Bondi Beach to Byron Bay

Our five days in Bondi Beach was exactly what we needed, after spending most of our time so far in cities. However, there wasn't really much to do apart from spend time on the beach (which probably sounds wonderful to all of you at home suffering with snow and ice so before you say anything, I'm not complaining!!) On the last night before leaving Bondi, I went back into the centre of Sydney where I met up with friends I'd made there. We took a trip up the Sydney Sky Tower where I saw the most spectacular night-time view of Sydney. I could have spent hours there! There was a rotating bar and restaurant up in the tower, which is very classy, but as I only have flip flops (or thongs as they're called here!) to wear we weren't allowed in! I was quite sad to leave Sydney as I really enjoyed my stay there, I'll definitely be going back there one day.

Our next stop was a place called Port Macquarie which is about 5 hours north of Sydney. Its a beautiful place with stunning beaches and even better weather! It was really hot each of the 5 days we spent there. Unfortunately though, hotter weather brings bigger and meaner mosquitoes and flies and I am slowly being eaten alive! We stayed in a chalet which was really nice. It was lovely to have our own kitchen (with absolutely no pigeons!) and to have some decent sleep without the usual interuptions from fellow backpackers! Whilst staying in Port Macquarie we visited a Koala breeding park where we saw lots of gorgeous Koalas and I even got to stroke one - aaahhh! I also got to feed a weird looking albino kangaroo which was pretty cool too.

The following day I spent at a nearby nature reserve which was really beautiful and peaceful. I walked through all the forest and saw so many stunning birds and lots of huge spiders! Whilst walking around I could hear really loud screeching so I followed the noise where I found a mass of trees which appeared to be covered in thousands of black birds. As I got closer, the noise was ear-piercing and I realised that it was not birds but huge bats! I've never seen anything like it, there were thousands of them.

Yesterday we arrived in Byron Bay which is similar to Bondi Beach but much bigger. Its also a lot hotter! Its a really lovely place and its full of backpackers so is really buzzing with people. Our accomodation this time is really expensive compared to most places but its not as nice. I'm most worried about the huge gap under the door and the huge bugs that might be able to (and probably will) come through it. As you might have gathered by now, I'm not good with bugs!

Well thats it for now apart from to tell those who don't already know that my travel plans have changed slightly. Within the next week I'll being "going solo". The other girls I have been travelling with have changed there plans about what they want to do which means missing out on things I was really looking forward to. I think you all know how hard I worked to get here and there is no way I want to go home disappointed and with regrets so I'm just going to go for it! There are so many people out here travelling alone and you meet so many people that I'm sure I'll be fine, although, if I'm completely honest I'm terrified!

So that means I'm going to need your emails and messages more than ever so I look forward to hearing from you all soon!
Bye for now
Claire x

ps computer on a go slow so not managed any pics this time but will add some soon