G'day Mate! Hows it going in Australia?!

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G'day Guys!!
So heres my Australia update since I got here. We arrived in Sydney, and we had to get a train and two buses to our hostel, which ended up being around an hours walk from the city centre. The hostel itself was aboslutely disgusting, and filthy, there was no cutlery at all, and the other people there were living there and working, they werent actually backpacking!! Stacey was accused of stealing sunglasses which she didnt steal, and the shower was a trickle of water, it was just a bit of a bad experience in that hostel. Still, we saw Darling harbour, the Sky Tower, we took a bus and went to Coogee beach and sunbathed til the afternoon. I managed to sneak in some photos with the lifeguards!! We sat on a surf and rescue boat!! Then we took a walk to Bondi beach along the coast, it was nice. We also obviously saw the Opera House, and the Bridge which took our breathe away.

Next we went on a night bus up to Coffs Harbour, we didnt spend so long there and when we got there we had a snooze then checked in when reception opened and ended up on the beach in the sun boogie boarding as the Aussies say......which means body boarding!! It was really fun and I managed to catch some waves and they took me right back to the sand! The next day we went to the beach and sunbathed.

We then got the bus to Byron Bay, by this time the weather was changing slightly, and it started to get a bit overcast. In Byron Bay we sunbathed the first day, then went out for St patricks day!!! After a guiness and other alcoholic beverages.....we ended up in the infamous "Cheeky Monkeys" which was a little mental and the next day we had a hangover. This didnt stop us though, we went for a walk with some German boys that were in our dorm and we walked to the lighthouse. It was a bit of a walk, and we werent exactly in the best of moods trying to nurse our hangovers....but we managed to get there in the end. On the way we saw a camouflaged lizard and a long thin snake which made my skin crawl!! On the way back, we walked along the beach and saw a washed up fish which was quite plump and spikey.

After Byron was Surfers Paradise. It rained for our first day there, and then as it was a Saturday night, we went on a pub crawl which only cost us 30 dollars. Bargain. We got free VIP entry and a drink in each establishment. And we even managed to bag ourselves a Sailors hat each from some lads who were on a stag do. We went around for the rest of the night with these Sailor hats on!! The next day it rained again.....we watched films in the hostel and were really bored and sick of the rain. Luckily the next day we had sun, and we sunbathed on the massive beach that is Surfers Paradise. The waves were sooo strong and we couldnt swim in such strong currents so we stood in the water to cool off, it was very sticky.

Next we went to Brisbane and we stayed with my family in Victoria point. It was nice to see them again, its been around 7 years since I last saw them, and we had all changed alot since then. We had tea with marian and Kenny, Emma and Mick which was nice and had a catch up. The next day me and Stacey had a wander around the area and sat in the sun. The next day Marian took us on a tour with her friend Janice, we had fish and chips Aussie style, "hot chips" they are called haha. That was nice and we had a cold stubby to wash it down. We ended up in Janice's swimming pool, and Marian told me some family history that I hadnt known before.....I found it all very interesting!!
The next day we woke up early and went with emma into Brisbane for the day. We crossed the bridge from southbank across to the city and walked around the botanic gardens....here we fell asleep for a good two hours after our early start and the heat getting to us. We then got some lunch, we treated ourselves to a subway and sushi. Oh and a cake haha!! Then we took a do it yourself walking tour of the city. Saw the oldest construction in Brisbane from the 1800's which was the windmill and then we walked past the cityhall and onto the Victoria bridge back to southport to get picked up by emma when she finished work. After we went straight to the golf club and ordered food and had some beers. They ended up losing our order so we got 2 nachos for the price of 1. Then they didnt have enough nachos for the both of us....so we ended up getting our money back....so we had free nachos!!! They also gave us a free round of drinks....so we were well off after we had gone there than before we went!! BARGAIN!!!

The next day we met marian and she got out some family photos for us to look at. We talked for a while and ate breakfast and then went across to coochie island. It was very windy and we sunbathed and went for a swim in the sea which was rather warm, we then bought some hot chips and got the ferry back to the mainland. Me and Stacey stayed in, while emma and mick were at a wedding. We watched tv and youtube films and chilled out for the night. A drunken Emma and Mick knocked on when they got home hahahaha.

Then today we have just used as a jobs day. BORING but needs to be done. Washing, bookings uploading photos etc. Tomorrow we are going to try and fix my broken camera that I have got sand in....seems unlikely which i am a bit gutted about, as A it is new and B i need to take more photos!!! We will see.....then after we are going across to Straddie Island for the day. We may even treat ourselves in the evening to a buffet restaurant called "Sizzlers"!!!

Tuesday we leave the Daveys and head to Hervey Bay. Up the coast we plan to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and we also plan to hold a Koala and feed a Kangaroo. Exciting stuff ahead....but we are sad that we only have less than a month left travelling! Time has gone soooo fast!!!

Since we have been here we have had strong rip tides and current from the sea....and all of the bugs are absolutely massive!! Ten times the size of bugs in England. But it is turning autumn here and the weather is still soooo hot and nice. It really is a lovely country and the people are fun. I am looking forward to our adventures up north. We will update you later. Love to everyone, I miss you all. xxxxxx

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