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After Surfers we headed to Byron Bay. It was much the same as Surfers to look at only a bit smaller. Surfing was the main hobby of everyone that lived here it seemed. Most of our days consisted of going to the beach and chilling out or throwing a frisbee about. On our first night in Byron we headed out with Chris (Marty's mate) and also the Germans who we done our Whitsundays trip with: Shereen, Frank, Walter, Pascal and Lukas. We ended up in Cheeky Monkeys, which was heaving and had everybody dancing on the tables. It was only fitting that being in Cheeky Monkeys they played some T'Arctic Monkeys Fromt Sheffield- Also played many other banging tunes and Dj Sets.
On Sunday we went on a bit of a walk by the beach to Cape Byron, where the highlight was a big lighthouse on a hill (Initially I thought it was the Lighthouse that the family in Kids Program, Round the Twist, lived in-but i was mistaken-i should hopefully see that lighthouse when i do the Great Ocean Road in a month or so) On the walk there were a few nice lookout points where you could see
Dolphins, all be it hundreds of metres in the distance. Also watched the surfers in action, needless to say they put our efforts in 1770 to shame, but i reckon to the residents of Byron surfing is like footie is to us- they start when they're about four years old. Cape Byron happens to be the most-easterly point in Australia aswell so we got photos by the sign, It's been a dream of mine since childhood to say i've visited the most easterly point in Australia so i was delighted (ahem)
The highlight of Byron for me was the 5-aside beach football tournament we played in on Tuesday. Joining Me, Will, Chris and Jonny were two Danish fellas Bo and Alan. We found our feet quite early in the tournament winning our first couple of games and booking our places in the semi-finals- early highlights were the Sprigens Shuffle, in which he beat a couple of men before scoring, Bully apparently done a Ronaldinho stepover (which i never seen) and also scored a Rivelino style goal on pro evo after lining the shot up for about 30 seconds as the ball came to him. I scored a couple aswell.
Beacon of Shining Light
... and a lighthouse in the background I should also comment on Will's goalkeeping prowess in the first game, in which he came under a barrage of shots from all angles but somehow managed to keep a clean sheet- I gave him the nickname Safehands Scott.
We managed to win our semi-final keeping another clean sheet so on we marched to the final where we played a team made up mostly of Englishmen with some Latino flair in the shape of a dreadlocked Italian. As luck would have it we conceded our first goal in the tournament in the most important match just as the second half got underway. As time was running out i decided to go in for a fifty fifty with this 15 stone bruiser on the other team- bad idea, i got to the ball first but was absolutely wiped out as his foot whacked right into my toes on my right foot (The fact we weren't wearing any footwear meant i was in agony) I never even got a freekick?! Justice would arrive in our next attack though as Sprigens sprayed a delightful pass high up in the air to me up front. With the Bruiser right behind me, i produced
Customary cocknose shot
Aha, i'm a giant (not so giant in this case) witch! some Bergkamp control and managed to chest the ball down and shift it onto my left foot, the Bruiser could only watch in horrror as i rifled the ball left footed past the keeper- If Andy Gray had seen it he could probably have said, "What a hit son, you beauty, Take a bow son, take a bow!" After equalising i played no further part in the final as my foot was in absolute agony. I could only watch as we took the lead only for them to equalise with 10 seconds left, the sun must have been in Scotty's eyes as a twenty yard shot went through his hands and into the goal. Before they had time to celebrate though Danish Alan struck from way out and gave us the lead just as the ref blew the final whistle!!!!!! We were the Champions, our prize: a $100 bar tab at Cheeky Monkey's that night- I wouldn't be doing any dancing on the tables mind, due to the fact my foot was bright purple and i was walking like the Hunchback of Notre Dam. Would've felt a lot worse if we hadn't won though.
Had a great night at Cheeky Monkey's with the German's and our Danish team-mates: the club showed highlights of the days football on the big screen only for the tape to cut up from the semi-finals onwards?!? So never saw my moment of magic again, at least this way i can distort how good it was rather than see it on screen and realise it was a five yard tap in?! Me and Jonny bumped into this bloke walking home form the club who just kept saying "Mate, i'm from Byron" -random?!
So, our five days in Byron Bay were awesome, we left for Coff's Harbour on 1st June.
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