On the 12th we arrived in Byron Bay, our first stop in New South Wales. We were staying at the Arts Factory - more of a hippie commune than a hostel! This is typical of Byron though, everyone in the town is so laid back. The relaxed atmosphere is partly down to the people that live here but we think the smell of cannabis (EVERYWHERE!) may have had some part to play too! There is live music on every street corner (some of it just weird old men banging drums with vacant stares on their faces) and nobody seems to own shoes!

Our first night was spent with friends we hadn't seen since Thailand and as far as anyone can remember drinking games were involved.

The next day we went to Cape Byron lighthouse which stands at the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. The views were spectacular and we saw turtles and dolphins from the cliffs.

On the 14th Dan had an impromptu surf lesson from one of our friends. After about an hour of frustration he finally got the hang of it and managed to stand up to ride some monsterous 1 meter high waves! ;-) The next day we rented a board ourselves and went to the beach so Dan could teach everyone else. He was slightly annoyed that there wasn't a single wave all day and just lay in the sea for hours paddling around....Jo enjoyed the sunbathing and wasn't too concerned!

Our hostel had events on every night and that evening was the talent show. After seeing various people with guitars, juggling, singing etc our friend Zara put on her own show for the rest of the night, aided mostly by a box of goon. We all performed the loudest renditions of Christmas carols imaginable until we put her to bed!!

The next day was Jo's favourite day ever! We went to a Ugg boot shop on the main street. Everyone (with the exception of Dan) left with a pair - for less than half the price of the ones back home!

We did a bushtucker walk that afternoon, where we were shown plants used by Aborigines for food and medicine. We saw which ones were used as sunscreen, insect repellant and soap. Dan also learned how to make bracelets from the fibres of plants growing in the swamp!

We were actually quite sad to leave Byron as we'd met so many of our friends here and done so much.