On the up

---

After my good nights sleep I decided to try and make the most of the day and headed to the beach and to try and get a bit of a tan! I still managed to fall asleep on the beach even after sleeping all night in the hostel - I think the overnight coach really took it out of me!

I still wanted to try and make an effort getting to know people in the hostel even though I knew I was going to a different hostel the next day so I bought some goon and sat in the kitchen area, I ended up sharing it with Yvonne a Dutch girl I had met earlier who had actually been on the same coach as me. we then decided to head over to Aquarius to meet up with Steph and Helena from Sydney. The atmosphere there seemed really nice in comparison but as we got there they started to close up the common area so we moved to a bar/club called Woody's.

Met some nice people in there, a guy called Tom from Leeds started chatting to us and he was also staying at Aquarius.

The next morning I was pleased to be checking out of the main beach backpackers and my grotty room and to be checking into aquarius where I had already made some nice friends!

The room was lovely, the bunks were set over two floors like little snow cabins and there was a sink area in the room plus a private bathroom! (Also pleased to be back in an all girl dorm!) they had a little hammock area outside to chill in and it had a really good vibe. The Only downside was that you had to pay for wifi but there is plenty of areas in Byron where you can get it for free and I still had the password for the main beach backpackers wifi!

I went to the beach again as it was so hot and the sunshine and beach are too nice to miss!

That night I went out with Yvonne, Helena, Steph, and some people they knew to cocamangas had a really good time dancing and singing along!

The clocks went forwards for daylight savings so the time difference between the uk and oz is now 10 hours!

Sat in the hammock for a bit in the morning getting used to losing an hours sleep and reading my book. After that decided to take a walk to the lighthouse because I had heard that it was a must do in Byron bay.. It was a very long walk, I walked the coastal route so it took me a few hours but was very pretty saw some more lizards and other smaller bays and at the top it is the most eastern point of the Australian mainland.

Afterwards I met up with Yvonne and we decided to chill out and have some goon in the common lounge area, I realised that because there was two of us we weren't really chatting to anyone else so I suggested that we try to play some pool with two guys using the table. They turned out to be french called Jimummy and Thomas and seemed really nice and invited us to join in the game with them. I had mentioned to Yvonne earlier in the evening that I fancied a kebab but I was trying to be good with my money so just had some noodles, but jimmy mentioned that he was getting a kebab so I went with him and he ended up buying me one! It was really yummy!

The French guys ended up coming out with us to cheeky monkeys which was a lot better than the first night and we danced till around 1am! They even bought me a drink in the club too!

We went back to the hostel and Tom from Woody's was chilling in the hammock area and found out he was in the next room along! We went to the beach to watch the lighthouse and the stars as they seem so much closer in Australia than the uk!

Woke up the next day and wanted to make the most of my last day so went to the beach and left Yvonne a note to join me when she wakes up and I text the French guys to see what they were up to. It was so hot so after lying there for an hour or so I decided to walk around the town in the shade and bought a beach towel with a surfer, the word Australia, and the Australian flag on it, as I had been using my scarf to lie on but it was so hot that I wanted to go in the sea so needed a beach towel, then went back to the beach. I looked out to sea and saw this whale jump out quite far away but as I watched it it got closer and closer to the shore until it was really close and you could see its flippers like it was waving at everyone on the beach and you Gould here it when the flippers hit the water, I was so happy to have seen one so close. Yvonne and the French guys joined me at the beach and we all went for a swim a few times. When I got back to the hostel I was looking a little pink but I had been in the sun all day and in and out of the water!

We all got ready and then headed downstairs with our goon to the common room where we met an Australian guy called Ben and a German girl called Caitlin. The common room was being closed for the night so we all headed up to the hammocks until that closed and then Ben invited us all over to his because he had a private room at the hostel. I went to bed early and didn't really drink as I had decided to get up early to go and watch the sunrise at the lighthouse as it was the most easterly point so I would see the first sun of the day and it would be rising out of the sea. It was my only chance I would be able to do it as I was checking out at 10am and catching the bus to surfers paradise at 11.

Woke up at 5am and got ready to go up to the lighthouse as the sun was due to rise at 6, Thomas the French guy had said that he also wanted to come so met him outside the front of the hostel so we walked together up the hill and watched as the sky got lighter and lighter, we got there in plenty of time and sat on a bench at the most easterly point waiting for the sun to emerge from the sea on the horizon, it was sooo beautiful we watched the sun rising for about an hour and saw whales splashing and jumping out of the sea in front of us it was amazing! So glad I woke up for it!

A little sad to be leaving Byron now that I have had a good time a met some nice people but need to move on as there's just too much to see elsewhere! Checked out and caught the bus to surfers paradise....

---