Fig Tree Restaurant and Rooms Byron Bay

... Grasshopper" - to Nimbim, a hippie town in the beautiful Byron hinterland with a, let's say, very high tolerance towards the use, possession and sale of cannabis (No did not buy anything).
Apart from the beach days the sea kayaking has to be the best part of the Byron trip - we really came fairly close to the Dolphins and the kayaking itself was so much fun, especially when ...

... so many reasons why I went on this trip, and so many things that just did not matter. I've made some decisions about my life in the past week that have been a direct result of this trip, the challenge of being alone, the need to meet new people, the feeling of euphoria that I have on just a daily basis to be alive and be here. I am such a different person over here, just genuinely happy and approachable. That cloud of depression that hung over me when I was in Edmonton is just ...

... ewwww) and to discuss the plans ahead and the week just been.
The following day we got up early and went to meet Kate Shepherd (for those who don't know, Jess's long term childhood friend who lives next door in Oxford). Kate has been out here for ages and has cut all her hair off and it really suits her. So after come catch up and some lunch we headed down to Paddy's market to do a little tourist tat shopping (yes get excited about the pressies) and then just went and sat in ...

... massive dint Jess put in me before we set off...but I am at home with plenty of other crumpled old vans containing hippies here! I have to say I am holding up quite well considering the massive amount ok Kms I've been doing too, only damage so far a few cat hairs but I think Tom and Jess have realised I'm not an animal shelter now. Hopefully the roads will be flat and I will see more of my kind from here on up to Cairns" :-)

... Kat and Anna (German) and made plans to go surfing the next day at 10am! Manya and Sophie and Julia went to go to Cheeky Monkeys but Sophie was too drunk so they didnt get in. On Friday we did manage to get up early enough and met up with everyone who wanted to go surfing. It had stopped raining torrentially which was nice but there were still grey clouds looming but we went anyway! Unfortunatly there was a $400 deposit they wanted to hire a surfboartd so I decided not to bother ...

... but our paranoia from the snake incident had worn off a bit by now. As well as the snake, we saw red parrot, some other birds, skinks and leeches - more of these than I would have liked. When we got back to the van I was looking down at the map and suddenly noticed that my cream trousers were soaked in blood from the calf down! This was a bit of a shock and we suspected a leech, but couldn't see anything so as it was deserted I took them off - then ...

... nose looks ok but i have a nice headache with it and head to reception where they sort me out an ice pack. I clean up and go and lie down with ice pack and it eases off nicely. Its only 9.30pm but im bed already after a premature end to my evening. There is a great big greasy mark on the glass I smacked it and as I write this (the next day) - its still there to remind me of my stupidy. Not sure why all my injuries are from such basic things?!?! Must go and buy a top up of common sense.

... Queensland, so while I was freezing, Jaime was nice and comfortable in her wetsuit. We finished the day with a long walk on the main beach but were soaked with a sudden rainstorm that swept through. We ate at a great pub/restaurant for the second night in a row while listening to some great street music. The three days flew by and before we knew it, we were off to Bellingen.

... drive back to Brisbane (Brissy again Aaaaaargh!!!) and pick up another camper van for ten days. We've earned enough money here already to pay for this campervan, so we'll tour the Sunshine Coast, to make up for our holiday, return to Byron on Thursday/Friday to work the weekend, quit our jobs and drive down the coast to Sydney. Still following? Good. By returning to Byron to work the weekend we'll recover the cost of the second campervan ...

... so we had a quick look in the centre to see if we could find somewhere not in the guidebooks.

Unfortunately that proved utterly fruitless, so we checked into our very over-priced A$80 double room (which stinks and is uber-basic with shared bathroom, kitchen etc), and walked down to the beach.

The beach itself at Byron is lovely, but again it was all a ...