Australia day 9

This was my last day before going back to Sydney. I was relieved to find out that the sun was shining and the water was perfect for swimming! A good send off.

Australia day 8

We all woke up sore, grumpy and in desperate need of a shower. We decided the $125 campsite was worth it for tonight.

The first thing we did was buy a tent for $50 from a guy 40 minutes out of Byron. Out of pure sympathy he decided to give us extra blankets and pillows too.

The others had an afternoon nap in the tent while I decided to do the lighthouse walk! The view was amazing; I wish my phone hadn't been on charge so I could have taken photos.

Later on that night I went out again and socialized with a bunch of Canadians and Australians. Another great night with awesome people. The only downside was that lockout forced us to leave at midnight

Australia day 5

New years! Wooh!

I made a bunch of friends with a bloke from Denmark called Mathias, a new Zealand guy called Tenaki, and a guy from Norway called Bjørn (pronounced 'yaarn' for some reason), and two other British girls.

We all decided to go to the beach for a couple of hours and then see a '7D movie'. 7D was just a small 3D cinema on a platofrn that rocked which sprayed water at you at particular parts of the film... Yeah, I know, that's not 7D.

While we were in the city center we decided to check out the venue for new years. It looked good except we noticed our hostel was illegally selling tickets for $60 when we could buy tickets directly for $40. We all purchased the $40 ticket and hoped that police wouldn't shutdown the hostel or the venue to investigate the illegal markup pricing.

For new years I had plenty of wine (not goon) and a bunch of beers. New years was great. The people were friendly and there was no clubbing! The fireworks sucked and all 400 of us in the venue only caught the last 3 seconds if the countdown. None the less it was a really enjoyable night.

I stumbled into my bed fully dressed at 4am and fell asleep instantly. I was so glad I didn't have the energy to put away my phone or wallet or clean my clothes up from the floor (which were hiding my passports) because I found out the next morning that every room in the hostel had been robbed. Dozens of phones, wallets and bikes which were resting in plain sight had been stolen. Not mine though :)

Australia day 4

After I crawled out of bed and ate my free double breakfast I said my goodbye to my German and American friends. I told them they could crash on my couch any time. Now I just need to find a home that has a couch.

At 10:00am I left to go hitchhiking. I wrote "gold coast" in capitals on my notebook and held it with my left hand while I put my thumb out with my right hand. In literally 60 seconds I had a local stop by the side of the road in a beaten down thing with 4 wheels. He said he could only take me half way there, so after I politely declined he offered me a shot of tequila instead. Literally 5 minutes later I got another offer by a middle aged Italian couple. It turns out that the couple were both neuroscience professors who were doing research on sleep. It was awesome talking to them, they strongly recommended I do a PhD.

I arrived at surfers Paradise without any problems whatsoever - I wasn't even stabbed once. When I arrived at my hostel I met a bunch of Canadians who were a lot of fun. We all went out to drink heavily. Having so much alcohol the day before new years was not smart :+(

Australia day 7

The 4 of us decided to rent a car and travel down to Byron bay! The cost of the car for 5 nights was only $400 - a particularly good deal since we were planning to use it for accommodation and transport.

During the day we decided to look around town. It's got such an amazing hippie vibe here! I love it. People walking around with singlets, no shoes and massive sunburn everywhere. The "falls festival" was also happening so the place was completely packed. I'm a little scared at how easily I managed to fit in.

During the evening I decided to go out drinking and talk to the "locals". Sadly I only managed to find Canadians or Australians from other parts of the east coast. None the less, the relaxing atmosphere was contagious and made talking to people a complete breeze. At this point I can't say I like the people from Byron, but I can say I like the people in Byron.

We had a look at a bunch of campsites and found out that camping was $125 for 4 people! Outraged, we decided to sleep in the car for the night. The Danish bloke had to sleep in the boot of the car; poor guy.

Australia day 6

OK so I'm actually in Sydney at the moment and im trying desperately to remember what happened during my trip along the east coast. Forgive me future Matt for being blunt and using dot points

I woke up and I played my new favorite game, slap cock, with Phil in the pool. It turns out the shuttlecock isn't that durable in water.

During the arvo I went to the beach for a small while with the New Zealander, Danish and Norwegian guys. We got talking about renting a car and camping in Byron Bay.

Later on that night we all went drinking at the hostel and clubbing in the gold coast. Clubbing in Australia was like a cricket bat in the face to me. I remembered why I hated it so much. God I miss Korea