Australia-Halfway

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Well, been in Australia for just over 3 weeks now and really enjoying it. I started off in Melbourne. Really liked the city, probably my favourite city I've been to, the buildings are really nice, old mixed with new the trams are really good and it just has a really chilled out vibe to it. I stayed out in a suburb called St Kilda, which is basically the backpacker suburb now and is pretty nice. One night I went and saw penguins coming into the breakwater at St Kilda which was pretty amazing. Also had a couple of crazy nights out. One day me and a couple of guys I met went to see an Aussie rules game at the Etihad Stadium. It was crazy, the stadium was huge, I just wish I had a clue what was going on. One day I caught a bus out to the little surf town of Torquay which is really nice. It's actually the home of Rip Curl and Quicksilver and the famous Bells Beach is just down the road, unfortunately I didn't have time to sample the waves.
After this I had one more night in Melbourne and then the next night I took the night bus to Sydney. After getting off the bus I managed to find some cash in had work labouring within half an hour, without even looking. I had two days of this which helped the money front nicely. I went and saw the harbour bridge and the opera house which was pretty cool, because I've seen so many pictures of them before. One day I caught the ferry out to Manly, the view of the harbour on the ferry ride was absolutely amazing! Manly was really nice, a lot more relaxed than the centre. I then took the Manly scenic route half way back to the city. The next day I caught a bus and a train out to Bondi beach. While I was here I ended up buying a surfboard, so went out for a surf, not realising it was low tide and got completely smashed! I didn't like Sydney as much as Melbourne, there was just too much going on.
The next day, after another messy night out I headed to Newcastle. Had a really nice day here, really chilled out town, a bit dead at this time of year though. Went for a surf in the afternoon and got smashed again. The main street here was eerily familiar to Taunton high street.
Back on the bus the next day I headed up to Port Maquarie. Really nice small surf town. I walked out to a Koala hospital which was pretty nice. Went for a surf the next day and just chilled in the sun for the rest of the day. The next day I went whale watching which was incredible. We saw three huge humpback whales swimming alongside each other, one even did a massive tale slap. I was back on the bus later that day and headed to Coffs Harbour. Stayed at a really nice hostel here as well, had lots of activities. First night a load of us went and jumped off the end of the pier at night which was such good fun! The next day I went surfing in the morning, canoeing in the afternoon and then went fishing in the evening, and, I caught a shark! Shame it was only a foot long but it was still a shark. I liked it so much here I stayed another night and went for another early morning surf.
That evening I headed up to a place called Woolgoola and from here went to a surf camp place. They had a camp fire that night which was good because it was freezing! Met a couple of people heading the same way as me which was good. Went for a surf that morning, and improved slightly. In the evening got back on the bus and headed for Byron to meet up with the people I met at surf camp again.
I really like Byron, I was worried it would be really touristy but its still really small and nice, and the beach is so nice. On the first day me and the two girls I met went for a walk along the beach and found a really cool little cafe, so had lunch there, before heading back for a BBQ and a very heavy night on the town.
Today the weather isn't as nice and the surf is rubbish as well so might just chill out for the day. Only a month and a half till I get home now, which will be nice but still not looking forward to getting back to the Status Quo.

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