I'm still in Byron Bay. I've experienced what many people around here call "Byron Suck". It just sucks you in and doesn't let go. This week is NAIDOC week, which is the aboriginal celebration week. There have been corroborees and kangaroo meat on the barbie. Also, there have been a collection of a lot of local aboriginal artists. The native art is really fascinating, but it was really cool to watch people actually producing it. They have brushes made out of their hair and reeds. They use native pigments that they've collected. And the artwork is lovely.

I've spent most of my time in Byron, the beach, with the girls. We rented shitty surf boards from Kool Katz in order to keep on surfing. Let me make this clear, DO NOT RENT from these people. There are lots of places to rent surf boards in Byron Bay, and Kool Katz is the cheapest for a reason.

Here's what happened: We asked for 5 long boards and they said they had them and would deliver that night. But when they delivered, 4 of them were shorter than anything we'd ever used. We expressed concern, and they told us we'd be fine. One had a frayed fin and they told us they'd be back to fix it. We decided to go for it anyway, since we wanted to catch the morning surf. We gave a deposit in cash (big mistake) and signed no contract and received no receipt (another mistake). After a few hours of surfing the next morning, we determined the boards didn't meet our needs and tried to return them to Kool Katz, telling them we'd just decided to move on rather than get into the fact that we didn't get what we asked for. We called them and asked if we could return the boards early (by noon) and offered to pay for the full day's rental. Kool Katz responded with, "you're violating the SPIRIT of the deal!" though we had no idea what the "deal" was. (They later produced a contract that they signed one of our names to - hmmm, maybe that isn't illegal in Australia) But, they could rent the boards out the next day to someone else, right? Well, they told us business was slow (wonder why), so we assumed this was why they were keeping our money. Since they had our deposit, we tried to reason with them. They absolutely refused, treating us with absolute contempt and suggesting that we weren't respecting them....or the spirit of the deal. Needless to say, we were pissed, but we were stuck. So, we had to keep the shitty boards and reminded them that they promised to fix the fin on the one board (we decided to keep that one, as it was one of the longer ones). And fix it they did - by slapping some duct tape on it! Nice. Funds are precious to a traveler, I would advise not to waste your money with these people.

Byron is beautiful though. Everyday is like paradise. A friend of a friend of a friend lives here, and he took us up into the bush to his house. It was amazing. It is impossible to describe this place. Perhaps - shanty in the hills, with snakes in the roof. This house has no electricity (solar for the lights, gas for the refrigerator and stove). There is scarcely a door that closes in the place (interior or exterior). It is a bunch of miscellaneous rooms that are all slapped together, linked by walkways. They just discovered a new room a few days ago. Apparently, the veg had been so overgrown that there were vines running through the house and one room was entirely green on the inside from leaves. The two blokes that live there aren't even squatting, they actually pay rent and everything. It is minimal. Actually, the place is awesome. The climate here is such that you just need something to keep you out of the rain, but that is about it. They sit around the bonfire to keep warm in the winter, and in the summer - ventilation isn't a problem.

Today I take the bus to Brisbane and hook up with a guy I met while surfing. He'll show me the highlights of town, and then I leave for Phoenix on Friday morning. It has been a really good trip. If I hadn't promiised Randi to be back for the birth of her son, I would consider staying on. The girls are heading north as well to one of the islands. I'm really going to miss the ocean when I get back to the desert.

Aussie Slang: Tucker. Tucker is food, derived from being carried in the "tucker box" when traveling. The aboriginal people have the expression of "bush tucker," which is any food that you can collect and eat in the bush. This could be any animal (roos or echidnas or these weird little grubs) or any plant (berries, roots, greens). So, as you walk along with a native through the bush, they start pointing to things and saying, "that's tucker....here is some tucker..." which is really pretty confusing if you don't know what the hell they're talking about. Take a bite, it is usually pretty good.