byron bay, global gossip internet cafe - i'm a card-carrying member.

i'm staying at "the arts factory" - a hippy-dippy hostel with an equally hippy-dippy clientele. it's cool and there's a painted old double-decker bus you can sleep in - still it's a little contrived - hipsters rolling joints and rolling their eyes at each other. whatever - the beach is gorgeous! AND - i rented a board and tried surfing for the first time~ i spent all day on the fence about it. the weather was kind of crappy and the water was cold and grey, then there was the $25 for the gear rental. i knew if hazen had been there, there would have been no stopping us from getting in there and tearing it up, but me on my lonesome? i found 2 kids from the hostel who wanted to go and we three got wet-suited and spent 2 hours stuggling in the waves. it was hard to catch one - i was in the wrong place for most of my time out there. finally, toward the end i figured out where i needed to be and caught a few - even got up on one and rode it in. not too impressive, i assure you - it was really hard work, but it was fun! i'll just have to live on the ocean one of these days and get into it.

i walked to the lighthouse today and looked out for migrating whales. i didn't see any, but the view was spectacular and i did see some some dolfins. coffe to go on a rainy sunday.