beautiful byron.... and a catch up

So, yet again, it's been a while. sorry! i've been busy...
The day we left Noosa, it was pouring down rain. a bit of a sad way to leave, but it made it easier to hop on the bus and away from the wonderfulness knowing i couldn't be on the beach. One and a half hours on the grayhound later we found ourselves in Brisbane. Our last stop in Queensland. I'll keep it brief because although we were there 2 nights, we didn't get up to much. It's a cute little city and that day we had some sushi for lunch and took a look around Chinatown and walked into the city a bit (our hostel and chinatown were about a 10 min walk from city centre) and explored. The next day we got up and although it was cloudy it was a nice day to walk down to the river to go to Southbank market. I got a new sarong, as i left mine in noosa-oops! and marcy got the nicest bag. Spent the rest of the day at the mall shopping and having real, perked starbucks coffee. That night we went to a movie - because i said so... perfect for mothers day, which is was at the time.
Our friend the grayhound picked us up at 10:30 the next morning and we were off again... to Surfers Paradise. It does have a beautiful beach and a touristy little centre, but it's not really paradise. too many high rises. but we had ourselves a fun filled 3 days. our first night there there was a social gathering at a place called monkey cage. so had a few drinks and got to know some people from the hostel. the next day i spent at the beach and poking around shops.... and got a bit burnt! whoops. pretty much the first time in ages and only the 2nd or 3rd time since i've been away. it's because i fell asleep... and it was only on one side. funny. that night was low key and we had $5 all you can eat pizza and a dive in movie at the hostel. when they say all you can eat they really mean it. there were 60 people and 60 pizzas from dominos. i felt a bit ill, but really feel as though i got my moneys worth. we even scored 2 full veg pizzas since no one was eating them. yes, it means we ate a ton of pizza this past while. but a great way to save on food expenses. just hung out in our room with the roomies and chatted and watched tv.
one of the girls (oooooooooooooh, this is a long story. i might skip it. or cut it down. yes, i'll cut it down) who was a bit... of a debbie downer got her wallet "stolen" from our room. mind you, everyone else was actually in the room the same time as her and for the most part sleeping, so we're sure she left it down at pizza the night before. anyway, she had $1000 withdrawn from her account and blamed marcy and i to our faces. bit of a piss off, but what can you do.
that day was filled with more beach and poking around and finished off with a pub crawl. great bars, great night. so much fun.
thankfully, the bus to byron bay was only 1.5 hours. we're staying at the arts factory. i can't even begin to describe how funky it is there. for example, we stayed our first 3 nights in the pentagon, which is a big tent type thing outside with the bunks made of trees. hard to describe it accurately. there's tee pees to stay in, normal dorms, little huts on a boardwalk in the lake, and campsites. it's just glorious. it's a popular hippie destination. they have a cinema that has pink and black cow print faux fur lounge couches in it. i saw blood diamond in it. the most comfy movie i've ever experienced. it was sooo fun! Amy, who was in our room in surfers, just got placed in the pentagon too and made friends with the other girls in there - so we did too. we've spent our time hanging around with them: going out dancing, going out for amy's good-bye dinner, drinking lots of tea and eating lots of tim tams (sucking the tea thru the timtams. AMAZING). the weather has been off and on sunny/rain and the last 2 nights have been absolutely freezing!!! for example, my 2nd night in the pentagon i wore: yoga pants, fishie pants, socks, tshirt, light zippie sweater, hoodie, scarf, wool touque and had my blanket doubled over. i still was bit chilly. we're in an inside dorm now, but still quite chilly. i was definitely cold last night. i think it's a sign to head home soon. which, is actually the case. just a few things left: michelle who we met in cairns is coming here for 3 or 4 days (YAY!!), we head to newy to visit our friends there on the 1st, and then a few odds and ends left to do in sydney... and we're back in NA!!
oh, random. we're staying in a dorm room with lisa mccolskey's cousin hannah nette. how crazy is that! we went out for a beer with her last night. she's so sweet (no surprise, being lisa's family and all) and it was great to have so much common ground with someone you meet traveling. such a small world!
so.... we're staying at the arts factory (check it out!!! http://www.artsfactory.com.au/) the whole time we're here. will try to update at least once more before we head back to canada. miss you and love you all! can't wait to see you soon!!!! xoxo