Byron Bay

Day 1: A girl called Binx was the OZ Driver for this trip as we headed down the coast to Byron Bay, one of Australia's most famous areas. Also onboard were Jasen (Bulgaria) and Jodie & Mike (UK) and we all got chatting on the day-long trip down to Byron.

We arrived early evening and myself, Jodie and Mike had booked into a seperate hostel to Jasen. We checked in and then caught up with him later at a bar called Cheeky Monkey, which had fairly cheap drinks and even cheaper meals, something of a rarity in Australia. We all headed over and took full advantage, with Binx also there as well.

One of the other benefits of travelling with OZ Experience is that you often get free drinks in these bars on the days you arrive. This was also the case here and Binx got us a couple of Jugs in. When they arrived, a random guy appeared at our table, adament that he had been on our bus that day and was therefore entitled to free drinks also. Given there were only us 4 on the bus, we knew he was trying it on and, at first, it just seemed as though he was joking around just trying his luck.

When he discovered he wasn't going to get anywhere though, he turned quite aggressive towards Binx when she told him he would need to leave the table (he was pretty hammered). This continued for a while, him still adament that he was entitled to drinks, to the point where Binx had to get one of the bouncers over to have a word with him. He managed to avoid getting kicked out somehow and was warned off coming over to our table again. The lengths some travellers will go to for a free drink!

Jodie, Mike and Binx left later in the night, leaving me and Jasen still partying it up in Cheeky Monkey, which was a pretty cool bar. There were a number of competitions running throughout the night for free drinks and, in Jasen's case - a free Bungee Jump. He gave it away to some random guy on the dancefloor because it needed to be in Cairns, where he wouldn't be heading. The guy thought Christmas had come early I think.

Day 2: Jodie & Mike headed off for a day trip to Nimbin, which I wasn't that bothered about since I don't smoke Marijuana (basically the whole point of going there I gather). As it was a nice day, I took a walk around Byron Bay and along the beach, which is pretty nice. The afternoon was spent catching some rays on there and taking my T-Shirt off and on about 7 times because the Sun kept disappearing.

In the evening, I met up with Jordan & Lindsay, the canadian couple I had met in Koh Tao, Thailand. We had become really good friends over there and had kept in touch ever since so I knew they were living in Byron now. Jasen also joined us as we had several beers and laughed the evening away. Three of their canadian friends were also there as we hung around in one of the locals bars. It was great to see them, although I think Jordan was even more pleased than me since it gave him the opportunity to talk some sports again! He's been travelling with just girls the whole trip so was grateful for the male company I think. Myself and Jasen were happy to oblige with the sports chat. We did talk to Lindsay as well though, honest. It was a cool night hanging out with them and I was glad we caught up since it will be the last time for a while.

Day 3: Jasen & I met up with Jodie & Mike and we took a walk up to the Lighthouse, which overlooks Byron Bay. It took us a couple of hours and we built up more of a sweat than we were expecting getting up there as it was quite a tough walk. Probably just the Beer coming out.

We reached the Lighthouse early afternoon and walked into some drama as a guy had fallen half-way down the cliff behind it. We couldn't get that close but could see well enough that 3 paramedics were down the cliff and putting the guy into a stretcher to be taken back up, so we assumed he was still alive. A few stories were doing the rounds as to how he ended up there - ''his cat had run down and he had gone after it'' OR ''he had climbed over the fence to get a better view''. We never found out the true story but either way, he was lucky to be alive and to have stopped just half way down the cliff. A few more meters more and he wouldn't have been so lucky. In any case, he didn't look in very good shape as they got him into the Ambulance.

After taking in the views for a bit and visiting the site that is apparently the most easterly point in Australia, we took the long walk back down to the town. The 4 of us then got some Pizza and went to one of the local pubs for a bit because the weather turned really nasty. Afterwards, I had to get back to my hostel to get my stuff together for the overnight bus to Sydney. I met the guys once more for a few drops of Goon and then boarded the bus that evening. 12 hours to get there but I was really looking forward to Sydney, after hearing so many good things from other travellers and from Bru.

Sydney, here I come.