First stop this time was Forster-Tuncurry, where we stayed at a youth hostel. It was pretty clean, and it was a lovely evening. Al had been driving all day (bless 'im), and we got some take-away for dinner from a fried chicken shop. I kept forgetting that barbecue chicken in Australia means exactly that. There's no barbecue sauce, it's just chicken. Hmph. Anyway, the chicken was horrible from this place, and the spot next to the beach where we decided to eat was infested with ants, so we ate in the car.

Next stop was Port Macquarie, where we stayed in a Formule 1. What a great idea - stick your card in a machine, keys drop out, tiny room with bed, tv, and en-suite bathroom, and of course - cheaper than dirt! We went to the cinema, but we were too late, so we just went to Red Rooster (the fast food chicken chain that we hadn't tried - we'd been to lovely KFC in Sydney already (blush)). This was where I cunningly left our bag stuffed with mobile phones, passports, wallets, plane tickets, everything that could be considered valuable really... oops. Luckily, I noticed driving back to Formule 1, and we got back. Turns out the staff had confiscated it from some kids (double oops). Lucky lucky lucky...

Next stop was Coff's Harbour, where we were going to do some diving. We spent the evening of our arrival at Coff's RSL, where I saw the pokies phenomenon; loads of little old dears hitting the slot machines. Very strange. The next day, we presented ourselves in the dive shop to be told that the sea was pretty rough; before too long though, the guy decided it was calm enough after all, and we all got ready. It was really cold outside, and I was thanking god for neoprene while we sailed out into the bay on a tiny boat (which was making me feel quite ill). Once in the water, it was perishing, but Al and I followed the plan, but didn't see anyone else. We probably spent 20-30 minutes under, and came up to find that everyone else had decided against it after we'd gone down, and had been waiting for us in the boat! Still, we went on a bit farther, and I managed to heave up the tiny cereal bar I'd had for breakfast, and lots more of something (from somewhere). This time I sat in the boat, clutching my stomach, while the others dived. All in all, I was pretty relieved to get back onto dry land, and be zipping back up the coast.

After Coff's, we stopped at a lovely little hotel in the suburbs of Byron Bay, the town where Al had worked at a dive shop. We stayed for a few days, hoping to go diving in the places Al remembered so fondly, but unfortunately, the sea was just too spectacular to venture into. So we took a short daytrip to Ballina (nothing much there I recall), wandered round Byron, went out for dinner with Al's old colleagues, Robbie and Wendy, and sent lots of emails! We had some great food in Byron, both pizza and thai. Mmm.

I can't remember if Surfer's Paradise is just inside Queensland or just outside. We stopped there next. We decided to go decadent and stay at the Seaworld Nara resort, outside the city. That night was the first time we'd been in search of a gay bar since Sydney, and I don't think we were bowled over by it! Oh well. Seaworld the next day was cool. Saw some polar bears, performing dolphins, all sorts of fish, and a tank full of different sorts of shark, which we even paid extra to get into. Yes, you read correctly. We paid for the opportunity to get into wetsuits, and clamber into this huge tank, and see several different types of shark and ray, and even touch some. Those nurse sharks scared the bejesus out of me, but it was definitely worth the experience. Although we didn't half stink when we climbed out. Ew.

The last part of our tour was Brisbane itself. We arrived in the late afternoon, and we turned down the offer of staying in a place in "the village" in favour of somewhere we'd chosen ourselves. It turned out, of course, that "the village" was the gay mecca of Brisbane, and we had a fair old journey getting there. Still, we got to nip into the casino on the way, which was kinda fun. The first place we went to in the village was this pub (whose name I forget), where a cabaret started. Now Al's not usually a big fan of drag queens (and I'm not either, to a lesser extent), but they were great that night. They did the Destiny's Child song, Independent Women, and I laughed my head off! God, it was funny. We had a look into one other place too, called Heaven. Not a patch on the London original (quelle surprise).

On our last day, we went to an out-of-town shopping centre and bought a few bits and pieces before going to the airport to fly back to Sydney; all too soon we arrived, changed terminal, and were on our plane back to London. I know the actual day was long and dull, but it was seems disappointingly quick when you leave a place. Australia was probably the best holiday of my life. Al and I had a great time, and it left me wanting more. It took two years for me to get my act together and plan a return, but a year in Aus will be quite something. :o)