'Overrated' would be one word to describe Byron Bay. 'Shabby hole of a town' would be some others. There's not much here and it's full of pretentious people trying to be 'alternative' by wearing stupid hats and not washing. No. Frankly, I was not impressed and I wished I hadn't heeded the advice of those who had told me it was definitely worth stopping here for a week. If I could go back and travel down the East Coast again, I would have stayed in Mission Beach or the Town of 1770 or more nights in Hervey Bay or Brisbane. I was offered free diving for three days in exchange for helping out on a boat in Townsville and I would have done that instead of rushing down to get here. Shoulda woulda coulda... I can't change it now, but I won't be in a hurry to return to Byron, that's for sure.

I arranged for a van to pick me up from the bus stop and it didn't turn up, so I ended up staying in a twelve bed dorm in a hugely overpriced hostel that charged a deposit for blankets. I heated myself a tin of soup and found a cockroach had dropped into it - they were crawling over the counters, walls and floors.

The next morning, I walked along the beautiful long sandy beach up through the headland to Watego's Beach, where you could see loads of dolphins in the surf, and up to the lighthouse and the most easterly point of mainland Australia. It teemed with rain intermittently, and after wandering around the town with Travis, who I'd met on the bus, we decided to go to the cinema. We had a good night out afterwards, but no thanks to Byron.

I had been recommended diving at Julien Rocks by several people, as it stands at a point where warm currents meet cold ones and there is a profusion of marine life. When I enquired, I was told that visibility was so poor due to recent heavy rain and flooding that they weren't sending boats out. Eventually, visibility improved somewhat and I went out on an inflatable boat launched from the shore. We drove through the waves and surfers to the rocks 3 km out, and rolled off the boat. I was surprised - and unnerved - by just how little you could see and how green and murky the water was, but once under, it was easier to spot things, although visibility was around 3 - 4 metres. We saw a huge friendly blue grouper, lots of sea urchins and wobbegongs or 'carpet sharks,' which are large camouflaged nocturnal sharks resting on the bottom. The water temperature was 19 degrees but it didn't feel too cold.

Another overnight bus ride tonight - joy! - this time to Forster, just north of Newcastle...