Cairns

The hostel here was simply luxury, a four bed dorm with no bunk beds, air conditioning, clean toilets, showers, kitchen, free breakfast, a film on the widescreen in the bar every night at 8pm and dinner for 9 dollars. The downside - shuttle bus into town once an hour till 8pm and then a 10 dollar taxi ride. I considered moving into town but it was so much luxury to be in a small clean dorm with a comfortable bed, on the first day I lay in bed till 10am, it was the first time in weeks I wasn't either camping or having to get up early to go somewhere. Anyway when I finally did manage to rouse myself, I went to the Cultural Centre to learn about the local aboriginal culture. When you arrived there is a short video about the history of the aboriginal people and how the white people mistreated them, its a bit grim and gives the whole thing a really serious tone. But after that there is a bit where the local people explain some of there cultural beliefs and then a demonstration of tribal dancing. Then the best bit because it was ten to five and all the big tour buses left taking the people back to their hotels, I had come on the local bus so I stayed to learn about dingeridoo playing, boomerang throwing, spear throwing, bush tucker and village life. A lovely young man painted in red ocre and looking a bit scary came over and said hello, he was a truly gentle soul with a lot of kindness and patience and a wicked sense of humour and once I managed to look past the red ocre body paint, the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen. He taught me how to throw a boomerang and make it come back to me which made me squeal with delight. He can make it come back, go up a bit and hover in the air.

I am a little bit ashamed to say that this was the first time I had spoken to any of the aboriginal people and I was really amazed and delighted. Now this will sound really bad but its not only me saying this, when I got back to the hostel other people in my room said the same thing. White tourists are discouraged by the tour guides from talking to the aborignal people this is mainly for safety reasons because if you are walking around a town at night you will see some aboriginal people who are sleeping on the street and begging for money, its common that they are addicted to alcohol or petrol sniffing. So just for safety really, the guides will tell you to avoid talking to them or giving them money. The only problem is that when you are a tourist, these are the only aboriginal people that you will come into contact with.

The next day I started my diving course at ProDive with Stephen Conway (my instructor), Malin (Sweden), Zenith (Canada), Lee (Manchester), Gary (London), Stephanie (Germany), Markus (Germany), Jing Lim (Korea). Gary is about 32 but excluding him and me the rest were all roughly 21. We had two days in the classroom and the pool and then 3 days on a dive boat on the Great Barrier Reef. In the classroom, you watch a video, Steve goes over what was in the video, there is a short 10 question quiz and then you practice in the pool. The amount of gear you have to wear is a bit daunting at first but you get used to putting it together and taking it apart after you've done it a few times. Steve is from NZ and trained as a diver in the navy so it is all pretty easy, he tells you what to do and you do it. There is a final exam in the classroom before you get on the boat, I was a bit lazy and only scored 46/50 because I didn't read the questions properly, of course the young ones are all fresh from uni and most scored 49 or 50 - I was kicking myself afterward for not re-reading through the questions.

Day 1 on the boat, pick up at the hostel at 5:55am, breakfast on the boat, 3 hours to get out to the Reef and then diving in the ocean. The schedule is dive eat, dive, eat, dive, eat. There is so much food, I made the mistake of eating a big lunch on the first day and suffered for it. We had to do four dives to qualify, two on the first day and two on the second day and then there are another five optional dives. On the dives, we need to complete safety skills like remove and replace your mask underwater and breathing from your buddies alternate air supply. Some skills you do on the surface like removing and replacing your BCD (buoyancy control device or inflatable jacket). When we did the BCD exercise, the surface was a bit choppy and I swallowed a lot of sea water and panicked. Panicking is a bad idea because you lose so much energy. Steve was fantastic, there was no way he was going to let me out of the water until I calmed down and given that he had eight students in the water I was totally impressed that he was so in control. You are never in any real danger because the boat is near and they are watching all the time. They check you in and out of the water to make sure everyone is accounted for and then they do another check every time they move the boat.

I was still shaken that night and not really sure if I wanted to go on with the course so I found Steve and I said "I'm not really sure I want to dive tomorrow" and he said "I know". Me - "I am really scared about getting back in the water". Steve - "The quickest way to cure that is to get back in". I could not sleep that night but the next day I got up at 6am and got back in the water. I was so pleased that I did because it was ok and it is really true you do feel more confident when you overcome your fears. Like Eleanor Roosevelt said "You must always do the next thing you think you cannot do". So now I am a PADI certified open water diver and I am really pleased with myself. On the third day I went diving just for fun with some of the other people on the boat who were already qualified and were just there on holiday diving for fun. It was so good, I can't wait to go other places and go diving there.

We came back to Cairns and had a big drunken night out to celebrate, everyone got dressed up for a change after three days on the boat where it is a bit basic. I got home at 3:30am and had a 9:10am pick up the next morning to go on a rain forest tour. When I got on the bus I was sitting next to Zenith and her mum Karen, so we had a good time chatting about the night before. We took the Skyrail up over the rain forest to a village called Kuranda, we had lunch there and wandered around the market and came back down on the scenic railway which is a restored Victorian railway. We learnt about the trees, plants and animals in the rain forest and we saw the Baron Gorge Falls which at this time of year are fantastic because it has been raining recently. The railway on the way back also goes right next to the Bridle Veil Falls which are also beautiful.

Last night I bumped into Stephanie and we are on the same flight today to Sydney at 4pm.

Whitsundays

This is not really sailing as such, it more a 3 days cruise around the Whitsunday islands. The islands are stunningly beautiful and snorkeling is like swimming in a giant tropical fish tank. There are so many fish of every size, shape and colour, they are so used to people that they brush against you, if you try to catch them, they nibble your fingers. This is the height of the stinger season (jelly fish) and we have to wear stinger suits which are a bit like wetsuits. We did see some jelly fish but they were not the really dangerous ones and we managed to avoid them. There are two types of jelly fish that can kill you but they are so tiny and so transparent that you can't see them so the ones you can see will give you a sting but won't kill you. We saw dolphins swimming along side the boat and turtles. We tried fishing but the fish were too smart and just ate our bait. At one stage the owner caught what I thought was a fairly decent sized mackerel but he said it was too small and threw it back in.

The owners run the trips on the boat and the lady cooks wonderful home made food three times a day so we all ate very well. She really looks after your every need, she wakes you with breakfast and pours buckets of water over you when you get too hot. There is not a lot to do on the boat, and there is no need for a watch, you eat, swim snorkel, sunbake (that's what they call sunbathing here and it is a more appropriate description as you basically cover yourself in thick layers of sunscreen and cook). I read The Constant Gardener which I would recommend. We stopped at Whitehaven Beach which is the most famous and most beautiful beach and for a brief few minutes we had the beach to ourselves. The only way to get there is by boat, its pure white sand like castor sugar. Normally you can't walk on the sand because it burns your feet but this sand is so white and fine it reflects the heat and you can walk on it.

When I got back to Airlie Beach Jack, Hugh, Craig and Nicole had arrived. We went swimming in the Lagoon and then for a drink. We watched a Jelly Wrestling competition (young girls in binikis rolling about in jelly) and I was amazed and slightly shocked at how determined they were to win. I thought it was just fun but there was a $500 prize and I think they would have killed each other for it if there had not been a referee to stop them.

Today I am in Cairns and its raining, its the wet season here now. I'm here to do my five day PADI diving cert on the Great Barrier Reef which I am hoping will be awesome. After that I go back to Sydney on the 30th and fly to Auckland on the 31st to start my tour of NZ.

Fraser Island

First a bit I forgot to say about the Australia Zoo
They have a large sea turtle there called Harriet which they think is 145 years old. She was brought to England by Charles Darwin, yes, really. And she has been around a few zoos in her time and now she has a home at the Australia Zoo. She is totally domesticated now and loves being rubbed by people.

There is a film here called Wolf Creek I haven't seen it as it was out here a few months ago and I missed it. Its about backpackers and its a thriller, the backpackers die but they say that the start of the film is just how it is in the hostels. I must try and get it out when I get back.

I got sunburn on my feet and ankles about a week ago because my feet were sandy and I was lazy about putting the sunscreen on my feet. Now I look like I have brown socks and its starting to peel. Also I have 17 mozzie bites on my legs (yes, I counted them) from camping in Noosa and Fraser Island. So all in all my legs are not a pretty sight right now. I've bought a biniki and started to expose my white midriff to the sun, that is not pretty either but I am hoping that eventually all this effort will be worth it and like one of those programs on tv, I will be transformed into a beautiful tanned, fit goddess.

Basically the routine here is cover yourself from head to foot with sunscreen in the morning and inspect repellent at night. Carry around two litres of water to prevent dehydration and drink it constantly throughout the day. (I was on a walk and I passed one old guy and I was carry my water in my hand and he said to me "keep getting that water down you"). Also, I now have Stingose to take the itch out of my bites and stop me scratching them and them swelling up and looking like a deformity and aleo vera gel to take the heat out of sunburn.

My trip to Fraser Island started when I checked in at Dingos Backpackers at 7pm on Monday night. I didn't like at first, everyone seemd to know eacg other and it was so organised. Buy your meal ticket at the bar and attend the 4pm briefing the next day, there is not much to do in Rainbow Beach except go to Fraser Island. Things got worse after I had a shower and went to the bar to get a meal ticket, the lasagne was sold out and the German barmaid was really rude. This was a real contrast to the Australian staff who are always really friendly and chatty, as soon as you walk into a shop here, the people say "hello, how are you?" Anyway I had a big lunch and wasn't really hungry so I had a drink and sat down and a nice German girl started talking to me and then some nice Glasgow lads started playing guitar and singing, so things got better and I decided to give it a chance. The next day we had the briefing at 4pm and we got put into groups. My group was Nicole and Craig (18 yr old Canadian couple from Calgary) Jack (21) and his brother Hugh (18) from England and then 5 German people who came together in a group and spoke German to each other for most of the trip.

Day 1 starts with pancakes at 7am, checkut at 7:30, loading the 4WD at 8am and then you set off for the ferry to Fraser Island at 10ish. The 4WD is a converted Toyota Land Cruiser with seats in the back and all the camping gear, food, cooking equipment, dishes and our stuff on top. It has lead in the bottom to stop it tipping over and a massive 5.2 litre deisel engine to get you out of soft sand. Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island and a world heritage listed site. There is no commercial traffic, only mad tourists bombing up and down the beach in 4WDs. You drive along the beach at low tide on the hard sand because inland are single track sandy and bumpy "roads" that take forever to get anywhere on even if you don't get stuck. The whole island is sand, there is no dirt or earth but massive trees and sub tropical bushes etc grow all over the island and it is dotted with crystal clear freshwater lakes.

The Germans wanted to drive to the opposite end of the island butthe non-Gs wanted to go swim in Lake MacKenzie which is the biggest, most beautiful and most popular lake so we did that. LM is 80 metres above sea level and surrounded by lush greenery with a soft white sandy beach and water so clear that nothing grows in it or lives in it, no fish, no seaweed, nothing. Later we went to an organised camp site which had showers and places to wash dishes but the ranger came and told us off because we weren't booked in there but he let us stay because it was dark. I am so pleased that we have the same type of tents we had on the outback trip because I can do it really easily now. The crickets are really really loud, they seem to have waves of synchronised noise a bit like the crowds at football matches. There are fences around the organised campsites to keep the dingos out and signs everywhere reminding you of the fines if you leave food out for the dingos (in case they becomes nuisance). The dingos on the mainland have been interbreeding with domestic dogs and the dingos on FI are protected because they are closest to pure dingos. The ground is hard, the roll mats are thin, the raincover is on becuase there has been rain recently and the tent is too hot.

Day 2 We drive to the other end of the island to see Indian Head which is really just a rock formation and not too interesting. Lof 4WDs get stuck as they try to drive off the beach through the soft sand and the boys become experts in rescuing them. We see one of the other 4WDs from our hostel and decide to camp with them near Eli Creek that night. By this time its 2pm and so we have a quick lunch and then head to another lake for a swim. Jack shares his ipod with me and we sign along to "hear comes the sun". We are bombing along the beach as usual when a little kid decides to run from his car to his parents across the "road", we almost hit him and its only that the German guy manages to slam on the brakes and control the car that he is alive today. There are 4 WDs from our hostel all camping together, we put a tarpaulin up and have music under it like a very hot disco, we sit around and dance and chat, its really great, there is a full moon and we are camping on the beach - bliss. We (a mixture of Irish, Fench, Canadians and me) play football on the beach until it gets dark and we can't see the ball anymore. A really nice Assie man bcomes over to our camp with a plate of cooked shellfish he has collected from the beach, he is really freindly and chats to us.

Day 3 We can't drive on the beach till 10:30 due to the tide and we should aim to be on the 1pm ferry so there is not much time. We decide to go to Lake Wabby for a swim, there is no way we can do this and make the 1pm ferry but the tour organiser told us that we can get on any ferry if we miss that one, so off we go. Lake Wabby has trees on 3 sides and a massive yellow sand dune on one side. The boys (and Nicole) climb up the sand dune, run down it at high speed and dive into the lake. I don't go it purely because I don't want to get out of the water. There are bigh fish in the lake and tiny fish that nibble at you. On the way back we see a dingo standing in the middle of the road (track) just looking at us, everyone gets out the camer and snaps away like mad, it is a David Attenbourgh moment.

Back at the hostel everyone piles into the showers to get clean, there were no showers last night camping on the beach and we are covered in sunscreen, inspect repellent, sweat and sand. Everyone is shattered, we sit around chatting for a while with people from the other vans, telling stories about the trip but mostly we just want to sleep. Nicole and I do laundry and Craig is asleep by 8pm. There is a guy in our room who snores really really loudly, not just a little bit but full throttle. I am so tired I sleep through it.

Noosa

I saw the Frenchies again, that makes four times we've bumped into each other. I was sitting in the hostel in Noosa eating dinner, the door opened and Roger came in. It took a few seconds for us to realize what was happening and then he just backed out again and closed the door. It was so funny but lovely to see them again, we had some wine and a chat. I think they have gone back to France now so maybe I will see them again one day in Avignon.

The next day I went on a canoe trip up the Upper Noosa River into the Everglades. The boat took us to Booren Point and then we canoed up to a place called Harry's Hut and camped overnight, it was really beautiful but it rained from about 1pm so it was very wet. I had booked to stay two nights but I came back after one. I was also a bit concerned about doing the second day on my own as most people were going back after one day and although more people would arrived on the second day it was just too unpleasant with the wet weather to make we want to stay. They also seemed a bit casual about safety as they just take the people to the canoes and leave them, no instruction or guide or anything. Anyway it was really easy to find the way, it was also easy to canoe, the river was so clear and smooth.

Today I went to the Australia Zoo, the place owned by Steve Irwin the crocodile hunter, it was the most fantastic place. They encourage people to feed the animals and to stroke them. Small children line up to feed the massive elephants, its really lovely to see how much they enjoy it and the elephants seem to like the attention too. I had my photo taken with a Burmese Python around my neck, he was truly beautiful. I saw Steve, he does a show with the crocodiles and his wife Terri, they have two kids and they are really into getting children involved in learning about the animals and understanding conservation. There are guides everywhere, in all the enclosures playing with the animals and telling people about them. The best one was the Tiger enclosure, they had the tigers in the pool playing with balls and jumping around in the water. They also tell you that there are less than 2,000 tigers in the wild now and the numbers are declining due to man destroying their habitat, it is a really good show and very educational. They put a lot of the money they make back into conservation.

I've realized that all the backpackers are going the same things that I am doing after this ie we all go to Fraser Island and then Airlie Beach to cruise in the Whitsundays and then Cairns to dive. I feel like I am on a package tour and I don't like it. I hope New Zealand is less like this. The places are beautiful but there are just too many people doing the same things. They are mostly between uni and work and they have no idea what they want to do, it gets a bit boring after you hear the same thing a few times.

Sydney - Byron Bay - Noosa

On my last day in Sydney I went to visit the Botanic Gardens and Mrs McQuarries Chair. I saw lost of bats in the trees in the but gdns and spent ages trying to take photos of them as they circled right over my head. The views from the bot gdns are wonderful but its a bit small compared to Kew :-). If you walk a bit further along you come to Mrs McQuarries chair this is a headland that has a brilliant view of the habour (and also one of the places they let of the fireworks from , they are dismantling the structure from the fireworks as I pass). Mrs McQuarrie was the wife of one of the first governors Lachlan McQuarrie (obviously Scottish). He was credited with changing reforming the penal colony at a time when it was a rough place, establishing in law and order and turning it into a proper port and city. His wife Mrs McQuarrie apparently liked to sit here and admire the view.

The bus from Sydney to Byron Bay takes 14 hours with two meals stops along the way, they show really crap videos on the bus but its impossible not to watch them. Its like a Greyhound bus but its a bit cheaper (its called Premier) you buy a ticket that allows you to travel up the east coast whenever you like, you just phone ahead and book your seat on the bus. Sydney was packed for nye and so everyone is now trying to leave at the same time, the buses are all full on the 1st and on the 2nd. When you get to Byron Bay, about 30 people get off, the driver unloads the backpacks onto the pavement and there are minibuses from all the hostels waiting to meet people. Because BBY is packed, I end up in a in Lennox Head which is a bit out of BBY, it holds approx 74 people but the woman who runs it seems to find a way to keep on increasing the number of beds in each room and even sends people off to stay with her sister when she runs out of space. In the hostel there are people from Canada, a few people from Australia, a lot of people from Germany (I asked one guy why and he said it is in fashion in Germany right now to go backpacking in Australia). In hostels people tend to buy drink and sit around chatting and drinking because its cheaper than going to the pub. You just sit down on one of the sofas and people talk to you, usually they start off by asking the standard questions like where are you from, how long are you travelling are you going north or south, etc. There is a really interesting guy called Glenn who works in IT (he didn't tell me and I really didn't want to know anything more specific). He comes from Perth but he has traveled a lot in Australia and he has lots of funny stories and strong opinions about some places.

On the second night we are sitting around playing drinking games, and then a bunch of people go to the pub. The guys from Sydney are really into surfing in a big way, they get up at 6am and surf for 4 hours in the morning and then another 4 hours in the afternoon. They are stunningly fit, tanned, young and attractive. One of them saw Jack Johnson on the beach and that prompts a whole discussion about cult surfing videos with a guy from Florida. On the way back from the pub there is a thunderstorm and we all get totally soaked.

I am up early the next morning to catch the bus to Noosa and the young people are going off to their cleaning jobs to make some money so that they can continue travelling. They all do jobs like cleaning, driving and sometimes they do fruit picking. Its really easy to get a three month work visa if you are between 18 and 30. Everyone walks around all the time wearing the uniform of flipflops which they call thongs here and Quicksilver, Billabong, Rip Curl, the girls wear Roxy. The call sunglasses sunnies and swimsuits swimmers. It is very easy to do nothing except go to the beach, it is such a relaxed atmosphere. People just rock up (ie turn up) somewhere and see what happens.

In Noosa I have my first surfing lesson, I was really not looking forward to it after I had watched people doing it in BBY. But I was surprised how much fun it is, it is fantastic. They give you a big foam board not a fibreglass one so that if it hits you on he head it doesn't hurt too much. The hardest part is getting out, the waves are so strong they just sweep you off your feet and them suck the sand away from under your feet as they pull back out again. They are relentless and pounding, they make a load (really loud) roaring sounds all the time. The instructors make it easy by holding your board till you get on, then pushing you to catch the wave and then shouting "push up" when you need to get up. I can't stand up but almost, I can get two feet on the board and almost stand up but I couldn't quite make it before I got too exhausted and needed to stop. Even doing it for a couple of hours is brilliant, the waves push you along so fast and the board is actually quite stable once you get on the wave but I cannot believe how fit you would need to be to do this for 4 hours, I would die. Once you get started there is a lot more to learn about breaks and rips.

East Coast

Monday 2 Jan
I moved into a hostel in Sydney so that I can sample the night life in the city. I went to an irish bar recommended in the guide book but it was not so great, to get to it I had to walk along Oxford Street which is the main gay area in Sydney and that was an experience, there a lot of men (sounds like heaven but they are all gay), there are not too many women and there are a few male/female couples who walk along obviously holding hands which makes them look like tourists. After the irish bar I am walking back along the street and this time with the courage gained from Guiness, I decide to check out one of the noisy bars that is bursting with music and people. It was really good fun, one guy bought me drinks just because I was a visitor to his city, the people were so friendly I had a better time there than in the irish bar.

Tues / Wed /Thur 5 Jan
Sore head and early check out are not a good combination. The French people are on the same bus as me, I just knew they would be. I didn't book accomodation in Byron Bay (silly me) and I didn't book the next part of the bus trip to Noosa so I end up staying in a place called Lennox Head, just outside Byron Bay for two nights. This is surfing country, people get up at 8am because the surf is better then. There is not much to do here except surfing, it is a really laid back relaxed place, it had a hippy reputation but now it is a bit more commercial than hippy. Last night I went to a bar and saw Nathan Kaye playing, he was good, also someone told me that the place to be at new year is the Woodridge country music festival as there are 500,000 people there for nye. I'm told that the old guy at the bar is a surfing legend who was in a video called Morning of the Earth which was filmed in Lennox Head and apparently is a cult thing in the surfing community.

Sydney

Thursday 22 Dec
I'm so used to waking early to watch the sunrise that I wake up at 5:39 as the sun is coming up. I pack and then wander around Alice Springs in the early morning heat. I'm on a flight from Alice to Melbourne with Emma and then I go on to Sydney. I check into Manly Backpackers but leave after one night there as a young German girl who seems to think it is good fun to hang over the balcony at 3am shouting abuse and swearing at passers-by.

Friday 23 Dec
I meet Caroline and her two boys and after a swim, Caroline takes me on a drive around Manly. Caroline moved here five years ago from London with her husband Tony and two sons Gus (9) and Kyle (7).

Saturday 24 Dec
Christmas eve dinner with Caroline's family. We drink the delicious wine that Ken bought me when we visited the David Bruce vineyard in Santa Cruz, it is absolutely wonderful. Caroline gives me The Secret River by Kate Grenville - its a fictional account of an English convict who is sent to Australia and eventually becomes a wealthy landowner. She also recommends Leviathon by John Birmingham. Everyone here seems to swear a lot, Caroline says they even swear at each other in the parliament. After dinner, we walk around the neighbourhood looking at the Christmas lights and decorations in the gardens. There are two streets where the houses are decorated to collect money for charity and every in the local area is walking around at this time, we meet other children and mums and dads and the children have ice cream from the van.

Sunday 25 Dec
Christmas starts with a swim at 9:30am on Manly Beach and then Christmas dinner at the North Steyne Hotel (Tony's cooking is better). Then back to the beach until 6:30pm when the lifeguards take down the flags and go home. People here spend a lot of time on the beach.

Monday 26 Dec
We visit the zoo. We see all the boats heading off for the start of the Sydney to Hobart boat race. The zoo has a fantastic view of Sydney Harbour as well as a very good selection of animals and a great layout on the side of the hill. The best part is the seal show, they are so cute and so clever. On the way home, we visit Balmoral beach briefly. There are a lot of beaches to be visited.

Tuesday 27 Dec
I escape the family and visit Sydney. On the way to Sydney I meet the French couple from the outback trip as I am going onto the ferry, they are coming off.

The Opera House is the most astonishing building. It was designed in 1961 by a Danish architect and took 14 years to complete. It still looks futuristic, it is true genius to imagine something so visionary and so different from everything else around you. Inside you see the raw concrete molded into the shape of the arches, it looks like the inside of an alien spaceship. I climb the Harbour Bridge and see wonderful views of the city. We see the boxes and boxes of fireworks being put in place on the bridge ready for the big display. I wander around The Rock looking at the old original Sydney houses.

Wednesday 28 Dec
Caroline and I go to the cinema to see the new George Clooney film.

Thursday 29 Dec
I visit the Blue Mountains. It takes two hours on the train from Sydney but its definitely worth the effort, there are a network of walks and lookout points where you can see the beautiful views across the valleys and the blue tinge from the eucalyptus trees. It is incredibly beautiful.

On the way back, I bump into the French people from the outback trip again, we can't believe the coincidence.

Friday 30 Dec
Off again with the family to visit friends who live in Empire Bay. We drive to Palm Beach (where John Cleese is staying) and then take the ferry to Ettalong, we visit the beach and then have lunch at the friends' house, this is a remote and very beautiful area. On the way back home we visit Whale Beach and Avalon.

Saturday 31 Dec
We have dinner at Caroline's house and then go to Manly beach with the children to see the children's fireworks at 9pm. Then Caroline and I walk up to North Head to see the Harbour fireworks at midnight. These are the best fireworks ever, they are from four points along the river as well as the bridge, they last over ten minutes and they are absolutely wonderful. There are heart shapes that seem to hang in the air, there are bursts that looks like huge spinning balls.

Sunday 1 Jan
I do the 10km Manly Scenic Walk along the coast from Manly to The Spit. Its so hot I stop every time I get to a beach and get into the water to cool off, it takes me six hours to finish and I feel like I just had a mammoth gym session. I am supposed to go to Byron Bay tomorrow but the bus is full so I need to stay in Sydney tomorrow night and go on Tuesday, this will probably mean that I will be on the same bus as the French people as they are going to Port Stephens on Tuesday.