I found the Sun!

Wow sorry it's been so long. Basically I've been having a lot of fun!

I went to Surfers Paradise and stayed with Kate (Louis older sister) and her boyfriend Claxel. I arrived on the day that Claxel finished his uni exams and so we went out to the clubs in Surfers and had a great night out. Very good fun! The following day was spent recovering (Claxel more so than me!) and we both finally retured to normal when we went for a swim/surf in the sea (which is about 10metres from their house!) Their house is so amazing! You can see the sea from every window - even when you're in the shower! Very cool place. So lots of fun was had in Surfers. Did quite a lot of swimming coz the waves were really crazy so it was more fun, and less dangerous to just jump around in them. We went shopping and just chilled out really. I really enjoyed myself there.

My next stop was Brisbane, by train, and was met by Thomas (Kate and Lous brother..) He took me on a little tour around Brisbane, showing me the whole of Brisbane from the top of a big hill. It's a pretty cool place. And it was nice and sunny (having rained a bit in Surfers!) So that was cool. We met up with Lucy, another family friend who is also studying in Brisbane, and then Thomas and I went off to an end of exams party, with the intention of meeting up with Lucy in a club later, but we never got round to leaving the party! It was pretty good fun. We did however, meet up with Lucy the following day and I spent the following night with her and her boyfriend Hunter. It was the next State of Origin game between Queensland and New South Wales (I watched the last one in Canberra) and we were with a bunch of their friends with takeaway food - very good fun! We had to get up early the next day coz we were leaving at 8 to drive the 11 hours it takes to drive from Brisbane to Lucy's home in Mackay. Lucy and Hunter shared the driving and the journey wasnt as bad as it sounds actually! I mean, yes, its boring sitting down for 11hrs - but we had music and played stupid games and managed to pass the time somehow.

So now I'm in Mackay. Friday we spent recovering from our journey but Saturday we went out on their boat and did that thing where you cling on to a rubber surfboard kinda thing and get pulled along at high speed behind the boat. Such fun! Though the next day my shoulders were aching! Saturday night we went out in Mackay - me, Lucy, Simon (her 18yr old bro who is about to start uni having spent 12months in the army) and a couple of his friends. Mackay is a very small place with a few select places to go out. We couldn't stay out too late seeing as we had to be up at 6.45 the next day as we were going fishing but still it was a pretty good night.

So Sunday (yesterday) we were woken early and packed the car and boat with sandwiches and beer and anything else you may need on a fishing trip. We were on the water I think by 8am and went around to lots of places hoping to catch some big trout or something! Simon and David (their dad) wanted to go spear fishing, but the water was really cloudy so they had to settle for hand reels. It was a bit of a shame, I'd have liked to have seen them come up from underwater with some big fish! It also meant that snorkelling was out of the question, but I stil had a fun day of fishing - and I'm proud ot say I caught the most!! Must be beginners luck or something. It was also very sunny (wooo!) and we all came back with rather red noses. Haha. Then once we'd cleaned the boat, David set about filleting one of the fish I caught and fried it up - was so yummy! And amazing to think it had been on the end on my line about 3/4hours earlier! Then after our little apperetif of fresh fish we had a delicious roast lamb! The way I know this family is that Wendy, their mum, and my mum went to school together. They have 4 kids - Thomas, who's still at uni in Melbourne, Lucy age 20 studying nursing in Brisbane, Simon age 18 about to start uni having spent a year in the army and Edward who's in his last year of school, but who is on holidays at the moment. So there's quite a crowd here and i'm having good fun!

Just worked out I've only got 11days left in Australia! Wow that holiday went fast. I've had an awesome time though and will continue to until I leave I'm sure! :D

Byron Bay times

So were were we? Thurs I went on a snorkelling trip which was also great fun. Water was a bit cloudy due to all the recent rainfall there has been but I still saw carpet sharks (which swim along the sea bed and are not at all dangerous, apparently) and sea turtles that very much reminded me of Finding Nemo! So that was fun. And guess what? I met 2 guys on their gap year as well, and one went to the London Oratory School and knows 2 of my best friends, Nathan and Dylan! What a small world it is!! Spend the rest of the day chilling out with them - they've had an amazing gap year, have visited 8 countries so far and have another 3 to go before going home! Made me feel a bit boring having only been to 2! Ah well. I cooked a sausage stew that evening with the help of another useful packet invention. I'm such a cheat! But it was pretty yummy so thats cool. Friday Louis had the day off so we just chilled out doing nothing very exciting except head off to the beach - I'm pretty sure it was the hottest day since I arrived here! And he was cooking that night which was a nice relief.

Saturday Louis went for a surf so I went with him to watch - the waves looked huge and pretty scary! I havent done as much surfing here as I expected. There's been a bit of an issue with what board I'd ride coz Louis are all small and not so good for learning. Plus I'd be really scared to be out in the surf with the good guys. Anyways, I think I'm going to do lots of surfing with Kate (Louis sister) who lives in Surfers Paradise. I'm going there tomorrow. Diane was heading off to Sydney for a few days so we took her to the airport in Ballina and had a bit of lunch. Then spent the rest of the day chilling. That's been the story of Byron Bay really. Lots of time spent chilling on the beach. Which is coooool. Louis cooked again on sat which was nice.

Monday I went on a kayaking trip which was fab! I was in the boat with the beefy instructor man so hardly had to do a thing. And we got even closer to the whales! They came about 15metres away from us! And we were surrounded by dolphins too. Pretty amazing stuff! And Mr Big Strong man paddled us into waves and we surfed to shore in the kayak. Very good fun. Tues was another day at the beach. Lovely and sunny. And Diane got home so she's been doing the cooking! Oh yea - she got the sack, and is pretty happy about it! So we had a lovely walk today to the light house and around and about. We're just about to have a yummy curry (cooked by Diane not me!) So that's been my time in Byron Bay really. Did some more poker playing (and I actually one some hands this time!) and Louis and I went to see The Hangover at the cinema. Hilarious film. Actually laughed the whole way through! So it's been fun. Off to Surfers Paradise tomorrow! X

Oh dear - sorry it's been so long since I last wrote! Hmm so what have I been doing? Well last Wed I went to Canberra with Tricia and I had a whistle stop tour of Australias capital. It was very wet so not exactly fantastic sight seeing weather but we went to the War Memorial museum which I really enjoyed. Its very interesting seeing and understanding the different wars from a different countries point of view. We then went off to the National Library for a bite to eat and had a look at the Ballet Russe expedition thats on at the moment. That was also cool to see as ENB are doing lots of the stuff that ther were original paintings of costume designs etc. It's Diagalev's anniversary you see (no idea how you spell that!) Then we whizzed off in the pouring rain to the National Gallery hoping to see some of the Aboriginal art, but it had been packed away and there were ver few things to see as they were renovating. Oh well. Lastly we went to the New Parliament house which was also very interesting! We saw the equivalent of the House of Lords (all Pinky) and then we were allowed into the House of Representatives (all Greeny) where it was Prime Minister's question time! Was hilarious! What a rabble they all are. Very noisy stuff. But I really enjoyed seeing it. Have never seen anything like that live. Was great. In a brief moment of no rain we headed up to the roof which had great views. Could see the whole layout and design of the city. And then we were allowed into another much smaller room where the senate were really grilling some of the inportant cabinet ministers about the current financial situation. Fascinating stuff. Then it was dark and we headed off to Tricia's mums house (my Dad's mum's sister, ie, my great aunt) and had dinner and watched the all important 'State of Origin' footie match (Rugby union kinda thing) between New South Wales and Queensland. It wa a pretty exciting match, despite not really knowing what was going on!

It was an early rise for me in the morning. Was catching my flight to Ballina/Byron at 9am. It was delayed though because of fog in Sydney, but it was fine because that also meant my connecting flight from Sydney was also delayed. Got there and easily onto a shuttle bus which dropped me right at the Hunt's (Diane and Louis - Thomas and Kate are both at uni) door! Made myself at home and waited for Diane to get home who then gave me a quick tour of Byron and we visited Louis at his work (Fishworks, a nice fish and chip place right on main beach) before coming home and getting dinner ready for when Louis was back. Had a nice chilled out evening. The next day Louis had the day off and we had to get up super early coz we were getting a lift with Diane to Louis dad's house which is near where Diane works (Lismore). So we spent a nice chilled out day there playing pool, playing the piano, hanging in the sun (which finally came out after lots of rain!) until Diane picked us up and we went home again. Sat I joined Louis at the beach where he surfed and I watched and lay in the sun - we had no car and I didnt fancy taking a surf board on a bike so I settled for chilling in the sun. Was lovely. I love the beach! Especially when the suns out! The afteroon was spent at home and in the evening I went to a house party with Louis and his friends. It was good, though it's always a bit weird when you know one person, but they know everyone. I got chatting to a few people though so it was a fun night.

Sunday was another good day. Kate and Mike (their dad) and Jazzy (their half sister) came to visit for the day and Kate took me and Jazzy surfing in the shallows at Dolphins beach (where there are dolphins out in the deep with the good surfers - wish i was good enough to join them!) so that was pretty fun. We showered and dropped Mike and Jazzy at the bus and went to meet Diane who had been having breakfast with her friend who lives in an amazing house overlooking Wategos beach - we even saw whales from her house! What an awesome place to live. Walk through the garden and you're on the beach. Fab. So Kate and I had some of the remaining pastries and other breakfasty items as a little bit of lunch and then Diane went for a swim while we walked up to the lighthouse - the most Easterly point in Australia. Its the time of year when the whales migrate north from Antartica to mate and give birth and we saw lots of whales and big splashes. Very exciting. Then we headed back home for an easly dinner so Kate could set off home while it was still light. A good day. Monday was a day off for Diane as it was the Queens birthday! So we went on the lighthouse walk again with some other of her friends - it's quite a steep walk, but makes you feel very good! More fantastic views and whale/dolphin sightings. Met Louis and his girlfriend for a BBQ on Wategos beach after. Its great here - they have these free public BBQs all over the place that you can use anytime. So that was yummy. More chilling out in the arvo then a nice couple - Jane and John came round for dinner. Jane's from England and they moved out here 6 yrs ago. They're very nice. And Jane invited me to go with her on a walk the following morning with her dog which was nice becuase I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do coz Diane and Louis would be at work. So I did that, and then went into town and organised 2 trips - one was today when I went whale watching, and one is for tomorrow when I'm going snorkelling! The rest of my day yesterday was spend chilling on the beach in the sun, getting discounts on food from Louis at Fishworks and watching the sunset with the hippies playing drums and didgeridoos etc in a sun worshipping kind of ceremony. Was pretty cool. Came home and cooked spaghetti to have with the bolognese sauce Diane had made at the weekend. She's pretty keen on me cooking when she's at work - so much for my holiday!

So today I went on a whale watching trip. There were about 8 of us in a speed boat kind of thing and we saw some amazing stuff! We saw 3 whales breaching (jumping out of) the water but my camera and my reactions were way to slow to capture any of them! I've got some good pictures of big splashes! And lots of the sea and the sky! A fab trip though. And I spend the rest of the day with 2 people I met on the trip, just chilling in the sun and having some food. I was again under instruction to cook so I wandered around Woolies on my way home (not our kind of Woolies, this is more like Sainsburys or something) for some inspiration, and settled for tuna pasta bake which was a great success if I say so myself! I wonder if i'll be cooking again tomorrow..probably! Hmm - any ideas?!

Oh and I've managed to download Skype in case anyone who's reading this has it. My user name is eleanor.swithinbank......add me!

So I'm back in Eden after a fantastic trip to the Cabin in the Snowy Mountains. It was very cold and cloudy but still it was so beautiful. Basically, Tricia and Richard bought 500 acres of land and they've built this amazing log cabin in the middle of it. And it's totally furnished! Has got, fridge, running water (hot and cold), gas stove, electric lights. It's totally mind boggling that they built it! They have 2 toilets (well, long drops) - one for pee's, the other (slightly further away) for poos, and you have to raise the flag so people in the cabin can see it's in use - there's no door you see so its just you and nature! We went on a couple of long walks - one clambering along rocks along the Snowy River and one up a mountain hoping to catch a glimpse of the mountains in the distance with snow on them but sadly the cloud was too low. Pretty amazing views though! And in the evenings we sat infront of the huge log fire reading and drinking hot chocolates. Was so nice! You need to go there to really appreciate it though.

We came back on Sunday in the morning, and Ricahrd decided it was a good afternoon for a sail (on their boat Aphrodite) around the bay as the next couple of days forecast rain (which we've had lots of!) They have had such an amazing life. So first it was builiding this cabin (for holidays) in the Snowys. Then after Richard retired, they bought a boat and spent the next 6 years living on it. How fantastic must that have been?! It's a beautiful boat too. So that was a lovely afternoon. The last couple of days have just been chilling in the house really. It's been nice. I've finished my book and today, to escape the rain, we went to the cinema which is a very good thing to do on a windy wet day wherever you are in the world! It's crazy the amount of rain we've had here when just a couple of hours away, near the cabin, the grass is dying and cattle are having to be hand fed because of the drought. And Byron Bay (where I'm heading to on Thurs) is flooded too! People's gardens are being washed into the sea! Hmm it definitely seems I've brought the English weather with me and left all you lucky people with sun at home! Very unfair. Hopefully it'll be nicer when I get further north. We're off to Canberra tomorrow (Wed) to see a bit of the Nations capital and stay the night with Tricia's mum (who's my Grandma's sister) before I catch my flight to Byron bright and early on Thurs morning. So nothing hugely exciting to report except I'm having a lovely time! Enjoy the sun you lucky lot... X