Number Crunching

37 days.

4,334 km.

Four state capitals.

One pair of sunglasses.

One phone.

A couple of t-shirts.

And I survived! I managed to travel this epic distance, on my own, sometimes with very little money, and survive. I can say it now because it's over: I didn't think when I set off that I would! I have met so many amazing people and, honestly, I think it will be this (and the surfing) more than the places I have been and things I have seen that I will remember.

Having said that... here are some thoughts on what I thought of where I went and what I did. (Did you really think I wouldn't have a good waffle?)

I left Adelaide at around 10 o'clock on 14th December. About half way through the ten hour journey to Melbourne (around 3 am) I realised the enormity of what I was doing! It had all seemed like a lovely idea and all of a sudden here I was! I arrived at Melbourne at something like half six in the morning and traipsed around with about 27kg of luggage, all the way "up" Melbourne to a hostel only to find it full! So I settled for All Nations backpackers. It's a huge place, in the centre of Melbourne. Despite a second night (I was persuaded to stay longer by some of my roomies) with no air con and about a 38 degree temperature, with atrocious sunburn, I managed to see lots of Melbourne. We went to St. Kilda and did lots of things, including track down a missing phone from the night before!

After Melbourne I headed up to Mittagong on the bus on the 17th to stay with the Riley's in Nowra for about four or five days. This was amazing, we pretty much surfed everyday and basically just chilled out at the beach-house and cooked pizza's the rest of the time!

I then headed to Sydney on the 23rd and arrived in my hostel at Bondi Beach around 9 in the evening, to be greeted by scenes of mass revelry and offered a ticket to a booze cruise the next day... something I immediately accepted. An early surf the next morning, following some awesome free cocktails that night, was certainly enough to beat the crowds, though Bondi, the fickle beach it is, didn't quite work. We spent that day preparing for Christmas Dinner the next day (I chopped thousands of onions) and then left around 5 for Darling Harbour. An array of costumes was on display, and I can safely say the wetsuit and reindeer antlers I went for, in the middle of the Australian Summer was not the best! An evening cruise round the harbour with the Opera House and Bridge lit up was truly epic. And the count-down to Christmas is something I don't think I'll forget very easily!

After not much sleep the festivities started pretty early. A morning dip was enough to get most people ready for the day, but I am pretty sure some people got no sleep at all! The weather was a bit of a let down, but did provide some massive swell in the afternoon, and the temperature of water meant that we were in a pretty good state!

This was all after an incredible Christmas lunch of roast chicken and salad, with about 120 people sat outside at long tables. Much fun was had by all!

Boxing Day saw a rather unsuccessful, but very enjoyable trip to the races and I was then persuaded to change my bus to the evening the next day so we could do it all again that night... On Sunday we caught the bus into town, hopped on the very to Manly, dropped Candy's stuff off at her next hostel and had (well, only me) another surf before a lovely seafood meal that night. Then it was back to the hostel, pick up my bags, say my goodbyes and back into the bus station.

It was an unbelievable Christmas, I met some incredible people and it was made all the more special for that. This is one I will not forget for a very, very long time...

From Sydney, it was up to Woodburn to begin my surf camp...