KINGAROY - RACEVIEW - MT.WARNING NATIONAL PARK - MURWILLUMBAH - MULLUMBIMBY - BYRON BAY -BALLINA - BONSHAW

My oh my, how quickly we have acclimatized to the top ends weather! Bring back the 38 degrees in Kakadu PLEASE!!! This mid 20s is not to our liking!
We stopped overnight with friends in Kingaroy, and checked out the awesome changes they have implemented on their property since we saw them before Christmas. Wow, have they been busy; creating swales and leaky weirs, repairing erosion and holding the water on the property; tree planting, mulching, renovating, veggie patch planting and so much more. Something has been stirred within us, maybe it's time for us to grow some roots of our own!
Reluctantly dragging out the long pants and polo fleece we made our way to Ipswich to stay with Lyndall and Jess. Reminiscing about Chiro school days, the joys and woes of practice, sharing our aspirations and generally enjoying each others company, of course along side some fabulous veggie food to tantalize the tastebuds.
Both in desperate need of a decent hair chop, we stayed a few extra days enabling us to tend to various maintenance needs, ours and the car.

We spent the day in the Tweed Valley hinterland, meandering through out the district, soaking up the views, gradually psyching ourselves up for the 9km hike, ascending 720m in altitude at Mt. Warning. We called into Mullumbimby, for a spa, sauna and plunge at Kiva Spa, then drove onto Byron Bay for a wander along the beach and maybe a LSD (Soy Dandelion Latte). Being AFL grand final, the pubs and streets were runneth over, so when the wind became too much, we headed in land again to meet up with Kel and Ty, another good friend from uni days.

We all set up camp at the base of the mountain, and realized it was NSW long wknd! Bummer dude, the mountain was like Burke street! Although I am somewhat grateful for the 'forced' rest stops that occurred on the final ascent, scrambling the grueling last 200m to the peak!! Breathing a sigh of relief and feeling a sense of personal achievement having climbed it faster than last time, we negated to recall that the decent was just as punishing, if not more!!! You should see us trying to get in and out of the car two days later! A call of nature brings tears to my eyes as I anticipate the squat, never have disabled railings been so joyous to see!! Pa, I need both your walking sticks if you can spare them!!

Packing up the van was laughable! The painful ordeal required us to stop in for brekky a little ways down the hill at the Mt. Warning Rainforest Cafe. Surely, sitting by the refreshing river and a scrumptious organic Bambu tea would ease the discomfort!!! Convincing myself after resting for an hour that, "hey actually I'm not that bad", was clearly an illusion or should I say delusion, as I tried to peel myself off the seat which had now molded itself to my rigid cramping body...and yet it was still better than the aftermath of the climb 12 months ago!!! Perhaps we should have enjoyed our tea sitting IN the river!!!

Next stop Bonshaw. We arrived later than expect to a very warm, and excited welcoming committee - the Elysee clan! We had a couple of days to catch up before they headed off on their cruise. Whilst in the background, tight lipped secret squirrel birthday plans were underway by four little kids excitedly reminding me how many sleeps there were left til "party day"! And what a day it was. Keen for something low key, I was blessed with open hearted child like glee, as the kids presented me with hand drawn cards, and letters which had been written weeks ago, in anticipation of our arrival. It was very special! Then they revealed pass the parcel and Pin the A'van on the 4WD ( beautifully drawn by Connor) - I was blown away!!!
We had hummingbird cake, and veggo party snacks - it was SO MUCH FUN. Thanks guys!!!

Whilst having some extra space I have enjoyed breaking out the sewing machine and whipping up a few creative designs. Kerry has been taking advantage of a 'real oven' and kitchen. Also we've been touring about the area looking at property, and getting a feel for "what next", as we are both feeling we'd like to connect into a community again, rather than being the transient tourists we have been for 12mths.

In preparation for our next adventure, we are excited about attending a week down near Armidale, learning all about creating loving self-supporting ecosystems: Large scale land contouring; self-supporting food production; self-supporting gardens; facilitation of bush recovery and soil regeneration; habitat establishment for native flora and fauna; and understanding the wondrous magicians that are insects, in all these processes. It's a free event, open to the public, so feel free to come along if it is something you would be interested in learning. (Divine Truth - Creating Loving Eco Systems)

Also, we have decided to visit Victoria in December. I will be doing a short locum at my old Practice in Wang at the end of Dec, whilst the new owner takes a break. We'll be about for possibly a month, depending on how things evolve.