Hello all from Byron bay in sunny New South Wales. Just blogging again to update you all on our adventures in Sydney, surf camp and our first glorious days here in Byron. You will all be happy to see that we have also added some more pictures for you to check out.

ok then, a short but jam packed few days in Sydney, after a quick check in and dumping of bags we ran out again to the harbour for an evening cruise. what we did not realise when aggreeing to go on said boat trip, was that it would be like malia, full of wanna-be wags and hooligans. there was us with rucksacks, hoodies and shorts! it was rowdy, but still a fantastic opportunity to see the city at night, especially as we had just arrived. getting into the swing of things with a free bottle of wine ( the guy felt sorry for us!) we then headed to 'the gaff' to party, john went home as he was exhausted, but sam and i knocked back the drinks and had a good old night out in Sydney. oh how the tables have turned!

Next morning, we went on a city tour,advertised as a brief stroll to see the sights, but 4 hours and many blisters later, we finally got our free beer! We moan, but it was a gorgeous walk and we saw so much of the botanic gardens, harbour, bridge and of course the opera house (we even went inside for a wee!) That evening we met up with some friends in their cockroach and mice infested hostel in Kings Cross! We relaxed, drank and socialised before heading back to bed. Another early start to see one of the famous beaches of Syndey, Manly beach. We caught ferry and spent most of the day sunbathing (tors burnt her bum!) and then ran for it as the heavens opened up. We chilled in our hostel as there was a raging storm, apparently Sydney is just as unpredictable as Melbourne!

Another day, another beach to check out, this time BONDI! Expecting a touristy hell, we were pleasently surprised, and it turned out to be tors and john's favourite beach so far! who knew! (maybe it had something to do with all the surfing talent we could oggle!) not content with the view of the bridge from the streets of sydney, we decided to climb to the top of it that evening! however, due to a lack of time keeping we almost missed our slot and ended up runny for 3o minutes, turning up sweaty messes in front of an already assembled group. definately our finest moment! heading out onto the steel frame during a lightening storm certainly made it a memorable start! all 3 of us LOVED it, our leader was really fun and the views were breathtaking. even more so than the sexy all-in-ones we were wearing! after our highty excursion, we met up with ellen and kieran for a nice cold beer, swapping stories of our travels so far.

6.15, all packed up and waiting for our next bus to take us to surf camp! sydney passed us by so quickly but we were all ready to hit the waves! surf camp was awesome, we made some great friends and sat up until 2 drinking and partying before our 6 o clock start! up and in our flattering wetsuits we headed to the beach ready to make complete t*** of oursleves, but surprisingly we managed to stand up! however, looking back on the photos, the 6ft high wave doesn't look quite so impressive!

Quick change, and ready to move along to Byron Bay, where we had 10 nights booked in, a welcome rest from our busy schedule. Not quite yet, as we turned up on St patricks day, and felt very rude to turn down a night of celebrations. We fully embraced our newly found irish heritage and had a good old knees up!

Byron is wicked, all of us are so glad that we decided to chill here for a while. We will tell you all about Byron some more soon, but there are some great pictures, especially at the waterfall for you to see. we are off now to do a food shop, tonight we are going mad and making curry, (when i say we are making it, our friend is, but it is the first real meal we are to eat!!!! yippy!)

Happy mothers day to our mothers and love to everyone else. Sam Tors and John xxxxxxxxxxxxx