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Day 102 and while the others got up at 9 and headed for the beach, me and Burns slept in till about 11. They left a note telling us to meet them, so when we were up and walked to the beach and couldn't find them we assumed they had gone for lunch. Therefore we went for breakfast as there were plenty of shops about and even a sunday market. To get there we had to cross the river flowing onto the beach which people were swimming in. This was to prove very tricky as we both had bags and flip flops to carry, whilst trying to cross this fast flwoing river which came up to our waists. At one point I nearly got taken out, which would have been a disaster, but we managed to get across. We couldn't see them in town and so we ended up getting a burger from the market as it was right near the beach. The burger was good, but not worth the 30 minute wait! The market stalls were full of rednecks who all knew each other but weren't very good at service. To make matters worse, they had sold out of water, so we had to queue for another 10 minutes at another stall to get some. By about 2pm we had finished faffing about and headed back for the beach to try and reach the others. After another nervy crossing of the river we walked down the beach and still couldn't see them. Just as we were thinking of heading back to the hostel (we had forgotten sun cream so couldn't stay out) Burns suggested we leg it into the sea, otherwise it would have been a wasted morning. What a great idea it was, as we sprinted and smashed our way into the sea. As we were walking out and drying Burns saw the others coming our way waving at us, so we put our bags down and did another 'Hoff'. Now that they were there we sunbathed for several hours whilst occasionaly going into the sea where the waves were massive and very strong. About 5pm we headed back where we had a dip in the pool. For dinner the girls had bought and cooked a chicken stir fry which was very tasty. After dinner I sorted photos on the laptop while the others watched a shocking movie, Heartbroken with Ben Stiller. After that we all headed for the room to relax and go to bed, but me and Burns stayed up to watch yet more football (Man Utd vs Chelsea though so important game). We got to bed about 5am, a little earlier than last night!
Day 103 and we all got up 9ish and headed for the beach, together. On the way we stopped at a mini-mart to buy some food. Burns got a pie with Spag Bol as the filling. It even had the pasta strands in it, weird. The heat today was intense, reminded us of Thailand as well as it was humid and very sweaty. Because we were at the beach early today the tide was much higher and the waves even more intense. As we went into the sea, us 3 lads were loving the waves and were doing our best to swim with them as the broke but they were often so big and strong we just got taken out and ended up 20 yards away. As the girls came in, they were a lot more timid and wouldnt really get far in. They eventually went in to about chest level but didn't like the cold water. At one point as Helen was looking he wrong way, a massive wave which had taken us 3 out ,then took her out by surprise and took her out to the point she was washed up on shore! Thankfully she was ok, she just had a sore bum from the drag along the sand. After a lazy morning in the sun we headed back about 1pm as it was so hot. Helen, Burns and I lazed by the pool in the afternoon while Luke and Laura headed to the beach. Come dinner time we were ready to make use of the hostels BBQ and had bought burgers and buns to cook. Luke was designated chef and did an expert job. After dinner we checked our hostel booking for Byron Bay (where we heading the morning) and also our bus times. After a few games of cards and some reading time we headed to bed about 10 as we needed to be up at 5am for our bus run.
Day 104 and it was Burns 24th birthday and we all wished him a happy one while half asleep and paking our stuff at 5am. We were due to get a lift to the bus stop with the hostel but no one appeared to be up by 530 so we were getting worried as our bus left at 6.10. Thankfully someone got up and we made it to the bus stop and got on and left Coffs Harbour by 6.15am. My assigned seat was next to Burns and almost instantly we fell asleep. At 9 we stopped for breakfast where we all had something to eat and drink. After another short run on the bus we reached Byron by 1030am. It looked well nice, loads of travellers, good weather and lots of surf shops and places to eat. We checked into our hostel, Backpacker Inn on the beach and got given a spacious 5 bed dorm. The beach was only 30 seconds walk away which was awesome but we first headed into town to sort out some plans for Fraser Islands and the Whitsunday Islands. After 2 hours or so planning we had neogotiated a deal with the travel agent and treated ourselves to a subway lunch. We walked back to the hostel and got our beach gear ready and headed down for the afternoon. The wind was up, so the sand was blowing everywhere which ws quite annoying, especially as people walked past and sand was blown right into our faces! About 5pm we headed to the room, showered and then did a beer run for Burns birthday. When back, we gave him his card, and his presents, the VB beer which he loves, and white T-Shirt which says "MARY" on the front. This relates to the TV show, Peep Show in which a character says, "MARY's been sectioned!". Burns finds this hilarious and often quotes it randomly. He seemed pleased with it. We headed out for food at the Great Northern Hotel where there was a Pasta Buffet, which we took as a Pasta Challenge. After eating way to much and feeling really bloated we headed for the main bar where there was live music courtesy of Harry Healy who was really rather good and played lots of Pink Floyd. After a drink or 2 there we headed for The Railway Bar, where we had another couple of drinks and saw Australia beat South Africa in the Twenty 20. During our time there we for some reason started taking photos of each other with our mouths as wide open as possible. Seemed funny at the time but weird now we look back at it! The girls headed home about 11pm as they were both pretty tired so us lads stayed out for a while longer. About 12 we headed to a late night bar called Cocoamangos and had a few more drinks, including Jam Jars which were a mixture of spirits and tasted a lot like Syrup! There was also a guy there who looked and danced a lot like Napoleon Dynamite but he didn't seemed to understand this when we told him. We got back to the hostel about 230am with the girls fast asleep.
Day 105 and we woke with sligh hangovers, I even had to brush my teeth 3 times my mouth felt so bad. Luke was first out of bed and headed for the beach, followed by the rest of us. The sand on the way to the beach was so hot we had to run like girls over it as it was burning our feet. The sun was hot as usual but the wind wasn't as bad so the sand was not blowing everywhere. Luke said the sea current was very strong and dragged you down the shore, and he wasn't wrong. Once about 20 yards into the sea you could barely stand still as the current and waves dragged you left down the shore. At 12 we headed for town and got some sandwhiches from a local cafe. After that we headed back to the travel agent to pay for our travel deal to Fraser and Whitsundays. This involved getting over $400 dollars out of the bank which was very painful. After sorting the payment and making several more hostel and bus bookings, Luke headed off for a haircut, I went to by some new flip flops, Burns went on the internet while the girls looked around the shops. We all met back at the hostel about 6 and headed for a BBQ which the hostel had organised about 7. They were about 100 people about which made it only 1 burger and 1 sausage each. As we were still hungry after this we headed out bought more food, Pizza to be precise from Dominos. So much for us lot trying to save money on food (though Laura had been craving Pizza since we got to Australia). Back in the room about 10pm Burns headed to bed as he was shattered, Helen read her book while Luke, Coops and I watched some Heroes before getting to bed about 12. Right outside our room a group of people were out drinking and chatting which apprently kept the others up for a while but I didn't notice and fell asleep pretty sharpish.
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