Deciding I couldn’t be overly productive jobhunting between Christmas and New Year I hopped across Australia to visit my relatives in Brisbane. When I got to Brisbane last year, I found it pretty hot.  This year, not quite as hot as I remember, perhaps I am just beginning to get accustomed to this weather… :-). Christmas Eve a relatively cool 34 degrees, I sat in the pool watching the kids playing catch and enjoyed a beer in the sun :-).   Not feeling particularly Christmassy at all, a night helping prepare food whilst listening to Christmas songs helped me get into the christmas spirit and surrounded by the envelope of darkness outside, the warm inside temperature could easily have been mistaken for central heating!  ‘An Aussie Night Before Christmas’ by Yvonne Morrison read to the boys, reindeers replaced with kangaroos, the sleigh by a ute and with a sunburned Santa wearing thongs and a last word of ‘goodonya mates’ this story made me smile :-). Certainly a different story than the one I remember about mice and to all a good night ;-).

The morn of Christmas Day, I was woken by the sounds of the kids at 6am.  It started even earlier for one little person who so excited about Santa delivering the presents announced this to his mum and dad at 1.45am and then updated them at regular intervals throughout the night ;-).  With the arrival of Grandy and Poppa, we sat around the tree, watched the kids open their presents and shared our own gifts.   A very Aussie christmas, I received thongs, a beach bag and a sarong.  I actually love the sarong :-). Also given nail polish, you have no idea how exciting it is to now be wearing a new colour ;-).

Spending the rest of the day with friends of the family we ate arancini and sushi sandwiches, turkey and ham, king prawns and Morton Bay bugs, pavlova and banoffee pie and had cobb loaf for supper :-).  Warm but not as hot as last year’s christmas, we all jumped in the pool to cool off and had fun with the kids.  A nice christmas call from a friend, some plans throwing me off a return to Perth were discussed ;-).  Ending the night sleeping camp/dorm style sharing a room with the kids, my second cousin and her husband it was a warm christmas day night ;-).   Awoken early on Boxing Day by the kids and a very persistent fly, returning home, I lay down on my bed and had the most epic nap ever :-).

Mmmmm

If I had a crystal ball to tell me how my journey was going to unfold, I would have been on my return flight home for Christmas… Who knows where that path would have led me… Spending it here, enjoying spending it with family, with some help with a direction, I’ve decided not to go back to Perth.  With friends in Sydney, I have decided that a New Year there can’t be all that bad and might just make up for not getting on that plane… ;-).  Life is indeed a journey and I think seeing 2014 in with a new background and new opportunities should be just the right start to the year :-).