Whitsunday Islands Adventure

When my husband, Frank, and I took our son, Dan, to the Whitsundays last weekend. I'm not sure who had the most fun, but it was a weekend that will be in our memories for a long time. We stayed at the Martinique Apartments, Mediterranean style which certainly took us away from the every day of computers and filled our creative wells. The sun shone in a brilliant cerulean sky, a strong south-easterly blew and the cool water's visibility enabled us to see a smorgasbord of life under the sea while we snorkelled. Giant clams, Blue Fusiliers, Harlequin Fish, Surgeon Fish, Coral Trout and more, plus an added surprise with the Cleaner Wrasse picking the bacteria off the fish. Many soft corals swayed in the flowing water, but not the large variety I used to see when I scuba dived twenty years ago. A lot of the staghorn coral had been damaged by cyclones or boats, so that was disappointing.

The ride out to the reef in Fury was fast and exhilarating. I'm not a good sailor, however I was pleasantly surprised when the fast boat skimmed across the water so that queasy feeling didn't get a chance to invade my space. The fun part was being sprayed by the water as the boat bounced on the choppy sea.

For lunch, we stopped at the world famous Whitehaven Beach: spectacular! See pic below. After a great picnic lunch we took a stroll along the brilliant, silicon sand to burn up a few calories.

Here are a few photos of our weekend away. A special thanks to Dan for giving me permission to use his photos. Can't wait until our next visit.

Martinique Apartments at Airlie Beach.

My two heroes, Dan and Frank.

Sunset at Airlie Beach.

A friendly visitor for lunch.

Whitehaven Beach

Leaving Home

Usually, it's young people who leave home to take on the world when school is finished.

For me, I decided it was my husband and I who were going to leave home, not our son who was looking toward to leaving. When he came to me and said, "Mum, I'm leaving home in the new year to live with friends", it came as a shock to learn my one and only child had grown up much quicker than I'd thought possible. He was ready to leave home, but was I ready for his leaving home?

No! I wasn't ready for him to leave the nest. I panicked and tried to come up with every excuse why he shouldn't be leaving home even though he's nineteen. Didn't I bring him up to be independent and with a positive outlook that anything he set his mind to could be his if he applied himself? Well, there was my answer. Yes, I've equipped him with everything I know and now he was ready to put all that he's learned to the test, so I gave my blessing while he started looking for a place to live with his friends.

Two weeks later, I woke up and thought what if Frank and I left home? I'd always thought I would leave home when Dan left home, so Frank and I decided we would leave home, and rent our home to Dan and his friends. Once the initial shock of this idea was over, it started to make sense. I'd always wanted to let my adventurous spirit loose, and now that Dan was ready to leave the nest, there was nothing holding me back.

So, much to Dan's delight, he accepted his crazy mother's idea of leaving home and he's counting the sleeps until we go. As a result, Frank and I have bought our caravan, are in the process of selling our furniture and preparing to leave on the greatest adventure of our lives.

I'll write novels while we're travelling. It's my hearts desire to meet all my readers wherever we go at book launches, signings, library visits, workshops, and speaking engagements at your church or service group. The title of my website has been changed to Writing All Over Australia. So keep posted to this blog to find out when I'm in your town. Come and chat, while I sign your copy of African Hearts.

As I write this post, my house is covered with boxes of all sizes, and furniture is being taken away as people buy it. During the next few weeks, I'll keep you posted on where we're at with packing our belongings. Perhaps the last few days before we leave we'll be living in the van.

How was it for you when your children left home, or what are you expecting when this life-changing event becomes reality for you; or maybe you haven't thought about that yet?