Coffs Harbour harboring my friends

DAY 13
Location: Byron Bay/Coffs Harbour
Temp: 10 C
Weather: Rainy
Activities: Making new friends
Accommodation: Howie Mowie

A bitter cold morning in Byron Bay made for a slow checkout, but I got up early enough to catch the first morning shuttle to town at 8:30 a.m. so I could visit the Travel Bugs conveniently located across from the bus stop!

Happily chewing up the hour or so wait for the bus online, I skipped right back out again to make the 10:40 a.m. bus to Coffs Harbour which would arrive at 2 p.m.

The nasty weather chased us all the way down the coast and it was rainy and cold in Coffs too which didn't bode well for much exploration. Our bus was also late, dumping us off at 2:30, so none of the shuttles were around to get us. And since we were behind schedule, we never stopped for a break to grab lunch or anything, so I was absolutely starving by this point. I went up to the information station on the corner and got bounced by this old Aussie codger who more or less told me to shut up, sit down and wait, the shuttles would be there. Sheesh, easy guy! Too much to ask for a ring just to be sure?

But the shuttles did appear and the guy actually in charge of the hostel was the one who picked me up, drove me to see the local sites, checked me in, and showed me to my room. Talk about service. I dropped my things and teetered over whether to walk the 10 minutes to the Woolworth for food or just eat now because I'd suffered on the bus ride there, my stomach was very unhappy. I snagged the last of my emergency noodle stash and went to the kitchens to prepare a late lunch.

My decision was instantly rewarded. Check this out.

A small group of folks sat jamming around one computer in the kitchen and I announced myself by asking if this was indeed the kitchen. They all replied in the affirmative and I went about cooking up my last saimin. My first snag struck when the stove didn't light--but one of the girls lent me her lighter and I got a fire going! It was apparently her birthday and she wanted to do something exciting, but the weather was misbehaving. The boys suggested she skinny dip in the ocean and she refused as it was cold. I laughed along over my cooking and the group took notice as I brought my bowl over to eat.

"You hungry?" The big New Zealander said. Yes, I was! And he left and came back with sausages, bread, and package of noodles. "I'm leaving tomorrow and it'll all just go to waste. You eat it." I was so touched! I tore into the already cooked sausages until I was full, thanked my benefactor profusely,  and we all got to talking the usual hostel exchange. I now had four new friends--one from New Zealand, one from Japan, and two from France. When I belted out some simple conversational French, they both got so excited!

I suggested we go to the mall for something to do and the idea floated. So not long afterward, we wandered the mall I'd intended to run to right away, but I went in a car with four new friends. We spent about an hour there before returning to play several rounds of card games with a five liter box of wine. I'm happy to report I learned a fun new card game gambling on ace "horses." It was so much fun. We ate carrots, again because our Kiwi was leaving, ordered a pizza, and just had good times all around!

We debated on all going to a club, but the group dispersed somewhat and I hung back to shower and get some sleep.

It proved to be quite a night!