Falling out of planes and off tables

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The evening before skydiving we decided it had to be a night off the drink and an early night too, so we went to the little cinema next door to the hostel and saw a reasonably funny film called forgetting jessica parker. After spending the afternoon watching byron bay skydives it was nice to have a bit of escapism to pass the time! We got to bed early and I had a surprisingly good sleep and next thing I knew it was 6.45am and we were awake and getting ready to go do a skydive.... None of us seemed to be that nervous but it was all a little surreal. It was an absolutely perfect day without a cloud. We got picked up outside the hostel and the friendly bloke gave us all forms telling us how 'Inherently Dangerous' parachuting is and pretty much getting us to sign all liability for our lives away. He did the rounds and picked up a few more people from different places before we drove about 20 minutes to a little airstrip. Here we handed our forms in, paid up and sat and waited for about 5 minutes before they called our names and we went into a hanger to get kitted up. We met our tandem jumpers who all looked thoroughly Aussie and hardcore. We put some ridiculous green trousers on before a harness. We'd gone all out and paid for the highest jump you can do in Australia at 14000 ft and for a bloke to jump with you and film and take pictures. The cameraman came up and gave me a little pre-jump interview which was a little awkward! I just mumbled 'this is for the lads'. Everything was moving so fast there wasn't really time for nerves! We went out onto the grass and to the tiny little plane and listened to the instructions of how we were to jump - head back and feet under the bottom of the plane. Didn't really take it in at the time just blankly listened! Anyway we all loaded into this tiny plane sat in 2 rows on the floor and took off over Byron. The views were stunning and the flight was about 20 minutes just circling and climbing. Once we took off we knew there was no going back! After around 5 minutes it looked pretty bloody high so I asked the bloke what height we were at - 3000ft. Oh so only 11000 to go... At around 12000 the solo jumpers sat infront of us started getting ready and my guy started attaching things to my harness and tightening everything up. The solo jumpers slid the door open and it got very windy and they just jumped.. gone. They fell sooo fast we were all just like ohhhhh f*ck here we go! Next thing I knew Rob was being shuffled to the edge by his guy and then they were gone, seeing Rob fall out of a plane was one of the strangest experiences of my life, but I didn't have long to ponder over it as straight away we were heading for the door, my feet were underneath the plane and my head was back. People asked what we were thinking at this point but honestly there wasn't time to think and we'd been thrown out the plane. For about 5 seconds we flipped around and it really felt like I was plummeting towards the ground but then we levelled out at a cool 200km/h and I stuck my arms out and screamed woooooooooooo more times than I have in my life! I couldnt really believe what was going on, all I noticed was that I had the dryest mouth in the history of all time and air was rushing past me ridiculously quickly! I busted out a few moves me and Rob had planned to do before hand and gave loads of thumbs up to the guy filming me! It was the most fantastic thing ever, the most thrilling experience ever. Everything theme park ride will seem like crap after this! The guy opened his chute and I felt like I was about to fall out the harness. The wind stopped, I took my goggles off and we glided slowly down to the airstrip. The views were awesome and it was really peaceful, I just remember looking around for the others! Somehow Katie had beaten me to the ground after jumping afterwards. The landing was cool sliding across the grass. The cameraman came over, high fived me, I high fived the guy and then ran over to Rob for a massive gay hug. What a buzz! We were all amped up on Adrenaline for so long afterwards and rang people to tell them about it and that we were alive.

We got our videos and popped them into the player there. They were great and it was so strange to watch, everything was over and done so quickly it was like it never happened! Katies video was especially hilarious as it appeared she had lost control of the muscles in her face and arms as they flailed everywhere. Make her show you the video but you'll have to work hard. We got driven back to the hostel and were back by like 10.30. It had all been over and done so quick which added to how surreal it was! Amber, the nice woman staying in our apartment demanded we put all the videos on so we got to see them a second time. Me and Rob rented out some surf boards and we all headed to the beach, we werent great but we're getting better! Chilled for ages reading and just relaxing while the others built 'fort sandman' which was hilarious. We cracked on back to the hostel and put some pictures up to show off, it was now that our adrenaline comedown started to kick in so we decided to kick back with a movie. We decided to watch 'The Beach' seeing as we'd been there and me and Rob hadn't seen the film yet. It was truely terrible in our eyes but very weird and kinda cool to see Maya Bay on a film after having already been there. Made me miss Thailand a bit! Cheeky Monkeys was closed on Sundays so we couldnt redeem our free meal and beer for skydiving just yet. Instead we went to a local chippy and got fish and chips, bit of a let down compared to the one we had in Coffs. Katie was feeling really rough with the cold I'd already had I think and headed back. Me and Rob grabbed a few Schooners (not quite pints) of Tooheys in a pub over the road and played some pool. I'm happy to report that as of writing the score is now 36-30. I sense victory is near. We got hustled by a cool but very competitive Aussie couple and lost twice before heading to 'The Beach Hotel' for a couple more. It was 11pm when we headed back as it was empty and we couldnt really be bothered!

On the Monday me and Katie were up early having got into the habit of early mornings, we went to the Chemist to get something for Katies cold before heading to the beach with a surf board. I only used it for lying on and we relaxed in the sun for ages just chilling. I've got my Thailand tan back. We nipped up to the beach hotel for a quick beer reminiscing about travelling so far and not quite able to believe that we were so close to our Africa leg of the trip. We were over half way now! We met Rob there and went back to the beach for a bit. I read while the others made a sand version of Katie. The others caved for Subways for lunch but I heated up the remains of the amazing Spag Bol we'd rustled up the day before. Played 'shithead' (card game) all afternoon and I rang the bus company and got us on a bus to Surfers Paradise for Wednesday morning. We went online and booked a flight back south to Sydney from Hervey Bay on the 10th of May for only 40 pounds each on Virgin Blue. That means we get another night at Wake Up Hostel and Side Bar on our last night in Oz before flying to Jo'burg on the 11th! So we're staying in Surfers till Sunday morning when we head to Brisbane, On tuesday we arrive in Hervey Bay, the entrance point to the amazing Fraser Island where we're doing a 3 day, 2 night self drive camping trip. You get put together with a group of 10, get given a 4x4 and camping equipment and go to the island to fend for yourselves. Cant wait, we're doing that on the 7th, 8th and 9th before flying to Sydney on the 10th. Cant believe how quickly Australia has gone (and how much its costed...). In the evening we went and redeemed our free meal and drink voucher at Cheeky Monkeys which was cool. We were done quite early, Katie was feeling rough still so retreated to the cinema while me and Rob went back to the pub for a few beers. It was 5 dollar pints and free pool. Perfect. Drinking pints again was strange after being used to Schooners, they looked huge! We took a moment to appreciate them before owning the table at doubles and leaving undefeated. Spoke to Gaz on the phone in the evening to help him with a uni project which was really cool but made me realise how much I'm looking forward to seeing my mates when I'm back!

Still in the habit of early mornings me and Katie were up bright and early on Tuesday and had a hearty breakfast of snickers and coffee. In recent weeks me and Katie have developed an addiction each. Me to Snickers and Katie to Mars. Unfortunately chocolate is ridiculously priced in Australia and a bar usually sets you back about a quid. We quite fancied a trip to this hilarious hippy stoner town called Nimbin as it was our last day but unfortunately when we checked at 11.15 the last bus had already gone. Instead we did the really beautiful walk, you would love it Mum, along stretches of empty beaches and up and down hills through coastal rainforest to get to Cape Byron - the most easterly point in the whole of Australia and also to the lighthouse there. Sat on the edge we thought this may well be the furthest from home we'd ever been! We also had a moment of appreciation for how lucky we were to be in such a stunning place as this. We had an ice cream at the lighthouse before trekking back down to Byron Bay, the tide had come in so we had to wade a small part of it! On the way back to the hostel we bumped into a very guilty Williamson on his way to get his daily Subway Melt. Me and Katie had the budget option of tinned spaghetti on toast which was alright.. Rob went off to do the lighthouse walk himself whilst me and Katie headed back to the beach trying out our new game of talking jibberish and seeing people look strangely and try to figure out what language we were speaking. We were excellent at it. Lay on the beach and finally finished The Godfather after starting in India. All I can say is that if you like the film you'll love the book. Rob came back from the walk and we all watched the sunset which turned out to be spectacular with amazing changing colours. Today my appreciation for Australia had gone up a lot! Freshened up for the night ahead which began with the hostel organised all you can eat BBQ which was excellent. We then cracked on with some drinking games with some people who we met there. It was Robs turn to feel grim now and he turned in. The drinking games were hilarious and involved all sorts of ridiculous challenges. We all went down to cheeky monkeys and partied the night away on the tables which act as the dancefloor. Not sure how but I had managed to get a bit too drunk, maybe its because I was craving a big night with a few off but I fell of the table and got a nice bump on my head for my troubles. Hilarious. Somehow didn't get thrown out and the evening ended with a great Kebab, that I remember.

In the morning it became clear that in my drunken state I had remembered to set an alarm to catch the bus. So we checked out on time and said goodbye to Byron Bay. The bus ride was quick and easy, about an hour and a half to the high rises of the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise. Me and Rob decided that names such as Crowthorne and Camberley are pretty crap in comparison to 'Surfers Paradise'. Our first task was to find some food and Subway over the road did the job nicely, there was a hostel nearby called Islanders which seemed nice enough so we checked in to a 4 share dorm with a balcony - nice! The place was a pink high rise straight out of Miami Vice. Infact the whole of Surfers was like a mix between Miami, Vegas and the med; like Malaga or something. Tacky but great, we love it! After the standard food shop we explored a bit and booked our Fraser Island trip which I talked about earlier. Katie was nackered after last night and went back for a nap while me and Rob went to check out the beach. Basically you can see why its called the gold coast. Beautiful golden sandy beach as far as you can see (42km long apparently). The waves looked great and we were looking forward to going out for a surf tomorrow. The high rises and development didnt even spoil it as it just looks cool. We decided we were definitely going to have fun here! Hit the internet for a bit with Katie before trying to rustle up some food, this proved tricky as reception had closed and we couldnt rent cutlery. Luckily my pot noodle had a fork inside but I also made and buttered sarnies with a large butchers knife and Katie ate her noodles straight out the pan. Had a quick nap and got ready to go out and see what the famous nightlife was like. We headed to Waxys Irish bar, the hot barmaid told me they only served pints and I decided that I loved her. We had a really good chat and talked about going home and how weird it was that in only 11 days we're off to Africa. Our friends from Thailand Celia and Georgie who we've seen along the way were in Surfers too and so were our mates James and Rich from Sydney. Both were on a big bar crawl (surfers has tones of these, you pay like 30 dollars and get free entry to like 6 clubs with some free drinks at each one). They told us where they were and we went along to say hello and ended up blagging our way along on the crawl for a while free of charge, getting free entry and free drinks too. Excellent. The night ended with a McDonalds, first in ages, it was great.

Today poor Katie has been out of it, totally ill still, me and Rob rented boards and hit the waves which turned out to be awesome although particularly brutal in comparison to Byron. I did manage to get on one wave and ride it for about 4 seconds which I was very pleased about! With a few injuries and generally completely knackered we went back to the hostel and played some pool before chilling out. Not sure what we're going to do tonight. Think Katie fancies another cinema trip to take her mind off illness while me and Rob will probably go to this pool bar called shooters as we have a voucher for an hour free on the table. Sorry this has been a bit of an essay! Theres been loads to say! Speak to everyone soon, from the 11th we're on the way home, weeeeird!

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