Keswick Island Kapers

Whale Sighting Spectacular

2011-09-06T08:23:00.003+10:00

Hello and I hope this post finds you well and happy. We are, after being privileged enough to have roughly 5 whale calves born near Keswick Island this year. There have been some great sightings from Island Air's plane, and Craig's plane, and from the shore as well.

In the past few days alone, we've had a mother and baby whale sheltering in Egremont Passage between Keswick Island and St Bees Island, feeding and playing to their heart's content -- and ours!

The cow and calf have been drifting up and down the passage feeding, really taking their time about it too. Then for about 5-10 minutes, the baby will play and splash his tail and caper in the deep waters. This goes on all day, and you can just sit and watch with a glass of bubbly, because nature like this really should be celebrated. :-)

Yesterday, Marian and I heard a loud 'BANG!' on the water, and we both stopped and said "WT?", then I grabbed my video camera and we bolted outside and across the road to view the show. The 50-60 foot long mother whale was breaching, and all I can say is "Wow! Simply fantastic!"

The hardest thing was being quiet while I filmed, but we managed somehow to hold our breath and all the exclamations in as the mother whale breached, and laid on her back slapping her fins on the water, and her tail on the water... showing junior how it's really done. When we went down to the airstrip to get a closer look, the mother even did what resembled ballet with her fins several times, and we heard a roar when she blew air out of her spout. Awesome!

It was very entertaining watching the little one trying to emulate mummy, and show off its new found skills. It's so cute, and looks so small beside its mother -- but we reckon it's about 20 feet long.

Here are 2 videos of the many I took yesterday that you can watch. I've put my video camera away now because I don't think I can top these! (See more through FaceBook if you're one of my friends). Enjoy!

Why do whales slap their tails? We think it's because they want to scare sharks away, round up some fish, or to attract a mate. What do you think?

For your information, the hump back whales migrate north each year to the warmer waters of the Whitsunday's Coral Sea to mate and give birth. There is some speculation as to whether they actually feed here as well, but I believe they do, because I was viewing a mother and baby through the binoculars the other day. They were both swimming on the surface in circles and I could see a whole school of fish rippling and jumping around in the middle of the circle. Then the whales disappeared for a deep 6 dive, and came up through the middle. So I'm pretty certain they weren't going to waste all that fish! ;-)

The whales visit us from July to September each year, so it's the perfect time to come up and visit Keswick Island, and get a front row seat to some breathtaking whale sightings.

Until next time, take care and keep smiling!

Cheers

EvieB

PS. The 7 local news team contacted me to say that the video will be airing tonight. Woohoo! :-)

What's Been Going On? Whales & More!

2011-08-02T08:10:00.002+10:00

Hi there!

As usual it's been a while since I made a post here, as my father-in-law kindly reminded me, but I've been making more frequent short posts on FaceBook. (I know, it took me long enough to get on there... But once you're on there, it's a terrific way to keep in touch with your family & friends quickly & easily. Plus you can also hide people if what they say offends you in any way!) If you'd like to connect with me there, please look up Eva Browne-Paterson and send me a message (if you don't know me personally), and I will approve your friend request. ;-)

We've been very lucky to see lots of daily whale sightings lately. The other day, we were having a sunset drink while whale watching and spotted a mother whale teaching her new baby to slap it's fin on the water... All we could hear was a loud bang and a quiet bang, and the difference in size between the 2 fins was massive! A truly amazing sight.

Here's a shot of a whale that I saw the other day. Honestly, it's a real test of patience waiting with camera poised to snap a shot of a whale because they're so fast, and it's obviously very exciting when you see them breach! lol

Can you see the whale? ;-)

We've been living with Marian Brooks since April and it's been great having her company again, and living in such a beautiful spot. Ron will be coming home in mid September, so we'll be moving on again -- this time to Dawson's place, Jasmine Cottage, up the hill. There's not much of a view through the trees, but the house is nice, split into 2 pods... and we can always see a view when we're out for a walk, a drive, or a swim! Or visiting one of our friend's houses - which is often.

Well the island is looking great with lots of changes for the better being made. It's really looking a lot tidier now with more blocks being cleared. There's still a lot to go though, and hopefully those owners will step up and get their blocks cleared soon to reduce the fire hazard. Brian's been working hard, and he gets a thrill out of doing 12 hour clears on a block for the first time. It's the satisfaction you get when you know you've done a good job and made and improvement to the island that counts I think...

I'm not advertising holiday house rentals any more. KDPL have bought KeswickIslandResorts.com off me now, and I built a new website for them at www.keswickislandholidayletting.com.au. Peter & Kerryn Beck are looking after the rentals and the cleaning of the houses, so that's one less job for me to do... It's a killer in summer time anyway, so I'd rather be swimming!

There's also a new airline with an impressive, newer plane that seats more people. Island Air is run by land owner Glenn Leigh-Smith. They're located near Australasian Jet in Mackay, opposite Air Pioneer. I believe that flight bookings will now be made online through their site -- and that's the last job I had with KDPL booking flights -- gooooneski!

I've launched a new extension of my online business aimed at small businesses in Mackay. After carrying out some research, I discovered that many businesses don't have a website, and they know virtually very little or nothing at all about the advantages of mobile phone marketing. So I'm going to focus on that by helping local business owners become better educated so they can build up their client base. You can see my website at www.whitsundaymobilemarketing.com.au. If you'd like to receive tips and hints about mobile marketing in your business, please connect with me on FaceBook.

I've also become a NuSkin Distributor, which targets anti-aging and good health. Marian and I have been having fun having Galvanic Spa treatments and taking Vitality to keep us full of energy. It's nice to pamper yourself at least once a day, because we deserve it!

Clayton & Jen are coming up for a quick visit in a few weeks before he heads off to 'the ghan' again. This time for 6 months, which is too long for me! He's in the Commandos now, so I can't really say much about him online... But I can't wait to see him as it's been 8 months since his last visit at Christmas. I hope the weather warms up in the next few weeks as it's been a bit chilly at night. The days have still been beautiful and sunny though, so it's a huge improvement on last year's continual rain, that's for sure!

Well that's all I've got to share for today. I'll catch up with you again in a few months.

Cheers

EvieB

We Survived Round 1 Of Tropical Cyclone Mayhem 2011

2011-01-31T09:33:00.019+10:00

Hi there!

Time to report on Christmas and New Years at Keswick Island once again. I know there are people who keep an eye on this blog and I've become noticeably more tardy over the last year with regards to posting on a regular basis. I do apologise for that, but suggest that if you do know me personally to request being a friend through Facebook where I make more frequent short posts about what's happening here.

Christmas topped the year off with rain, rain, and more rain... The island was so green, it almost looked like New Zealand (minus the sheep!) I must say it was one of the more dismal chrissies we've ever had with no presents or a tree... Well why bother when there's nothing to put under it? I love to give presents, but it wasn't to be. Maybe in 2011 I'll be able to...

I did receive a cool pressie off Clayton though! An iced tea infuser jug with all kinds of cool fruit teas. Plus Brian & I received a neat set of snorkelling goggles with a built-in camera from Santa. Not to mention some extra funds from family which was very much appreciated. So we're pretty spoiled really! :-)

We had Clayton and his girlfriend Jen with us, and we ran out of power several times due to a crappy generator and faulty inverter system, while it was stinking hot and raining. So no fans or hot water to be had, which was a real pain with guests staying. Should I mention that Clayton and Jen broke the extremely cheap metal bed they slept in on the first night? Maybe not, because they didn't want me to for some reason. I don't know what happened to their sense of humour about that particular event...

Jen's family came up from Melbourne and stayed at the Keswick Island Guest House. It was great to meet Johanna and Craig, and their sons Craig and Tom -- especially seeing as they didn't know that Jen was going to come home early from teaching English in China and surprise them by staying here as well! What a beautiful family reunion that was! (It even brough a tear to my eyes and Lyn's. [sniff sniff])

I'm amazed to discover that we don't have any photos to share of Christmas or the Nicholls family, but with Brian still recovering from his second operation in early December, he didn't bother about being the 'official photographer' this time around. But I did manage to find one photo of James Asbury dancing on the table to 'The Time Warp' later in the day... As Brian Kinderman would say, "It would be very remiss of me not to include it here!"

James you party animal...

Christmas dawned with heavy rain pouring in horizontally from the NE, so we had our banquet inside at the Keswick Island Guest House. There were around 26 people, including ~6 children (for the first time!) As usual, Lyn excelled herself with her cullinary prowess, and each course was absolutely delicious!

Let's see if I can remember what we ate... Why don't I just become a smartie and take it straight off the menu? :-)

KESWICK ISLAND GUEST HOUSE CHRISTMAS DAY MENU 2011

Oysters on the Shell

Served with lemon, ponzu sauce & chives

Smoked Trout & Leek Tart

Served with spinach & lemon salad

BBQ Lobster Tails

With Thai chilli dressing & Thai basil

Duck Breast with Figs, Burnt Honey & Lavender Sauce

On a bed of radicchio & witlof

Chocolate Pavlova

With balsamic cherries

Christmas Pudding Ice Cream

I'm sure everyone who attended would agree with me when I say the food was simply to die for.

Once the New Year arrived, the clouds lifted and the sun came out once again. Everyone made a sigh of collective relief as we continued to gather at Basil Bay at high tide. Brian's son Johnno, and his girlfriend Emma arrived in late December to see in the New Year with dad, and we did manage to snap a photo of them at the beach.

Johnno Kinderman & Emma

Since the new year rolled around, we've been back to work as usual with our noses to the grindstone, and arranging our lives to fit around enjoying the sunny weather and high tides for swimmage and lunch at the beach. Her'es an example of an extra high tide shared with friends at the beach...

Lyn & Brian Kinderman with Karen Cooke & Liz (who enjoyed a day off on the island).

Australia Day was also most enjoyable, with practically everyone who was on the island gathering together at Basil Bay for lunch. It was great to see all present together in one place!

Brian's tendon's have recovered from the op and he won't be going back to the mainland for any more medical stuff now. It's as good as it's going to get, and he's been working it and exercising his hand bit-by-bit more and more each day. He's a tough old stick after all! (I can say that now that he's over 50!)

Unfortunately, we can't have too much fun! With the good comes the bad...
With all the horrendous disasters happening in Qld, we've also been getting together on a regular basis to organise some relief for ~15 flood-affected couples to come and stay at Keswick Island for 3 days of well-deserved R&R. That community effort has spawned the Keswick Island Progress Association (KIPA), and I feel sure that only good, positive things will ever come out of those social gatherings. Every time we've left a meeting so far, Brian and I have felt really good and uplifted... It's about time we did something pro-active as a community. That's one of the reasons I wanted to move here in the first place! Yes, of course it sometimes feels like our community is 'too small', but when you're doing something collectively positive for the good of others -- it feels just right! (No matter what anyone else says) :-)

But alas, El Ninio has thrown a spanner in the works, and decided to throw a couple of tropical cyclones at us. This time it was TC Anthony, which came along, then went away, then decided to come back right towards us as a cat. 2. As usual, we all tidied up and brought outdoor furniture etc. inside, and with no cyclone meeting held on the island this time around, handing out radios, we decided to hold our own, and went with pre-cyclone jitters and a bottle of bubbly to see if our neighbours Brian & Lyn needed a hand in preparation for the onslought. Luckily for us we have mobile phones, and can call and text if we need help... and with Marian on her own at her place, we'd check up on each other at various times to make sure everything was okay. ;-)

With eyes glued to the BOM TC forecast tracking map, and Weather Zone Forum, we could all see where Anthony was heading, and luckily it skirted past us and made landfall around 10.00pm just north of Bowen. I'm glad to report that no injuries or severe damage resulted in this round.

It just goes to show why we're all so fixated with the weather out here... I guess that's par for the course when you live on a rock in the middle of the ocean! :-)

So now we're all gearing up for round 2 with TC Yasi, a huge system around the size of the state of Queensland, which could develop into a cat. 3 or possibly 4 and cross the coast around this coming Thursday. Therefore we've decide we may as well stay in cyclone alert here, and leave everything where it is, albeit an inconvenience, and remain glued to our iPhones and computers...

Believe me, if we were in a position to trot off to Alice Springs for a little vacation, we would all go en masse! lol. I think some residents may decide to vacate for a short getaway, but the rest of us will hold down the fort, and stay as safe as possible in the mean time. We were thinking about prayer meetings, but decided to cross our fingers and hope for the best. I'll make another blog post here after TC Yasi passes and report on how we fared.

Until then, take care and keep smiling!

Cheers
EvieB

New Property Available For Holiday Accommodation!

2010-09-04T12:52:00.003+10:00

Hi there

Ray & Judy Dawson have just added their duplex home to the rental pool at Keswick Island Resorts, and it's now the most affordable accommodation available here. Named after their daughter, Jasmine Cottage is only 3 years old, and has a lovely long wraparound deck on two sides.

Take a look here >>

You can rent the whole 3 bedroom home out, or opt for the 1 bedroom studio. Either way, it's a lovely spot to get away and enjoy the peace and solitude here on Keswick Island. To make a booking, contact details are on the web page above.

Regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

Bacon Pizza - Contributed by Mark Rankin & Marian Brooks

2010-09-02T10:04:00.004+10:00

Hi there

I received an interesting email from Mark Rankin who recently came to stay on Keswick Island for the second time, (last Chrissy being the first time), up at James & Rayna Asbury's place for a month. Just after he arrived, he received a mystery box of 30kg of bacon that was unaddressed.

So after much chasing around trying to find out who it belonged to, he found out it didn't belong to anyone -- so it was shared around the island.

Luckily for Mark, it's his favourite food, so he was in pig heaven every day of his holiday on Keswick Island!

On the last night here, he had dinner with Marian Brooks, and they came up with a bacon pizza, recipe and photos for which I am including below. Enjoy!

Cheers,
EvieB
---
This is the pizza Marion & I prepared the last evening I was on the Island. Also called the Triple Bacon Pizza, also more affectionately known simply as "The Maureen". I know many of you are hanging out for the recipe.. so here it is

Directions..

Take a slurp of a pre-prepared cocktail to ensure arm muscles are working then...
Get Pizza Base then
Add Sauce then
Add Cheese then
Pause for drink of cocktail
Add Bacon then
Add Capsicum then
Pause for drink of cocktail
Add Bacon then
Add Mushrooms then
Pause for drink of cocktail
Add Bacon then
Add Cheese then
Add Beetroot (yes beetroot - ideally arranged similar to pepperoni pieces) then
Add Cheese then
In the oven then...
Drink remainder of Cocktail and make another.

Best served on a pizza board to very drunk people. Ideally it needs to be more than 6cm high else it is considered you do not have enough Bacon. If you find yourself in this situation... add more bacon.

Awesome !!

It's Catch Up Time...

2010-06-22T11:01:00.008+10:00

Hi there,

Yes I thought it was time for a post, and a blog makeover. I hope you like the new look...

Did 6 months just fly past, and now I'm that much closer to the big 5-oh? Damn! What happened to the first part of this year?

It's actually been a bit of a rough year for Brian and I in more ways than one... The weather's been really weird for a start, and we haven't spent anywhere near as much time at the beach as we'd like to. Albeit, we've had some lovely group lunches on most other Sundays when the sun peaks out, and the wind drops.

We survived the tropical cyclone, and I readily admin that I'd rather not go through that experience again. It was simply terrifying, but at least we know that the houses can withstand a category 3 STC. We mainly sustained environmental damage, which was pretty upsetting to see, but amazingly everything grows back very quickly when the wet season continues on and on and on! lol

A couple of homes did get some damage unfortunately, but luckily and most importantly, no one was hurt.

Work has really slowed down for some of the residents this year, which literally makes it difficult to survive... This really is an expensive place to live, and we're really hoping that KDPL sends out letters to the other land owners that haven't had their blocks cleared yet. That would certainly help to give KILM a boost, get us actively working to make this place safer and even more beautiful, put food on the table, and let us sleep at night.

Brian fell down an embankment here, and broke both of his wrists, so that set him back a bit, and kept him from working for 10 weeks. But he's fully recovered now, and able to work again, which is good. Many thanks to Craig & Karen, Marian, Trish & Pete for all their assistance on the morning of the accident. I don't know what we would have done without them (as I was having a huge panic attack! Who'd have thought it? lol)

PDM are still here working on the excavations for the beach houses at Basil Bay, and the truck movements should be drawing to an end in the near future. Dale Criss also resigned as Island Manager a couple of months ago, and hasn't been replaced. KDPL moved the old 'sailing club' portable building down to Basil Bay for residents to use. It's where we hold the resident's meetings each month now, and is very handy for us.

Ron Brooks has been given a new posting looking after the native plants in the nursery. The plants are due to arrive in August, and we're looking forward to seeing the nursery full of lovely greenery. When he gets some drafting work, Marian will be stepping in to help out, and sharing the gardening duties.

Speaking of stepping out with Marian, we've been going 'walkies' 3 times a week, which has been great. I haven't made it up to the top of the island near Craig's place yet, but that road up from the airport, Orca Drive, is a killer as it is! I'm very thankful that we gave up smoking in March.

Jero Andrews has moved into Dr Chris Anderson's place now, so it's not on the rental list at Keswick Island Resorts any longer. Steve Back's place, Coral View, sustained some damage in the cyclone as well, so it's currently unavailable for holiday rentals. Keswick Island Retreat and Basil Bay Lookout are available for self-contained family holidays, and have beautiful views of the surrounding bush and sea. Keswick Hideaaway is also available, and will be a good place to stay once the excavations are completed on the way to Basil Bay in a month or so.

Brian & Lyn Kinderman have had some lovely guests out to stay at the Keswick Island Guest House, including celebrities from the Postcards TV show, a freelance writer who wrote an article for The Age newspaper, and the latest goss reveals that the Queensland Weekender show are coming up to do a special as well! They're really becoming popular this year, which is wonderful because they deserve it.

The butterflies must have had perfect conditions for hatching this year, because we've had swarms of them since April. Then they went away due to the rainy weather, and more have hatched since, even as recently as this week -- which is very late in the year. It's just fantastic to see such a glorious spectacle as a flutter of butterflies here.

Our landlords, Jennie and Nat, are heading back to the island for a 2 week break this coming weekend, and we'll be moving out to stay with Brian & Lyn at the guest house (yay, food fest!), then to Glen & Cindy's (where we're thinking of moving to in November). I just had some french champagne delivered, so I couldn't think of a better time or place to share it with friends than at the guest house! ;-)

My work has been busy as always with lots of new client projects to get stuck into. There's never a dull moment online for me, so I've put off completing my book until next year... But I've still been managing to take time out to curl up with a good book. Honestly, we have a great book swapping service here on the island. Between Lyn, Marian and myself (plus Brian), we all get to read some awesome book collections.

We just finished the David Eddings Belgarion collection, and everyone loved Christine Feehan's 16 book 'Dark' collection (phew, talk about hot!), not to forget the Twilight saga, and even Aussie author, Trudi Canavon, with the Black Magic trilogy.

DVD's are shared as well, and with Brian & Lyn's trip to Bali in March, we've got a lot of the latest movies to watch and enjoy.

We haven't seen much of the kids this year now that Jess has turned 18, and has her own car to blat around in. Clayton's off to the Solomon Islands on the 1st July, then he'll be transferring to the commandos early next year. Hopefully he'll get some time to come up and visit soooooon because I really miss him.

We did have a couple of visitors stay with us for 10 days in March. Deb & Tony came and enjoyed themselves fishing, swimming, hiking, and oyster catching! lol

Well it'd be nice to include some photos with this post, but my camera is playing up. It's a little like mobile phones, iPods and computers that seem to 'automatically' break down around the 2 year mark... We have a conspiracy theory that it's all built-in to force us to buy more things we don't really need!

I will include some photos with my next post, and aim to make it within a month next time.

Until then, take care and keep smiling, and don't forget to come and visit us soon!

Warm regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

Before 2009 Comes To A Close...

2009-12-31T09:13:00.003+10:00

Hello everyone!

Yes I know I've been slack in updating my blog, and I thank all those who keep reminding me. I do apologise, as I know many people review this site to find out the latest -- but it's been a very busy year. I kid you not! (But there's really no excuse for being so tardy I admit...)

All those things we were hoping would happen on Keswick Island with the takeover by Keswick Developments are coming to fruition, and they have proven to be totally committed to the future of our home.

This is great news, and all residents have been positively affected by the developments in one way or another. For myself, I've become the queen of cleaning the contractor's dongas, and Brian has become the bobcat king. lol

Of course, everything still revolves around the tides as always, and we still manage to effortlessly blend work with pleasure. ;-)

The next time you fly into KI, you'll notice much more on the runway, like contractor's accommodation (Whale Cottage & Jubilee Oval), a new road along the side of the runway, a concrete barge ramp, a concrete batch plant and more. Everything is laid out neatly, and all is going to plan, which is great.

You'll also notice a change down towards Basil Bay, with the excavations for the construction of the 9 Beach Houses well under way. The road to Connie Bay has been improved to accommodate the trucks, and a new road down to Horseshoe Bay has been constructed. KDPL have even installed a water tank at one of the bores at Connie Bay for use in earthworks.

The latter part of 2009 was very dry indeed, but the last couple of weeks have brought some much-needed rain to make the island green again. Hallejulah!

It's fantastic to report that 2 more houses have been completed: Ron & Marian's home, and Keith & Toni Lee's home. Both are beautiful additions to the island, and it's great to see other resident's dreams come true.

We're not sure if any houses will be built in 2010, but this year saw many land owners come and visit to see their blocks and renew their dream of living in paradise. We can only hope that they will get plans organised and start building soon, because many of the people we've met will fit in perfectly here in our little community.

The Keswick Island Guest House had a major renovation this year, and it looks brand new with a stylish exterior, and natural colours inside that compliment the surroundings. It was featured in Getaway, which was thrill, and also reviewed in The Melbourne Age and other newspapers. Visit their web site to see more here >>

There are several more boats here now, which makes for some interesting fishing trips and days out sightseeing at the surrounding islands. 2001 will be making more trips this Friday and for the next 2 weeks as well. It looks like there are many who are interested in visiting our hidden gem! :-)

Some of our family visited us this year including Clayton with his girlfriend Jen in September, followed by Jessica for 12 days in October, and Nathan joined us for Christmas which was enjoyed by all.

We had the usual run of celebrations this year, including some landmark birthdays, which I'll include photos of in my next post. We had a terrific Christmas party at Jubilee Oval put on by KDPL, which was enjoyed by ~40 people, including the permanent contractors, who are a great bunch of guys. The theme this year was "South Pacific", and I went as Bloody Mary. I'm glad no one asked me to do the happy talking hands song! lol

We enjoyed what we think is the best Christmas Day yet on Keswick Island at the Guest House. I recently reviewed the day in Trip Advisor, and you can see it here >>

Brian Kinderman also wrote a new version of the 12 days of Christmas, which we all sang together during a dinner break. All 22 people loved it, and he's an excellent song writer. ;-)

Well I hate to say it, but it's almost high tide, and with a high of 6.2m... I'm not missing it for anything in the world! In fact, there will hardly be any sand today, so it's pretty special.

We're expecting rain tonight for New Year's Eve, so James & Rayna Asbury have kindly offered to host the celebrations on their deck up the hill. We should get a great view of the fireworks at Mackay at 9.00pm and midnight.

Here's wishing you all a very prosperous and happy New Year! I'll catch up with you again soon, when I make a post of the choice photos taken in 2009.

With best regards,
Eva Browne-Paterson

No April Fool's Here!

2009-06-20T15:10:00.001+10:00

Greetings!

April's always a good month here because the weather starts coming good again, and we always look forward to Anzac day. Before that happened though, we had a nice visit from David Berck, with his mates Frank and Dero. Brian & Lyn joined us with them on the deck for drinkies while we caught up.

Here's Lyn with Frank chatting...

Here's Frank again, and I'm not sure what he's talking about... but I hear he's very popular with the ladies over in Mackay! It looks like he's got his hands full to me. ;-)

We also had a visit from our favourite ABC radio announcer, Kim Kleidon, who had been over at St Bees interviewing the koala specialists for her program. She came and spent a couple of nights at the KI Guest House, and we welcomed her back with open arms as always...

This shot was taken before the guys from National Parks & Blinky Bill came over to join us! (Oh dear! lol)

April was also a busy time for KILM, with the boy's construction project. A set of bays to hold materials like sand and gravel etc. That kept them out of mischief! (Thanks Dale).

Here's a rare shot of a white-bellied sea eagle that Brian got one morning on the way up from the airport...

Ray & Judy Dawson's sister and brother-in-law, Dianne & Garry, came up for a few days, and we invited them down to say hello. Karen Cooke joined us as well...

And the day we'd long been awaiting finally came... The return of Ron & Marian Brooks -- for good this time! We welcomed them with leis and champagne, and a lovely spa at Craig & Karen's house. (Yes it was lovely in!)

Here's Karen & Craig with Ron & Marian. That view's hard to take isn't it? So are the bubbles! lol

This shot was taken from the beach next to the runway and Egremont Passage, looking towards St Bees Island. It was snapped from in front of the temporary 'sailing club'.

Here's one looking the other way northwards.

This is the temporary sailing club, which probably is no more!

Doesn't the runway look lovely with green grass next to it. All tidied up for now.

Here's a beach kurlew that lives in the vicinity with its mate. They're quite different from the bush kurlews...

We caught Trish landing one of her planes at the end of the day...

Brian had an interesting getaway down to the Sunshine Coast, where he had to drive a new addition to the island up. A 12T truck! So he drove it all the way up to Airlie Beach, where he met the barge that also brought over the new excavator and operator Richard. (Yay, another Kiwi!)

Here's the barge with every just fitting in!

Here's Richard at work in the excavator.

That's all for now... The next post is on our Anzac Day celebrations!

Cheers
Eva

March: Tropical Cyclone Hamish

2009-06-20T14:49:00.004+10:00

Hi there

I don't suppose you'd understand how fixated we are by the weather reports here, and Livio Regano from Channel 7 News would you? Not unless you lived here... But when you live in the middle of the ocean on a rock, you really start to become aware of the weather, the wind - and how many knots it's blowing, and low pressure cells.

Typically, there's those few months each year where we're practically glued to the weather forecasts, so we can be prepared in case of an oncoming nasty! This one was called Hamish.

Luckily for me, I was called away to do some work back at Modular Mining on the Central Coast in NSW in early March. I didn't mind, because that's the month when cyclones abound, and I tend to freak out at night when it gets really windy. Yes, I'm a self-admitted scaredy cat!

During the 3rd week that I was away, we started hearing reports of tropical cyclone Hamish heading down the coast from Bowen in a south-easterly direction. Because I took my laptop with me, I'd check the bureau of meteorology site twice a day, and give Brian the coordinates of the TC to map out. At one stage there, it got pretty hairy as the closest land it came to was Keswick Island, but that was still 220km away thank goodness! Nevertheless, B1 & B2, and Mike & Jero went around the island securing anything and everything that could fly away, (and there was a lot!), and made sure that everyone's home was secure.

I was worried being down south, but Brian was in his element I think! He likes living dangerously... Unlike me, whose motto is, "Never do anything to endanger your life!" lol

Here's a snap Brian took of some pretty large waves crashing against the shore near Horseshoe Bay.

Followed several days later by a glorious sunrise with a full moon. (This must have been the day I was coming back!)

Soon followed by a beautiful sunset.

Being the end of the wet season, or so we thought... March was a quiet month on Keswick Island. But for me on the mainland, I had a ball catching up with my old work mates, friends & family, shopping like crazy, going out for dinner most nights, playing ten pin bowling, cards & pool, and generally working my butt off! But it was really good to come home again... ;-)

Till next time, take care!
Evie

Valentines Day At Brampton Island

2009-06-20T14:25:00.004+10:00

Hello again,

On the 5th January, on Brian's birthday, we had a lovely surprise when Brian & Lyn Kinderman gave us a joint birthday present... One night's stay at Brampton Island! We were thrilled to bits, and even more excited when we realised we could spend Valentines Day there.

So of course Brian & Lyn had to come and enjoy it with us! ...
Then Peter & Trish would need to fly us there, so they wanted to stay the night as well! ...
And Karen & Craig didn't want to miss out, so they wanted to fly over in their plane...
And Mike & Lyn didn't want to be left out, so they decided to join us!

Needless to say, this was going to leave Keswick Island fairly empty and quiet without all of us there. ;-)

As it turned out, 8 of us went, because Mike & Lyn couldn't make it due to generator problems at the time. We felt pretty special taking the 6 minute flight, and arriving in 2 planes on the day. We were very lucky to get good weather considering it was the wet season, and it was really humid and balmy there. No cool breezes like you get on Keswick Island... In fact, you could almost think that we were in Fiji!

We were given the royal tour, then shown our rooms, and we all met up at the main beach for lunch. What can I say? We had a sumptuous lunch, followed by a dip in the ocean. Some kayaked, some fell out of their kayaks (taking others with them!), some went for walkies, and some floated around in the pool... It was a lovely day had by all, followed by sunset cocktails, and yet another beautiful meal and karaoke. Brian Kinderman even got up and did a rendition of "Love Potion No. 9!" (Especially for the love birds!) :-)

Here's a photo of the pool where we lazed around for a while...

Thank you all for your company and such a lovely day, and especially to Brian & Lyn for their thoughtfulness. We had a most memorable time away with good friends. :~)

Regards
EvieB

January on Keswick Island - The Capricorn Month

2009-05-13T16:40:00.005+10:00

Hello again!

It's funny how there are 5 Capricorns living on Keswick Island, on the Capricorn Coast, near the Tropic of Capricorn, next to St Bees Island, which is full of Capricorn goats! Well sometimes we've been known to 'act the goat', and there's no exception when we're celebrating birthdays here.

First we had Lyn & Mike's birthdays on the 29th and 30th of December, then it was Brian's turn to reach the big 50 on the 5th January. His son Nathan came up to share it with us. It was my birthday on the 16th, and we had Clayton come up for a visit. I can't seem to find any photos from then though. :-(

We did get a little rain...

Here's Brian and Nathan on the gourmet pizza night we had for Brian's birthday. I wonder what he's hiding behind his back... Not a drink, surely! Nathan's Pizza Hut experience in his younger days certainly helped when we were preparing the 15 pizzas! Thanks Nath!

Here's Jaz, Jero, Jasmine, Troy & B1 in what looks like a smoky haze on the night!

As usual, Brian guided Nathan up the hill for a hike, and they took some photos of the beautiful views. As you can see, more houses keep popping up on our island.

By jove, I think they've reached the top! Wow, what a view! (I really admire active fit people!)

January's always a good month for king tides, and this one came in at 6.48m two days in a row!

We could step right off the grass straight into the water! How good is that?

I was a bit short on photos this time... Will have to scrounge some from our friends I think!

That's all to report for January. Stay tuned for the February post soon!

Regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

Happy New Year From Keswick Island

2009-05-13T11:33:00.003+10:00

Hi there!

We broke a record for our New Year's celebration with 48 people getting together at Basil Bay on 31st December 2008. The most we've ever had at one time!

The weather was great, and we weren't rained out like in previous years. We even watched the fireworks at Mackay at 9.00pm and midnight. I'll apologise in advance that I can't remember everyone's name. If you find you're unnamed though, you're welcome to refresh my memory!

Here's land owners Jim & Janet Aitken on the right, with their fishing buddies Keith & Tammy on the left, and myself in full plume! It was great to catch up with them on their holidays here.

Here's a cute little munchkin visiting from England who can sleep through anything!

Craig in the hat cooking up a storm, with some friends who came along for the fun.

Jaz & Jacqueline were visiting on their yearly trip from The Netherlands, and are seen here talking to Peter & Trish, who had just moved into their new place here.

Karen with more friends!

Jenny Back on the right, with 2 of her cheeky friends clowning around!

Anna Back, with her sister Pru sitting on her lap, and another friend to the left.

Karen, about to sample my ever popular punch!

Some of Kevin Ellul's family and friends made it over from Mackay. Here's his son on the left, and more friends to the right. What a really lovely bunch of people they are!

Here's more of the Ellul's gang. I can't believe I can't remember the girl's names... Even after making them all those punch mixes that night! Hey, that could have something to do with it! lol

Jacqueline, Jaz & Mike with others.

Here's my Brian, with Jim Aitken (or Jamaican as we refer to him), and Steve Back. See what they're drinking? Yep, it's that mean green punch again! ;-)

Here's Mike & Lyn's daughter, Jasmine, who came up from Melbourne for NYE.

We certainly went to some trouble with the hats, masks & noisemakers (once the kids went to bed!) lol

Here's more!

Anyone would have thought it was a mardi gras! I do believe that's Lyn hiding behind the baubles...

There were a few more people that weren't pictured, such as Troy from Melbourne, Lyn Kinderman, Mattie Back, the English guests from overseas and their Irish relatives from Brisbane, and Peter, Nicola & William.

Many thanks to the guys for helping to setup the party, and to Peter Ware & Trish for the yummy brunch followed by American barbie on New Year's day!

That's all for this post, but I'm on a roll today. Another coming sooooon!

Cheers
EvieB

Christmas 2008 Post... At Last!

2009-05-13T09:33:00.007+10:00

I know, I know... I've really needed a boot in the backside to get the Christmas 08 post on my blog, and I do apologise for the tardiness. Things have been getting busy here on Keswick Island, with lots of development happening. So finding a few spare hours to resize photos for a post has been difficult.

Making enough money to keep us fed and watered has been upmost in most of our minds... But with all the work that KILM's been getting lately, we should be able to eat and drink ourselves silly for the next few months! lol

Most of us have struggled to keep afloat out here, but we love the place, and we're passionate about living here forever, and not returning to the mainland and 'suburbia'. Once you live in such an ideallic location, you just don't want to go back -- but forward.

Well, it looks like the time has come for our men to be busy whippersnipping, building, driving trucks and plant machinery etc. We were hoping it would happen one day... we just weren't sure when that would be! But I can tell you, that KDPL are getting things done, and having extra money coming in is a true blessing. We'll always be very grateful to keep living here in the Whitsundays.

Now onto last Christmas!

Imagine my surprise when Brian came home with a small gum tree to use for our chrissy tree this year? Well it looked terrific done up in my purple decorations. Here's our Aussie bush Christmas tree below...

We all gathered at the Keswick Island Guest House to open our presents, like a gaggle of noisy 10 year olds! There were some brilliant gifts exchanged this year, and the all-day lunch is a wonderful way to spend the day with friends and loved ones. We were lucky enough to have 16 yr old Jessica with us this year.

There were 15 people sitting down to Lyn's delightful dishes this time, and the table was beautifully set as always. Notice the pieces of ribbon winding their way from each place setting to the basket in the middle? They're all intertwined, and we had to unravel them to find gorgeous little keepsakes to remember the day by. We truly are spoilt aren't we?

Here's a close-up of the goodies basket with the gifts, which we all had fun opening. Brian and Lyn put a lot of thought into their table gifts, and we're always delighted when we open them.

Here's a shot of a heavily preggie monitor that tried and tried to join us all on the day. Here she is sitting pretty, like a meerkat on the front lawn. It was a really hot day, so we tried to give her some water... but I think it was the delectable aroma of yummies that were enticing her to come inside!

First course was tray after tray of fresh oysters; some with lemon and cracked pepper, others with gluten-free timari. Delicious! Even young William, a guest from Dawson's house, tried them... but wasn't all that keen!

Next on the menu was barbequed red claw in honey and lemon. Finger lickin' good!

Here's some of us. From middle top is Jessica, myself, Verna, Lyn, Mike, Peter, William and his mother, Nicola.

Another shot of the red claw cooking on the barbie. Look good don't they? (So does the view!) I tell you, they were literally to die for!

Here's the only shot of Lyn that we got on the day... She was that busy cooking up a storm and serving us in great style. Here she is barbecuing the red claw, and yes, wearing the dreaded apron! lol

Here's Pish & Treat -- I mean, Trish & Pete who joined us on the day. ;-)

Karen & Craig also joined us. Here's Karen with Trish having a laugh.

Here was my contribution on the day. Smoked trout with avocado and potato, & fennel, watercress salad with creamy horseradish dressing. Lubly! (Many thanks to Jessica & Brian who helped me on the day. Now I know what Lyn goes through most days to serve a crowd!)

What? Can't see it close enough? Here it is again... Mmmmm, can you smell that smoked trout? ;-)

As the day progressed, we had some entertaining interludes... The first was young William's idea, and he roped in Jessica and his parents to join in the fun and games.

Brian & Peter regaled us with some funnies as well!

But wait... there's more food! Here are 4 dishes that were all served together cold.

Fresh citrus salad.

Chicken roulade stuffed with spinach.

Fresh beans and snow pea salad with sprouts.

And pork & pistacchio terrine!

Phew! After all that, do you think we had room for anything else? Of course we did! lol. Pears stewed in red witn with camembert cheese! A gorgeous, light dish, which was followed by Lyn's hand-made Christmas pudding. A few of us found the threepences in the pudding, and dutifully gave them back. ;-)

We were amazed that young William lasted as long as he did, considering it's a mammoth day. But he did quite admirably before those lashes started to droop.

As always, Brian & Lyn were the perfect hosts, the guests behaved themselves, and a wonderful time had by all. You can be sure that we all slept well that night!

New Year's Eve post coming soon!

Until then, take care and keep smiling!

Warm regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

Rescue From Gilligan's Island?

2009-03-14T12:15:00.005+10:00

Hi there loyal readers!

In early December, the head lease holder's, Keswick Island Developments, threw a Christmas shindig for the island residents. Appropriately themed as 'Gilligan's Island', a most enjoyable and entertaining night was had by all.

Here's Brian & Lyn Kinderman dressed up as Thurston Howell III and Ginger.

In fact, there were some gorgeous frocks worn on the night... Here's Lovie Howell & Ginger, Trish Mahlberg & Lyn Kinderman, looking "stunning darling!"

We also had a couple of Skippers discussing rescue strategies, Steve & Edward.

But wait, can I spy another Ginger? Breda, Steve's girlfriend, joined us for some fun.

I even saw 2 more Skippers! Steve & Mike, plus a blow up palm tree... Hey I can see our place from here too! lol!

The Professor was there as well to answer our questions... aka Jero.

What? There's another Skipper? That must be Peter Ware...

But never fear! Should any of us drown during the attempted escape from Gilligan's Island, (which was playing on the DVD thanks to B2), we even had a lifesaver to come to the rescue! Here's Scott getting goggle-eyed below...

It didn't take long for things to start going a little awry... Maybe it was the papaya punch, or Maryanne's coconut cream pie that did it. But hats, wigs and clothes were soon being swapped and changed around! Here's Jero & Peter looking pretty in Lovie's hats.

And 'lil buddy' Gilligan with a punk rock wig on...

Of course, we had a Gilligan's Island quiz to test out our memories! I do believe that's one of our Ginger's asking the questions on the right...

I'm not sure who this stunning Ginger is...

Then we had even more entertainment, with a great rendition of Old MacDonald's Farm by Peter, Brian, Breda & Edward.

Soon followed by an evocative Swing Low, Sweet Chariot by Jero, Breda, Peter, Mike, Brian & Dougall!

You know how Gilligan's Island used to have special guests blow in every now and then? Well we had the 3 stooges! [jj] lol! All in the name of fun of course! Here's Dougall, Scott & Edward.

Here's James & Rayna Asbury, who learned all they'd ever want to know about Gilligan's Island on the night!

In case you're wondering, we did have a Maryanne... me! But I reserve the right not to put photos of me up on my own blog! haha! That's all for this post! Christmas must be next...

Catch up with you then!
Eva Browne-Paterson

Spoiled On St Bees Island

2008-12-06T10:14:00.009+10:00

Recently Brian & Lyn, and Brian & I were invited by David Berck to spend a few hours at St Bees for lunch. He came and picked us up in his dinghy and we made the short trip over.

To our delight, Dave had arranged for us to have lunch IN the water, and had the table setup ready with an umbrella waiting for the tide to come in!

Here's how it looked when we first arrived...

Prior to lunch, we were treated to a glass or two of chilled strawberry champagne. Lindauer from NZ (how did he know that was our favourite?) Here's how the dining area looked a short while later...

Dave had been out fishing at the reef the day before with a friend, and caught a pile of big coral trout. So he filleted one and prepared a mouth watering apple & cinnamon trout cooked on the barbie! I must say, it just melted in the mouth, it was that fresh! Accompanied by a fresh green salad, it was a delicious meal enjoyed by all.

Here's Dave in the blue hat, with Lyn, myself, Brian, and last minute arrival Dero. What a great way to stay cool on a hot day!

Here's Lyn & Dave chatting away...

This is the barbeque/bar area outside the main shed. That orange tree was just beautiful!

Brian looking happy and refreshed after a dip...

Isn't this a glorious photo of another orange tree over an old shed?

We went for a short walk looking for koalas, but didn't find any. Probably too hot! But we found some interesting rocks that looked like they were placed there by giants!

Here's Lyn looking pretty as always in her favourite colour -- orange!

Lunch was completed by a shot of 20 year old Zambucca, followed by a shot of Frangelica!

Needless to say, we had to be poured into the dinghy for the return trip! lol! On behalf of us all, I'd like to thank David for a fabulous, most memorable day. We all felt like royalty. :-)

We owe you one mate!

Cheers
EvieB

Spring At Keswick Island

2008-12-05T13:27:00.003+10:00

Hi there!

Time for another post before the festive season gets into full swing! I'm going to start off from where I left you last time, in early September.

We had a pizza night here when we first got our italian pizza oven, which is a fantastic little machine that cooks wood fired pizzas in 5 minutes flat! I came up with all kinds of gourmet yummies, but my photographer must've been slack that night, because we don't have any photos... But a good time was had by all.

Brian & Lyn had a visit at the Guest House by block owners, John & Anne Hayler, who flew their circa 1940 Cessna 140 in. Here's a photo of Boo Boo down at the air strip.

David & Denise Bullock paid us a visit with their friends for a weekend, and we had our very first jumble sale! Denise emptied out the cyclone room

downstairs in the Guest House, and the girls had a ball going through the contents! We got some photos of them all dancing to 'Bye Bye Miss American Pie' on the deck, but alas... they were blurry! (Or was it us that was blurry?)

Jessica came up again for school holidays, and brought her boyfriend Denny with her this time. Here they are up the top of the mountain.

Here's a shot of Jess & Brian up the mountain...

A sign was erected in front of the bee hives, which is quite informative. If you haven't tasted our organic honey yet, it's delicious!

The bee hives are located hear the start of the Connie Bay trail.

The monitors here aren't afraid of us at all... In fact, this one was sunning himself as Brian was doing some gardening! He's dug a hole in the side of the hill and moved in now!

Speaking of monitors, it's been so dry up here for the last few months, I was doing a little watering of the garden when a small monitor appeared. I shooed him away, and started watering in the other direction, when he showed up again! He'd run underneath the house and was hanging out for a drink! I found this out when I sprayed him with the water, and he laid in the water lapping away. Now I know what they mean by 'flat out like a lizard drinking!' lol Too cute!

We've also had some lorikeets around, eating the macarenga flowers.

And don't forget the cockatoos...

There are some huge flocks of cockatoos around here. Some with at least 40 birds making a racket!

We've got another nice tree off our back deck that flowers once a year. Nice lilac blossoms, and the lacewing butterflies and native bees love it!

We often get the Kurrawongs in that tree as well... They're notorious for tap dancing on the metal roof early in the morning!

Now that the gate to Connie Bay is open, we can actually go exploring other parts of the island. One day we went to Connie Bay for a swim and passed 2 kurlews pretending to be sticks on the side of the road...

October saw our new island manager arrive, Dale Criss. He's been keeping Brian busy fixing golf buggies, and it's great to see Brian back working again! No photos of Dale to share just yet... But we'll snap him yet! ;-)

Sometimes when it's hot, we'll go down to the beach in the late afternoon, even if the tide's out... with a bottle of bubbly, or for a couple of beers. One time we went down, and then Brock and Dane, a couple of builders working on Kevin Boyle's house, came down and we shared a few bundies. ;-)

Here's a photo of 2001, the boat that might carry out an island transfer service one day. We can only hope! It sure is spectacular!

In late October, Brian & Lyn's good friends came to stay and celebrate Tex's 40th birthday. aThere was Tex & Joanne, Groover & Karen, and Wayne & Barbara. We were invited to come along with Craig & Karen for dinner one night, and gladly accepted!

Of course, Brian sang something that he'd prepared a little earlier...

And there were backup singers of course... Groover & Barb.

Here's Lyn & Brian with Karen & Craig.

In early November, we celebrated our 2nd anniversary of being here at Keswick Island. To top it all off, Bob & Shiona Pearson came to stay with their family at Chris Anderson's house for a week to celebrate Shiona's birthday! What a lovely bunch they are. Here's Bob & Shiona on our deck.

Here's their son Ben with his wife Clair, and Ben's sister Kate.

This is Kate's husband Chris, with Bob.

Here's smiling Kate!

Who said there are no lifesavers down at Basil Bay? lol! Here's Brian patrolling the beach...

We've been getting some absolutely glorious sunsets lately... Makes for a great way to relax on the deck at the end of the day.

And how do you get those lovely purple shots? Why sunglasses in front of the camera of course!

We had some fantastic 6m tides in November where the water comes right up the beach. Wonderbar!

No wonder we've had so many boats dropping in for lunch and a swim lately...

This 'poor' guy seemed to be fishing on his own for a couple of days!

And with spring, all the animals get a little frisky on the island...

And so do the people! Here we are with David Berck, who came over to visit from St Bees one day. We had a ball as always!

Karen Cooke's family came over for a nice stay as well! Here they are in the empty spa up at Karen & Craig's house. There's Jeff, Alex, Anna, Glenn, Brian, Karen & Craig.

Here's Karen, Glenn & Anna.

Here's Anna & Alex. Sorry about the red eyes girls!

Glenn & Jeff tried their hands at spear fishing several times, but Craig showed them up by catching some beauties! We were invited around for dinner - delicious of course! Cheers boys!

That's all for this post. I've got another special post coming up shortly. ;-)

Warm regards
EvieB

We're Having A 'Whale' Of A Time Here!

2008-09-04T13:07:00.005+10:00

Well Spring has sprung, and we've come out of hibernation... We're almost over the cooler weather thank goodness!

We've been spotting plenty of whales, including a mother and baby that have been lingering around Keswick Island. When Marian and I left the island via Horizon Airlines in early August, Trish was kind enough to zoom us down to take a closer look at mother and new born baby... Honestly, we sounded like a gaggle of geese! It was that exciting! :-)

I made a quick trip to Sydney to visit Clayton, who is now in Afghanistan with the army. He's at point X, and we've been lucky enough to get a couple of phone calls from him. He said he's eating well (crayfish!), and it's bloody hot! (49 degrees celcius!) Well you can have that son! I must be a Queenslander now, because I froze my buns off in Sydney! lol

Marian left for Perth to be with Ron again, and we're hoping to see them back on the island in the new year.

Now onto some photos of what we've been getting up to since the last post in June.

Being the terrific cook that Marian is, she decided to hold a dinner party. We invited Brian & Lyn Kinderman up to join us, and here's a copy of the sumptuous menu.

To top it all off, Lyn brought a 3 litre bottle of 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon with her, which we didn't quite polish off... But we decided on the night to start a toastmasters club, and use the Angelus bottle as a mascot. ;-)

Here's a photo of the bottle below. It was a lovely drop.

We all dressed up for the occasion of course! Here's Brian & Lyn...

Here's Brian, with his tie on, to formalise the event, & I...

We didn't forget Marian... It's just that the photo with all of use at the dinner table was blurry. ("Great!" says camera-shy Marian!) A most enjoyable evening was had by all!

We've still had butterflies around... It seems like every time the sun comes out, there's another hatching. Here's a shot of a tiger blue that Brian snapped on one of his walks.

This definitely isn't something that you want to wake up to after an overnight storm... But that's what poor Steve Backs found the next morning on the beach... Luckily it was light enough for several people to turn over. It's all fixed and back to normal now. ;-)

In early July, we were lucky enough to go on a road trip with Marian to stay at her brother's place in Mission Beach. We'd both been wanting to go there, and since David & Tina were holidaying in France, and it was Marian's mother's 94th birthday, what more excuse did we need to visit? Here's a photo of Marian with her mother Laura on her birthday. We had a lovely lunch at The Shrubbery, and it turned out to be several lady's birthdays on the day!

At David & Tina's 'shed', which is a temporary dwelling until their new home is completed, it's totally surrounded by rain forest in a picturesque, quiet setting. We were very lucky to see a male cassowary that had been sick earlier in the year, pass by with 2 new chicks! Here's a shot that Brian took before the father took a closer interest in us, and we scrambled back inside to safety! lol! I must say, they're amazing, beautiful birds.

Speaking of cassowaries, look at the tiling job in David & Tina's new poolside shower. Does it remind you of any bird in particular? Fantastic job!

We really enjoyed the wildlife in Mission Beach... So many beautiful birds calling, and butterflies... I even saw my first cane toad. But he wasn't around much longer after that... Here's a snapshot of a stunning butterfly that is attracted to red flowers. I think it's a Ulysses butterly.

After we returned from our week long sojourn in Mission Beach, we had a couple of visitors up from the Sunshine Coast. Marian's daughter, Kate and her boyfriend Martin. What a lovely couple they are! We really enjoyed their cocktail-making prowess while they were here. ;-) Here's a shot of them blow karting, which they thought was a thrill!

Brian took them all for a jaunt up the big hill. Here's a shot of Marian, (who's even scared of heights, but braved it nevertheless), with Kate & Martin up the hill. (I love to see people with energy!) We really enjoyed their company, and Martin did a flare exhibition with fire on his last night on the Guest House front lawn which was very cool! (Or should I say hot?)

The day after Kate & Martin left, we had Christmas in July at the Guest House. Around 17 or so people were there, and we got taste all kinds of yummies that I'd never tasted before... Such as artichokes! Talk about finger lickin' good! I'm hooked. :-)

And who cooked your goose? Lyn did of course. ;-) Here's Peter Morris & Brian carving up the geese! It was delicious by the way, for those of you who missed out.

Here's a photo of Caroline Berck and her son Tyler, who also enjoyed Christmas in July with us.

Here's our local pilots from Horizon Airlines, Pete & Trish, who joined us on the day, with Mike Burnett.

We also had the pleasure of home owners, James & Rayna Asbury's company on the day.

August saw the arrival of Kevin Boyle's 41' Steber 'Mako' to the Whitsundays. He had a character-building voyage up from the Hawkesbury River in NSW. It will be great to see Mako around and about Keswick Island more often in the future.

We also had a fleeting visit from land owners, Jim & Janet Aitken in August. Here's Jim with Mike up at Steve's place where Jero was staying for a short while. Unfortunately we didn't get a shot of Janet with her eyes open, so we can't see her lovely smile today!

We had a small get-together for Lyn Kinderman's birthday, where she cooked up a storm of mussels! (Hey whatever happened to no work on your birthday?) Need I say they were scrumptious? Take a closer look below... Yum!

And that's not all that came out of hibernation at the end of winter either... Here's a monitor we snapped from our NE deck.

Last but not least, here's a binocular shot of 2 whales swimming past. They're really hard to get photos of unfortunately... And sometimes we wish we had night film, because we can hear them flapping their tails against the water at night from our bedroom! It's a pretty loud sound, and you wonder what the heck it is at first. But when you realise what it is, you wish you could see it!

You might notice there's a new poll on the right hand side of the page. We're intrigued to know what your take is on whales who sit still in the water with their tail out... What does it mean? We watched one for several hours, and were stumped as to why?

That's all for this update. Until next time, keep happy and smiling, and DO come visit us soon!

Warm regards
EvieB

April-June -- Fun Times On KI & New Poll!

2008-06-12T14:39:00.004+10:00

Hi there!

I can't believe it's been 3 months since I last posted an update... So it really is true... Time does fly when you're having fun! ;-)

Anzac Day was a hit as always at the Guest House this year. The winner of Two-Up-On-The-Deck was Brian Kinderman! Well deserved too! We had a huge turnout of ~20 people who all had a ball. Unfortunately I backed up my photos to DVD, but the particular one with the Anzac Day photos won't read. (Buggar). So I will see if I can get some photos from elsewhere, and add them later on... It's a shame, because I really wanted to show off our own Dad's army marching down the road, and Verna laying the wreath at the flag pole. We even had our own cannon, thanks to Mike! lol. As I said, it was a fun day! :-)

So I've lost all of April's photos at this time, and it's straight onto May.

May saw Ron Brooks leave for Perth again to undertake some more contract work for the mines. So we invited his wife Marian to come and stay with us for a while. She's such a darned good cook, and great company... I don't think either of us want her to leave -- EVER! haha

Following are some snapshots. Make sure you read to the end of this post to see if you might be able to help us in our latest mystery, and enter the new poll. :~)

By the way! Our last poll asking how people pronounce Keswick Island came up 80% in favour of Kes-wick and 20% in favour of Kes-ick. So there you go! It looks like the locals win out over the proper English pronunciation.

Here's a shot of our friendly customs people who pass by every now and then keeping our waters safe:

There's never a dull moment here at Keswick Island! lol. We woke up one morning, after strong winds the night before, looked out from the deck, and lo and behold! A water tank - of all things - was washed up on Sandfly Bay, St Bees Island opposite where we live! The wind had blown Craig Gilberd's tank, which had been barged out the day before, off the airstrip and into the drink! Luckily Steve Back was out here on the day in his boat, and he towed it back safely! Phew! Goodonya Steve!

Here's a nice photo of Steve's boat that Brian took one day at low tide on Basil Bay.

The first 'State of Origin' footy party was held at our place this year, and we had a few extra guests, which is always welcome. Some friends of Jero's had sailed over from WA in their yacht 'Wild thing'. Kevin & Annette Coote, and Noel & Jenny. We also had a couple of Peter Morris' builders, Rob & Chris, join us. (Thank god one of them went for the blues at least!)

Here's Mike on the deck with, Jero and one of his friends from WA, Jenny.

A bunch of us were invited to go for a sail on 'Wild Thing' the next day! Needless to say, we all jumped at the chance!

Here's Brian & Lyn Kinderman, Marian Brooks & Brian on Wild Thing. They all had a ball on the day on this lovely catamaran. What a treat for us all!

Here's Kevin at the front of Wild Thing. He gave us the full tour, and this catamaran is beautifully laid out with all the modern technology included.

This is the back of Wild Thing with Annette on the left, and on the right is lovely Jenny.

Our gracious hosts, Kevin & Annette, who were most solicitous to the one person who got seasick... ME! waaahaaaa!

Speaking of special treats... At the end of May, Lot owners Bob Pearson & his good friends and partners in crime, Barry & Janece came over for a quick visit. We were all pleasantly surprised to hear that we were invited to lunch, and Bob had prepared it all in advance!

Well I can't begin to tell you what a sumptuous spread of Indian delicacies he served up -- but perhaps the photo will do it more justice than I can... Bob's wife, Shiona, (who was the only
one missing to make it a perfect day), informs me that he's won trophies for his cooking! So to our Award Winning Chef, and Master Wine Tasting Champion, Bob Pearson (front left in photo) -- we raise our glasses in salute to your warm generosity, hospitality and magnificent cooking prowess! Thank you for a most wonderful afternoon on the deck at the Keswick Island Guest House!

This is a closer shot of Baz, who came over with Bob. See that cheeky glint in his eye? lol. And talking of 'Wild Thing'... I hear he does a fantastic rendition of the song on request! ;-)

Not to be outdone by her husband, here's a shot of Lyn Kinderman with Baz's wife Janece. :-) What a lovely kiwi she is! Come back soon Janece!

This photo was taken from up the hill just past Marian's place. Honestly, you never get sick of taking photos of the beautiful views in all kinds of weather here...

One rainy, misty day in May saw The Young Endeavour pass by, then the South Passage, Queensland's only tall ship... In full sail too! What a spectacular sight! You can see what Captain Hook, I mean Brian, saw through his telescope below.

How's this for a glorious sunset? It makes you feel good just to be alive!

May also saw our great friends Glen & Cindy Beynon return to their holiday home for a couple of weeks holiday. We almost didn't recognise Glen, who'd lost an amazing 30kg and was seen dragging Cindy up the big hill every day! lol. ("Not fair!" says Cindy). It's always wonderful to have them here on the island. We all love their bar and games room, and had a terrific night playing mini pool and air hockey. (I'm pretty sure the girls won too! lol). KI will be a much better place when they come to live here permanently... Here's the lovely couple on the deck at the Guest House.

In early June, our security camera on Keswick Island snapped an intruder as they were sneaking onto the island... We've all looked at the photo and can't recognise who it is! Except for the buff, which is a dead giveaway! ... So what we want to know is, "Is it the REAL 'Mingu Mingu' - local legend and hero of many years past? Please help us identify this entity by answering the poll on the right hand side of this page, and giving us your opinion. Thanks!

That's all for today's update. Keep safe and happy, and we hope you'll come and visit soon!

Warm regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

Jan-March & Keswick Island Independence Day!

2008-04-17T15:22:00.014+10:00

Hi there!

After receiving so many requests to update the blog by interested readers, I thought I'd better put my novel on hold and keep everyone happy by updating the blog again. ;-)

Sorry about the wait... Since January, we've had a ton of rain! The wet season was a bit of a drag -- as usual -- but we did our best to make the most of the visitors we had, and to have fun indoors. We were all ready for Survivor Keswick Island, but we were rained out... So much for the beach challenges we had planned! Well we will be having it some time during the year when the weather's good.

Please make sure you read right through, because there's a news update at the end of this post.

House guests: In January, Jessica came to stay for one week. Then we had Clayton & Kerry up for 5 days, and Derek & Ben for the next 5. February saw the return of rocking Rob Stuart! (aka Robbie).

Here's Jessica clowning around on Clayton's shoulders.

Here's Jess & I at the airport. Little did Jess know that she was leaving via the helicopter... which was quite a thrill for her (and us - just to see her face!).

Here's Derek & Ben arriving in the chopper... They were pumped after that ride!

Brian took Derek & Ben out on the kayaks, and they went a long way out in pretty rough weather. Derek suggested that they paddle to New Zealand!

Derek loved Keswick Island and said he'd come back any day!

Here's our nephew Ben looking very cool in his John Lennon sunnies.

David & Caroline Berck were kind enough to invite us over to St Bees for the day in January. They came and picked us up, including Brian & Lyn from the Keswick Island Guest House. We had a lovely day there.

Here's a shot of David & Caroline (mid right) with some of their friends who were there for the day.

This is the northern house that the family normally stay in. Check out that stone barbeque area! What a work of art!

One of the things I like about St Bees Island is the lovely palm trees that line the beach. It makes it so tropical. And Homestead Bay, where the houses are located, is a beautiful swimming spot.

But what we love most about St Bees is the local celebrity, Peter! He's a great bloke for a yarn or 3, with some amazing stories about the history of the island. If you ever get the chance, pick up a copy of The History Of St Bees, written by his father, Lionel Berck. It's rivetting reading.

We were challenged to a game of boules on the front lawn of the Keswick Island Guest House. Our first time, it was lots of fun... even though Brian & Lyn thrashed us -- as usual!

In early February, our Scottish cousin Robbie came back! (Can you blame him?) He brought up a new guitar for me, and he gave both Brian Kinderman and I lessons. We're very lucky indeed to have such a talented lad showing us how to play.

Even the monitors like the beach and come to see what all the singing and laughing is about!

"I'm determined to catch a fish!" announced Robbie. So Brian took him out on one of the kayaks for a fish, even though a huge storm was brewing... I watched them from the beach and was a little worried about the lightning. I jumped at one stage when I saw a flash of light, then I realised it was their camera! doh! lol (Notice the Mingu Mingu buff he's wearing?) Oh sorry, they didn't catch any fish -- but they had fun. ;-)

Did you know we have a barber shop here on Keswick Island? Well we do, and I'm the barber! lol. We even provide refreshments! Here's Brian Kinderman getting his ears lowered.

It's amazing what you can find when you go hiking around the island or in the rainforest here. Brian & Robbie went for a hike around the rocks back from Arthur Bay and found a frisbee! Here's Robbie & Brian K having a toss!

Who said there are no coral trout here? This is a shot Robbie took while he was snorkelling of a nice coral trout.

We had the residents over for dinner one night, then presented Mike & Lyn with their buffs (right). Mike makes a good pirate!

There were several occasions this year when I wished I had a boogie board here. There were actually waves that we could catch down at Basil Bay! (We've seen bigger ones that these too!)

As always, we often meet lovely guests from the Guest House. These 2 were no exception. Alex & Mariza from South Africa. Mariza had some unbelievably decadent recipes that she's going to share with us! Mariza, where are those recipes you promised? lol (Not recommended for people on a diet).

Ever tried Kangaroo with cashew nuts? Just one of the delectable delights served up at the Guest House. Lyn is an amazing chef, and this tender, lean meat just melts in your mouth!

The island finally sold on the 1st January, and it was officially confirmed in March. So what better excuse for an Indepence Day Party? Newcomer Jerro Andrews invited us up for a shindig and we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening at Reef Outlook.

Here Lyn K, Jerro, Lyn S & Mike toasting the momentous occasion. Mike even brought out his home brewed apple cider!

Here's Barry and I. Barry's been on the island for a long time now and does a lot of loader and excavator work. This was the first time we'd socialised with him - and hopefully not the last.

We had a close call at the Guest House in March, when their generator blew up and burst into flames. Luckily it's located outside away from the house and not underneath. Brian's quick thinking put that situation under control. A new, bigger generator is on its way...

One of our local characters, Peter Morris, brought out his new boat which has more room and more grunt! Isn't she a beauty? Aptly named Sirrom. ;-)

Speaking of boats... here's Craig Gilberd's yacht, Sidewinder. It was made in NZ and he's sailed around the world in it several times now. Peter Morris is currently building Craig & Karen Cooke's house on the top of the island. We all think it will be the 'crowning glory' of the island when it's completed.

Here are the 2 boats together, so you can see their real size. Taken from our deck.

The wet season often means no work for my Brian, so he applied himself in the back garden and did some clearing so we could sit under the magnificent fig tree. (Don't the bats love that tree when it's in fruit!) He did a great job and really opened up that bushy area so we can see even more beautiful water views from our bedroom.

Down at the beach at Easter with some guest from the Guest House. From the back left, Julian and his wife Robyn sitting at the front in the middle, then another Julien and his girlfriend Nina at the front left hand side. With proud host, Brian Kinderman.

Here's Jerro & Brian at an impromptu get-together at our place... Doesn't it look like they're wearing one big t-shirt?

Well we're up to April already... The wet season's over, the butterflies are out -- and so are the orchids. Look at this splendid specimen that bloomed outside our bathroom window for about 3 weeks! (Yes of course I love the colour!)

If Jerro isn't riding his mountain bike down the hills (because I haven't seen him peddling up them yet haha!), you'll see him riding on his blow cart. Well it beats walking! Now you need a lot of hot air or wind for this sport... and blow carting has quickly become the new rage on the island. This is just a snap of him riding it down the hill without the sail on. But at Easter time, around 13 people had a go, (including guests from the KIGH), and they all report that it's a blast! I even heard that Lyn Sunderland had it up on 2 wheels on the beach at low tide. What a thrill seeker! So windy weather... watch out. It's blow cartin' time!

But wait... There is more news of course!

Ron & Marian Brooks are coming back to the island today. Yay! We've missed them.
Trent isn't coming back to finish Ron & Marian's house unfortunately... But for very good reasons! His wife Kim is pregnant with their first baby. (Congratulations you two!)
We had a meeting this week with Scott & Edward from Keswick Developments P/L, the new developers -- and the future of Keswick Island is looking very positive.
Yes there was recently a plane accident at Brampton Island, but none of us were on the flight and no one was hurt, thank God. The new owners of the island were very lucky, as they had taken the previous trip before the incident. Many thanks to all who enquired to make sure we're safe and sound. (Horizon airlines is still looking good - fingers crossed!)
B1, B2 & Mike have launched their new business K-I-L-M (pronounced "killem"), and they've secured a contract to clear all 38 blocks of land down near Basil Bay. (Congratulations boys & many thanks go to Karen Cooke!)
Kevin Boyle is leaving the island tomorrow, and his house is much further along after a heavy work schedule over the past 2 weeks with Brian. (Bring Loretta next time Kevin!).
Things are looking bright for Kevin to bring his Steber, Mako, in survey, up to the Whitsundays in the near future. (Yippee! More ways to travel!)
I'm off to Sydney this Sunday unexpectedly to do some contract work for Modular Mining! It'll be great to catch up with my old work mates again, and check on our house at Gorokan. (Not sure about driving a 'real' car again though! lol)

Well, I think I've covered everything today... If not, I'll include it in my next post. Until then, take care, stay healthy and happy, and most of all --> keep smiling!

Feel free to leave a comment so we know you've dropped by!

Warm regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

2008-01-10T15:10:00.000+10:00

Happy New Year to you! I know many people keep checking back here to see what the latest happenings are... Firstly, there's word on the bush telegraph that the island's been sold -- but we can't confirm that as true just yet. We'll keep you up-to-date on that though.

Much has happened over the last month, and we've had a most enjoyable festive season. I can't recall exactly how many times the Mingu Mingu Coral Choir has sung the 12 Days Of Christmas! But it's always fun. Without further ado, let's get into the latest crop of snapshots below...

Brian went over to Mackay for a couple of days with Brian & Lyn, and went out for Thai dinner. Here's Lyn, Bob Pearson, Brian, Brian K, Peter & Trish (our favourite pilots!)

Unfortunately we had to farewell Marian Brooks and her builders Trent and his cousin Alex in December. We held a farewell party for them at our place... Ron & Marian are now in Perth and should be back around April for good (we hope!).

Here's a photo of Trent and myself (with purple hair! What was I thinking? lol)

Alex and Brian at the farewell.

It's a well known fact that Marian HATES having her photo taken... so I thought I'd spice up my blog by adding this shot of Marian on her last day. Nice cleavage Marian! (I think she'll probably kill me for this one!)

December also saw our landlords Jennie & Nat arrive for a short stay. It was lovely to finally meet them!

Here's Nat after rediscovering one of his father's hats. We loved listening to him playing jazzy tunes on the piano...

Lyn and Jennie behind the 'screen of invisibililty at Mike & Lyn's place.

We also had a few honeymooners visit Keswick Island Guest House from Europe...

Here's the first Dutch couple from left to right: Eric, Lyn, Sabina & Brian on our deck bat watching at sunset. The other couple had actually eloped from The Netherlands -- Mel & Sabine -- and they got married on Cronulla Beach in NSW. No photos sorry... We did take a video of them singing a lovely song for Brian & Lyn though!

Coming up to Christmas, Mingu Mingu gets frocked up in a new buff!

We had some lovely 6m+ high tides during Christmas. How's this for stepping straight off the grass into the water?

Christmas day was the first where we really felt the wet season taking hold. Talk about hot and humid! That night it bucketed down and has rained every night since! It's nice and green here now though!

We had Christmas at the Guest House again this year, (lucky us!), with 11 people in total. Here's the table before we started. The little table presents are always a lovely touch.

Here's a couple of the guests who stayed over Christmas.

The female contingent, Janey and Glen.

The male of the species, Glen's husband Ray, and Janey's husband Peter.

Now I'll show you why we love having Christmas at the Guest House! The delectable food (not to mention the great company!)

The first course was a lovely refreshing prawn salad. 10/10 for that one!

Second course was a delicious smoked salmon and potato terrine. Beeooodiful!

Third course was a stunning warm duck salad with peaches and orange. Bellisima!

Our host with the most... Brian.

Our gourmet extraordinaire and taste tantaliser... Lyn.

Dessert 1 was concocted by yours truly. Chocolate pavlova with cherries in balsamic vinegar.

And the peace de resistance... Traditional Christmas pudding with silver coins! All in all, a wonderful feast to behold and to eat!

Just before New Years Eve, we had an influx of people arrive for a break and to party...

Here's Karen & Craig from Mackay, and Karen's daughter Anna from Perth. We had a bit of a deck party in their new home which is still under construction.

Here's the whole gang at Craig & Karen's place: Bruce, Nicole, Louis & Amanda (guests and friends of Brian & Lyn's), Lyn, Anna, Karen, Craig, Evie & Brian.

Then there was the New Year's Eve party on the beach... Typically, we had to have the New Year's Eve punch of course! And we only got rained out just before midnight this time.

The girls looked lovely on the night in their long dresses. Here's Karen, Nicole & Anna.

We even had the 'yellow lawn chair brigade!' Peter & Julie Morris, with Mike & Lyn.

We were also lucky enough to have John & Kim Kleidon over from Mackay. Here they are with Brian.

Here's Brian cooking up a storm for his guests.

After New Years, we had a bit of a rest, until the next guests came to visit the island at the Guest House!

Here's friend's of Brian K's, John & Leslie, plus newcomers Toni (Crumbs) & Andrew (Darce). Really lovely people. We had some great laughs with them. ;-)

Of course, we had to try out the cool new Chrissy prezzies that Brian & Lyn gave us... I shrieked like a 10 year old when I opened mine. A blow up lounge chair! Just what I wanted! Woohoo. :-)

Brian in his lounge chair, which we clipped onto mine...

Me in my chair. Brian went out of the water to get some champagne, and his chair unclipped from mine. I ended up having to do a full on swim to catch it! I think we'll need to use an anchor in future... otherwise we'll need eperbs in case we float away to Mackay! lol

Lyn, Brian & Jeff whiling away the hours... What a life we lead here!

Here's Brian & Lyn's friends, Laurie and Jeff trying them out. Do you like the little buddy floaty for the esky? Ingenious!

In fact, it turned out to be the perfect size for Jeff! He really moved along with flippers on too! lol

New guest Loretta from Brisbane had a relaxing stay.

Here's her sister Sarah, who was visiting from London. Both lovely girls.

Well that's all for this update! We've got 3 lots of family staying for the next 3 weeks starting tomorrow, and Survivor Keswick Island coming up this Saturday night for all the Capricorns -- so there'll be more to report soon!

Take care and keep smiling!

Warm regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

November Update - We've Been Here 1 Year!

2007-12-22T12:05:00.000+10:00

Hi there!

I can't believe it... we've already been here a whole year. Well they do say "Time flies when you're having fun!" and how true is that? Very! Not a month goes by when we don't have guests and new friends to meet on Keswick Island. There's never a dull moment here I assure you. But it does help that we all know how to make our own fun!

Here's Trent and his mum Faye at a special dinner that Trent arranged at the Guest House for his parents who came for a visit. What a lovely couple they are. We hear they might be bringing their family up for Christmas in 2008. We look forward to seeing them again. :-)

A Day At The Races...

Melbourne Cup day was enjoyed by all who were here on Keswick Island this year. I had asked my son Clayton, who was in Melbourne at the time, what he was doing for Melbourne Cup... and he said, "Nothing. We've got a public holiday though!" So I suggested he come up here because we always have a Melbourne Cup Day do at the Guest House. Typically, he said "I'm there!"

As it turned out, Brian's cousin Robbie came up with Clayton at the same time. So we had a lovely visit from the pair, who got along very well!

Here are some shots from our 1 Year Anniversary Beach Party held the night they arrived, and the Melbourne Cup Day bash at the Guest House:

Robbie and Clayton on their first day acting the goat... I wonder if Clayton's ever practised that pose in front of the mirror? lol (Probability = 100%!)

Clatyon giving Lyn one of his big hugs! Hey, where's mine?!

Good grief mon! It's Robbie the Scot with his singing hat and sporran... And we know what's under his kilt! ;-) (Sorry, they're boardshorts!)

Here's Shiona & Bob Pearson who came over on our first anniversary and joined us for our beach party. It was also Shiona's birthday! We really enjoyed their company while they were here and look forward to the day when their house is built up on the hill!

The lads on Melbourne Cup Day. From left: My Brian, Bob, Brian, Clayton & Robbie.

I was starting to think that I'd never get a shot of Verna! But I snapped her on Melbourne Cup day looking pretty in purple as always. Verna is Lyn's 85 year old mother, who lives in a self-contained unit below Mike & Lyn. She's a very cheeky thing when she gets going...

The girls on Melbourne Cup Day. From left: Lyn, Myself & Shiona. We did get shots of all the girls together, with Marian hiding as usual... but we were all in the shade and you can't really see us clearly.

Robbie the entertainer... sitting on the beach playing Brian Kinderman's guitar. He kept us entertained on many occasions with his beautiful singing and guitar playing. Lyn's hat looks pretty good on him too! lol

We do get rain sometimes, but not often outside of the wet season!

Robbie and I on his last night before dinner at the Guest House. Hey, blonde hair! Well there's no shops here, so what's a girl to do?

See what we get up to on very hot days in the water? Here's Lyn raising her glass in a toast to warm water! Some days it's just like a bath... Oh no, I think she needs a refill! "Briannnnn!"

Good friends of Brian & Lyn's, Catherine & John Crannie, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary! We had lots of fun singing and making music that night.

Beach cricket even! What next? Beach golf?

Thanks to Jean Paul in The Netherlands, the Guest House has had many Dutch visitors this year. What fun loving people they are... and Brian & Lyn often bring them up to see the bats passing by our deck at sunset. Above we have Ingrid and Leo, who were real characters. I never thought you could fit real coconuts into a bikini top, but Ingrid did! That was funny. ;-)

Here's Leo again with Ingrid's sister Karen. Always laughing!

Here's Lyn with Karen's husband, Wim, who fell in love with chardonnay... Join the club!

You're probably aware by now that there's all kinds of wildlife on Keswick Island... and here's one I can do without! Normal huntsman spiders are ok... They eat flies, and if they get in the way, Brian will pick them up and put them outside. Then we had this huge version appear all of a sudden... The Sydney Huntsman we're told they're called, and if they fell off the roof onto your head, they'd be like wearing a furry cap! I had one run up my leg in the middle of the night once! Scary stuff! lol.

I really couldn't concentrate on working while I had this one sitting on the wall above my desk, then lo and behold -- it grabbed a poor little gecko and got him! Eeek! (I made Brian get him with the broom in the end. Sorry nasty spider!)

That's all for November's roundup. I've got lots more to come for December, but will wait until the New Year to post all the festive season excitement for you. Stay tuned for more fun and kapers on Keswick Island in 2008!

Warm regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

Keswick Island Should Be Called 'The Party Island'...

2007-10-27T09:38:00.000+10:00

Hello there!

It's been a while since my last update and we've had people come and go... so there are tons of photos to share with you. I finally captured a video of a pod of whales passing by and it's amazing... I just need to edit it to make it shorter before I upload it here soon. ;-)

Firstly we had Ritchie leave and he's sadly missed. We had a beach farewell party for him where we all had an absolute ball!

He was soon followed by the builders, Glen, Benno & Steve...

It's funny... you get to meet people and they bring their own special piece to add to the mix here. Once they leave, you really miss them. It's the same with the guests who visit the Guest House that we meet. It could be something to do with the fact that they're relaxed and on holidays, but I hope they all come back and visit some time in the future.

Here are some photos from Ritchie's farewell, followed by some from the boy's farewell. Enjoy!

Here are the 2 Lyns on the island in their Keswick Island sarongs. Aren't they adorable? :-) And check out those crocs on their feet. See? We set fashion trends here on the island that you won't find anywhere else you know!

Singing our farewell song to Ritchie...

Here's the Mingu Mingu Choir straight after their inaugural performance of the 12 Days Of Christmas - Keswick Island Style (written by Brian Kinderman). Not sure who that ring-in is down the front!

Here's Ron & Marion's builder Trent with Mike & Lyn. Trent was in good form that night! lol

Man of the hour - Ritchie - all thumb's up and ready to move to Perth (where I hear it's cold and rainy...)

Peter Morris turned up at the party and he's about to build a few houses here as well. We don't know what we'd do without Pete sometimes... He's a god send.

Glen had a ball as usual!

More shannanigans with Glen & Ritchie...

Trent gave Ritchie a heartfelt speech about how he can't wait to work with him again in the future. Mikey, Ritchie (front), Ross, Ben, Trent & Marion.

Glen, Trent & Steve...

Brian & Peter...

Steve & Benno...

There were some sore heads the next morning, that's for sure! lol

Here's a shot of myself with Brian & Lyn Kinderman one evening when we were watching the sunset.

Look! Our first chop-top convertible buggy! Rodger was thrilled with the modifications to pimp the boy's ride. :-)

I was lucky enough to hitch a ride over to Mackay with Mick & Kaz, a lovely couple from WA. Here's Kaz in the galley of the yacht. What a beautiful 2.5hr journey we had over there with Brian & Lyn. (Only my first time off the island since December! So Maccas was looking better than ever!)

Here's Skipper Mick & Lil Buddy Brian at the wheel on the yacht:

In between all this was the school holidays where Jessica & my friend Denise's daughter Shona came to visit for a week.

Here's a nice one of Jess as she's about to leave on Lee's boat for Mackay. Looking back at Basil Bay.

The boy's farewell party was at Yazz's house that they were renting and was made extra special by a lovely couple from Mackay, Janet & Francis - who are professional musicians. They kept us all entertained on the evening with plenty of songs, laughing and musical instruments!

Ron, Marion & Glen...

Steve saved a cigar especially for his last night. That stuff'll kill you! lol

Brian & Lyn brought their basket of noise makers and we had the maraccas, tambourines and shakers out for lots of fun.

Glen always loves shaking his bootie...

Typically, a good time was had by all. ;-)

That's all for today! Catch up with you again soon!

Cheers
Evie

Loch Ness Monster Sighted At Keswick Island!

2007-09-19T15:05:00.000+10:00

lol. I know you may not believe me... but take a look at the photo below for yourself!

Yes you're right... It's not our beloved 'Nessie' but a hump backed whale that happened to pass our deck the other day. But do you think they'll breach or hold still for a decent photo? Not a chance!

The weather's been fining up with the NE winds bringing back sunshine and good weather. We've been having more bbq's down at the beach. Here are some photos taken last Saturday night for an impromptu bbq dinner.

Kevin & Loretta - House owners that Glen, Ben, Steve & Brian are working for.Lovely couple.

This is Lee. One of the newer builders on the island. He recently bought 'Hammer Time', a beautiful cat launch that has been making many trips over to the mainland.

This is Lee's brother, Ross. He's working here as well. We met his girlfriend Tracy, from Townsville, a few weeks ago. It's good to see a new couple in love!

Lee & Ross' apprentice, Mikey. He's been working on his tan like the rest of the builders here. ;-)

Here's Trent after getting a no. 1 haircut. He went snorkelling and I asked him to test out my new underwater camera. Here's one of the shots he took below...

Preeettttyyyy...

Speaking of which... I don't have a photo unfortunately, although I could have snapped one at the time. We were sitting on our deck, as usual, enjoying the view and watching out for whales. Trent was snorkelling, so we could see him from where we were sitting.

The next thing we knew, there was a big squeal of surprise and Trent literally jumped out of the water onto a bommie and started yelling for Richie to bring the tinnie over... Well who'd have though it? It was a big shark that met him eye-to-eye as he was snorkelling around the bommie that gave him a scare. Can't say I blame him really! Now we have a new saying for loud screeches on the island -- 'The Trent Squeal'. ;-)

How's this for yet another beautiful sunset at Keswick Island?

But it does get cold... Especially in June. Here's proof.

Yes, that's Lyn with my furry blanky on, complete with ugg boots and all... :-)

We had a nice visit from Pam & Steve Cass and their 2 boys who were staying over from Colorado, US. What a lovely family they are.

Here they are on our deck.

Here's one of the builders, Ben, relaxing on our deck just before he left to go home for the weekend.

Here's Brian & Lyn Kinderman on their deck on yet another beautiful day:

Here's a lovely couple we met at the Guest House, B3 (Brian) & Sam:

New landowners, Keith & Joy, kicking up their heels at the Guest House. We always have a great time there:

Well that's all for today's post. Hopefully I'll have a decent whale movie to add to my blog soon.

Take care and don't forget to come and visit us here! :-)

Warm regards
EvieB

Little Fish Are Sweet....

2007-07-07T13:02:00.000+10:00

And so are big ones! :-)

Living on an island should mean that you can eat all the fresh fish you want right? Well... we usually get down to Basil Bay at night when the tides are right -- especially with a full moon -- to see if we can snag a shark or two (just so Lyn Kinderman can make us a beautiful Bombay curry...) You see, not having a boat of our own, makes it a little difficult to traverse the slippery rocks surrounding most of the shoreline...

...That was until the master fishermen turned up! :-))

All the builders who are here working on new houses spend a lot of time fishing in their leisure hours, and we can always be sure of being given a lovely fish to eat whenever they've caught too many!

So out come the cook books and fish recipes are in style! Curries, Indonesian dishes, barbeques... you name it! Fish is truly a lovely dish served up in any form.

Here are some photos of just a few of the local catches. More to come soon!

These boys are seasoned fishermen... Just look at that 'balance' as they fish standing up from a little dinghy!

Trent finally caught a good sized shark! (Beautiful eating too!)

Richie & Trent with a great catch of queen fish & another coral trout for Trent. Delicious eating... Just like chicken breast meat (with a fishy taste, lol!)

Trent with a beautiful coral trout. One of many that he's caught...

Richie with a whopper queen fish. We've started calling him Dr Hook!

Please feel free to comment on this post and attach your own photo of your big catch if you can better it! ;-)

Warmest regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

Then There Were 19...

2007-06-15T10:43:00.000+10:00

Hello there

I thought it was time for an update here at the island... Once there were 9 people at Keswick Island... Now there are ~19 including a slew of builders busily working away on new constructions.

We have Ron & Marion Brooks living here again to complete their home just up the road from our place. They used to live where we do, and their new home is coming along nicely now that their builders are hard at it.

Typically, there's never a dull moment here and plenty of socialising going on. In one week alone, we had four parties in five days - mainly due to two birthdays falling in the same week, then a wedding anniversary, state-of-origin football... There's always something to celebrate!

We've had good sunny weather and rainy weather -- which is great for filling up the water tanks... but not as bad as in NSW where we came from! Luckily for us, we moved at the right time and missed the awful weather they've been having.

Fishing! All the builders are nutty about fishing and it's always nice to be given a spare coral trout or mackeral to cook up for dinner! On the weekends, they're always out and about in their tinnies throwing a line in. It's a nice, healthy lifestyle if you ask me.

We went fishing ourselves the other evening and took the tiki torches down to the beach. Brian caught a nice little shark, which Lyn will cook up in her fabulous Bombay curry style. :-) Then James Ashbury pulled up in his boat with his two mates and gave us a beautiful big mackerel to cook up. Talk about spoiled! lol

Here are some photos taken at various time throughout the month of May and June.

Kevin & Loretta Boyle's builders, Steve, Birthday Boy Ben, Glen & Dave.

Steve, Ben & Glen enjoying themselves. From Sydney, it's good to have some NSW supporters here to back us up for the footy! They're good hard working lads with a good sense of humour. It's nice to see city boys getting away from it all for some hard yakka, and to appreciate the simple things in life.

Richie, Steve & Ben at our place one night.

Steve with a little green tree snake (non-poisonous). He looks real comfortable holding that don't you agree? lol

Here's Steve again with a couple of shots of our local geckos. Who has the better eyes? I think Steve wins out there...

The Young Endeavour anchored off the point of St Bees for the evening. It looked beautiful lit up at night. We could see the young people on board participating in lessons through our telescope. When it came around the corner in full sail, you could have sworn it was the first fleet arriving!

Trent, one of Marion & Ron Brooks' builders. Not a small chappie... being 6' 7" tall! At least we can say that we all look up to him. ;-)

David & Carolyn Berk, Dr Chris, Lyn & Hannah at the Keswick Island Guesthouse for sunset drinkies. Brian & Lyn had just spent the night over at St Bees and had a lovely time. It was great to finally meet David & Carolyn and their children. Dr Chris had popped over for the day with his two daughters Sophie and Abbey. They're coming back with Michelle in a couple of weeks for four days, which will be good.

Here's a nice shot of a helicopter taking off right in front of our place.

Trent & Richie, the builders. They often pop in for an after work chat and beer and are very nice lads. Good taste in music too!

A lovely winter sunset with the moon.

Of course we still love living here... Why wouldn't we? lol. ;-)

Take care until next time,

Warmest regards
EvieB

Apr 21-28 - The Canadians Visit & Win Our Hearts

2007-04-30T10:33:00.000+10:00

Hello there!

We had a lovely visit with my business partner Jullieanne Matheson (Jules) and her husband Rob for a week. We couldn't have ordered better weather and the temperatures were up and the sun shining brightly every day. Considering Jules & Rob came from a snowy 10 degrees, it was a nice, warm vacation atmosphere for them here on Keswick Island.

We did a lot of relaxing of course, but we also went on a couple of walks, beachcombing, snorkelling (yay finally!), swimming, socialising, fishing, generally just taking it easy and snapping tons of photos.

Rob was a classic while snorkelling, exclaiming "Look guys - a turtle!", and "Hey there's a stingray over here!" or "Did you see that school of fish, right below me!" A very excitable guy, but really appreciated because he shows enthusiasm for everything (except perhaps climbing the mountain - which is where we're going to put the shorts he left behind as a flag, seeing as he won't be needing them in Canada). ;-)

But Jules was right. Rob is an absolute sweetie and both he and Brian were as thick as thieves while they were here...

On April 25, we had the annual Anzac Day Two-Up On The Deck at the Keswick Island Guesthouse. Lyn cooked up a storm as usual and our guests got to try kangaroo as well as an assortment of other delicious aussie delicacies... Including a chocolate pavlova with home-made choc-chip ice cream donated by yours truly.

Here's a shot of B1 & B2 in their Anzac Day regalia.

I'm happy to say that there's a Canadian name on the trophy now. Jules scooped the pool and with her "Wooga, wooga, wooga" chant, and pipped the challenger at the post to win. She now has an official gold medal to wear proudly around her neck.

Both Jules & Rob did a beautiful rendition of "Oh Canada" and cheeky Mike just couldn't resist and had to stir the pot by running around Jules with the Australian flag. (Lucky Jules missed his head with the bottle of sparkling shiraz, otherwise Brian wouldn't have been able to steal it and drink it later on!)

A most enjoyable day was had by all. ;-)

Here's a nice photo of Jules & Rob on one of the walks. Rob got to try a few different varieties of aussie beer while he was here and didn't mind them at all. ;-) We got to try Jule's 'paralyzer' cocktails which were yummy as well! Plus I was given a big jug of pure maple syrup when they arrived. Delicious! Velly nice on pancakes. :-)

Here's Rob, Jules & Brian on a walk we took down to Arthur Bay to collect shells.

One moonlit night, we all went fishing at Basil Bay for sharks and Lyn Kinderman caught a nice reef shark, which she cooked up for us the next day in beer batter!

All-in-all, we had a great time and we thoroughly enjoyed our Canadian visitor's company. I didn't really want them to leave... I wish they lived closer by...

We're really looking forward to their return with son Nathan in the future.

Warm regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

Jess & Ben Visit During Easter Holidays

2007-04-19T10:38:00.000+10:00

Hello there!

We recently had the pleasure of having our daughter Jessica and Brian's nephew Ben up for a week over the Easter holidays. They had a great time here.

Here are some photos taken up the mountain on their last morning:

The butterflies came out in their thousands on the last few days that the kids were here. Below is a shot taken from up the mountain of butterflies on the grass tree flowers:

Here's a photo of two Kerloos, very elusive birds that make a sound similar to a woman being strangled! Well not really, it's mournful wailing kind of sound. If you come across them as you're walking or driving around in a golf buggy, they'll run in front of you like a road runner. They have beautiful wings when they open them up to scare you, with a black area with a couple of big white eyes. We think they're so dainty as they run along in front of our buggy on their spindly little legs...

That's all for today. There'll be more next week after my business partner Jules and her husband Rob come for a visit from Canada for a week. I can't wait!

Warm regards
EvieB

We Have More People! Yay!

2007-04-05T22:35:00.000+10:00

Hello again!

It's very exciting to report that we have more new people living here on the island now...

Ron & Marion Brookes have moved back to complete their home, just up the hill from where we live. They've brought their son Andrew and his girlfriend Sascha over for a week's holiday -- what a lovely young couple.

It's good to see people making their dream come true no matter what spanner is thrown in the works! :-)

We also have Kevin and Loretta who arrived today. They're staying in a house right up the top of the island that we were looking at buying at one stage... The views are breathtaking from there. Well, Brian mows the lawns and tops up the batteries there so he still gets to admire the view. ;-)

They're building a house up Gos Hawke Drive which has a beautiful outlook as well, and is located even higher up the big hill at the top of the residential part of Keswick Island.

Mike and Lyn had a social get-together this evening to welcome Ron & Marion and their family back to the island. Hopefully their house will start the completion stage of building by the end of this month or so...

I can't tell you how exciting it is to have more people coming here to live and the new company and personalities are a refreshing addition to our little community. It's lovely to see that so many genuinely nice people are moving here. :-)

We also met the developer Vince and his two workers, Jim and Barry during the last week. It looks like things are being repaired, tidied up and new roads to be built... That's all good in my books. Brian might even have a bit of work repairing some broken down machinery -- so that's even better. ;-)

That's all for today. I'm hanging for a swim tomorrow! Next week will be busy with daughter Jessica and nephew Ben coming for a week - then business partner Jules & her husband Rob from Canada for the next week as well! I can't wait! :-)

Warm regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

People... Friends... Family...

2007-03-24T12:22:00.000+10:00

Hi there!

I've had several requests for family photos etc., so I thought I'd add some here of our family and our friends on Keswick Island as well. :-)

Let's start off with the kids first. ;-)

Here's my son Clayton on the day he got his ta moko. I was very proud of him having waited four years, but I wanted to make sure he had something spiritual that he could be proud of on his skin. It had to mean something - which it does. Spud is 21 now and a signalman in the army in Sydney.

Here's Brian's youngest two, Nathan 20 and Jessica 14. This was taken in Fiji, Christmas 2005. They'd both just had their hair braided.

Here's Brian's eldest, Melanie 23 with our granddaughter Louise 1. Hopefully they're coming up for Christmas this year.

Here's Nathan, Jessica, Myself and Brian's neice Bonnie from Dubbo around Christmas in Fiji 2005.

Now onto the Keswick Island contingent...

Here's Brian and Lyn Kinderman from the Keswick Island Guest House barbecuing redclaw on Christmas day 2006. Yum!

Here's a local home-owner Kerry Outerbridge, Clayton and Myself on Christmas day at the Guest House.

Here's my husband Brian taken one night on our verandah.

Here's our mate Ben from NZ who was holidaying with us after chrissy, with Brian Kinderman weaving a magic tale for all, with his wife Lyn and my husband Brian looking on.

Here's Brian and our local constabulary, ex. policeman, Mike - who's always good for a laugh. This was taken at our beach party on New Years Eve before the huge downpour that drenched us all!

Here's our local legend, Mingu Mingu, head of the lost coral tribe of many years gone by... I hear there's even a song being sung about him now...

Here's Brian up the mountain after a bit of a hike. Worth the view I'd say (if I had the energy to get up there -- which I definitely don't! lol!)

I hope you enjoyed these piccies. :-)

Warm regards,
Eva

Flies, Flies -- All Kinds Of Flies!

2007-03-15T15:51:00.000+10:00

Hello again...

It's amazing when you're a 'city girl' and you move to the bush, just how different things are - yeah okay, it is the tropical 'bush' alright? ;-)

I know I'm lucky. I count my blessings every day...

But I DO lather on the Rid and Aerogard too!

I've had some nasty experiences with march flies and sand flies... They just love eating me and I scratch all night in the heat making them infected... Not good.

If it wasn't for Lyn Kinderman's kind advice and a tab of Zyrtek - I just wouldn't sleep at all! I'm not a table taker, but antihistamenes are a daily must here.

In fact, I've been up a few times at ungodly hours like 2.00am and 3.00am working on the computer so I don't keep Brian awake. At least when I'm concentrating on something else, I'm not thinking about the itchy bites!

But about six weeks ago, I was like a two year old when one night, I spied this little blinking light out in the garden and I called Brian over... "Brian what's this in the garden?"

You see, when you live on a rock in the middle of the ocean, you become all too aware of all the nature around you, believe me.

"Is it a firefly?" I asked in excitement...

It sure was! Then we spotted another and another and I was just spellbound and entranced.

I've never seen a firefly in my life. They're teeny weeny little things with bright fluro green flashers on their bottoms. We can't find their name in the insect book though... They don't have big bums like the ones in the US. They're teeny weeny miniscule moth-like creatures.

I was practically hanging over the verandah trying to see one when another one popped up right in front of our eyes, about 50 feet up in the air. It was like a little alien weaving around. Absolutely amazing.

The next night we had them everywhere when we turned the lights out in our bedroom and the lounge. We counted 8 on the roof and most of them were flashing. It was awesome. They're so tiny and gorgeous. You definitely don't feel alone when they're around and they're so mystical...

Now this week we've had another addition to the island... We knew they were coming, but I didn't realise just how many butterflies we'd see. They were absolutely everywhere.

Racing over from St Bees Island, it was like they were all on a mission!

Yes, a mission to bonk. It's like they're saying to each other, "I'm alive for 12 weeks - let's bonk!" lol.

So there are many, many more to come yet. We've been looking them up in the insect book and we have lace wings and tiger blues so far. Some bright yellow ones as well.

When I say they were everywhere, I mean everywhere.

They were even crossing the water when we were having our daily swim! lol

The next day, the sun was out and it was a glorious day - as usual, and they were swarmed all over a bush in flower out the back. Here are some photos I got Brian to snap... Keep in mind that they move really fast (because they're on a love mission right? lol):

Look closely to see how many are on this bush. They're pretty well camouphlaged but there's at least 18 on this one bush alone...

Beautiful aren't they? We truly are lucky here on Keswick Island.

Warm regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

What Can You Do With Indian Saris?

2007-03-15T11:04:00.000+10:00

Hello there!

I recently had a question about the use of saris from one of my subscribers in India, Jerome D'souza...

He asked:"Why is it that people use saris for furnishings? My wife is interested to see just how you do that."

So I took some photos of what I did with the saris.

I love silk saris and couldn't help buying up big when I was in India - especially from the 'silicone city' of India, Bangalore (which also happens to be a terrific place to buy quality saris from!)It was a funny experience really because I was buying the saris with the explicit intention of hanging them across rooms and from windows -- without spoiling the lovely view from our home.

Look I've tried tying a sari around me and it's 50 times harder than tying a sarong and twice as funny! lol ;-)

Here are some photos of the beautiful saris in-situ.

See afterwards for a 'not so funny' story about bringing the saris back to Australia...

Our loungeroom with chiffon sari from Kolkata heavily encrusted with diamantes and fake jewellery. Notice the table cover, which has hundreds of hours of intricate workings on it. Absolutely beautiful -- I couldn't resist it...

Pure silk sari from Bangalore. I had to put several back that day becuase the bill was kind of ummm... huge! lol

Pure silk sari from Bangalore with beautiful detail in shiny gold. I love watching it blow in the breeze and sparkle in the sun.

Glorious sheer chiffon sari from Kolkata encrusted with very fine diamantes in all different colours. This one sways above our head in the breeze from the verandah at night.

This is a chiffon sari from Chennai brought back for me by Vijay, my old supervisor from Modular Mining. This is the one I had fun trying to wrap around my body without success. ;-) See the heavily worked piece on the bed. It's just beautiful.

The not so funny story? Well I'd had a rotten experience after getting out of Mumbai domestic aiport... Just trying to get to the international airport on my own with two heavy bags was difficult. I was given a bum steer by a guy who put me into an old taxi where the driver tried to rip me off of the very little cash I had left. (I was planning to use it to cover any excess baggage charges I might face...)

But after yelling, screaming and pleading in the dark with this guy that I had no money left whatsoever... he dropped me off in the rain a good kilometre from the airport. #@!$*!

Not happy Jan! I was running late!

Nevertheless, I persevered... After five weeks of working flat out, I was finally going home! So I had my luggage scanned and had to put up with a bitchy female police officer who wanted to check out all the jewellery and saris that I'd purchased... Just taking her time asking which shop I bought this and that from. Like I could remember? Jeez! lol

Then I went to good old Qantas to check my luggage in and found that I was 25kg overweight!

Ok I'll pay the difference. Oh you will ma'am @ $36/kg! Yes that's right --> $900 in excess baggage. $@#!%^**!

All I can say is Qantas sucks and thank goodness for coporate AmEx cards! Thanks Modular Mining. :-)

I actually got teary when I finally landed at Sydney airport... It'd been too long. Gimme a meat pie please! hahaha!

So, what do you think of the saris as window furnishings?

Warm regards
Eva Browne-Paterson

We're At Keswick Island -- Wanna Come?

2007-02-15T14:13:00.000+10:00

Hello there,

Well I just had a four week 'forced holiday' and it's great to finally be here on Keswick Island. After only having visited the island for the first time in July this year, I think it's pretty amazing to actually be living here just 3.5 months later!

Situated 32km off the coast of Mackay, Queensland, Australia, we're the southern most Whitsunday Island in the Cumberland Group of islands. When we moved here, we made the population increase to a mere nine people. ;-)

Yes it's quiet... very quiet.

No dogs barking all night long
No cars speeding up and down the street - only golf buggies
No 'domestic' arguments going on that you can't help but hear
No neighbour's children screaming etc.

Really, we must be getting old for things like that to be annoying us... But we love it here and think we're the luckiest people in the world to be living our dream. :-)

We've made good friendships with the existing residents:

Brian and Lyn Kinderman from the Keswick Island Guest House - I'd never stayed at a guest house before this one and I have to say that Lyn cooks gourmet food of the best quality (ultra yummy!) and their hospitality knows no bounds. A most enjoyable getaway to be had here. (Some great photos on their web site too!) Do take a moment to visit --> www.keswickislandguesthouse.com.au

I don't know what we would have done without their kindness and generosity. Without their friendship, I wouldn't have been able to access the internet while we were offline without a phone connection for four weeks. They make happy hour terrific and beach trips a joy. I knew this couple were 'pivotal' in our move to Keswick Island and we're both honoured to have them as friends.
Lyn & Mike - Being South Mexicans from Victoria, this couple are very down-to-earth and an unearthed treasure on the island. Always willing to lend a hand and very kind people. We were truly delighted to find that they're both capricorns like Brian and I are! That's gotta be special. :-)

Plus, Lyn's mother Verna, who is 82 years old and very spritely I might add, also lives with them. I love older people because they always have a good story to tell. ;-)

The house we're living in is absolutely beautiful. When we opened the door to arrive, we felt like we were coming home. All the indian saris that I bought when I was in India in October fit beautifully around the windows. It's like a constant discovery tour walking around the house. Jenny and Nat, the owners, are wonderful people and we feel very lucky to be looking after their home. Who knows? Maybe one day in the near future we'll be able to buy it from them. ;-)

All of a sudden, we're noticing more about the nature around us -- the flora and the fauna, not to mention the tides. It's good to get back to basics and that was one of the main reasons I wanted to move here, apart from the fact that it filled 'the picture in my head I'd been carrying around for years' to the letter.

Each night at sunset, we watch as thousands of fruit bats fly straight past our house from the mango groves on the beach to the neighbouring St Bees Island. I don't think you could 'pay' for this kind of 'wonder'. With no natural predators, except perhaps for the monitor lizards, which are pretty slow... it's an amazing sight to behold. And typically, a terrific excuse to salute them with a champagne as the sun sets. :-)

I can't explain how the island itself is so much better to experience in person that it is to view in photos... But nevertheless, here are some photos of our lovely Keswick Isle that I'd like to share with you. [Just point at each photo for descriptions].

Wouldn't you just love to visit a beautiful island like this on your next getaway? Look I pinch myself every day to make sure I'm not dreaming! lol. We all feel like we're living a millionaire's life here.

Warmest regards

Eva Browne-Paterson

PS: The training offer that was previously available has now been closed.