New Years Eve, Australian style.

Tom and i had decided to go our separate ways for new years. Tom was going with Lauren to an island rave with all Laurens Australian mates. I had decided to go with Woody to his beach house on Philip Island which is about a 2 hour drive south east of Melbourne. Woody had gone down the night before so one of his mates Ben offered to give me a lift down.

I got up, packed my bag and headed over to the nearest station to where Ben lived. He picked me up and we went to his flat so he could pack his bag. He mentioned he didn't have any music in his car so i managed to FASHION a pair of computer speakers that would work in his car and we listened to the ipod all the way down. We stopped for a Mackers (Mac Donalds) and i needed to get a jumper. The drive down was really nice. We chatted about the differences between Australia and Wales. The scenery was amazing. When we crossed over the bridge that lead on to the island it reminded me a lot of home. Really long wide sandy beaches. The only difference was that the sun was beaming down. Ben and I stopped again to get supplies for the evening which was basically 2 crates of beer.

We drove into Cowes which is the equivalent to Mumbles. It's really similar, they have Newton road which leads right from the main beach. they have all your typical shops that sells rubbish, chip shops which Australians think they have the best in the world, but i can testify there not. They are basically Castell Howell chips. Castell Howell chips are the chips that are served in Schools, Civic center cantine and Mumbles pier. Another bad thing about Australian chip shops is the vinegar. they only have white vinegar which doesn't do the job by a long shot. They have the odd pub and posh bar which makes it feel even more like the home.

When woody arrived we went on the beach and i meet some of his more mates. They all seemed really nice and made a big effort to talk to me if i was sitting down on my own. We headed back to his mates beach house which was a good laugh as there were loads of Woody's mates. Being introduced as Welshy was a good laugh. We stayed there for a bit and had a few drinks. By the time the sun started to go down all the Aussies were wasted, they claim they can drink, i disagree. We walked towards the beach and a few of them fell over. Ben the guy who gave me a lift down got lost and we didn't see him for about three hours. When we did see him he looked like he'd been in a war zone. Everything from his arms to his knee were cut, grazed or bruised.

We watched the fireworks from the beach and then had a few more drinks and headed into town. We hung around the bottom of the road talking to all Woody's friends and getting hammered. We saw a few fights but me being me (soft) i stayed well clear of the action.

As the night continued on i got progressively drunker and by three i couldn't walk, only stagger. We staggered home and feel asleep in the car by about three.

The next day i woke up really early because the weather was amazing. The sun was beaming through the window which was really the last thing i wanted, i felt like a dog in a car in a heat wave. We hung about the house for a bit then went to Subway to get food. The queue was out the door which I've never seen before.

Woody, Ben and I spent the day walking around the island meeting even more of Woody's friends and went for food. Another mate of Woody's called Riz came down that evening so we went to the pub where the were having a big Karaoke night (karaoke is wrong in so many ways). Again we all got steaming and headed back to the car for another glorious kip. Tomorrow we planned to head back to Melbourne.