The day started with a welcome lay-in. We thought we'd have a lazy day, being Christmas Day, and make Cape Tribulation the destination for Christmas this year. After breakfast we opened our presents - both of them! Both of them from the same people too - Mark & Lorraine (my brother and sister-in-law). I think we'd done pretty well keeping them since before we left Sydney, and not opening them until now. They had got us some New Zealand dollars and a gorgeous picture of my niece Lily in her Christmas outfit. (Thanks again Mark & Loz, they're great!)

After some lazy time in the van playing some Super Mario on the Nintendo DS for me (a cool game for the DS), and a game of Age of Empires for Stu, we decided on a walk through the rainforest area nearby. We packed up a lunch and headed off around lunch time. It was a nice boardwalk through the rainforest and leading out to the beach. We saw plenty of nasty looking spiders in the rainforest. Also lots of butterflies and even the odd stick insect.

At the beach we found a shady spot and sat down to enjoy our lunch. It was certainly a different way of having Christmas lunch to anything we'd done before. The beach was almost deserted, just a handful of people dotted further down the massive beach - so we had plenty of room to ourselves, with just the sound of the sea lapping on the shore. An incredible spot for Christmas lunch (even if was just a sandwich and banana!)

After enjoying the afternoon sunshine on the beach, we made our way back to the van. The Magnums we had in the freezer went down nicely, and then it was down to the computer games once again.

In the evening we thought it would be a good time to contact family, as they would just be starting their Christmas Day back in the UK. Our mobile phones don't have any reception where we are, but luckily there is a telephone box at the front of the campsite. I phoned my parents and spoke with my brother too - it was good to speak to everyone and wish them a merry christmas. Stu spoke with his mum, dad, brother and sister too.

Not a bad Christmas Day at all. Of course we miss not seeing family at this time of year, but Cape Tribulation is a lovely place. The rainforest, with its abundant wildlife, is facinating and it makes a pleasant change to have a hot and sunny Christmas Day.