World Heritage Sites this holidays! The Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest inspire wonder. Stunning!

Hello from Port Douglas!

I am sitting in our lovely room in Port Douglas on my own and I have a chance to write. It is raining outside but still lovely and warm. Howard has taken the girls out for High Tea and I think about the wonderful holiday was are having. This is a truly lovely part of Australia.

The day we snorkelled at the Great Barrier Reef was a highlight for sure. Following little colourful fish around as we explored the reef was delightful. A few days later we went to the Daintree rainforest and strapped in to the flying fox. This was a challenge for me but the girls bravely jumped from tree top to tree top fearlessly. We enjoyed hearing about the history of the old rainforest and learning about the plants and animals there. (It is older than the Amazon, the oldest rainforest on the world)

On other days we have hired bikes and ran into Port Douglas. They had an amazing market day on Sunday. We walked around trying coconuts and sugar cane drinks, coffee and exotic fruit. The restaurants and shops are fabulous, not to mention the buffet breakfast, the cocktails by the pool and the swimming in the sun at the resort.

We all love having time with Howard without the distractions of his phone or the farm workload. He is great company and is very relaxed like the rest of us. I love seeing the girls reading their books, playing cards together when it rains and listening to all their laughter and chatting.

It is easy to be mindful up here. The flowers are vibrant colours, the ocean hums in the background, the birds have songs we are unfamiliar with, the butterflies are bright blue giants. Mindfulness occurs when we are not running on automatic. When in a new place we have an opportunity to really 'wake-up'. Even the food is unfamiliar as I taste a fruit that looks like an orange but tastes like grapefruit. We stop to see a harmless snake crossing the road as we catch a shuttle back from dinner. Everything is interesting as we learn about an environment that has crocodiles, stingers, a wet season and the World Heritage rainforest meeting the famous World Heritage, Great Barrier Reef.

It is delightful to take your family on a holiday. One of the girls invites a friend to join us and my brother Geoff arrives too. We enjoy their company so much too and are having so much fun doing all sorts of fun things from playing volleyball in the pool to soaking up all that Port Douglas has to offer.

I look forward to another year of writing the blog and taking lots of photos. Once school goes back I will make a plan for the next 12 months as I would like to offer some great information about Dru yoga and meditation, as well as continue to learn about the running of our farm. If you have a chance will you please fill in the survey attached to the front page of my blog so I can continue to 'entertain and hopefully inspire you.' My dream is to keep blogging until a book appears!!