Skydive - Sydney - off to Port Macquerie

Hi everyone, just to let you know how the skydive went, well it was awesome, great fun, and pretty exciting too.
we all got kitted up and trained in how to jump out (bend like a banana) and how to land (get your feet up in the air) and after about an hour of faffing, and me changing shoes etc etc we met out instructors (mine was called Luke, reasonably good looking) and went off in the bus to the airport. took what seemed like ages to climb to 14000 feet in this tiny tiny plane with the door still open (I was worried Paul might fall out as he was right next to it but it turned out he was tied on). when they pointed out 4000 feet (where they open the parachute) everything was already very far away and we were still climbing!
we didn't have very much notice to jump and before i knew it Paul was already gone and i had to shuffle forward and poke my knees out the door. looking down i was scared for the first time (Luke said i was very relaxed and calm on the way up) and then i had to look up and we were out, wind rushing past and me shouting woohoo! a lot. apparently this helps you breathe. it didn't seem very long before there was a sudden jerk and we slowed down, the parachute opened thank goodness.
Luke let me have a go steering which was fun, and then we did a practise landing before landing very very gently on my feet next to the beach.
waited around for an hour for our dvds (i look AWFUL in mine, paul looks great of course) and then we drove on and finally found a site in Sydney after driving up and down the road for ages. went into Sydney for the evening and found ourselves in Chinatown, of course its Chinese new year this weekend so there were loads of people and stalls. had a really nice bargain meal only 15 dollars each.

yesterday i waved paul off at the airport and have already made a new friend in the hostel ;-) called Martina. I have been discussing with her what to do next as it dawned on me i have only got until a week on thursday before i fly out of Darwin to Bali. hmm. looking at changing my dates but i can only do this on a weekday at a Quantas office. Anyway i have bought a pass which will get me to Brisbane on a hop on hop off thingy, and then i think i am going to abandon plans of going up to Cairns and doing the Whitsundays/Great Barrier Reef. I can come back next time, when Paul gets a career break / well paid consultancy job! (eh Paul).
so I need to be at Sydney bus station tomorrow morning at 6.30, great. will stay in Port Macquerie for a night before going on to Byron Bay and Surfers Paradise before Brisbane. I think i will then do a trip up to see Fraser Island before coming back to Brisbane and catching a flight to Darwin. better to see less and not rush i think, especially with the huge distances here. otherwide i'd be on a bus all the time.
Am slightly worried about Bali as i accidentally picked up a book in the bookshop today about a girl who got drugs planted in her bag on the way into Bali and now she's in jail for 20years. am looking at changing my flight to go straight to Singapore instead (not that they've got a better record of drug smugglers) but just to save time. do SE Asia proper another time! Will pop into the Qantas office in Brisbane. meanwhile i'm looking forward to surfing and yoga on the beach in Byron, and koala cuddling. (got to cuddle a koala somewhere before i leave)
see you guys in a few weeks, make sure the weather's good for me, i'll miss this heat.