Surf, sun, sea and sex...

Okay so something a bit different. We're in the hugely popular, touristy, sensual, call-it-what-you-like Surfer's Paradise.

Surfer's is now (at the time of writing) Australia's 5th biggest city, which is saying something for an area that was a town a decade ago. It's also seen as the sexiest and sassiest of Australia's cities, and lies at the heart of Australia's adequately labelled "Gold Coast" which stretches from the party town of Byron Bay, up north past Brisbane.

Surfer's is quickly becoming the destination to be for holiday tourists in Australia, with companies setting up all over, and apartments going up all over the city.

It's subjected from the east by endless miles of golden beaches, that stretch literally as far as the eye can see, and beyond. Should be an interesting experience...

A molotiv cocktail of sunburn and goon...

Goon is the Australian slang for cheap wine, that is bought by the box, and is consumed generally in tumblers.

Sunburn is the Australian word for "You okay mate? You're looking a little red there".

Both instil little confidence in me. I spent the day cycling from Bellingen to Coff's Harbour, where I've got some friends here in the hostel. The journey is around 28 kilometres, so as you can expect, not as simple forward especially on hilly terrain.

Took me a couple of hours, but I got here around midday, which wasn't a bad effort. Chris and Kyle are my Canadian friends from Vancouver Island (BC), who I met in Newcastle and have kinda been exchanging phonecalls and rides with along the way.

After settling down in the swimming pool here at Coff's, which has the best butcher's known to the existance of man, we started on the goon and the Canadian Club. $8 (exchange rate is roughly $2.5: £1) generally gets you around 3 litres of the fine red stuff. We don't ask about the white because the best use of it thus far has been getting the bloodied stains out of my clothes - it really is vinegar.

Anyway, it's 8 hours later now - it's gone two in the morning, and some how I'm sobered up slightly, but am in agony with the sunburn, which somebody very kindly applied salted water to in a game of "truth or dare" about four hours ago.

Peace out...

More laid back than a laid back man...lying down

Bellingen. I think it's what most of us dream about.

Picture yourself lying in a hammock, amongst lush green vegetation, contemplating whether you should take a ride down the river in the rubber tube, before of after this afternoon's barbeque; of which there will be a dozen or so young people like yourself cooking up some fantastic food and enjoying good company.

That's Bellingen in a nutshell. It's only 40 minutes west from the coastline, but you wouldn't guess it. Quite isolated (not completely however, there is one bus a day to and from this area), yet you would never forget this place as long as you lived.

I'm working here for a couple of weeks. Myself and a german friend Sebastien have taken over the day-to-day running of the place, and are getting accomodation plus $100 a week, which is liveable on. The owner's were looking for a couple to run the place, but me and Bast persuaded them otherwise! (No funny comments please...)

Greg is the tour guide around this place, because about 10 minutes up the road is Dorrigo National Park, which is a world conservation area, and one of Australia's most diverse rainforests.

Went on a tour there yesterday, and what a fantastic experience. Saw some Guana's, and various other creatures. Swam under the waterfalls, and ate lunch on a skywalk, 200 metres above the forest itself.

Tonight we're having an acoustic night, and I'm due to participate in the singing. Should be fun...

Au revoire Newcastle

This is my last couple of days in Newcastle. I've loved the place, but it's time to move on now. There's only so much singing, playing pool, guzzling beer, and using the Welsh accent to woo pretty Australian ladies that you can do in one place, but it's been great.

They're throwing me a leaving party tonight, which is very kind of them. I'm told there won't be any strippers involved however I should apparently eat lots of food today because tonight's going to be relentless on the alcohol front (And we all know I'm not a big drinker).

Newcastle is such a chilled out place, the music here is out of this world. Listen out for Wolfmother and The Living End, they could be big over the UK soon. On top of that, I don't think I've ever worked for such a relaxed group of people at the hostel; I'll be sure to visit again when I go back there in future years.

See you in the funny pages...