Noosa to Byron Bay

Noosa is a very cute small beach town, full of nice shops, very nice resteraunts and a few fun places to drink and dance! So that we did, we shopped, we went to the beach, we ate we drank and we danced! But be warned-no flip flops in the club-that caused me a very steep walk back to the hostel and back again (although they did give me money off entry for my valiant effort!)

Two days later we boarded another greyhound bound for Byron Bay! We stopped at Brisbane, only to change buses, although it didnt look like a particularly exciting city (apologies to anyone who lives there or is in any way emotionally attached to the place). Byron however is amazing! We knew instantly we woul dlove it, full of great shops and cafes and very alternative...shoes are not compulsory and neither is a hair brush. We stayed at a hostel called arts factory, originally famous for being a hot spot for travelling musicians. Rooms ranged from normal to buses to teepees and the place was covered in muriels and laden with hammocks. You could stay in arts factory for a week and not leave the vicinity and be quite content. In the morning Iguanas the size of my cat (whos name is treacle btw) would roam freely in the gardens and people would wear off their goon hangovers in the hammoks under the sun. Of course we wandered the shops, as we do, and made time to read on the beach-you can never visit enough beaches.

No visit to Byron Bay is complete, according to our good friend Liz, without a trip to Nimbin. Nimbin as about as alternative as it comes, which I guess is the inspiration behind Jim's tour being called- jims alternative tours. So having been picked up by jim himself we were taken to Nimbin to experience such a lifestyle. The afternoon was spent speeding through rainforests and listening to great music! We loved Jim.

We spent a few more days enjoying the relaxation haven of Arts Factory and Byron, along with goon and what appeared to be a travelling band as people wold constantly whip out guitars and trumpets and serenade us. Chilled out to the point of being horizontal it was soon time to face reality as it was time to head south to the big bad world of Sydney.