Today I woke up very excited - we had a surf lesson in the morning. But first a nice group brekkie. Since it was April Fools Day I asked the waitress of she could inflate the bill. She added a $150 group charge and a $70 booking fee. Some of the group actually believed it and even after we told them it was a joke one of them asked us if the $150 was for each table or to be split between the 2.

Then off to our surfing lesson at Lennox beach . What fun…but HARD work. There is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Surfers assess the water situation, the waves, the currents and have to be really fit. I managed to get up (with help) for about 3 seconds. Vic also managed a quick ride. The outfit that gave us the lesson was great. They went out of their way to make sure everyone got up. I think all but 1 person managed it. Quite the feat since there are a few old folks in our group (me included) but what we lack in technique we make up for with determination. Mind you there were some casualties - bruises, hurt toes, bloodshot eyes but we all survived and had great memories and stories we can share. We had a nice swim in a nearby lake afterwards that supposedly has healing properties due to the tea trees around it. The water did not look very inviting. It was dark brown but it was lovely. Maybe that swim took away all our aches from surfing?!

Then we had a free afternoon so Vic & I had a really nice lunch. The restaurant overlooked the main street so we watched all the action while dining - cool wheels, skateboarders, crazy funky people, hippies - such a chill vibe. We ordered oysters, crab tacos, and an heirloom tomato watermelon salad. Then we went for a walk to see the lighthouse. Cait said it was a nice walk with a few steps. We walked the beach then found a path that took us to some awesome lookouts and Australia's most easterly point - Cape Byron . Fun fact - Cape Spear in Newfoundland is North America's most easterly point. Hmmm....I wonder which point is more easterly? There's a question for you! There were what seemed like a thousand stairs. I'm not sure if Cait (God love her) was pulling our legs about the number of stairs or if she just forget how many there actually were. It was as much work as climbing Machu Pichu!! Well, almost as hard. We walked at least 6 - 8 km's with at least 1/2 of it uphill and it must have been at least 30 degrees. I was swimming in my own sweat by the end of it. Despite this, I could live here. I love the beach atmosphere and all the beautiful people - both men and women. The town is quaint, clean and friendly. I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised by how friendly everyone is despite the diversity. All the hippy camper vans we saw brought back fond memories. I went out with a guy who had one of them and we had a lot of fun cruising around in it.

The it was off for a group dinner (only 8 of us showed up) and then to the Cheeky Monkey for some more dancing on the tables . It was paint night. If you had your body painted you got cheaper drinks supposedly. Nikki and Francie went off to get painted, which cost $5 but found out afterwards that the cheap drinks was just talk. The painters and bar tender (women) had no tops on - just paint!! Nikki and Francie did keep their tops on however. No wonder Vic spent so much money on drinks!! He actually asked the bar tender if he could take a picture which she agreed to. She didn't let anyone else take one that we know of. He's making quite the impression with the ladies here! We have met so many people from all over the world. My impression of the human race has improved immensely since being here. Near the end of the night (only 1:00 am this time) a bouncer came up to me and said one of our group was ejected from the bar. Of course it was a crazy Cannuck, Doug, so we all went out to support him. We were gathering to leave anyhow. I don't know why he was kicked out. I think it was a misunderstanding because he seemed totally fine. I did have a small issue with my gal pal, Cait, who took me to the tables to dance and then left me there! And then she left the bar to boot without saying ciao. She's going to have to work hard to make it up to me! I have to say though - she is amazing (but don't tell her I said so).

A good day and night was had by all. Did I mention that I love it here?