Gday!  Have started to slowly make my way up the east coast of Australia now.  Went up to Byron bay for a music festival called Splendour on the grass-it was great! Highlights were Scissor Sisters I think.  As i went with a group of aussies i got to see some recommended bands that i perhaps would have missed because i’d never heard of them, and i introduced them to the delights of the Zutons and Snow Patrol too!
So the group i went with headed back to Sydney and i checked into the arts factory again, which was like coming home-such a friendly welcoming atmosphere! Got on well with the girls in my dorm and we entered a pub quiz and won!! $100 cash, a bar tab, and 3 different trips-which we split up-so i got the one kayaking with dolphins! Unfortunately the weather was bad most of the week and my trip kept getting cancelled.  I decided to stay a bit longer in byron anyway and there was plenty to do around the arts factory too-had a really relaxing time.  Then when a guy i’d met in the outback had already made his way down the east coast to Byron and met me, I thought maybe i should get a move on and start on my own journey (could have easily stayed in byron for much longer).  So i headed just up a bit to Brisbane, which was a nice and sunny city.  The first night i was there the all blacks were also in town to beat the aussies at rugby union-i stayed right by the stadium! But there wasn’t any trouble, just a lot of silent sulky aussies around!!  Met up with a friend from my home town Lisa and we went up to Mount Coutha and had a nice walk around the lookout and the botantical gardens.
Next stop was a little town called Caloundra, where after just a few minutes of looking round lost i had lots of offers of help and lifts which was a nice welcome, the girl runnning the guesthouse picked me up in the end.  I was basically there in order to go to the famous Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo-crikey! That was great actually-watching the crocodiles getting fed was awesome! There was quite a lot of interactive stuff to do-I got to feed Elephants, stroke koalas and watch/listen to lots of shows and demos.  A good day out.  Went from there to Mooloolaba to see a friend Sally,who i’d met in Melbourne, which was lovely. Then i ended up in Noosa, where i am now.  The weather is so nice and the beach is great, especially considering it’s winter!
Next stop is Hervey Bay for a whale festival, am really excited to see some in the wild.