....and a maple leaf fell from the tree

It would seem that my luck is still with me. As I left Brisbane on a cloudy monday morning, little would I know that parts of the city that I had visited only a few days earlier would be under water the next day.
Since my host had to work, I used my own 2 feet to get to Wynnum station and from there to Roma street station.
It was a smooth, Joey-filled trip, with no hickups.
The only concern was that my stomach was playing tricks on me because of a dodgy pizza from sunday. I didn't have a single bite until I arrived at the hostel and the bus ride to Byron bay was, to say the least, touch and go. (I did strategicly place myself right next to the dunny just in case)
As I arrive a cute blond greets me and points me to a parkinglot where a van will take me to the hostel - very nice service.

What then transpired might seem trivial, but it was my first encounter with a canadian person. Connor had just arrived as well and was going to stay at the same hostel.
We exchanged pleasantries and war stories before we arrived at the hostel.
After checking in, getting some info from the reception about the free meals the hostel supplied every night and getting set up I promptly went to bed. Still feeling bad that was my holiday for the first two days.
I did eat the free meal, a pasta dish and my first impression was:
-Holy crap, I'm gonna stay here for 5 days??
The first day I got to know one of my room mates, Teemu, a little bit. As the name suggests, he was from Finland and having met a few finns in my days, he lived up to the stigma when he, in what I felt was in the middle of a conversation, promptly said "Ok, goodybye". In his defence I will say that he is a really cool dude and we had a lot of fun, but that action really stood out and was in my opinion, very finish.
So, after two days of little food, lots of pills and lots of water, I was finally back in the game. And sure enough, two of my roommates, the very cool surfer dudes Evan and Michael, were also from Canada.
I just realized that if I have to add, "they/he/she was also from Canada" that will be every other sentence. So I will summarize and say that it felt like every other person I met was from Canada.
I will mention the U.S, Finland, England, Israel, Norway and a few other countries were represented, but if I didn't know better, I'd say there was a silent invasion going on.
A few cliff notes from the trip:
*sitting in another room with friends and a german chick chating on her computer, guess who uttered the words "Don't mention the war"?
*Skinny dip on both sides of the pacific - check
*Killing in the name of on the dance floor - check
*Most eastern point of Australias mainland - check

Yesterday, friday, was the last night out and we finally went through with our postponed barbeque.
My contribution to the beginning of the event was sending the Canadian boys to buy food and wine, not carry a single thing there and then sit down, drink wine and play some awesome music. Cook? Then who will teach these cretins the wonders of Swedish music? Hoffmaestro, Adam Tensta, Timbuktu and September were played and all in all, it was a very nice time out.
After the meal, we moved the party down to the beach and there something amazing happened. The once lively group became a bit more quiet and I think the scenery with the ocean, setting sun and Mike playing the guitar really got to us.
It was a very nice moment and one of those that you want to bottle up and save so you can use it on a bleek day back home.
For me it was especially perfect as an ending since it was my last night in Byron bay.
Now I'm up with the rooster (swedish expression) and waiting for the bus to arrive.

It's the second uprooting and even though I would kill for just a few more nights here, I'm really looking forward to Melbourne. A friend that I haven't seen in a while, Australian open tennis, a new city and new people.
So on that note, I'll leave you by saying that Byron bay was awesome!
Simple words they are, but that doesn't diminish how truthful they are.
Next stop, Canada!