Hello everyone, Big thank you to those of you who have left messages - love reading them. Since leaving Sydney we've spent a couple of days in Newcastle (which is a bit of a ghost town) and have now made our way up to Byron Bay which is very beautiful. In Newcastle, the best thing we did was visit Blackbutt Nature Reserve, where we got to see wallabies, kangaroos, emus, koalas and a wombat among other things! The koalas were really close and so lovely - took loads of pictures, and the wombat was unexpectedly huge! The second day there was a massive storm, and when we eventually ventured out we nearly got blown over! The sea did look impressively scary though and the beaches were beautiful. Byron Bay is a bit of a backpacker mecca, but not so much the type of backpackers we are, more the hippy-organic type! Still, it's got such amazing beaches and, apart from today, the weather has been superb. We've discovered a party bar/restaurant called 'Cheeky Monkeys' which does cheap meals and spent 2 nights there. After about 10pm, everyone gets up and dances on the tables! Pete went for his first surfing lesson yesterday (I just watched as I've decided to save my money for a horseride on the beach) but it didn't go exactly as planned!! After he'd been kitted out in a wetsuit, we went down to another stunning beach (you get so spoiled here) and the instructor taught the group some basics about paddling and how to stand up on the board once you catch a wave. This took about half an hour and then they made their way out to the water. They were in their all of 10 minutes, just going out a little too far for me to take photos, when another surf instructor starting waving his arms, making a sign to Pete's instructor. The instructor told them they all needed to get out of the water immediately, without giving a reason. Once they were all safely back on the sand he explained that the sign the other instructor had been making meant 'shark' and ran over to find out what he'd seen! Apparantly there had been a four-foot shark that was heading straight for Pete's surfing group! Needless to say, the lesson was cancelled and Pete got a full refund! At least he was taught the basics and can probably just hire out a surfboard & have a go himself now. As we were left with some free time yesterday afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the free bike hire from our hostel and go for a ride up to the lighthouse that looks over Byron Bay. It was a great (steep!) ride with spectacular views on the way up as well as at the top. From the top we walked over the cliffs to the eastern most point of the Australian mainland, stopping to watch pods of dolphins on our way! The only disappointment was that we didn't see any whales; apparantly they often rest by the headland during their annual migration and on quite days you can hear them breathing under the cliffs! So, having a pretty fantastic time still. On our way to Surfer's Paradise tomorrow, hopefully Pete will have better luck there!