Nimbin - Australia's Hippie and Hemp Capital!

Hey all you Poms!

We did go to Cheeky Monkeys for tea on Friday night, I had the fish and chips for $7 but it was no where near as good as in Sydney. It was lots of fun they had prizewinning games on like 'Ball in the Hole' and 'Heads or Tails'. Anyway Me, Claire, Cat and Jessie went back to the hostel as we had a lot of wine back there and not much money, and we played this drinking game where each card of a suit of cards means a different drinking consequence, and eventually some random people who were sat on the table with us joined in and it all got a bit crazy when I ended up having 4 cups of rose wine in about 30 mins! We went back to Cheeky Monkeys afterwards as it turns from a restaurant into a bar after 10:30pm and they let you dance on the tables and stuff. It was very good. We only went to bed about 12:30 but I was completely hammered. I woke up about 5am and couldn't understand why my CD player was sat next to me and my headphones were wrapped around my neck. Not good.

On Saturday we booked our trip to Nimbin, hired a bodyboard and trekked down to the beach. We went in the sea to test out the bodyboard after our surfing lesson on Thursday, but apparently the day before it had been really windy and washed a load of bluebottles (jellyfish) ashore, now it was just a load of seaweed. I know it sounds really girly but I was only in the sea for about 2 mins cos I couldn't stand the seaweed wrapping itself around my legs and toes and stuff! Ugh! Claire said there were no decent waves anyway. After dinner it just got so hot that Me, Claire Cat and Dave retreated to the shade of the trees to play some cards. Dave threw a massive toddler-style strop when we wouldn't play Black Jack to his rules (which he was blatantly adding as we went along!) but other than that it was an easy, lazy afternoon. We (all the girls) had a massive debate/alcohol-fuelled arguement with the lads after tea about whether or not and why people cheat on their girl/boyfriends while they're away, which was really insensitive on their part as one of the girls has left her guy at home, so we went to the Beach Hotel to chill out and calm down. Unfortunately it was a short night on my part as I couldn't find my room key so I went back early with Claire to see if I'd put it down in the room. I had done. Doh!

Today we've been to Nimbin, and it was pretty cool. We boarded the 'Happy Coach' at about 10am and stopped at Bangalow first as there was a market on. It was a very similar sort of market to one that I've been to in Es Cana, Ibiza (so Lou, Amy and Mum will know), with stalls selling fruits, jams, honey, home-made body products, clothes, jewellery, books, and all sorts of bric-a-brac. We bought nothing other than a smoothie as it was so darn hot! The next stop was a brief one at Lismore (or Lesmore if you prefer, as it boasts the highest lesbian population in Australia, apparently) and we were shown a sign on a telegraph pole marking where the flood level was in 1974, and it was at least 15ft up the pole. Apparently they have a lot of floods in Lismore, and consequently all the houses are on stilts. We arrived in Nimbin for lunch, and we visited the Hemp Embassy, advocates in promoting changes in the law regarding smoking pot, and various little shops boasting much Hemp memorabilia. It was ok, and we got offers to buy Ganja Cookies on several occasions. As tempting as it was, the Happy Coach was raided 8 days ago so I didn't really fancy risking it! On the way back we drove through the World Heritage Forest, the world's oldest rainforest, and visited Minyon Falls, which was really just a huge waterfall but was still very pretty.

We leave for Surfer's Paradise tomorrow, where my Nanny's cousin David and his wife Linda live, so I'm very much looking forward to meeting them and seeing some old photos of my Mum, when she lived there. The weather has been extremely hot and sticky over the past few days so I think we're due a storm, and I've already started to peel... really badly! I feel like such a leper!

Anyway I'll post again from Surfer's. Hope all is well up there! Take care everyone!