They picked us up good and early so after a short two hour drive we found ourselves in a great beach town. We then proceeded on a beach walk along the Bay up to the lighthouse which is supposedly the Easternmost part of Australia. Cool I suppose but really not overly exciting. We went to a brewery called the Buddha Brew for dinner (steak!) and to top it all off, the beer was actually really good! And since we were there during happy hour it was actually some of the cheapest beer I've got at a bar since we've gotten here. Win-win situation right there! Afterward we went to a pub called Cheeky Monkeys where we spent the night dancing on tables and other good fun.
The next morning we all pulled up and got ready to go surfing! We got to the beach wearing our wetsuits and carried our surfboards out and just stared at the waves. Side note: those surfboards are way heavier than I realised, I now understand why surf bums are so freaking jacked. Looking out at the waves I couldn't imagine actually getting up on one of those crazy things. But our instructors had us doing the silly "Jump Up" routine on the beach and next thing we knew we were heading out into the water. Tried a couple times to get up on my own with pretty epic failures ensuing. The instructors came around and helped us out by shoving us off and letting us know when was the right moment to get up. All of a sudden, I was surfing! In about three seconds, I went from being terrified of the smallest little waves to wanting to seek out bigger and sicker waves! This led to a good mix of larger crashes (my knees are still pretty skinned up from bouncing along the bottom) but also some really sweet rides. After what felt like an hour, it was time to pack up... Lame.
After lunch we then continued our fat camp training by going out on a sea kayak expedition to see whales and dolphins. Honestly, it wasn't all that fun though maybe it just paled in comparison to the surfing we had done just a few hours prior. We got out into the water and paddled like maniacs not quite sure what we were doing (we didn't know about the whales and dolphins) and then all of a sudden someone pointed and we could see dolphins jumping up in the waves mere meters away from us! They left after a couple minutes later though and it was back to just plain exercise. After another 30 hrs of paddling Megan and I were pretty tired of just floating out in the water and not seeing anything of much interest. Our wonderful tour guide had basically abandoned us so we decided to turn back in ourselves. About halfway back we hear some whistling and turn to see some frantic waving. Thinking they had spotted a whale or something we turned back only to find out that the guide was upset at us for leaving. Whoops. Surprise surprise though they were just turning back anyway. Reentry to the beach didn't go so well though... First wave came up and knocked us sideways and flipped us pretty quickly and we had to swim to shore. Apparently it helped fix Megan's seasickness so I suppose it had some benefit?
We went out to another place called Cocomangas which wasn't quite as cool as the first pub but still a good time for sure. The next morning some of the girls went out skydiving which I had been considering but it was simply way to expensive and I promised myself I would do it sometime in the next few years. We went all around the town that afternoon and enjoyed a nice barbie on the beach before we had to say our goodbyes to Byron.
The next week commenced studying or at least after a few days I managed to start studying :P I had two finals and a paper which as of now I have completely finished! However, over the weekend I started getting an increasingly painful toothache and was having some serious allergies. After finishing my last final this morning I went to the dentist and the doc on campus to have my fears confirmed, I had a lovely sinus infection. $100 later I now have antibiotics and nasal steroids to help me out but I'm looking forward to a fun couple flights tomorrow morning (or rather 8 hrs from now!) when Taylor and I fly to Alice Springs where we'll go on a backpacking tour around Uluru. We're super super excited for it. I can't remember the last time I went camping and now a few days out under the stars in the Australian Outback sounds amazing.
Getting up in a few hours to catch a ride to the airport and I'll be pretty much incommunicado for a good week at least. The final countdown is on and is ticking down fast. Uluru trip, back to Brizzie on Saturday for our Farewell dinner with Ann, flying out to Melbourne the next morning, back to Brisbane on Thursday and then flying back home on Sunday the 21st. Its insanity. and I need to stop thinking about it and just enjoy my last couple weeks here!
Here's some pics as always:
Pretty sure this lil guy speaks for himself
Not a great pic, but you get the idea
Pro on land
Taylor, Trevor, and myself
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