There's no place like Oz

G'day, mates...and all those other Australian cliches...from Byron Bay, Australia!  I'm not sure how far geographically north Byron Bay is from Sydney; I can tell you that it is precisely three nights in a camper van north.  What a ride!

I arrived in Sydney last Sunday and showed up on the doorstep of Evan and Andy, two of my oldest friends from my elementary school days who moved out to Australia five months back - lived in Sydney - lived in Melbourne - and are now traveling up the east coast of Australia, where I've joined them for a bit.  While awaiting the arrival of Eli, another old old old friend, we explored Sydney anew (Andy and Evan hadn't been back since their two months of living in Melbourne).  Highlights included a 6am (my jetlag; Andy's inability to sleep) walk through the Botanical Gardens, a ferry trip to Darling Harbour, and dancing the night away in Pott's Point.

Four days in a camper van = lots of crackers; driving on the left (an adventure in itself); trailer parks; 5:30am wake-up calls from policemen telling us to get off the road and INTO a trailer park; and lots of pulling off the road to the paradises that are so common we've begun (jokingly) to number them, as in "gotta head out and find paradise #13."

I am still without a netbook charger, and it looks like it will be a while longer as Ben is currently stuck under a cloud of ash in London, charger in tow.  So posts will be sporadic.  I promise to write more when I can!

Photos and stories to come - I'm off now to enjoy Byron's beaches.
Always love.
Julia