So, before the BBQ I decided the move would be to pick up beers. I was going to made for a walk,w ith my toe feeling less ominous, but on my way out saw the shuttle driver about to leave. I asked him for a ride, and he both dropped me off and picked me up from the bottle-o. This place is amazing [amazingness #2 for the day, with the first bit beign the free extra blanket [should be $1] i was able to get].
Holy shit is beer expensive here. Goon is the way to be, but I got some Carlsbergs and with it to my surprise came a free glass [amazingness #3] - sidenote, ended up leaving it with the lady at reception before I left as a thank you and as a I-cant-carry-this-around-for-months.
I got back, scoped the picnic table area for the friends that I would have for the night, and found a table with really interesting looking people [black chick with the coolest hairstyle ever, bearded hippie looking dude, other nice folk] and sat down. They were all french, and all really cool. Before I knew it the table grew to be 8 french people and me, with an age difference spanning from 5-11 years my senior. They spoke english really well [when they weren't speaking french] and one guy made it his mission to teach me how to open a bottle using a lighter [mild success rate]. the BBQ dinner was way better than the night before, and there was a guitar player from new zealand playing right near by. He was really good and my table-mates were having a great time singing and dancing with him, as well as randomly breaking out into song on their own.
I was iffy about going out, being so tired, pained, and at this point, without a phone [lost it]. Also, it was on and off raining which sucked. I was going to retreat back to my bedroom, which by this point was completely empty [just me, 3 empty spots], but then amazingness #4, some chick found my phone. the rain stopped. my desire to go out escalated. and out. We went to the 'cheeky monkey' where drinks were expensive and the dfloor was a bunch of metal tables that people were dancing on. One of the guys stole a bike from the hostel and rode it there. Since this weekend was Schoolies weekend [end of semester for high school kids, so they all go out and take over clubs and shit] the club was filled with youngins, but mostly fun. I went back after a bit to see that I now had roommates. Three girls from brazil, who were all hilarious, and all getting drunk and getting ready to go out when I just got back. It was 2 am when they finally left, and they came back at 6:30 [apparently this is their usual].
At 10:20 the next morning I was waiting outside of our hostel to get picked up for my trip to Nimbin. So, Nimbin was a place that I had only recently heard about, and basically the reason I made a stop in Byron Bay.
Nimbin is a town [and by town I mean tiny street that you could get through in like 5 minutes] that thrives off of its sale of pancakes, and pancake related desserts. All the stores suggest this theme, and the tour bus I took there was filled with 34 other excited people to get to Nimbin. Our tour guide was a hilarious south african who was telling us all about the place and kept the bus blasting amazing tunes the whole way. We stopped at a pub on the way to pick up beers for the ride [not me. bleh beer breakfasts] and then made it to nimbin for a few hours to walk around and consume pancakes. Everywhere you went there were people offering to sell them, and similar creative products related to pancakes. It was so weird! After everyone was done shopping around, going to the funky museum, checking out the art gallery, and enjoying their various forms of pancakes [the cookie ones were most popular [but we were warned with stories why we should only half about a half of acookie. they're really rich] ], we were off. I was tryign to buy a frienship bracelet at a shop, and after picking out a really simple leather one, the shop owner told me that that wasn't one of the bracelets-- it was something that came on the structure that held all of them, and i could just have it. I also tried jicataba [i have aboslutely no idea what they were called... and I can't be bothered looking it up right now] berries, which are some brazilian thing and they were delicious. I ate like half a kilo of them.
Once everyone was done the bus driver took us on a really long scenic drive through beautiful plains and trees, before stopping at anothe rpub for us to get drinks before going for the bbq. Everyone was so full of pancakes so barely anyone got drinks. We were all starving though by the time we got to the park where the bbq was going to be. The driver made us all a great barbeque feast and we soaked in the sunshine that was so unexpected by the forecast. After we did a rainforest drive [nuts] and then stopped at a waterfall for a little [pretty dry but whatever]. Generally this tour goes for a swim, but with the shitty expected weather, we didn't go.
When I got back I napped for a bit and then went into town for dinner. I got great food at some vegetarian place as I watched the craziest swarms of beetles begin out by a streetlight outside. Like, looked like a plague kinda formation. Terrifying to run through, but I made it home again where I saw that this beetle infestation was somewhat of a trend, with each light being filled with them.
I then found my french friends from yesterday and hung around there for a while before actually going to bed, with an early wake up and busride to the airport with my next destination : sydney!
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