films- it was the best way of looking like you know what your doing. We had to ride unbroken waves from here and Grace and i both did okay but had our fair share of wipe outs as well. Tonight we got thouroughly drunk and had a huge party- played some stupid drinking games which we so regretted the next morning!

Wednesday we went to Booti Booti National park but the waves were too massive so after lunch we moved to SEal Rocks again where the were perfect conditions and while sitting out back Grace got to see dolphins that swam right up to the group. Sooo jealous i wasn't there. After surfing we went to Sugarloaf Lighthouse, a good spot for spying whales and Dolphins, Unfortunatley we had no luck bet there were still gorgeous veiws and we got lots of pics. In the evening we had a campfire.

Thursday we drove up the coast to Crowdy Beach where we surfed with the other group. We swam out back again and practised surfing the unbroken waves. We weren't bad at all and they reckon Grace caught the wave of the day!! We drove to Kempsey after, a bit of a hick town but we went to a nice pub and had takeaway pizza which was yummy. We then drove to Wey Wey lodge and they had a camp fire and some beer.

Friday we drove to Another beach and had a surf comp. The weather was great. The comp was about tricks more than surfing so Grace, Brittany and I tried standing on eachothers boards and surfing a wave which was thorougly unsuccessful but we nearly wet ourselves. WE didn't make it through to the next round so we watched from the baech instead. For lunch we had a BBQ and then grabbed an ice cream before jumping back on the bus and driving all the way up to Byron Bay YHA where we were booked to stay. Tonight we met everyone at Cheeky Monkeys, a huge backpackers bar. When we arived we were already slightly tipsy and after lots of free beer Grace and i decided it was a good idea to get our chests painted with the English flag and then enter a dance comp to win money. We didn't win but evryone is sure we got the loudest cheer, Jamaica won because the girls kissed eachother- we clearly didn't want it enough!

Saturday we wer sooo hungover, we walked around Byron a bit and layed on the beach with Nikki and Britanny and Ashley most of the day. We had dinner at cheeky's but had an early night thanks to the night before.

Sunday we Walked around with Nikki and Britanny, Nikki was looking for work and Brit and us were just looking for the cheapest place to buy food! we sussed out the town and found a delicious chicken burger place. YUmmy. In the evening Grace Stayed back and watched a film with Jonny and i went to Brit and Nik's Hostel for some goon.

Monday we took a tour bus to Nimbin, the hippy capital of Oz. It was like going back 50years, very weird and Kooky. WE bought a badge and explored before moving on for a BBQ lunch. We then went to a waterfall where we could jump in but it was bloody freezing and only a couple of boys were brave enough. We had dinner at cheeky's again because it was super cheap.

Tuesday we walked to the lighthouse and got thouroughly soaked so we only made it halfway up and then had to come back to dry off. WE went to Cheeky's AGAIN tonight for a $5 dinner and lots of free beer. For the first time in ages we got drunk on beer and after a good dance on the table we decided to move on to Cocomangas, the other popular bar in Byron. It was fun in there and we didn't spend any money at all which was a bonus. The music was good apart from Grace and I nearly died when S Club 7 came on. We said goodbye to Brit and Nik and staggered home!

Today we are leaving Byron to Head to Surfers paradise where we will be for about 2 days. We did our best to upload photo's this morning but after an hour of pulling our hair out we had to leave it.

Hope your all well, sorry about the irregular updates, we'll try to keepon top of it from now on!

Love and kisses to everyone, thanks for all your messages we love reading them, Soph and Gracie xxxxxxxxx

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