No excuse......

No excuse for not keeping my blog updated.  I have simply lost my mojo and procrastination plays a role!

We have been keeping busy these past couple of months but as is so typical of us as we "make our own busy".  Exercise has been playing a big role in our lives.  Philip has been cycling with his friends in Port and the Mount Molloy Dash (Mount Molloy to Port Douglas) was a great achievement for him.  The ride was familiar to him as we lived close to Mt. Molloy when we were living at Julatten, and the ride took in Euluma Creek Road that was Philips "circuit".  There were two teams competing in the ride, one was mountain bike that went down the Bump Track and the other was the road bikers. The ride finished at Teamsters Park in Port where a delicious breakfast of bacon and egg rolls awaited them.

I continue walking but on advice from my doctor I have added in some hill climbing.  Earl Hill has been a favourite but it is certainly a steep walk up the side of the hill and I am always relieved when I reach the top but also with a feeling of satisfaction of completing the walk.

I still go to yoga classes twice a week (Philip joins me for one) and we have added Reformer Pilates to our exercise regime.  Again, on advice from my doctor, to do some weight bearing exercise for Osteoporosis.  Surprisingly I am enjoying it very much.  I detest "huffy puffy" exercise classes and reformer pilates gives me the exercise without all the sweat.  I love that you feel supported on the machines and the instructors at Studio Pilates go above and beyond to guide you through the challenges.  Philip says that he is enjoying the classes as well and even though we have to drive into Cairns city (around 20km) for the classes, it is no hardship.

Food.  It seems like I am constantly thinking about it!  I just love trying different food that I would not normally cook for myself and we have really loved trying some of the food at different restaurants over the past couple of months.  By far and away the best was the degustation at Miguels in Palm Cove.  The owner of Miguels is a friend of ours and it is great to see the success they are having with the Tapas bar, that they opened less than a year ago.  The degustation was very enjoyable and there were many delicious dishes to excite me.  I hope it becomes a regular event for Miguels.

Other places we have visited included Hogs Breath for their Lobster special (we all know how much I love lobster!) and Coco Mojos at Clifton Beach never fails to impress us with there menu.

We have also made an effort to get out and about in Palm Cove on the weekends.  We have quite the reputation for being evening recluses so we are endeavouring to change that.  Miguels (again) make a fantastic Margherita and together with a couple of Tapas has been a favourite,

A drive to Townsville in the Winnebago to have a levelling system fitted and a flight to Brisbane to catch up with my sister and our financial advisor took up a week in early November.  It was great to catch up with family and we ate some delicious food while we were there, notably middle eastern cuisine at Mecca Bah at Newstead.  I could kick myself that I didn't get any photos but the food was just too enticing!

In Townsville we caught up with all the old Julia Creek crew and it really was a talkfest over delicious home cooked meals.  One night we had pizza and wine where way too much wine was consumed but it was so much fun.  I love the way we just pick up where we left off with these friends.

Back in Palm Cove our very good friends joined us for a game of Finska on the beach.  It is a fun game that we hope to get back into now that we are home, for the time being at least.  Our apartment block is right behind this photo of us.  It has been newly painted and looks a million dollars!

Last week our travel agent invited us along to an inspection of Silverseas latest ship the Silver Nova.  The Silver Nova is staying in Australian waters for the next twelve months and she really is a beautiful ship with lots of light streaming in to all corners of the ship from the use of glass instead of the standard solid walls.  We have a couple of Silversea cruises lined up over the coming years and now we are really excited to be joining the Silversea family.

Well that brings me to today.  We have finally woken to a wet day.  The tropics have certainly been missing out on the rain that people in the south have been receiving and the drive to Townsville from Cairns looked very parched in places.  They say to be careful what you wish for, but can you really ever have too much rain?  No for me anyway.

Until next time xx