Tuesday 21st August 2007

For the whole time we've been away on this trip, i've been going on and on (like I do), about doing a skydive... Today the alarm woke us up at about 8.30am because we wanted to have some breakfast before we went to Peter Pan's (a company where such things can be arranged).

When we went in at about 10am, the girl behind the desk said she wasn't sure if the company was jumping today - because she'd received a severe weather warning - saying there was bad weather hitting the South-East coast of Australia - and it was due in Rainbow beach this afternoon. When she could see I was upset (I gave her my sad eyes), she rang the company and they said that some people had gone up and that I was welcome to go on a stand-by list. All I had to do was come back at 1pm...

We left Peter Pan's, and took a nice walk along the beach. The weather this morning was BEAUTIFUL - there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so we did some sunbathing and then came back to our hostel, where we got our books and magazines and then lay by the pool reading.

FINALLY, 1pm rolled around and we walked to Peter Pan's and... the girl behind the desk said it was fine - I could jump... Yippee! What happened next, will stay with me forever. As I was paying, Nikki piped up saying she would like to do it too - my jaw nearly hit the floor (it's been hard enough getting her to let me do it, let alone get her to join me!!)

With BOTH OF US booked in for 2.30pm we came back to our hostel, because Nikki wanted to write her diary... saying that she loved her Mum and Dad, and that Katie (her little sister) could have her Prada sunglasses (if anything happened to her). In no time it was after 2pm, so we headed over to Dingos, where the skydivers were picking us up...

After filling out all of our forms, it was time to go - and Nikki was not happy - she was absolutely petrified! The whole of the short journey to the airfield she was sulking. Then, when she saw the plane, (which only had one seat: the pilots - the rest of us had to sit on the floor in the back), she was almost sick!.

Before we knew it, we were in the plane, and after it had taken off from the field (which didn't have a proper runway), we were soaring up into the sky. When we'd climbed pretty high, Nikki asked if we were ready to jump yet? But the guy said 'No' - we were only at 3,000 feet - and we were jumping from 14,000!

After 20 minutes we'd reached our jump height and Nikki's instructor opened the door. I have to admit - I was soo proud of Nikki! Once she was at this point she didn't make any fuss (she later admitted that it was because she was on her best behavior). In the blink of an eye, Nikki (my little stunt-wife) and her instructor had swung their legs out of the plane, Nikki said how terrified she was... and then they were gone... aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!

Straight away, I was shuffled into position and my legs were hanging out the side. My instructor stood up on the wheel, dived forward... and we were racing Nikki to the beach. We fell for about 65 seconds, at a speed of about 220kmph. After this the parachute opened and I could breath again. We spotted Nikki in the distance, and the two instructors manouvered us into a position where we could talk to each other - about 4,000 feet above the floor - we were buzzing!

We parachuted down to the beach and Nikki came down about a minute after me and,when I jumped up to give her a cuddle, she burst into tears... i've never seen her so happy. We were both on a massive high - I was so pleased that Nikki did it with me.

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur! We hung around our hostel - telling everyone who would listen about our jump, and then at about 6pm the skydive team dropped off our dvd (it's of my fall - but you get to see Nikki looking scared, falling out and then landing safely). When we watched that on the laptop we were on a high again and rushed out to ring our Mums. We then rang Emma to tell her and to talk about her trip to Perth (yippee). Afterwards, Nikki cooked us pasta and pesto for our tea and then we sat in the bar having a well deserved beer!

Today's lesson - jumping out of planes is AWESOME!

Monday 20th August 2007

We woke up nice and early this morning because we were moving on, from Noosa to Rainbow Beach. We thought that, because the bus didn't leave until 9.30am, setting the alarm for 8am would give us plenty of time - but, in typical Ben & Nikki fashion, we forgot that we had to GET TO the bus! After getting ready and then rushing our breakfast, we stripped our room and ran for the hostel bus, which would take us to the Greyhound. Luckily, there was space and we made it!

The weather was still pretty lousy and so we were quite happy to be sat on the bus, and as it moved North the rain stopped and it looked like the sun might make a re-appearance. The journey to Rainbow Beach took about 3 hours and when we got off the bus there were 3 hostels right in front of us to choose from - we chose the YHA: Frasers of Rainbow Beach, and checked into our double room. The hostel used to be a motel, so our room is really nice with 5 beds, our own bathroom and balcony!

With our stuff safely in our room, we went for a walk to see what was about. Rainbow Beach is only a small place, but it does have a really nice beach and when we walked along it we came across some sand-dunes that were about 15 meters high. When I spotted that someone had tried climbing them, and had only got half way, I had to have a go. I made it all the way to the top and then when it came to coming back down, I had loads more fun - although I was far from graceful (and it made me feel ill). When we were finished on the beach, we had a walk around the shops and stopped for a thick-shake type drink in a café... it was gross!

We came back to the hostel this evening and, after the chicken ones went down such a storm the other night, Nikki made us steak fajitas for our tea - they were excellent!

Someone said they do skydiving in Rainbow Beach... we'll see what happens!

Sunday 19th August 2007

The weather last night was really bad - I think it rained all night and it was still pretty miserable this morning - but we didn't mind, this was the first rain we'd had since arriving in Australia (and we don't want the whole place drying out). We got ready and then went and had some muesli for our breakfast (we were out of eggs, sausages and beans - boooo), then we went to use the internet again (hey, it's free).

When we left Travel Bugs it was still raining, so we walked along to the cinema and we'd seen nearly all the films that were showing - all except Die Hard 4.0 and some other rubbish, so there was no way I was missing out again. We got ourselves milkshakes and found our seats (the cinema was packed - everyone else obviously had the same idea), we then sat and ate some lovely pies we'd bought from the Noosa Pie shop.

Die Hard 4.0 rocks! When the film had finished and my urge to save the world had passed, we came back to the hostel and chilled out in our room. I think Nikki was tired because she had a little snooze and I did some reading. Then she woke up and we watched a couple of episodes of LOST. Afterwards we had some pasta & pesto for our tea.

Tonight, it was karaoke night in our hostel bar - so we went along. We had a really good time, watching everyone sing. When the singing had finished they put some music on and, after a couple of jugs, we got up to have a little dance - to 'Cotton Eye Joe' (rock on).

Cotton Eye Joe - a classic!

Saturday 18th August 2007

We were up before 10am this morning because we had to move into a dorm room (we had a free night because we paid for 3 nights and the hostel was doing a special offer). Already we were wondering what kind of weirdos we'd be in with!?

With our bags safely chained to the bunk beds (Nikki bagged top-bunk again, which suits me - i'd only fall out), we went across to the kitchen and Nikki cooked us a huge fry-up (lovely jubley). Afterwards we walked to the Travel Bugs store and used the free internet.

When we got back to the hostel this afternoon, the bus was just leaving to go into the other part of town, so we got a lift down and the girl dropped us off at the National Park. We looked at the board telling you which walks you could do and typically, Nikki chose the easiest one - the one that only took 20 minutes. I called her lazy, and she reluctantly agreed to do one of the others. We started to walk along the coastal edge - where you walk to a certain point and then turn back (which should take about 1.5 - 2 hours each way), but about three-quarters of the way through Nikki decided she wanted a drink, and so we turned back early.

For all her hard work (yeah right), I treated Nikki to a large smoothie from a shop in town (she's getting obsessed with these smoothies!).

When we got back to the hostel this afternoon, we went to our room to check on 'the weirdos', but were happy to find we were with 2 English girls (one of who is starting at Bath Uni when she gets home) and 2 (very quiet) French guys. We lay on our beds chatting with the 2 English girls for a couple of hours before going to the kitchen to make some food - Nikki made us chicken fajitas... mmmmmm!

By now, it was about 9pm, and with our bellies nice and full we decided to go to the cinema to see what was on. We ended up watching 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry', which was pretty good (but i'd much rather have watched Die Hard 4.0).

Smoothies, smoothies, smoothies - we're gonna turn into fruit smoothies!

Friday 17th August 2007

The alarm went off nice and early this morning because, when we were out and about yesterday, we'd bought tickets to go to Australia Zoo (the Steve Irwin one) and the free bus left from town at about 8.30am.

We were picked up in town by a big double-decker bus, with Australia Zoo and pictures of Steve Irwin plastered all over it, and on the journey there were shown some of his videos. We got to the zoo after nearly an hours drive and the first thing that struck us was the size of the place... it looked huge (we later found out that it is currently 72 acres - and in the next 10 years they're going to extend it to over 1000 acres... crikey!)

Our day at the zoo was great fun - although at times it was quite sad. Everywhere you go, there are pictures of Steve Irwin with his wife and children, or videos playing - and he seemed like such a nice guy - someone who was really dedicated to what he was doing. His idea was that, to love animals, you need to be able to interact with the animals - and that's what we did... I got to feed an elephant some fruit. We got to pet koala bears as they sat in their trees and we got to smooth some kangaroos as they lay sunbathing. Plus, we got to see the famous crocodile show in the zoo's Crocoseum.

We seen some really cool animals - my favourite was the Tasmanian Devil. He was just running round in circles - looking like he was losing his mind, while the female next door just sat in one place barking out something (probably orders) - and it reminded of me and Nikki (he he).

When the park was closing, we made our way back onto the bus and it brought us back to Noosa - getting us into town at about 5pm. Tonight, Nikki made us a pasta with pesto for our tea and when we were finished we went across to a pub called Irish Murphy's.

Blimey! Australia Zoo was a ripper!

Thursday 16th August 2007

Rather stupidly, we forgot to get a blanket or sheet from reception yesterday and by the time we'd got back from the pub it was shut - so we had to sleep with nothing covering us. Even more stupidly, we forgot to close the window and woke up this morning ABSOLUTELY freezing!

To cheer, (and supposedly warm), herself up, Nikki decided that she wanted a fry-up this morning - and I wasn't going to turn one of them down, so we had showers and got ready before walking to the supermarket to get some supplies. When we got back Nikki cooked us breakfast, which we sat and ate outside in the garden with some of the other travelers - one of whom was playing the guitar and singing to everyone... he was pretty good!

With Nikki much happier now, we left our hostel and headed left - towards the beach and other part of town. We had a look around the shops and then walked onto the beach. Although it was busier than some of the other beaches we've been on (not too busy though) - it was BEAUTIFUL! It had golden sand, crystal blue water and to the side were the trees of the Noosa National Park. We spent about an hour-or-so on the sand chatting and then went back to the shops to get a smoothie.

This afternoon, we walked to the other part of town - because we'd seen a Travel Bugs store, and we wanted to try and book our Fraser Island 4-wheel drive tour (which needs to be done 2 weeks in advance) and also use the free internet they provide to people who have booked trips. We spent about an hour on the internet, looking at hostels in Perth for when Emma comes out - and then left - without sorting the Fraser Island tour (we'll do it ourselves, over the phone).

On the way back to the hostel we treated ourselves to a coconut slice each in this nice little bakers we'd found and then came back to sit by the pool and read whilst the sun set. When it had finally gone down, we walked back to the supermarket and bought some food for our tea - Nikki was cooking bangers and mash!

We were cold last night - but not tonight, that's for sure!

Wednesday 15th August 2007

We were up really early this morning to ring the Greyhound (who luckily had space) and did a Skype call with Mum and Keith. We'd spoken with Mum a few days ago, but it was still nice to see them both. I think they were pleased to see us (even though it was 10pm UK time).

At just before 10am, we checked out of the hostel and walked over to the Brisbane Transit Centre to catch the Greyhound. It left at 10.30am and we arrived in Noosa at about 1.30pm. Typically of us, we didn't have accommodation booked - so Nikki consulted her Lonely Planet and rang a few. We decided to go with the Koala Beach Resort who came to pick us up from the bus-stop.

The hostel looks ace! All the rooms are like chalets at a holiday camp. You walk through the front door into the 6-bed dorm and then across the room is a door leading in a twin-room and another leading into our double room. As we've paid for 3 nights we get our 4th free - but we have to spend it in the dorm, which at the moment is empty - hopefully it'll stay that way. There are 2 girls in the twin room, but we didn't catch their names.

With our bags locked away in our room, we headed into one part of town (to the right of our hostel is the high street (where we went) and to the left is the direction of the beach and more shops). We looked in some shops and when we went into one, a pie shop, we were told that there is a free bus from Noosa, that takes you to Australia Zoo (the Steve Irwin one) - so we might go there this week. Oh, we shared a pie too (of course!).

This afternoon the sky had gone a bit cloudy, so when we got to the cinema we decided to go in and watch Mr Brooks (the premier that we saw taking place in Hollywood). It was dark when we came out, so we came back to the hostel and went into the onsite pub - where they were offering a thai-green chicken curry and a free-beer... so we signed up! The food was pretty good (and so was the free beer) and afterwards we stayed to watch a band, called Sexual Chocolate, whilst taking advantage of the cheap 'happy hour' bar prices!

Noosa's already looking like one of my favourite places!

Tuesday 14th August 2007

We woke up this morning and had our breakfast out on our hostel's sun terrace. Brisbane's not the prettiest of places we've been to, but the views from the roof were pretty good. When we were done we took a walk into town for another look around.

After looking around the shops (in which Nikki bought herself some MORE presents with her birthday money (and yet still has some left)), we went for some lunch in one of the food courts. I had sushi and Nikki had a HUGE roast beef roll. With our bellies full, we went down to the river and bought ourselves day-passes for the CityCat, which is a catamaran that takes you around the city of Brisbane by water. We paid $5.20 each for our tickets and this allowed us to hop on-and-off as much as we liked.

Exploring Brisbane by water was really good - because we didn't know of anything that was on the other side of the river, and yet we got off and had a really nice walk around one of the man-made beaches (which is under construction at the mo) and along the boardwalk.

When the sun was going down to night we caught the CityCat along the river to the Story Bridge and got off to have a look, then headed back into town and bought some food for our tea. We then came back to our hostel, where Nikki rang her Mum. I tried to call Greyhound, to see if we could catch a bus to Noosa - but they'd already shut, so once again we're gonna have to ring them first thing in the morning!

Brisbane's ok - but we miss the beach!

Monday 13th August 2007

We woke up nice and early this morning because, even though you're supposed to give 24 hours notice, we wanted to try and book ourselves onto this morning's 10.30am Greyhound bus to Brisbane (doing it in plenty of time as usual). Nikki rang them as soon as they opened at 8am and luckily they let us on and so we got ready, had some breakfast and then checked out of our hostel. We've been really lucky with our hostel... first they miscalculated the price of our double room, then because they only booked us in for 7 nights we only had to do the cleaning 4 times (instead of 5 - Nikki should've worked today).

When we left the hostel, we took the short walk to the Transit Centre and the Greyhound turned up pretty quickly. The journey to Brisbane only took about an hour-and-a-half and when we got there we rang a couple of hostels (nothing like a bit of pre-planning) and waited for the one we chose, Brisbane City Backpackers, to come and pick us up.

Our hostel is pretty cool! It has an onsite Irish pub, we've got a pretty big (and clean) double room and... we get free wireless internet! Our first impressions of Brisbane, however, are not as good... it just looks like a concrete jungle - with high rise buildings instead of the lovely white beaches we've become used to.

We dumped our bags in our room and then headed into the centre. It only took a couple of minutes to get there and we discovered that Brisbane is a shoppers paradise! It has thousands of shops and loads of food courts (which made Nikki happy). After looking around for a while, we headed over to another hostel, called Bunk, where Adam and Ash were staying. We walked into the reception and were about to ask for them there when I spotted Adam... in the bar!

After a couple of hours catching up with them (Adam has had to ring home and borrow more money off his Mum... supposedly for a car), drinking a jug of Australian beer and playing free pool we said our goodbyes and walked into China Town for a meal. The Chinese meal wasn't that great - but it was cheap, so we were happy. Afterwards we walked back through town, looking in the few shops that were still open, and then came back to our hostel, where I abused the free internet by downloading music, films and TV shows like LOST and Extras.

The stupid cheap Chinese meal gave both of us dodgy stomachs - that'll teach us (well, probably not)!

Sunday 12th August 2007

We had another day off this morning - well, we've finished the cleaning really - but we're staying at the hostel for another night - so it seems like a day off. As a reward, we thought we'd go to another of the theme parks. This time we decided to go to MovieWorld. We got up, walked into town to buy some tickets and then had another treat...

Ash and Adam had told us about the Surfers Paradise Surf Club (it looked nothing like the Summer Bay Surf Club), where for $10 you could get a full-English breakfast - and go up as many times as you liked (that suited me and Nikki just fine - well, Nikki more than me. I had one large plate and she had three!). After filling ourselves up for the day, we went and caught the bus over to the theme park.

Straight away, I could tell that I was going to enjoy MovieWorld more than Dreamworld - this place was just like Universal Studios in Florida - with movie stars (or people dressed up as them anyway) walking about, and rides based on the films!

We had a great time at the park - it was boiling today, and because the park wasn't too busy we didn't have to queue for too long (which was good when we got hot and wanted to jump on the giant log flume). They had some cracking rides at MovieWorld - including Superman (which fires you off really fast (like The Hulk)), Lethal Weapon, Scooby Doo (which is a ghost-train / rollercoaster where you go backwards and stuff) and the Bat Wing (which fires you up into the air a couple of times). We were two very happy children when we left at the end of the day.

When we got back to the hostel I went into the cinema and watched The Girl Next Door, while Nikki went to our room to have a shower and chill out. When she came and found me afterwards, we watched the end of the film and then walked into town to get some food. We found a really nice Chinese restaurant and got some take-away BBQ pork & vegetables for our tea.

MovieWorld Rocks!

Saturday 11th August 2007

'Oh joy!' I thought when I woke up this morning. 'What shall we do on this glorious, and boiling day? Oh I know - i'll go clean some stinky traveler's bathrooms'. As you can tell - I bounced out of bed this morning - and couldn't wait to get on with the cleaning. I was even happier when I was told by the Boss that I would be doing it on my own because one of the cleaners was going out for the day, and the other was still in bed.

Like a trooper, I started the cleaning (on my own) and eventually the lazy girl caught up. The job is split into 2 shifts. We're supposed to clean from 10am till 12pm, then after a half-hour break, clean from 12.30pm till 2.30pm. I managed to get my morning work done by 11.15am - so got to have a nice long break. After my lunch-break, Nikki had finished laying in the sun and popped into town to get some food for us. I managed to get the afternoon shift finished by about 2pm - and was once again free! We ate some sarnies that Nikki had made us and then took a walk into town.

When we got to town, we bought some ice-creams and then took a nice long walk along the beach. When we'd walked for miles, we came off the beach and walked into another part of town - where there were people Bungy Jumping in some kind of 'fun fair'. We stood an watched a couple of jumpers - and I have to admit, I was a little jealous. It was only about 50m, but I really wanted a go!

On our way back to the hostel, we stopped in one of the surf shops and Nikki bought me a REALLY nice Billabong watch (selling our house was the best idea ever - i've had presents galore!). When we got to the hostel Nikki made us more pasta for our tea and we watched Signs in the cinema - thankfully, they played it till the end this time!

Yippee! Another pressie for (spoiled) Ben!

Friday 10th August 2007

It was Nikki's turn to do the cleaning again this morning (she's hoping it's her last time - we're not cut out for this working lark), so once we'd had some breakfast - she got on with that and I just relaxed in the sun.

Once Nikki had finished the cleaning and had showered and got herself ready, we walked into town. We bought ourselves some smoothies, and then Nikki bought herself a new diary - because she's filled her other one!

This afternoon, we went into 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not'. We've been into similar places in Florida and Blackpool, but we were given half price tickets, so we thought we'd give it a go. We had a really good time - Nikki loves seeing all the weird stuff - although she's a little annoying when she asks me what everything is (even though EVERY exhibit has a little write-up next to it!).

When we were finished in Ripley's, we went and did some shopping and then because it was quite late, headed back to the hostel. Nikki made us pasta for our tea and then we started to watch the film Collateral Damage in the hostel cinema, but just as it was getting to the end - they switched it off... d'oh!

Chin up - only one more days scrubbing to go!

Thursday 9th August 2007

We had a day off from the cleaning today, but the alarm still woke us up because we wanted to get to Dreamworld when it opened. It woke us up at about 8am and then we had some breakfast and then Nikki made us a packed lunch (like the one's she used to make me & Wilksi when we went on City away trips: sarnies, crisps and... doughnuts). We caught the bus at about 8.45am and got to the park in plenty of time.

Dreamworld was quite a big park - it's not as good as the ones you get in America, but it still had some cool rides. We rode mode of the rides - Nikki may have rode them all (I don't like the spinny ones). The park also had a wildlife area, where we got to see tigers, crocodiles and alligators, snakes and lizards, birds, dingos, koalas and kangaroos (the first ones we've seen since getting here). We even had our picture taken holding one of the koalas (who looked like he was on drugs). We both liked the koala - but Nikki (who did the holding) said he stank!

Something else we got to do at Dreamworld was enter the Australian Big Brother house. The show finished on the weekend and so, for the next week or so, the house is open to the public. First we got to walk around the camera-run, and then actually into the main parts of the house and... dairy room!

We left Dreamworld at closing (5pm) and got back to our hostel at about 6pm. Nikki made us garlic mushrooms in a cream sauce for our tea and we watched a film called The Family Man in the hostel cinema.

Nikki's back at work tomorrow... No rest for the wicked!

Wednesday 8th August 2007

Same as yesterday, the alarm went off this morning and me and Nikki went down for some breakfast. When we'd finished, Nikki sat with me whilst I waited for the person I was gonna be cleaning with (it's Ashley's day off today - the cleaners do 2-days on, 1-day off). She finally arrived and we got on with the cleaning whilst Nikki took her turn to do some sunbathing.

Whilst I was busy working, Nikki did some reading and then got herself ready and went shopping in town. She's such a wonderful Wife - she did all the food shopping (which she knows I don't like doing) and then came back and made us tuna & pasta for lunch.

Doing the cleaning wasn't too bad at all. As it's low season, a lot of the rooms were empty and so had already been done. Like Nikki, it was my job to do the bathrooms. I had to spray the toilet with bleach, then mop the floor and give the sink and mirrors a wipe over. I did a grand job - even if I do say so myself. Me and the Japanese girl I was working with (think her name was Tanuki (or something like that)) managed to get the morning half done quickly and then after lunch breezed through the afternoon shift - finishing at about 2.15pm.

Once i'd showered and we'd eaten the tuna & pasta that Nikki had made us for lunch, we went into town and I treated us to some smoothies. We then drank them as we walked along the beach. On our way back this evening, we stopped at Tourist Information and bought some tickets to one of the theme parks that they have out on the Gold Coast. We went for Dreamworld, which is apparently the best - with the biggest rides.

Tonight, me and Nikki had a huge bowl of noodles for our tea (it's funny watching the other travelers in the kitchen - we all eat the same things: pasta, noodles, etc) and the we went into the hostel cinema and watched the films Disturbia and American Pie 2.

A couple of hours cleaning - in exchange for a HUGE room with a double-bed... Bargain!

Tuesday 7th August 2007

As planned, the alarm went off this morning - but Nikki was already awake - she obviously couldn't wait to get back to work, and this morning was her turn to do the cleaning. We went down for some breakfast and then waited for the other girl, Ashley, to arrive. When she did, they got on with the cleaning - Ashley hoovering and Nikki doing bathrooms, and I sat by the pool and did some reading.

When Nikki had finished her 'work' at about 2.15pm, I'd done plenty of reading and sunbathing - and so once she'd had a shower and got herself ready, we headed off into town. We spent some time on the beach - Nikki was telling me what I have to look forward to with the cleaning tomorrow. We had a look around the shops and then this evening came back to the hostel.

Nikki made us an amazing vegetable stir-fry for our tea, and then we watched Casino Royale in the hostel cinema - it was pretty good!

Oh joy - i'm cleaning tomorrow!

Monday 6th August 2007

We woke up this morning, said goodbye to our 'roomies' and then moved a couple of doors along to another hostel called Backpackers in Paradise. When we were out walking yesterday, we'd spotted a notice saying they were looking for a 'morning cleaner', in exchange for accommodation - and we signed up!

When we checked in, they gave us a key to one of the shared dorms, but when we went to drop our bags off - there was someone asleep in one of our beds! We went back to reception and they gave us another key. This room absolutely STANK!, so we went back to reception and said that we'd like a double room, which we'd only pay half for (the other half in exchange for the cleaning). They said that was cool, and we moved in (it was good because they mis-calculated the price and we're getting it for only $3 more than what we would've paid for a dorm bed... yippee). Our new room is much better - plus it's huge, with a private bathroom, so we can leave all our stuff all over the place!

With our bags safely locked away in our new room we headed out and hit the beach! We stayed there for about an hour or so, and then went for a walk. Another thing this place has in common with Miami, is there are canals / rivers running through it (like where the 'Stars' live) - so we walked along them. It was lovely and warm - and really pretty with the sun reflecting on the water. Whilst we were out, Nikki had a smoothie and I had a HUGE ice-cream (Mmmmm).

On our way back we stopped at Adam and Ash's (they'd text us to say they were staying another day) and had some more beers, whilst watching Neighbours, Home & Away and Australian Idol (rock on!). Tonight we came back and had a chilli with cous cous and chilled out at our place.

Better set the alarm - it's Nikki's first day of 'work' tomorrow!

Sunday 5th August 2007

Last night was our final night in Byron Bay, so the alarm woke us up at about 8.30am this morning and then we packed our bags up and went and had some breakfast. Afterwards, we got a lift to the bus-stop with a guy from the hostel and caught the 9.50am bus to Surfers Paradise.

The scenery when were driving up the East coast of Australia is stunning! On one side we have the crystal blue ocean and on our left we had stunning lakes.

Our journey to Surfers Paradise took about 2 hours - and we arrived at around 12pm. From what we've heard from people along the way, Surfers Paradise seems to be where everyone goes for a holiday - and the first thing that struck us when we got here was how similar it was to Miami! It has a huge 29km beach with gorgeous white sand, loads of shops (all centered around one area) and a couple of 'fancy' high-rise apartment blocks.

We went into the bus station and they arranged for our hostel, which is called 'Sleeping Inn', to come and collect us. It was quite cool, because when they did - they arrived in a limo! We dropped our bags off and then went out to explore. On our way into the centre, we came across a Hard Rock Café and Nikki said she'd treat us to lunch out of her birthday money (yep, still got some!). I ordered a cobb salad and Nikki ordered a cheese-burger, and then we shared half each.

After a while, we bumped into Adam and Ash (from Coffs Harbour) and they said they were sharing an apartment with some girls they'd met - so we went to check it out. They were already pretty drunk because they'd been drinking 'Goon' (cheap wine) all day. Afterwards we went out to check on prices of other hostels. The one we're staying in tonight is one of our free ones (as part of our tour).

On our way back this evening, we stopped a bought some beer in one of the bottle shops and went to Adam and Ash's who by now they were absolutely wasted - and they invited us in for a party, because they're heading to Brisbane in the morning. We stayed for a couple of hours - drinking, dancing, being silly and having a good time. At one point, a Japanese girl called Yuki (who was also from the Coffs Harbour hostel) turned up (small world).

At about 11pm, all the beer had gone (even though Nikki had gone out to buy more) and so we figured we'd better head back to our hostel. When we got there, one of the guys we were sharing with (we're in a four-bed dorm) was sat in the living room, reading, (our place is like a 2-bed flat, with four beds in each room, a small kitchen and bathroom), and another was in bed. So, as quietly as we could, we got ready and crashed out in 'the squeakiest bed ever!'

Here's to Adam and Ash - absolute Nutters!

Saturday 4th August 2007

We got up quite late this morning - which was surprising because the hostel is PACKED at the moment - all with really noisy people, and it was hard to get to sleep last night. There's a music festival going on at the moment - called Splendor in the Grass, which looks really cool. It's got bands like The Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Lilly Allen (as well as loads of international bands we've never heard of) playing. We did talk about walking up to the site and maybe sneaking in, but have since heard that there's a ditch / moat around the fence that people are getting caught in - now, since we've been away we've forgotten all of our SAS training and think that laying by the pool is a much safer option!

After eating our breakfast, the sky looked quite cloudy - so we decided to get some of our washing done. Once the machine was going, all the clouds had cleared and we were able to sit by the pool and sunbathe while we waited... perfect!

This afternoon we walked down to the Why Not café (the one where we get the free internet) and had a milkshake each and shared a 'bacon & leek frittata with watercress salad' (not got a clue what it is - Nikki may as well have said 'blah blah blah please') for our dinner.

Once we'd finished our food, and finished surfing the net we took a walk around town and went into a book-exhange to see if we could swap the book i'd read for a new one? They didn't want mine - they said they had 'no use' for a book in which all the pages had fallen out (d'oh!) - so I just bought one of theirs instead. I chose another Dean Koontz one, The Mask.

When we got back to our hostel this evening, we sat on our balcony and read whilst the sunset and then just chilled out. First we had some noodles for our tea and then watched Mission Impossible III on the laptop.

... can I please have the Leek & Bacon blah blah blah? Good choice Sir!

Friday 3rd August 2007

When we got up this morning and were in the kitchen making our breakfast, we bumped into Rob (the Bristol Rovers fan, who's from Southampton). We'd seen him in Newcastle and Coffs Harbour and now here - it's cool that we keep recognising people along the way (like when we bumped into Ashton, Demi and Kevin in Hollywood).

We decided that today we'd take another walk up to the Cape Byron lighthouse - but this time we'd walk out to the most Easterly part of Australia (which was closed off last time). It was really hot today - and the walk was really tough - but it was worth it! When we got to the lighthouse we saw dolphins and a sea-turtle swimming about in the sea.

Nikki made us toasted sarnies for our lunch and then we went into town to use some more free internet vouchers that we had. Afterwards we borrowed some bikes from our hostel and cycled out to the Apple Centre - to get an update on the MacBook. It was ready for collection - but was still not working properly, so i'll have to take it somewhere else. We cycled back to our hostel and had bangers, mash & beans for our tea - I helped by mashing the potatoes!

If this is winter - I could definitely get used to this weather!

Thursday 2nd August 2007

Wow, this morning was absolutely boiling! After breakfast, we did some washing and then sat by the pool reading and sunbathing (in winter... yippee!).

After a few hours we headed into town, bought ourselves a fruit smoothie and used a free internet voucher we had to surf the net and check our emails. We found out today that Emma is coming out to see us, in Perth, for Christmas and New Year (yippee! She can bring my birthday and Christmas pressies) - so we're really excited about that!

We came back to the hostel this afternoon to make some food - but the kitchen was closed for cleaning, so we went round the corner and bought a kebab, which we shared, instead. We took it to the beach to eat and it was bloody lovely! We did plan on doing some reading, but from out of nowhere it suddenly got really windy - so we sat next to the swimming pool at our hostel instead.

Tonight, Nikki made us a pasta bolognese and then we went to the cinema - where we watched Fracture, starring Anthony Hopkins - which was very good!

Yippee! We're gonna have a traveling friend at Christmas!

Wednesday 1st August 2007

When we woke up this morning, Nikki had a look outside and it looked a bit cloudy - so we decided that we'd spend the day looking around town - checking out what we'd like to buy (but can't afford (well, Nikki can - with her bottomless pitt of birthday money)) in all the shops. I found a couple of pairs of shorts that I really liked, but after all the extreme sports in New Zealand - I'm trying to be stingy - plus, i'm doing a skydive soon...

This afternoon, Nikki made us a chilli with cous cous for our lunch and then we took a walk down to the beach. When we got there the wind had really picked up, so we sat and watched some of the kite-surfers and then came back. Yesterdays walking must've really worn us out, because we both fell asleep in our room for a couple of hours.

When we woke up this evening we took a walk into town and went for a drink in a place called the Great Northern Hotel. On our way back we bought ourselves a pizza from Domino's and sat and ate that whilst watching TV.

Cloudy, but still warm enough for shorts - I love it!

Tuesday 31st July 2007

We got up this morning and after eating our breakfast decided that we'd go out for a nice walk - to see what was about. We started by walking down to the beach and then heading in the direction of the Cape Byron lighthouse.

The beach was lovely and there were quite a few people in the sea, so I climbed over this huge pile of rocks to get a better view of all the surfers out trying to catch one of the massive waves. When I was done we headed into the bush and onto the walking track. We did see a sign which said how far the lighthouse was - but, for some reason, ignored it... d'oh!

After nearly an hour we made it up to the lighthouse - and the views of Byron Bay were amazing! The sun was shining and we could see dolphins swimming in the sea just off the shore!

When we got back to our hostel, we picked up the laptop and headed down to the little café, where we knew we could get wireless internet. We both had milkshakes and did some surfing of the other kind. Whilst online, we found that there was an Apple Store in the area - and because I was having some problems with the Bluetooth on my MacBook, thought we'd take it in for them to have a look at. I got directions from some guy and set off on the short journey...

The Apple Store was about an hour away (which the guy in the coffee shop failed to mention) and when we got there they agreed to look at it (because it's under warranty, it won't cost us a penny - or cent). When we left the store, it was suddenly PITCH BLACK outside and we had to walk back to town, along the cycle track, with only the passing cars for light. Poor Nikki was terrified.

We finally got back to our hostel and Nikki made us sausage sarnies, before we sat and watched some TV and then had showers - our feet were black from the walking along the dusty road!

We love Byron Bay!