Byron Bay - Surf Camp - Sydney

After the internet, we went to the beach to play a bit of Frisbee, then I went for a swim in the sea. The waves were really big, so I got wiped-out a few times, but had a good time. We went back to the hostel, and on the way, we booked our Greyhound bus to Melbourne, and also our accommodation in Sydney - for $17 a night! We had quick showers and went to Cheeky Monkeys for dinner. We still had a voucher to use (one that we given when we booked our Fraser/Whitsunday tours), so we ordered a free entree and the $5 steak. Mike got his free meal - a small bowl of pasta, then I saw mine; it was a huge curry, and I had an even bigger plate of steak and chips! I was pretty full after eating it all! They showed the Liverpool - Arsenal match as well (the one where Liverpool thrashed Arsenal 4-2!!!) We chilled in the bar for a bit, and managed to get a few more jugs of cheap beer, before going to the bottle shop for some beers. We went back to our room and met a random Italian friend of Joe & Emma's, who they met on Fraser Island, and we all had a good laugh. We went back to Cheeky Monkeys and did some table dancing, before heading back to bed at about 2am.



We had to get up at about 7am, as we were getting the bus down to Surf Camp to try out some more surfing. We all got on the bus, and tried to get to sleep, but we stopped off at the 'Most Famous Surf Beach in the World'- called Lenox Head, which has huge surf, which you can surf about 500m on! It starts breaking at the headland, and you can surf all the way to the beach - that would be sooo good!! We got back on the bus, and went to the town of Ballina for some breakfast. I didn't have anything, as I had a tonne of Muesli and some toast, but Alex and Mike got burgers (lol). After this stop, it was plain sailing down to Spot X - Mojo Surf Camp (it was actually in a place called Arrawarra, but Spot X sounds better). We got to know our bus driver on the way down as well, and his Oz nickname was 'Frat', but his real name was Derek (haha!). He played some cool music, and stopped off at a bottle shop, so we could stock up with supplies for the evening. We got to Arrawarra, at about 1pm, and checked in straight away. We were given a quick guided tour of the camp (it had caravans, rather than tents) and then we went straight down to the sea for our surf lesson. The boards we were using were really foamy, so they floated more easily than the real ones, but they're good to practice on. We were shown how to get from the prone position on the board, to standing up really quickly. It all seemed really easy, but it was a lot harder our at sea. The small waves were easy to catch (the surf was easy to get moving on), but the bigger waves (the ones much further out) were a different story. I thought I'd give them a go, but most of the time, I got ploughed into the bottom of it, and those were the times I actually made it past the breaking waves! Towards the end, I started getting cocky, so I didn't catch as many, but one thing that put me off, was the fact that I saw a fin rise up out of the water about 50m away from us. It looked like a dolphin, but I didn't want to assume it. It turned out I was right, as I mentioned it to Frat, and he said that if the fin rose up out of the water, and then went back down (which it did) then its a dolphin. Sharks apparently on go straight through the water, without any height difference. We all stood up a few times, and the instructors were pleased with us, so we were all happy. We had showers after the lesson, and went and waited for the famous BBQ. It was better than expected. There were burgers, prawns (eugh!), lamb, steak, soup, salads and loads more. I ate as much as I could, and then chatted to some of the other people on the Oz bus. We had a game of pool as well (Alex & I vs Mike & Frat). Obviously the better people prevailed, and won (that was me!). It was a good game, as we had 6 balls left, and they had 2 (...??) and we cleared the table really quickly. We were only allowed to stay in the eating area until 9.30pm, which is when we went down to the beach for a party. We were about to cross the bridge over a small river, when we noticed it wasn't so small anymore! It was about 10 times as big, and a lot deeper, plus the end of the bridge was about 2-3m too short!!! We had to paddle through, but we all made it! It was really cold, so I'd put on a hoody and jeans (yes! In Australia!), so the jeans got wet on the bottom. We partied the night away, and it brought back memories of the Full Moon Party, but a lot smaller scale! We went back through the river at about 1am, and went to bed straight away.



We were woken up a leisurely 6am (ouch!) and we all tried packing our bags, but it was so early it was almost impossible! We went to breakfast, and loaded our plates & bowls with as many different cereals as possible, and then toast with eggs! It was really good, but I was still full from the night before, so I couldn't manage a massive amount. We then got on the bus not long after we'd finished, and then set off on the long journey. It was supposed to take about 10 hours, so we all took pillows and sleeping bags, so we could catch up on some much needed sleep. We didn't do much on the way, until we stopped for lunch, at... wait for it... Bulahdelah! I love some of the names they have here! We then went on our way, and we played a Battle of the Sexes quiz, which the guys sadly lost, so our forfeit was for Frat to choose us a target, and then for us to say Ëxcuse me, I was hoping you could congratulate me, as I've just saved up enough money for a sex change", and then we had to walk off. We had to wait for that though, as we were going to do it at the Gaff (bar) in the evening, at our end of Oz party. We went through some really amazing scenery just before Sydney; we drove over the Hawkesbury River and we actually went through the area that they filmed the amazing series of 'Skippy'! We had apparently made up so much time, that Frat went a different way into the city, just so we could go over the Harbour Bridge. It really was awesome! We saw the Opera House, and loads of other sights from our bus, and then we went and dropped off some of the bus before it was our turn. We got off near the Town Hall, and had no idea where were going, but as we were about to cross, I saw Stu! He was on the same side as us, and he didn't seem as surprised as us to see each other. He then said something about meeting us at the Aquarium, but we just thought it was where he was dropped off. Anyway, he came to our hostel with us, and we caught up on what we'd done over the previous week. He then went back to his Aunt's house, and we got ready to go out to our Oz party. Our hostel was holding a free cheese & wine evening, but only for people dressed in togas. So Alex and I got our bed sheets and wrapped ourselves in them, and went to get some free cheese and wine. They had huge bags of 'goon', and pint glasses (!!!), so we had some wine and then walked to The Gaff, to meet up with some of the other bus people. We ordered our free meal (chicken schnitzel & chips) and then got some drinks. Frat turned up about an hour late, but he got us some drinks so we were happy. Alex also got some strange texts from Stu, asking whether we were with some friends we hadn't seen for ages. Anyway, he turned up not long after 9pm, and we got him a free meal, then we all realised what had happened with the weird texts. He had actually got Alex's phone number mixed up with a guy called Sunil, so when we saw him after we got off the bus, it was a total fluke! Thats why we were surprised and he wasn't - he expected to see us, but we had no idea. This also meant that he had left Sunil standing outside the Aquarium for hours on end! He laughed it off, and I made him store names with the numbers, so he'd never make the same mistake again. We had a few more drinks, and Frat's boss bought us all a shot called a Flatliner, which is made up from tequila, absinthe and the best part - Tabasco sauce. Lets just say we all burnt our mouths, and we had about 2 pints of water after each of our shots! It was soo hot!!! We partied a bit more, until one of the girls on the bus reminded Frat that we still had to do our forfeit. I was made to go first, and guess who he chose: the biggest, hairiest man in the room. I thought I was going to be knocked out, but he actually laughed and shook my hand (lol). Alex had to say it to one of the workers in the bar, but she ignored him, and Mike said it to the DJ, who said over the michrophone "congratulations to Michelle". We all had a laugh, and were surprised they all went so well. The rest of the night went quickly, and we got back to our hostel at about 2am. Oh, and I thought I'd mention this - Stu also slapped me in the face, after he missed a 'High Five' (he'd had a beer, so his co-ordination was all over the place!!)

We had planned to meet Stu at 9.30am, so we could all go to Bondi, but it changed to 10.30, then 11, and then Stu was late, so we eventually met him just after 11am, but then wanted to go to the free BBQ our hostel was holding on Coogee Beach. We managed to smuggle Stu into it, so he could get another free meal, but Alex and Mike missed the bus, as they wanted to find out about a band playing that evening. Stu and I got there, and had to wait about an hour for the food to be ready, but when it was, it was really good! The beach was nice as well, but the waves were small compared to Bondi (apparently). We then got on a bus to Bondi Junction, so we could go to the beach from there, but when we got there, we couldn't be bothered to do anything, so we went back to the hostel. Alex and Mike were supposed to meeting us on Coogee, but they never showed up, but when I was looking through Alex's photos, he had a few of Coogee, and we could actually see ourselves on one of his photos!! They'd assumed that we had already gone on the coastal walk to Bondi, but we were actually sitting on Coogee beach at that time, so we missed each other! We got back to the hostel, and went to The Gaff for another free meal, and then met up with people from our hostel, as the bar was offering us all 2 free drinks, so we thought we might as well take up their offer! They also had a burger eating competition, which was 1kg of pure meat, bread and salad! It was huge! A huge guy from another hostel did it in about 15 minutes, but he was the size of a house! We then went to meet Joe, Emma, Martin, Lauren, Hayley and Jamie at a bar on the other side of the city. It cost $20 to get in, but the music was so good! They had a few DJ's, and they started off with chilled out trance, but it went on to be a lot faster and more upbeat. We left there at about 4am, and went back to our hostel. It was a good night, but we were all shattered!

Today we're planning on going to see the sights (Opera House, Harbour Bridge etc.) so hopefully it will be cultural!