Surfing + Skydiving!!

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The last few days have been off the chart of enjoyment levels.
We had a really enjoyable night out in Sydneys trendiest bars with two gappies from last year, Henry and Emily. Henry drove us back to our hostel giving us a night tour of all the main sites like the opera house and bridge etc. all lit up and it paid back all the lifts i gave him back to kc. Then we left next morning for surf camp which was a pretty long drive away so i spent it all sleeping on the coach. Spot X was a really cool little place with not much there other then a little mobile home holiday village where the surf camp set up. We had little converted containers which had 3 bunk beds cramed in to sleep in. There was a big camp fire with sofas made out of surf boards all around so we drank a lot of goon (cheap boxed wine) round there and got to know all the new people better with drinking games.
We woke up pretty early to go out and get the best surf and after a quick safety talk and lesson we hit the waves. Everyone was able to stand up at least once and i got a few good runs in. We were using massive boards so they were really stable. It was so fun and the waves were perfect height and speed for beginners. But what made it even better was just when we were beginning to get tired someone spotted some fins not far from us and a group of dolphins had swum into shore. We paddled out to them and it was amazing to be able to get within just a few feet from wild dolphins popping their heads up for air. They were like surrounding our boards while we layed on them and it was such a cool experience to be that close to them.
That evening we headed to Byron Bay and i really like it here. The beach is rapidly catching up on my previous favourite beaches in India and could overtake it as my all time favourite if the surfing goes well tomorrow. They have pretty good night life here and theres a really good group of us together at the moment. Us 3 plus two guys from Devon and a girl from Leeds and a girl from Preston. We take up a whole hostel room and are all doing Oz experience for roughly the same time so we will probably stick together for most of the rest of the trip. It makes meals and stuff a lot cheaper like today when we made a massive picnic to take to the beach and it worked out as one of the cheapest meals so far.
The other night at this famous tourist bar called Cheeky Monkeys they did a massive discount for all the Oz experience people and played loads of games for prizes. One of them offered the chance to win a FREE sky dive so i entered that and was somehow lucky enough to win it!! it was like a knock out race where we had to go round the club and find a list of random items like straws, foreign currency, condoms, bras and finally a german football shirt and return to the stage without being last. It was so dramatic in the final task for the footy shirt when i was up against a girl but luckily just when i thought i had lost i realised Jay had tricked here and given her his vintage ENGLAND shirt without her noticing which meant i won it. I couldn't believe i was actually going to be sky-diving the next morning!
We got picked up from the hostel and Huw Jay and Richard had decided to join me and pay to do it as well seeing as it something we all wanted to do at somepoint we may as well do it together. We upgraded it there from a 9000ft to a 14000ft which is the biggest your allowed to do and gives you about 70 seconds free fall compared to only 20. It was definitly worth because the time just shoots by but honestly it was one of the best things i've ever done in my life. The rush when you realise you've just been thrown out of a plane is unbelievable and the view over byron bay was incredible. They even let me steer the parachute on the way down which was fun. None of us got nervous at all as the divers are all so confident and just joking around with you til the last second so you never think your gonna get hurt.
I can't wait to try bungee now if i get the chance and the funds hold out, but the super cheap sky dive certainly saved a lot.
We move onto surfers paradise on Wednesday morning but will have a few more days chilling out at Byron first.
Hope everyone is well,
Love Joe xx

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