SURFERS PARIDISE

Thursday, Jan 27-  Day 3 – Byron Bay – today we got to sleep in – we didn’t leave the hostel until 8:30. Last night we celebrated Australian Day with a BBQ at our hostel with sausage with sanghas and meat pies – traditional Aussie food and lots of beer. Good fun.

We drove about 250kms from  Coffs Harbour to Byrons Bay. It was an interesting trip – we saw our first wild Kangaroos, fields of sugar cane, and hundreds of wild lilies growing along the ditches. We stopped along the way to watch dolphins in the ocean.

I learned to day that Bottle Shops are liquor stores and that when they ask you if you are knocked up it doesn’t mean “ are you pregnant?” It means have you had enough to eat. That caused a lot of laughs when the guy serving sauage and sanghas asked me if I was knocked up. Needless to say I could easily be the other kids on the trips mom.

Another interesting sign I kept seeing today was  “Stop.Revive.Survive.” They constantly have these signs along autoroutes to  encourage people to take breaks when driving. These signs would be great on all roads.

After arriving in Byron Bay ,Peter, Marilyn and Murray along with Lisa ( one of the younguns) headed off for a surfing lesson. They came back tired but energized from having so much fun – they all managed to get up on their boards. The rest of us browsed around the town, a real tourist area for surfing, tried out the beach and vegged in the hammocks at the hostel. Can’t beat the pace of life.

Tonight we are all off to a local restaurant recommended by PJ , our guide.

Jan 28

Today was another exciting day at Byron Beach . We started the day off with a trip out to snorkel with the turtles. While on our way out to the reef we saw lots of dolphins playing in the water next to the boat.  Once at the reef we all took the plunge. We saw 3 or 4 large turtles floating about and may species of fish some leopard sharks and lots of many different types of rays.  It was all too soon before we started back . Just as well because the swells were large and a few of us were geting sea sick and looking a little green.   After lunch was just the opposite as we were high in the sky.  Murray and lauren decide to go para sailing. I (Peter ) was too chicken to jump off the side of a cliff in hopes the air would hold me afloat and trusting in a few small cables. LOL  It was definantly a high light of the day for them. Tonight is another BBQ at the hostel and then off to an early bed to prepare for another adventure tomorrow.