October 30

You'll know you're in Byron Bay when...
-you can change from your work clothes to your party clothes in the middle of downtown and no one notices (Linds?)
-you spend your days at work listening to old men philosophise life and argue with each other, which inevitably leads to them getting into a huge fight and one of them leaving & yelling back at the rest while riding his bike down the street.
-walking down the street & into stores without wearing shoes is perfectly acceptable.. even more normal than actually wearing shoes.
-it's so chill that when ordering a coffee, always allow at least 20 minutes before even expecting it to be ready
-when you're late for work because you've just spent the last 20 munites waiting for a Mocha Latte, no one at work really cares.

Lindsay & I have had to make some really serious decisions lately. When to go to the beach.. when wo take a nap.. how much tan is too much.. how many new things can we eventually fit into our suitcases. It's a tough life

We've been spending heaps of time at the beach. Actually, today we found a new & very private beach (no nudes either). It's SO close to our house, just a short walk through a conservation area. It's stunning. There are SO many teeny (the size of a quarter) crabs poking around. We saw one getting attacked by a sea-gull, it's pinchers waving in the air as if it were scary. There are bright blue ones, and spotted brown ones and almost see through yellow ones. I love them, they're so angry and cute!! haha
Tomorrow's Hallowe'en & I don't think anyone here realizes it. No decorations, no costumes. I've seen pictures of Hallowe'en parties back home, I miss it.

October 23

**the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen. At the most Easternly point in Australia**
Yesterday, Lindsay & I met up with one of our friends that we met last week. He's from Ottawa and actually, after talking with him for a bit, Lindsay realized that they were both on the same flight from Vancouver to Honalulu on their way over here!! crazy small world! We went to the beach and had a BLAST in the ocean. The waves were so strong, I swallowed so much water, haha. We met up with him and a bunch of his friends later that night to go out to the bar. It was a great night & at about 2am, eleven of us put on our running shoes and started on a long hike up to the lighthouse. We walked along the beach for a while. It's such a different feeling at night with no lights around anywhere. The stars were gorgeous, the sound of the waves so calming. Lindsay & I have done the walk up to the lighthouse before... in the daylight. It's a secluded path along the shore & up SO many steps. There aren't any lights showing us where to go, so we had about three small flashlights with us. I think the whole walk took about an hour and a half, but I'm not exactly sure, we didn't bring watches. We were pretty lucky not to run into any scary wilderness beasts, but looking back on it there were probably hundereds of creepy crawlers, we just kept our eyes on what we could see of the path. After the long climb, we made our way to a sidewalk area where we would be able to see the sunrise... in a few hours. It was SO cold up there. Windy! Eventually, we all huddled down on the cement pad. Everyone was snug up tight to stay warm. One big Spoon. I have no idea how long we all laid there, but I'm positive I didn't sleep at all. When it started to get light, a few of us got up, but when we realized we still had a while to go, we laid back down to keep warm. Eventually, the sun did come up & it was phenomenal! SO worth it! I took tones of amazing pictures. The new sun glistening off of the water, the fresh morning air, the complete peacefull feeling. Gorgeous. We stood just staring forever. It finally started to get warmer. We eventually took the long walk back to town (which seemed 6 times as far in the daylight) & back to our bikes to get home at about 6:30am. Poor Lindsay had to work today at 9:30. She's hating it right now, but she wouldn't trade that night for the world!

October 20

**This is me in the rainforest with an orange tree!!**
Yesterday, Lindsay and I went on a bus trip to a place called 'Nimbin'. Nimbin's a very hippie town with lots of craft shops and hand made stuff. I swear by the end of it if one more person asked us if we wanted marijuana or cookies, I was going to scream! We didn't spend much time in town, it was about a 2 hour bus ride and after Nimbin, the bus driver took us to an old hippie's house who lives 'self sufficiently'. It was all pretty neat, he grows all of his own food, but he was obviously very crazy. When we arrived at his house he went on a rant about the colour of sound and how light is like a dream.... blah, blah blah I have no idea. We were both cracking up at the whole thing, too funny. We got to walk through the rain forest and take a drive all the way up to the top of a ridge with beautiful scenery below. We also drove out to a waterfall (only a trickle of water) where there was a platform that we could walk out to and look all the way down it. It was fantastic seeing the rain forest from above. The landscape here is so different from home because there are HUGE hills everywhere, so when I look out across them, I can see for Miles, just rolling green! beautiful!
Last night we went out to the Beachy again. There was live music again, but not really the type to dance to. We ended up meeting a couple of guys from the AFT footie team. (Australian Rules Football?? whatever that means) Somehow randomly throughout the night we ended up meeting the whole team! It was such a fun night! We were leaving the bar with one of the guys 'Ed' & as we were leaving, there is a long banister going down about 20 steps out to the street. Ed decided it would be a good idea to slide down the banister. Bouncer: "don't do that". Ed proceded to almost get to the bottom, fall backwards onto the steps, get up, trip over the 'velvet' rope, knock over the ropes and a sign onto the sidewalk and finally fall over again. Bouncer: "Dick head". HAHA we couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the night!
I'm working at Lalo again today, but instead of reading my book all day, I'm helping to set up the shop after renovations. Hopefully it will make the day go by faster!

October 15

We spent a fabulous day at the beach today. We were sunbathing... napping when we heard a police car drive up the beach. They were talking to people and finally drove up to talk to us. them: "Don't go in the water!" me: "why" them: "shark attack!". uh... haha wow, that's crazy isn't it? There were helicopters flying around for the rest of the day and there were TV news people there as well. Actually, it happened right where we were sitting!!
We went out to a pier to watch to see if we could see anything. We only saw some turtles and whales. We met a couple of people and started talking to them about the sharks. One of them was Canadian and just came from Ottawa! Small world! We're going to have a drink with them tonight. Yay, new friends!...
The night was SO fun! We had heard before we went that we could buy a bottle of wine at the bottle shop and bring it into the bar, we would just have to pay a small fee. So we bought some cheap wine and they told us we couldn't drink it in there! So, we sat on the curb and drank it with the paper bag still on it, hahaha. We ended up meeting our friends out there and going to a place called 'Balcony'. It was a TON of fun!!

October 12

I'm in between jobs right now. I worked this morning at 6am making coffee at a little place called 'hole in the wall'. And it really is a hole in the wall.. very small but they do a lot of business. I thought I was doing great, but when I asked my manager, Rafer, how I did he told me that he had to remake 2 Cappucino's. Oops. Oh well, I don't think I can keep that job anyways, it's SO early! I have to work again tomorow at 6am and then Lalo at 10:00am. Just like today, I'll go back into town to work until 5. We were planning on going out tonight, but we may have to postpone it until tomorrow. We'll see if I crash after today!
Lindsay went to a yoga class last night. She said it was really great and it was so quiet that she could hear the waves on the beach. Sounds nice. I dared her to eat a spider last night. (it was only a baby) She ate it. We had a discussion today on whether or not that goes against her vegatarian diet. hahaha, what do you think??
I'm off to work. There's nothing fantastically new to report, we're both working today and tomorrow, but it just keeps getting WARMER!! Yay! no winter!

October 10

We're getting into a great grove here. We have lots of work and lots of time off and our living arrangement is wonderful and we're getting to know the town pretty well. On Saturday night, we went out to the bar with Kylie (one of our flatmates) and had a great time! We're getting to know her and Aaron (other flatmate) pretty well and it's nice to have some Australian friends.
We've been working a lot at the resort cleaning rooms, but we always get off at about 2:00pm and have heaps of time to hang about. Today's my only day off this week and for the next 3 days I'll be at Lalo reading my book & colouring pictures. I went in for my interview at the coffee place and I'm going in again on Friday morning at 6am to start working & see if I want to stay.
I lost my black sweater with the big blue heart on the front. I accidentally dyed my white shorts pink in the washing machine. I have a big hole in my shoulder-bag. Other than my sandals, I haven't done ANY shopping yet and it's killing me. I think it's about time, since now I'll have that extra space in my suitcase! I can probably fit 8 or 9 new things. hahaha ya right, I can dream can't I??
It's been storming the last couple of days here. The storms are pretty powerful! A big downside of bad weather is that our cell-phones don't work. SO, in case you've been trying to call either me or Lindsay... that's why it goes straight to the answering machine. Leave us messages, otherwise we don't know who is out there caring about us. We'll try to get back to you as soon as the weather clears up!

October 8!!

**This is from our walk up to the lighthouse**
things I've learned by being in Australia so far:
1. Bugs no longer matter. & there will ALWAYS be one crawling on you. (and there's no use trying to get rid of it, another one will just replace it.) I've become more accepting of the little buggers.
2. I really REALLY like the Canadian accent and didn't appreciate it until now.
3. Australians actually HAVE to vote. Or they get fined. Isn't that weird?
4. People don't think twice about painting weird things on their cars. Actually, usually it's not their cars, it's their VW vans.
5. The birds here are the loudest things EVER! & they sound like children playing and yelling at each other. They're up at 4am and seriously, you probably don't believe me but it's unbelievably loud.
6. Getting a job is too easy. & as Lindsay says "do you think an honours degree in criminology makes me overqualified for cleaning hotel rooms?"
7. Sharing a room with your best friend is absolute heaven compared to sharing with eight strangers.
8. I don't know why people live in Canada when the weather in Australia is so amazing. (how about my family/friends moving here instead of me coming back?)
9. Even though I just said that, I do really miss Canada and all the things that I'm used to in day-to-day life.
10. Sometimes it feels like I'm just around the corder from London after I talk to everyone at home on the phone or webcam. What a small world! It's just too bad I can't be home just to celebrate things like Birthdays or holidays.
Happy Thanksgiving! We don't have it here and all I really want is a left-over turkey sandwich.

October 6

Our Jobs! Lalo is super boring. I spend the day reading... drawing pictures.. talking on the phone & Lindsay comes to visit me when she's done work. Pretty much no one buys anything and I can leave during the day if I want as long as I lock the door & am not gone too long. Crazy I get paid for it, but it get's pretty boring. I was walking down the street yesterday and noticed a sign in the window looking for a barista at a coffee place. I went and asked when the best time would be to bring in a resume and the guy took me in straight away for a trial. I made him an espresso and a late and once he tried it he said it was the best he's had of all the people that have come in. He gave me a high-five (seriously) and told me he'd probably call me Monday (fingers crossed). Lalo is great because I do nothing, but it's just so boring and I don't meet ANYONE! We need more friends. Lindsay's been working her butt off at Citrus. I think she likes it (mostly because they give her a free lunch & lots of Turkish Delight). Her boss got her a 2nd job at the Lord Byron Resort cleaning rooms. I went and talked to the main woman there and I'm going in tomorrow for a trial run. I'm sure I'm going to have to get rid of one of these jobs eventually, but I want to see which one pays well and has enough hours before I quit anywhere.
We went to The Beachy last night for a night out & it's much nicer than any of the bars we've been to yet. A much more mature crowd (as in our age and not all 18 year olds). We're going there again tonight to enjoy some live music! Very exciting. & we're making lots of money. Can you believe the Room cleaning job pays $23 an hour? I wonder what the really GOOD jobs pay!

October 3

**I didn't take this picture because I don't have an underwater camera, but this is my favourite of the fish we saw today**
We got up Super early and went snorkelling!! It was SO fantastic.. I'll save the best story for last. The wet suits made us both look so pretty, I almost asked if I could keep mine (haha, ew). I've never snorkelled before and it took me longer than I would have liked to get comfotable breathing under water. I kept getting mini panic attacks every time I put my face under and took a breath. Lindsay coached me a bit, and then I was fine. All of the ocean life was incredible! SO many neon coloured fish swimming around right under us! They were eating random things off the rocks and swimming around in big schools. It was all just like you see on a nature show but in real LIFE!! We also saw a massive turtle right ahead of us. I was scared of it at first, but our guide said it wouldn't hurt us. It was the size of a coffee table! We got pretty cold and (typical Amy) I got SO seasick by the end of it and couldn't wait to be back on land. But the COOLEST (& I mean the best thing I've ever seen in my whole life) happened on our way out on the boat. It was about a 10 minute boat ride on a small raft-type boat. Along the way, we spotted some whales in the distance so we steered closer to them and shut off the motor. We watched for about 10 minutes (they were inthe distance, but closer than Lindsay & I saw on Monday). All of a sudden, they all started swimming in our direction!! There were about five of them and were getting closer and closer. Coming up with their heads and bodies above the water and splashing their tails and fins. They were seriously bigger than a school bus & they all came up right beside our boat, swam down (under the boat) and back up again on the other side. INCREDIBLE!!!!! I couldn't have imagined anything better. I didn't realize they were SO big!! their faces looked like dinosaurs. It was breathtaking & I'll never forget that moment for the rest of my life! wow

October 2

**No pictures to post. It would be inappropriate :) **
I decided I needed more pairs of shorts rather than jeans, so I cut my skinny jeans into shorts. They're so cute, I look just like Daisy Duke, haha. Lindsay and I ventured off on our bikes to a beach that was farther away from than our regular one just to spice things up a bit. To our surprise, the beach was for naked people, and not being naked ourselves, I feel we stuck out quite a bit. I was fine with trying not to look in the direction of anything but I think it was a little too much for me when a random old naked fat guy said "how ya goin' ladies" oooooooh gross. We found a secluded spot and enjoyed the day & as time went on more and more people showed up wearing clothing so we felt a little better. The weather was perfect. The bike home was great & we signed up for snorkeling tomorrow at 7:45 am, so we're going to have to go to bed early tonight!

October 1

**The top picture is where we walked out to the rocks and watched the wales. The bottom picture is of us & our brand new top-of-the-line bikes**
Yesterday was a typical day at the beach. Today was a great day! We decided to make the trek up to the lighthouse. On our way there, we stopped at the second hand store and bought a couple of bikes. Lindsay's worried that her bike is made for a child and mine is very large and ugly. Neither one of the bikes have working brakes. But they're fantastic!! Getting home only takes about 5 minutes now & in the heat it's not too bad at all. We took the bikes part of the way to the lighthouse and walked the rest of the way because it was mostly stairs. The whole trek took about 3 hours & SO many stairs. The way up was tough, but once we got there it was all worth it. We were at the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. Once we got to the top, we noticed a large school of fish down the cliff, by the shore. They all started swimming away and soon we noticed why.. The dolphins!! There were SO many of them! We watched them catch the fish & eat them. We got pretty comfortable in our spot by the path and sat forever watching the dolphins and the waves against the rocks. It was so nice and quiet up there until I heard some rustling from behind us. I looked back to see scaly skin and (what I thought) was a snake head! I think my heart stopped beating. We were getting out of its way when as it was coming out of the bushes we saw that it was a huge iguana. It waddled out and across the path and down the hill. We tried to get a picture, but were too late. After that big adventure, we walked around the lighthouse, ate our picnic lunch and started walking back down. We walked out onto a small peninsula to get closer to the water. We sat out watching the water and saw a turtle!! We then ventured out off of the beaten path to the rocks. I was climbing out to the edge and almost tripped over a little blue crab. It scared me but it was cute. We sat out on the edge of the rocks by the water for a while, getting wet from the mist of the waves and watching for more dolphins. Off in the distance, we could see water splashing up from the blowholes of whales. We waited a bit and finally they came quite close to where we were. They flipped their tails in to the air and dove under the water a bunch of times. It was great! I've never seen whales or dolphins (in the wild) before. What a fantastic day!! Walking back to our bikes was a little easier and biking back home was great (minus the brake situation). We watched Australian Idol tonight & our favourite guy got kicked off already. I think it's going to be our new favourite show.