Blogs from Oceania - page 7095

Trouble with travelblogging is when you're really doing stuff that's cool to write about, you're far too busy to log on and write about it, and when you're free to type up, you've most likely got very little to write about, hey ho! Auckland proving to be a very pleasant place to hang out, feeling quite lazy so tending to mosy around shops, harbour etc, think i'm bored of guidebooks and brochures so wandering round here hoping to come across cool stuff. Did go up the Skytower, thankfully backpackers get a discount, certainly gives one an idea of the landmass of auckland, is the world's 4th largest in that sense though is just over a miliion population. considering New Zealand is just 4 million though that's not bad going. Saw someone jump off the building on ... read more

The calm after the storm, East Coast Dreamin, Every Man Is an Island, Bundy and Beyond! After such a treat of wind at Alva beach an inevitable calm has settled over the east coast, the water is like glass everywhere we go, our wind meter twists lazily at 2 knots, our kites remain deflated and my dreams of the perfect double back roll remain unrealized. Despite this our spirits remain high, as this is a gorgeous part of the country to be lazy in, the beaches sport yellow to white soft sand, the water although a little cool as winter moves in, is clear and deep blue as are the skies. It seems the perfect time for us to go island hopping! After a long drive through a sea of Cain plantations and a night at ... read more

We rode out of Sydney on the overnight Greyhound bus, arriving in Byron Bay all bleary-eyed the next morning. It's a pretty cool seaside town, but 95% of the population are backpackers, and the majority of those are from England! The beaches are beautiful, covered in smooth white sands, and were even better than Fiji! We'd chosen our hostel because they offered a free introduction to Scuba-diving in a swimming pool to get used to the equipment, but when we asked about it they just pointed us to the local dive centre where it was free for everybody! Cheeky blighters. Scuba-diving is harder than I thought, and there's lots of things you have to think about while you're descending or climbing in the water, so even though - and I'll be honest here - the view ... read more

A brief entry - but I have become an auntie again - Joshua Alarcon 8lbs 12oz. Bit hard at this side of the world, but we had a celebration !!!!!... read more

.....Well, we didn't actually sleep very well on the coach at all - 12 1/2 hours overnight from Newcastle to Byron Bay - so we arrived in Byron at 8.30am really VERY tired!!! (Wednesday 17th May). We had booked into the YHA so, despite it only being a 5-10 minute walk, they picked us up from the coach drop-off (better than walking with our rucksacks!) We were given a loft room which was quite cool so, even though we were still in a dorm, we had the loft space to ourselves. We spent the next couple of days exploring Byron Bay - walking along the lovely beach etc. It was a great place - one of favourites in Oz so far. It was really cool and chilled out. Even though we had the loft room we ... read more