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Published: June 12th 2011
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Mornin'
So we have had a pretty busy week!
We moved on from Coff's Harbour and made the short trip to the ever popular Byron Bay. We arrived to lovely sunny weather and parked the van to have a look around. Immediately we could see why everyone likes the place so much, Byron is a really nice size with lots of young travellers and lots of shops, cafes and restaurants to cater for travellers needs. Having got some info on campsite options we ended up picking one we stumbled upon called Glen Villa Holiday Village, the site was pretty nice with lots of greenery and free BBQ's. We headed for the internet and a friend from Koh Tao (annie) messaged me to let me know she was in Byron so we met up with her and it turned out she was staying at a place near by us which was also the place my friend from Birmingham (tom) was staying at, so we had a few friends to go and do stuff with which was cool. That night we made full use of the BBQ's and had a decent meal whilst talking to some really keen english girls who
really wanted to go out with us on a night out, we managed to get out of it because we had already made plans with Tom and Annie. We went to a place called Cheeky Monkeys which was ok, but more the sort of place you need to be really drunk (or 18) at.
The next day was overcast so we saw it as a good opportunity to go to the lighthouse which I had been told was worth a visit for the views of the bay, it didnt dissapoint and all four of us had a good time wondering around the headland for a bit. Tuesday seems to be cheap day in Oz so we headed for a place Tom recommended called Eagle Boys pizza, $5.95 for a large pizza was a bloody bargain! We then went back to Tom and Annies for some live music at their hostel. In all a pretty relaxed and cheap day.
Tom and I had talked about wanting to do some surfing and after and enthusiastic pitch from "the Steve Irwin of surfing" we were booked onto a 4 hour surf lesson (half of which was spent in the car haha).
We were taken out of town to Ballina where we learnt in a small estuary. The location was good as everyone managed to stand up and hevs told me I rode one wave for at least 50 meters, granted they wernt massive waves but it was still pretty cool! After the surf lesson Tom and I were shattered, after some dinner we went back to their hostel (arts factory) which was holding a quiz, I would recommend the arts factory to single travellers, great place to meet people and they hold good entertainment each night.
The following day it was time to leave Byron and meet up with Dave and Sarah again who are doing the same route as us but in reverse. We met at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary which my friend Nick recommended, it was pretty cool, lots of koalas, wombats etc. and we got to feed kangaroos which was pretty cool. We then went to park the campervans by the beach but after we made dinner we got knocked on by the Police who told us we had to move on or get hit with a $370 fine! It was too late to check into a campsite
so we spent ages trying to find a suitable spot on the street, we eventually found one about 10pm on a street with huge houses.
After a restless night (due to being worried about being caught and fined) we woke early and hit surfers paradise beach were me and dave played frisbee for ages whilst the girls slept. We then decided to hit Wet n Wild because the weather was amazing (a rarity so far in Oz), the park was pretty sweet with lots of massive slides, but it was still a little cold to be at a water park to be honest. Due to the calamity of the previous night we decided to check into a campsite, on the way we stumbled upon a cheesecake shop which looked amazing so we bought a large supply (I am never going to fit in my tailored suit from Hoi An!). We were tired from a lack of sleep and a long day at Wet n Wild so we got takeaways and played some cards before retiring to bed at the dizzy heights of 9:30.
Yesterday brought more cloud but dave wanted to go surfing and I was buzzing from
my lesson at Byron so we went and hired some boards and "wettys" and hit the beach, to say it was unsuccessful was a bit of an understatement, I managed to stand up once in 3 hours! We were no way ready for big boy waves and retired with our tails between our legs. I still enjoyed it thought and it nothing else it helped burn off the cheescake from the night before.
Today we said goodbye to Dave and Sarah (we hope to meet again in NZ) and we are going to make our way up to Brisbane, we hope to go to the city tomorrow but its the Queens Birthday Bank Holiday (why dont we get this?!) so Im not sure anything will be open.
Will update you all again in the near future, Photos now added (more at the bottom)
See ya
James
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