Sunday 14th January 2007. Byron Bay. Australia.

Up and out early my first port of call after breakfast is Cape Byron Lighthouse. Built in 1901 it is one of the 13 major lights constructed in New South Wales between 1858 and 1903.

Constructed from concrete and standing 22 metres high here you will find the most powerful light in Australia with a range of 27 nautical miles. The lighthouse was automated in 1988. Here at the most easterly point of mainland Australia we are entertained by a pod of dolphins and a visting shark.

Back in town Chris and I head out for lunch at Julian's Cafe before we walk for miles along the beach.

The mouth of the Belongil Estuary is an important breeding and foraging area for a range of shorebirds like the Little Tern, Beach Stone Curlew, Pied Oystercatcher and a range of migratory birds from the Northern Hemisphere. Operated by BEACON, the Byron environmental and conservation organisation a wildlife reserve has been established here to protect the threatened breeding area at the estuary mouth and protect the eggs and the young.

Tonight it is BBQ time with the gang. I am sharing my room with a great bunch of guys and for once I don't feel ancient. We are all in our early thirties. Rob is from Leeds, Wayne is an East End lad and then there is our tour mascot Swiss Chris.

After dinner we follow the tourist trail. The Beach Hotel in Byron is a must on a Sunday and so we dance, dance, dance our way into the wee sma hours'.