Sydney to Byron Bay

G'day,

Sorry for the lack of communication this last week. I haven't had much time to get on the internet I am afraid but I have managed to find free internet access and so thought I should up-date you all. Unfortunately I cannot upload photos here so photos will be added at some point in the future.

Tuesday 23rd Jan was my last day in Sydney. That evening Jo and I went to check our emails and on the way back to the hostel I bumped into Ben Abraham who was in my maths class at uni! What a small world it is. He was passing on a bus, saw me and jumped off to say hi.

On Wednesday 24th Jan I left Sydney on the 7am bus to go to Newcastle. The weather was horrible and so I spent the afternoon wandering around Newcastle's shops and along the foreshore. I also popped in past the museum and art gallery. Can't say I was too impressed with Newcastle, especially in the rain. The hostel was lovely and friendly though which made up for it. I met 2 girls there from London, Eli and Helen. We had a good laugh in the pub that night and have met up at numerous places since! On the Thursday I went on a wine tour in the Hunter Valley. It was great fun and I tasted a lot of lovely wine and liquers. There are so many vineyards there, I think the number 140 was mentioned at some point! After the wine tour I got dropped off at the bus stop to get the 5pm bus to Port MacQuarie.

Friday 26th Jan: AUSTRALIA DAY!!
On Friday I got up early and went to the Koala Hospital. The Koalas were so cute and I was so tempted to adopt one called Henry. He was so adorable. Will def be adding a photo of him on here soon. Henry:

I then went down to the Town Green to see what was all on for Australia Day. There were a number of lovely stalls at the market and there was entertainment on as well. The entertainment included belly dancing and some bands. After wandering round there I went for a walk round the Creek. It was a lovely walk. I didn't see any koalas but I did see lots of bats. They are huge out here. I headed back into town and met Eli and Helen in the pub. We went for a wander around and found a company doing a dolphin, sunset and BBQ cruise so we signed up for that. After a quick shower we headed down to the shore and got on board out cruise boat. It was a great evening, too cloudy to see sunset but we saw lots of dolphins and they came right up to the boat! The champagne and the BBQ were good too! On Saturday morning I had my second surf lesson. It wasn't as good as the first but I still managed to stand a couple of times. I just kept getting frustrated! I loved Port MacQuarie. It is a lovely little coastal town. Wish I was staying there longer. I got the midday bus to Coffs Harbour. That night I had the BBQ that the hostel put on for us and then played Monopoly with the rest of the people in my room! I had injured my foot while surfing and could hardly walk so was glad to spend a night in the hostel.

Sunday was a very lazy day. After talking to Murray on the phone I headed down to the beach and stayed there until mid afternoon. I then went for a walk to Muttonbird Island. The views of Coffs Harbour were great.

In the evening we had pizza at the hostel and then I watched the Mens final of the Australian Open.

Monday 29th Jan: in the morning I walked the 3km trip to the Big Banana. They had a lookout there which also gave great views of the coast. They also have a sweet factory where they do demonstrations of how they make their sweets. It was really interesting as we got shown how they make the writing and shapes in their sweets - similar to rock. The afternoon was spent on the beach with Helen, Elli and their friend Amanda. In the evening we went to the pub for a pub quiz with lots of people from the hostel. Tuesday 30th Jan: I got the 8am bus to Byron Bay, we stopped off at the Big Prawn!

In the afternoon I spent it planning my next month of travelling. I have been given a good deal on my Fraser Island and Whitsunday Islands trips and had to give dates for them. So I now have everything planned up until about the 3rd March when I will hopefully start working in the outback! In my moment of madness when planning my trip I decided to book a skydive for today!

Wednesday 31st Jan: Early start this morning as I was picked up at 7.30am to go and do my 14,000ft skydive. It was fantastic. I absolutely loved it. When I came down I wanted to go up again! It was a lovely clear morning and the views were fantastic. The strange thing is that I was never scared! The Bridge Climb was more scary than the skydive. If I have the money I can see me doing it again nearer the end of my trip!

The freefall:

Landed safely:

This afternoon I am planning to laze around on the beach and top up my tan a bit more - not that it really needs it lol.

There we go, up-to-date now! Will put photos up at the first possible opportunity. Hope you are all well. Speak to you soon.

xxxx