Hi Everyone its Xmas Eve here and we are in Canberra getting food , nibbles etc. but first let me tell you about the 2nd cousin I got in touch with. After Susan I wasn't expecting on lot from Peter but when I spoke to him he sounded lovely and invited us to lunch. He lives will Jill in a lovely area just outside Sydney and the house was enormous with 5 bedrooms and swimming pool with the most perfect view across the lake. We had a lovely lunch and Peter & I talked family while Jill & Denise talked recipes. It was the perfect day but I was wondering when they were going to say we could stay with them! Well they didn't!! I was a bit put out as they had so much room and they knew how expensive we were finding Australia but no offer so we went back to our really plush digs thinking what might have been!! Anyway it was good from the family tree bit and he remembered my Dad very well and had terrific memories of him so that was a real plus. When we got back to the hostel there had been a couple of break ins and quite a few people upset as they had lost passports etc so we were pleased to be moving on the next day. Got up 5.30 and had loads of time to get the train at 7.45. Got to the station at 6.30 and only just made the train by the skin of our teeth!! We had to go to all sorts of different places to sort the tickets out as the booking office wasn't open until 9 so thank god we had given ourselves plenty of time! Really good train journey but the weather was overcast and wet. Arrived at Canberra and found the most brilliant hostel. Still $40 but breakfast was included and the room was lovely. The area is great as we are literally 30 secs through the car park to every type of shop you want.Its a small place and run by the family and they are absolutely fantastic. It really is a home from home and we booked in for the week and will spend Christmas here. The worst problem is internet access- its $12 an hour and no skype. Its seems really behind in technology here and at the moment I am not sure if I will be able to get photos on as nobody seems to know what to do and when I try it 2 hours disappear with out me even noticing so photo updates may take a while but bear with me!!Australia has been suffering from drought for 4 years but guess what!- theyr'e not now!! There have been severe weather warnings and we have had the most awful storms and the Aussies are thrilled to bits!! Christmas day and boxing day forecast is better but we definately will not be bbqing on the beach xmas day!! In fact we have had problems knowing what to do as there is no public transport and nowhere is doing Xmas Day lunches so we are stuck at the hostel. The owner is happy for us to do our thing and cook Xmas dinner so we have bought fillet steak with all the extras - plenty of wine and silly hats so we'll be fine! In fact we are quite excited. Due to the weather we have been reading and watching tele. Den has become an addicted reader and her family will be amazed if they could see her, she says. She really is chilling out with her books which is good as we can't do much else at the moment but we're not bothered at all. I have tried to send everyone Xmas greetings via email the same as Cassie did for us (Thanks Cassie the card was great) but again old age gets in the way but just to say A VERY VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL AND AN EVEN BETTER 2009 - WITH LOADS OF LOVE FROM US BOTH X