Travel – Page 9 – IT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY………..

Situated just 8km off the coast of Townsville, North Queensland is my “island home”. The place where we escape on weekends, spend holidays and enjoy the company of friends and family. Where we indulge in the luxury of reading, hiking, swimming, cooking unusual dishes and where time really means not much. We can do what we like, when we like.

This beautiful island has 23 bays and beaches and much of it is National Park surrounded by Marine Parks with some beautiful fringing coral and sea life. In winter we watch whales on their migration north from Antarctica and dolphins and turtles abound.

Huge granite boulders, hoop pines, eucalypt forest and patches of rainforest are found and of course, the resident wildlife is always there …… Rosellas flock at dawn and sunset and greedily gobble up seeds thrown by residents. The curlew looks on haughtily but doesn’t dare intercede.One morning a young kookaburra hopped onto our verandah and expected his breakfast – which he got – pieces of bacon which he slapped against the railings attempting to “kill it” before devouring.

There are some beautiful walks through the National Park, including one to the “Forts” – a series of structures which were lookout forts during the Second World War. This is where you will often see koalas in the wild. Textures and colours of trees and leaves never fail to amaze me.

And finally the sunsets – always magnificent and there is nothing better than to enjoy a sundowner at the end of the day watching the sun sink into the horizon declaring the day is over and a new start awaits in the morning.

Welcome to my Island Home !

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Journey.”

One of my favourite quotes is by the well known travel writer, Paul Theroux – “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travellers don’t know where they are going” It’s all about the journey whether that be in the travel sense or in life. There are times when I sit and ponder on where life is taking me and I wonder at the turn of events. They say that everything happens for a reason but many times we don’t know why. I have had cause to seriously question fate and the lessons we have to learn.

Let me begin by saying I have been a traveller since a very young age. Travelling the world has been part of my life since the age of 2 years and travelling through the vagaries of life is always there, in all of us. Life is a journey.

Not long ago I embarked on another journey with my husband – to Africa. It is often said that Africa weaves its way into your soul like nowhere else on earth. It is certainly true for us and we have visited the continent several times in the past decade. We loved it. I use the past tense because now I am not sure if we will ever return.

Our wonderful holiday turned into a nightmare which grew worse day by day until fate decided that maybe we had endured enough and it was time to go home. Today I am sitting at my desk looking at a calm and sparkling sea. The sky is clear and blue. Everything is calm and serene and I know I am lucky to be living in this peaceful part of the world far from recent events which have terrorised Europe and the world. However, I cannot think of Africa in such light again and now know that we were meant to be on that particular journey for a reason – which I have yet to figure out.