Suan Mokkh Monastery Retreat, Days 2-10 The schedule was virtually the same every day, however each day was also different. Day 2 you were given bananas with breakfast, and your new friend Sabine handed you a beautiful yellow flower in passing. And you got to go shopping! 2 rolls of toilet paper and a tiny package of laundry detergent from the little dining room store so you can wash your clothes in a basin. Since you can’t talk, you just...

Northern Tasmania has much to offer the outdoor enthusiast, be it bushwalking or beach walking, and the wine scene isn’t anything to sneeze at either, with the famous Tamar wine region nearby. I was fortunate to spend a couple of weeks in Port Sorell, with some day trips to nearby areas, including the renowned   Cradle Mountain.  After passing through the town of Scheffield, famous for it’s multitude of murals, which were...

Where I’m staying, just outside the town of Cairns, may look like an ordinary neighborhood, but it’s surrounded by hills covered in rainforest. A short drive away you can catch a cablecar that goes above and through it, or stop and see the giant curtain fig tree. It doesn’t always rain in the rainforest, there’s a dry and a rainy season, or, like now, a relatively dry rainy season. A short jaunt and you’re in the...

Woke to a symphony of birds calling thru my open window, then the gentle whoosh of a brief rainfall (they call this the rainforest for a reason). Lindsey called me out on the deck to see three big white cockatoos in the tree, amazing! I’ve only ever seen them in captivity. A pair of Rainbow Lorikeets swooped by and a tiny yellow sunbird landed on a branch right in front of me. Tried to take photos but they were much too fast. We headed up...