Tenting in Mareeba

After our lovely week in Cairns, we felt it was time to move on from my Mum's house in Atherton.  We all needed our own space again.

 Dan and Silke Roth kindly let us sleep in their yard for a while...  camping again!

 'Giving Doggy a flower'

 Emerald Creek Falls...  we weren't quite sure if our car would make it there and back again... this hill is very steep and full of large loose rocks... but with some careful maneuvering, Ulf got us there!

 Up, up, up we went!

Ah, and there she is...!  A beautiful sight to behold after a steep climb on a hot day.  When we climbed back down again, we found a nice flat area in the creek to have a swim.  Beautiful and refreshing.

A Cairns Escape

Ahhhh.... what a beautiful six days we just had at Treetops Lodge in Cairns!  We thoroughly enjoyed our little holiday and were able to fully relax...!

 Nahlia enjoying teasing the goldfish in the pond.

 Eating in the tree-tops literally!

An Ulf creation:  Pineapple Kombucha Smoothie... delicious!

 Palm Cove Beach

 Having a go on her bike at the beach.

 Nahlia swimming by herself, with only the aid of a pool noodle!  She learnt this skill in less than 6 days - amazing!  

 A Kombucha Bar at Rusty's Markets.... yummy and great for us!

 Rusty's Markets

 Enjoying the swing... she asks us to sing the theme song to the Heidi cartoon everytime she's on it!

 Dragonfruit - the fruit of a cactus.

 Stony Creek...

 ... a pristine freshwater creek in the middle of the rainforest...

... which we enjoyed in the rain...

 

 ... after some bush-bashing to get there... :)

Dadda and Nahlia share some mango... awwww....!

It was lovely to forget about everything and just be together.

... and a little trip to Mourilyan

 Nahlia in my mother's garden, showing me the bees on the cinnamon basil bush.

 Swimming at Davies Creek... SO beautiful!  We had a lovely time there, with Daniel and Silke Roth.

 A Kombucha experiment:  a used vanilla bean pod in the brew.... and the result - something delicious that reminds me of creaming soda!  Yum!

On the 17th we headed down to Mourilyan, a coastal town, to visit some interesting people for the day.  We had read David's article in a local magazine and were interested to meet him.  For the last six years, he and his wife Jocelyn and two children lived in a shed while they gradually built their home on 18 acres.  Their lifestyle and daily rhythm was a beautiful thing to see and hear about first hand.  They have been living off their land as much as possible, with little income and even less expenses.  They are 'off the grid' in the most important of ways - their life values and principles - but they are connected to mains power and water.  They have grown and slaughtered pigs for meat, have many beehives and much honey in the storehouse, grow their own veggies and preserve whatever excess arises, have a food forest and an orchard, as well as their much-loved chickens, the odd duck and a friendly goose.  They only travel to town once a fortnight to buy groceries (and only because they have to), and make no other car travel.  They work about 6 hours a day, give or take, to care for their food-producing plants and animals, they homeschool their children, have a siesta after lunch, and have no debt!

 Their lovely Spanish-Mission style home is a U-shape with a central courtyard.

What I liked the most about David and Jocelyn's home and lifestyle, was that they were enjoying life!  They were not stressed by financial pressures, were not running this way or that trying to meet deadlines or societal expectations.  They described themselves as modern-day peasants.... and it was obvious that they were happy and free.  ...  truly inspiring!