Hello everyone! I am now in the beautiful beautiful Byron Bay - I never want to leave! Those of you who have been here, I am sure you felt the same! I had a really nice last day in Sydney, I walked from Bondi beach to Coogee beach - Bondi really reminded me of Swanage though! Everyone raves about it and it's a really famous beach but honestly the way there were 1960s buildings, ice cream and beach shops and grass surrounding it really made me think of Swanage - had to laugh! The walk was well nice, all along the cliff top and round several little coves, it was all quite busy and all houses along the way - nothing like the Dorset Coast! Still enjoyed, and saw lots of spiders and lizards and very cool rocks. Next day I jumped on my new oz experience bus at 6.30am - how ridiculous! Our bus driver Max was a dude, and by lunch time I had chatted to a few people, again they seemed like a nice crew! We had a nice (but sleepy) drive up to our first destination, Barrington Tops National Park - lots of big hills/mountains covered in trees with mist around the tops! Our hostel was so cool, very unique, set in a valley by a lovely river, surrounded by trees! The social area was just a big shelter/hut and our rooms were tiny and made to look like miners huts (!) We could please ourselves that afternoon, so I chatted to people, swam in the river - wasn't even that cold! And walked down the river (well nice, very overgrown though!) and played volleyball, which I have never done before so was quite impressed when I could actually do it! After a fab dinner of all you can eat pizza cooked by the backpackers that lived and worked there for a bit most of us crammed into the back of a landrover and headed up the river and went night kayaking down a grade 2/3 rapids! Very scary but very fun! Had a head torch but that didn't stop me from getting stuck on rocks, in trees and going down some rapids backwards! Was so cool, when we turned off our torches in the calm bits and gently drifted the stars were so amazing! When we got back we got in the hot tub, played drinking games, and cards later on inside and had some great music going on! Was such a fab night, and felt fine the next day! Next day, 3 lads that had been staying there for 2 weeks got on our bus and I ended up hanging out with them, a nice couple and an girl from Lulworth most of the rest of the time! The rest of the bus started to get a bit clicky after that and were actually pretty arrogant! They are all from Blighty too apart from one Canadian guy, and most of them are only 18/19! Had a really long drive that day, and arrived at a place called Crescent Heads late arvo. We stayed in the middle of nowhere again, at 'Mojo surf camp'! It was as funky as it sounds too! The guy in charge looked like Austin Powers - where's my Mojo baby yeah! We had a surfing theory lesson then went down the beach (wilderness kind of beach!) to surf! I can still stand up! Waves weren't as good as Torquay though. It rained quite a bit of the time - weather has been very showery over last week but glorious again now! That night they cooked up a nice BBQ and then we sat around a really nice fire then went down the beach for a bit. We got up well early the next day and went surfing again - so much fun, I can't get enough of it! The currents are so strong though when you are trying to walk back in after catching a wave - hard work, but not dangerous! Then we had a really really really long drive to Byron Bay (where I still am). We went past and stopped at 'the big banana' and 'the big shrimp' - basically big plastic things that even have banana/shrimp themed shops - there's no reason for it, other than that's what is grown in that region - apparantly there is a big pineapple in Queensland too - I really must put that on my to do list! I am staying in such a funky hippie place in Byron called the Arts Factory - I am camping! There are teepees, huts, little shelters where people are always playing drums and guitars and there is wildlife running around all over the place - first time I have seen bush turkeys! All the walls have massive hippie style muriels all over them, and there are so many surfer dudes there! There are loads of fun things to do and the bar is very chilled out. Will right more in a bit, am just going to meet Ellie (girl from Lulworth) and we are going surfing! See ya dudes!