This morning was a struggle. I hadn't packed my bag the night before (still haven't learnt) and I was tired and a bit groggy. Brilliant. We got our bags down in time for breakfast which was an achievement in itself. There were some sorry looking faces though so I dread to think what time they got in. We said our goodbyes to some who had finished their tour now and got back on the coach to head down to Byron Bay. Except Claudia. Claudia (the Canadian hoe bag) had bagged herself a topless waiter from the nightclub and stayed with him for the night. She then decided to stay with him for a few nights instead and catch us up. To be honest, we were glad of the peace and quiet! She's as irritating as they come.
We drove down to Byron Bay which wasn't a long drive, but we stopped for something to eat and a leg stretch. People were again quiet on the coach, which was nice.
It had been raining on and off but it was ok when we got to our hostel in Byron Bay. We put our bags into storage but couldn't check in till 2 so we went to get some lunch. We ended up having slices of pizza (getting sick of that now too) and then went for a walk along the beach. It was cloudy and overcast but still a nice walk. We wasted enough time for it to be check in time so we went back to the hostel. We found out we were rooming with Geoegie, Louise and Caitlyn which was cool as they were really nice and we hadn't roomed with them yet. We spent ages chatting in the room, catching up, sharing stories and 'opinions'! Was nice to chill for a bit too.
After a while we decided to get changed and meet people at the Beach Hotel for a drink. And then a drink turned into a few more drinks. It was only coz it was wet and raining outside of course! People then started splitting off and going for dinner. We ended up in Cheeky Monkeys, a backpacker bar, as they did a meal and a beer for 5 dollars. Love it. We ordered our food and sat down to eat. Then we realised our hostel had a VIP table (which included free jugs of beer, wine and cocktails) so we moved! It was soon after this that I saw I guy that I thought looked familiar, but I wasn't sure. I told the people I was sitting with and they asked me what his name was. Next thing I know, they're shouting 'Michael' really loud across to the next table! Eventually he turned round (yes it was Michael Dudley that I went to school with, who's mum, Mrs Dudley, was our dinner lady)! Thankfully he recognised me which negated me looking like a knob. He came over to chat later on and we swapped stories about where we'd been and where we were going. Such a small world. He was so quiet at school and now he was in his element with a whole load of backpackers he didn't know. Funny how people change. Anyway, we made use of the free jugs of drink whilst giving Jade a geography lesson about where we all lived in the world. Turns out she doesn't know where England is bless her. They started getting rowdy in the bar though and playing body painting games - time to leave! We got some wine for the next night on the way home and then sat chatting in the room for a while. People started falling asleep so soon it was lights out and sleepy time......