A quick visit to Be'ersehva turned into a week after my 3rd cousins decided to take over our itinerary. They're all our age and have spent a year in Australia after they finished in the army so Dani, the comedian of the 3, decided that Gav's name was now Mel Gibson and everything was "bloody" this and "bloody" that. He's a site manager at Masada, a historical UNESCO site and gave us the VIP tour plus a dip in the weird and wonderful Dead Sea. We also went to an army base and played with their guns and armoured vehicles, crossed a few checkpoints in the West Bank and roasted our own coffee beans with the Bedouin in their camp. Beni took us to the wall that separates Israel from Gaza, where most of the strikes happen and as we took photos, were immediately set upon by two armoured jeeps that came out of nowhere thinking we were the media! We also spent a day in Tel Aviv having lunch with all the cousins, 3rd & 4th and all their kids. All in all, it was an amazing opportunity to experience Israel from a local's point of view and see how they live with an ongoing war in their backyard. It was also great for me to meet some more family who were wonderful people.