Bondi and Byron Bay

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Hello friends, family and fans...yep, it's time for another one of my journal up-dates!

Tim and I left Manly on 3rd Jan and moved into our old friend Nicks apartment, which is situated in Bondi and I've got to say I absolutely loved it there! I definitely found Bondi to be the friendliest place so far in Australia and I love their way of life, especially their weekends, which are super chilled and laid back... just what I had imagined Australia to be! I also managed to pop into the Stopgap Sydney office and organised a night out for Friday 10th Feb, which is when I return to Sydney from Cairns. So we'll see if they really are true Stopgap'ers and know how to party? ;-)

It's been over 2 months now since I left the UK and I guess I'm starting to feel a little home sick for the first time, especially as I miss my friends but most of all I miss my own bed! ;-)

Tim left Sydney on 7th Jan and headed back to London, so I am now back on my own and travelling up the east coast. I arrived in Byron bay on 9th and I'm still here as I have fallen in love with this little town and it's beautiful beaches.

I managed to take Jim's tour of Nimbin, which I can tell you was unreal and I'm sure I'll never see another little town like it again. It's as if you enter a time tunnel back into the 70's and everyone in the town is a hippie and wishes peace upon you while they try and sell you some pot... and apparently they have the worlds largest ever made joint in their town hall! ;-)

I've bumped into a few people who I met in the youth hostel I stayed in Manly, which is nice as it saves on some of the money spent on drinks when trying to get to know someone! I hooked up with Dean and a few others for a beach football tournament on Tuesday, which was a complete shambles as the Australian and New Zealand guys who played thought that the best way to win was to knock the football as far forward as possible and run after the ball screaming as load as they can... NOT VERY BRITISH!

I'm also staying in my very first mixed sex room, which is an interesting mix as I wake up to the occasional topless canadian girl walking around looking for their swimsuits, which I obviously hide every night before falling asleep! ;-)

Apart from that I've met a great couple (Jessica and Juan) who are from Sweden and Brazil and seem to be happy doing most of the things I decide to do and they've even invited me to visit them in Sweden this summer. I've also managed to teach a few backpackers from my hostel how to body board (surf) the Portuguese way, which is way more fun and seems to piss some of the locals off who charge $35 a lesson but I'm sure they'll get over it! ;-)

I also went to the the most eastern point of Australia and managed to see my first ever wild dolphins, which was breath taking even though they were 2km away!

OK, I guess that's all I've got to tell you for this week but keep yourselves posted for next weeks journal, which will include my thoughts on Brisbane, Fraser Island and world peace!

Peace and lots of love!

Paulo
x

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Photos

Light House
My picture of the lighthouse on the most eastern point of Australias mainland!

Shaven Heads!
Can you tell that we bought our own clippers?

Just an old hippy!
The grey hound bus has definitely changed through the years!?

Fancy a smoke?
This is the largest man made joint in the world!

Nimbin High Street
Not exactly Richmond or Chiswick high street?

Looking for signs!
Hooked up with Dean again who I met in Manly!

Byron Bay!
A view of some of Byron Bays beaches... nice!