Lost Mojo

 I seem to have lost, temporarily I hope, my mojo for writing.  This past 18 months has seen so many changes for Philip and I, that have been thankfully all good changes.  We have been kept busy bringing our little apartment into the 21st century including renovation of two bathrooms and the laundry.  They are all completed now and apart from a couple of little things we are done with decorating and renovating.

We have also travelled in the caravan quite a bit in the last 12 months and our last trip away to caretake our sons property at Gundiah went very fast.  We certainly got our animal fix for awhile and we are quietly relieved that we no longer have the responsibility of so many animals.  We were away just shy of four weeks and packed a lot into that time.  It was special to spend time with long time friends, all ex Julia Creek, and we definitely had our share of drinkies.  One night in particular with our friends in Leyburn left us all with giant hangovers the next day.

Most of the time away I cooked all our meals but when we did eat out, the meals were the very best. I declared the Crispy Chicken Ceasar Salad at Theebine Hotel the BEST EVER!

Some of the van parks we stayed in were excellent, some not so much.  Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the site we had at the Toowoomba Motor Village but we have also declared it one of the best.  If you happen to be passing through Toowoomba ask for their Top Drive Thru site.  It is beautifully grassed and is right beside the amenities and camp kitchen.  Another great spot was St Helens Gardens Tourist Park at Calen.  For $20/night we received a drive through site with cement slab.  The park is set in lovely tropical gardens and there are a few cabins also available.  Calen is just north of Mackay and weren't we lucky that we missed, by one day, the awful hailstorm that hit that area. It would not have been good for the solar panel on the top of our van.

Another great find right in our backyard is the Big 4 Port Douglas Glengarry Park.  This park is set in very lush tropical gardens and it is one of the few parks where you see the gardener driving around all day every day doing his maintenance.  We stayed here for three nights while the builders were adding the final touches to our laundry and as we always have a night locally before putting the van back in the shed, this place will be on repeat.

So what have we been up to since we returned?  Well not much really.   Plenty of this......

We have been frolicking about in the ocean each afternoon since we arrived home and intend to keep doing it.  We are both water babies.  At the moment we have been able to just cross the road to swim in the very calm blue ocean but the stinger nets will go in shortly so we will walk down to the stinger net enclosure each afternoon for a dip.  

Other than that we have had quite a few appointments to keep and also a little shopping.  First on the list was a replacement for my indoor plant that outgrew the area.  Turns out it was a climbing plant.  We bought a Madonna Lily that I can tell you is perfect for the spot.  I gave it a feed of liquid fertliser as soon as we got home and I can see two new flowers reaching out to the light.  We bought the plant at Limberlost Nursery that is home to Vines Restaurant.  When we lived at Julatten we often had lunch at Vines but ironically we haven't been back since moving to Palm Cove.  The meals here never disappoint.  I treated myself to a bowl of Gnocchi with Pumpkin, Capsicum and Spinach in a rich garlic sauce while Philip had, you guessed it, Salt and Pepper Calamari.  He is not very adventurous when it comes to restaurant meals and nearly always orders the same thing......

I have enjoyed being back in the kitchen and trying out a few healthy recipes.  I first had Hainan Chicken (Chicken Rice) in Singapore and fell in love with it.  I now make a very quick version of it using chicken pieces instead of a whole chicken poached in the aromatic broth and I think it is nearly as good as the original. It is typically served with cucumber on the side but I prefer Asian Greens.

Well that's a wrap for the moment.  We have just enjoyed Melbourne Cup in Port Douglas so I will write about that in the coming days.

Judi x