File this under the "Oops, I probably shouldn't have done that."

So throughout my travels there are bound to be times that I do something maybe a little on the stupid side for the sake of trying it out or possibly being coerced into doing something maybe a little too adventurous. Maybe the risk will pay off, maybe it won't. In any case, I'll file them under "Oops I probably shouldn't have done that" and relay the stories to you all.

First, let me give a quick wrap up of Surf Camp. The last couple of days unfortunately were not at warm as the first couple, but they were still fun. And by cold I mean low 60s, but with the wind and our time in the water it was quite a bit chilly. I was standing up on my board more each session, and on the last morning we woke up at 5:45 to make it out to the beach for a sunrise surf. Amazing experience. The rest of the photos are up on facebook, but here's one photo of me trying to look remotely athletic and surfer-like.

After our last session of surfing we packed up and headed back up to Sydney while stopping for ice cream at a great local place in Gerrigong. Part of the Surf Camp experience is getting some free pizza and beer at a local bar back in Sydney before catching the overnight bus to Byron Bay (can you see where the bad idea part is coming in yet?). So since we had about three hours to do lots of drinking before the bus left, that's what we all did. We ate a little bit of pizza, and all started buying pitchers of beer for each other. There was a great game of "Never have I ever" and at one point one of the girls said let's do Tequila shots. I wasn't THAT stupid, so I stuck with vodka.

What I wasn't expecting was how rough a bus ride it was going to be. It was a Greyhound bus, but it was still pretty rocky. And I was in store for a 12 hour ride. So, lesson learned: ice cream + pizza + lots of beer + shot of vodka + rocky bus ride = a really upset stomach and thoughts of just wanted to chop my head off. Of course, any bus ride that long is never comfortable and at the end you just want to shower. Luckily, that's what I was able to do once I got to the hostel.

Even better, the beach here in Byron Bay is incredibly beautiful. The sky in Australia just seems to go on forever, more so than anywhere else I've ever been. The ocean also seems saltier here, but that's probably just me. All of these amazing views have been pretty inspiring, which helps a lot especially as the first bout of homesickness kicked in the past day or so. The euphoria of being in a new country has worn off after about a week, and the longing for my nice little spot on the couch while watching the NBA playoff sounds very welcoming. But I know things aren't that simple and at the same time I've having an incredible experience down here. The beaches are beautiful, the people are super nice, and it's sunny.

So tomorrow I hop on the Oz Experience bus tour. I begin here in Byron Bay and will be making stops all along the eastern coast heading up to Cairns. I have no set time table and can stay in any location for as long or short as I like. I hop on and hop off as I please. So I should be visiting some interesting and amazing places over the next few weeks along the coast and should have some good stories to share as well. Hopefully it just won't be too soon before having another "oops..." moment.