An Oz experience

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Right then, i left Sydney on the Oz experience bus a small bus that is designed for backpackers travelling Australia. It goes all the way up the coast but i was only booked on it until Byron Bay (just south of the New South Wales-Queensland border) which meant three days. In addition to be transported up the coast and securing accommodation the Oz experience also organises activities for backpackers to do. On this occasion the main focus (for 2 of the three days anyway) was surfing. The other day was based at a retreat in Barrington, a place that truly was in the middle of nowhere.

Recent events had left me not in the right frame of mind by the time the tour started, but by the time we reached Barrington i felt better and began to socialise more with the other people on the bus. Unfortunately many of them were extremely immature and this would prove to be something of a problem as time went on. The retreat was basically just a few log cabins in the middle of a vast expanse of hills, fields and rivers. Activities available included "Night Rafting" (exactly what it sounds like), something i decided not to do but a fair few did.

The food was an endless supply of Pizzas which from a taste point of view were awesome, though obviously not from a health point of view. The room that i was in was a bizzare one, it was the most cramped confined space i have ever stayed in, it wasd a rom for six people with 2 triple decker bunk beds that barely fitted inside the room. Anyone suffering from claustrophobia would have no chance.

That night one of the men who worked there took some of the party (including me) out for a walk to see some kangaroos, we saw a fair few and this was my first ever sighting of kangaroos (unless you count the meal i had a over a week ago).

The next morning the bus set off from Barrington bound for Crescent head, where we were to be based at a surf camp, where the idea is that one learns to surf. I went out there, but frankly was pretty terrible at surfing, i still havn't been able to stand up and i think i will need a lot of lessons to ever reach that point. Still, its something i would love to learn so maybe another time. Again the food was well tasty that evening.

The mosty memorable (but perhaps least pleasant) event of the tour occurred later that night when one (particularly immature) member of the party who had clearly had way too much to drink, ran amok in the dorm with some shaving cream, spraying it everywhere. I was pretending to be asleep (so as to avoid this crap) and this guy sprayed a load of shaving cream all over my crotch (you probably think i am joking but Im not), I didn't say anything and just looked him in the eye. But the next day i confronted him and to be honest used a lot of bad words (F@#@ etc) to express my disapproval towards his actions. Though to be honest i wasn't really that bothered (I don't really get angry at people) I was saying these things for the sake of it. He responded with annoyance but who cares anyway.

I think we all know who the mature person is here.

The next day i chose not to participate in the surfing (for a combination of a few reasons including the fact that i could not really do it), and the bus moved its way into Byron Bay in the evening.

Well then, people say that the Oz Experience is similar to club 18-30, I've never been on a club 18-30 but i reckon the people who say this are probably right

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