19th Dec - 26th Dec

So Rainbow beach, aptley names seeing as it was raining when I got there. The hazy rain gave me thaf familier damp smell of back home, was actually quite refreshing. Me and a friend had arranged to go for a walk up to this scenic spot called the Carlo Sand Blower today, however, that was not to be the case. We were due to have our breifing for our Fraiser Island trip at 2pm and the walk up to Carlo was at 4:45pm, so we thought 'plenty of time', boy were we mistaken. The breifing was a long drawn out affair, with most scentance's finishing with 'or you will die', such as don't go swimming when drunk...or you will die, stops you doing things I suppose. The guy taking the breifing reminded me of a school teacher that thought you were stupid though and insisted on repeating himself. So after this lovely 3 hour breifing, I thought to get over the boredom i'd have a beer with my new family for the next few days that I will be sharing my jeap with, this seemed to do the trick, followed by food and more beer with a mate afterwards.

Next day we were heading to Fraiser Island, I was up bright and early to get my free pancake breakfast (and it turns out peanut butter does go with everything!!), also bumped into some old friends who I didn't realise were doing this trip with me!! The two guides that we were having for our trip were everything you the appitamy of the australian surfer stereotype, long hair brigt dhirts knew everything about nature and loved they're jobs, long hair, bright shirts and absolute legends, turns out I had been chatting to one of them in the pub the night before! Got the island and what a beautiful spot, I recommend it to everyone it was gorgeous. Endless sands, gorgeous see, rainforsts, lakes and that was our home for the next 2 nights. Went for a swim in a gorgeous lake, where I bumped into a friend from my Kiwi Experience, so was good to catch up. That night we then cooked up steak and vegetable for tea, was stunning, although not sure about the extra ingredient, which was to invade our food everyday we were there....sand!! Night itself was a great night, getting to know everyone, good group bonding session, not getting much sleep. Following day was more of the same, a lush freshwater Creek, from which we could drink the water, and float down a natural lazy river type thing. We then headed up to 'Indian Point' which had great views out to the see for a bit of pondering, looking out to the sea thinking about everything really, whilst admiring the sharks and rays in the water and the many many different colours you could see out at sea. That night was more of the same from the night before, this time we cooked up stir-fry, with even more sand. The last day at Fraiser we went for a swim in a natural tea-tree'd up lake, in the rain, this was our shower over these last few days, time to freshen up. We then headed back to the mainland (Rainbow Beach), where instant shower was needed followed by a instant snooze, followed by celebratory drinks with everyone as a lot of the group were leaving tomorrow. Was a great few days on this island, bonded with a few new friend from around the world (mainly irish, dutch and canadian...seriously the biggest travelling groups i've noticed).

Last day in Rainbow Beach we actually manage to get to the Carlo Sandblower, which was like a natural sand halfpipe (my camera had broke again by this point so no photos of it....due to the sand on Fraiser....seriously why haven't they invented sand proof camera's yet...think i'll get a waterproof one next, i've heard they're pretty sand proof). Was a multi coloured sand halfpipe, we sat down for a bit and admired the view out to sea, whilst seeing how many different colours we could find in the sand, bloody loads!! That was it for Rainbow Beach and Fraiser, off to Brisbane to see my family next day I couldn't wait!

So Xmas eve on the bus, didn't really feel that Xmasy as the aussies don't seem to do it a big as the UK, not many lights in windows etc, and so didn't feel to Xmasy. Got to Brisbane and had to catch the train to meet my cousin. Was a strange feeling and exciting as I hadn't seen them in a while. When I saw my cousin it was very natural and it felt like I had only seen them yesterday. We went back to the house to see rest of family, and had fresh homemade sausage rolls on arrival, delicious. That night we did Xmas presents as both my cousins were working Xmas day morning. Was a fun family night and for the first time I felt pretty Xmasy with the tree and everthing they had up. Had a 'traditional' Aussie Xmas dinner, ham, salad, potatos, chicken, and fresh prawns that were delicious!! Next Day was Xmas Day, got a lush Xmas day breakfast, followed by an Xmas Day swim with my Uncle. Weather was a bit over cast, so my uncle said that there won't be a lot of people swimming cause the waters 'cold'. Are you kidding me, the water was warmer than some baths i've bloody had!! Was lush having a swim Xmas day, don't know if i'll do it back home though especially when the beach is covered in snow!! We then went over to some family friends for a drink and get together and I went to a few places to be exhibited as welsh cousin, but was great fun.

Woke up Boxing day, pretty hungover and disorientated, as I had fallen asleep on the couch, after having a few to drink last night. My cousin picked me up to go to a friends house, where I played Wii Dance, my exercise for the morning, followed by Boxing Day Cricket. Now the weather was something to be desired as it was hammering down. Something more accustomed to my rugby matches back home rather than a cricket match....but the game had to go on. I had already had few beers by 11am as I got offered a beer at my cousin's friends house as standerd, no matter what time. Although to clarify, the aussies drink a lot rule they do! However, what i've noticed is they drink weak beer, which is great (3.5%), and also they don't do pints, they do schooners, as some of you may know, which are like 2/3rds of a pint, so its no suprise they can drink so much. Where as they may drink 10 schooners, we'd be used to 10 pints, which is a lot more than what they can drink!! So Cricket was great fun, drinking whilst playing, always a good shout. The team I was on won', which is always good!! Although my cousin caught me out, so I didn't hear the end of that! Afterwards there was a great party, at which I felt very welcomed, and they were all very accomadating. These were the first actual aussies i'd met as everywhere else i'd stayed was full of backpackers from everwhere else in the world, and may I say they are a friendly bunch, taking me as one of their own straight from the off, thanks Australia!!

Merry Xmas all and a Happy New Year......it'll probably be the same as last year!! x