Butterflies in photos and ATE 2014

Good morning,
 now I finally have some photos of the Ulysee, blue, and Cairns Birdwing Butterflies, green; this is a 'hard' job, as they move constantly.

After a lovely dry spell we now have a bit more rain. ATE -Australian Tourism Exchange in Cairns has finished and I had hoped the weather would improve for all the visitors, but... some delegates were here before ATE started and enjoyed the sun and wind. Thank you for your visit and hopefully sending us lovely visitors.

 

Ulysses and Cairns Birdwing Butterflies

Hi,
 well,....for the last 2 weeks we have had big numbers of Ulysee, the bright blue, butterflies and Cairns Birdwing, black and red for the girls, bright green for the boys, butterflies absolutely everywhere. It is an amazing sights seeing both buzzing around flowering bushes and plants. One even took a detour through the lounge area in the Garden House the other day. As a result, I suppose, we have now found their lava on a kaffir lime tree on the back deck of the B&B, both types, ..had to Google them to determine who is who....
A 'little' more rain and our guests are coping very well, as they say: " It is a rainforest! "
Yesterday a nearly dry day, with sun and wind. Today I hope we have the same, I have lots to do in the garden. Wishing everyone a great day.

Cyclone Ita

Hi,
 on Friday night, Cyclone Ita gave us all a big scare with category 5 and 300km/h winds on the forecast, but then it was not so bad at all. Some places had fallen trees and damage from that. Some roads and bridges are closed, all temporary and hopefully the Daintree Ferry will be back in action this morning. So, the North is ready for our Easter visitors !
But such a cyclone makes everyone tidy up and lock up the houses and we  fitted shutters  to our Garden House. The veranda has to be cleared: where to with all the plants, pots, BBQ, chairs, benches? We live more out- than indoors, so there is a lot to be moved. Then after the cyclone is gone, rearrange everything again. We are very happy though, how it all went and now we can go into the dry season!

 

New tours in the area

Hi,
 here are links to new tours, one Sky Rail from Cairns to Kuranda
http://www.skyrail.com.au/experience/canopy-glider
and this one for 'foodies' and only for adults
http://www.kurandatours.com.au/australia_outback_tasting_tour.htm
I hope this gives you more ideas of things to do up here in the North; is may mean you have to exstend your visit!!!
Enjoy.
 

Air Cons are in !!!

Hello,
 right-- after some delays the guest rooms are now air conditioned. YES.
This is a huge thing for us, as we run on solar and generator power and had to make some changes to our system. The government is promising us to 'look into' mains power to this area. It seems we are too small, too remote and even though we are the Tourism Icon: Daintree Rainforest somehow not in line. They also have no money.... We decided to set ourselves up for the future and when the mains power arrives here we can connect anyway, but waiting 18 years takes its toll.
So:::: guest can now choose to turn the air conditioners on in the wet season. The first guests who tried it out, loved it. It is very quiet and fast. They had promptly not had it on the next night, as it was quiet cool, 23 C and the fan was enough. The air con will be great though on those hot, humid, still days when one gets out of the shower, to dry off  and is wet immediately. Maybe go to sleep with is on for another hour and then have it turned off automatically. I am sure people get the idea.
Meanwhile we have had some rain!
There are 2 cyclones in FNQ right now. One off to our west, one off to our south and we seem to have a 'convergence', which had brought us non-stop heavy rain  last night. Result: 390 mm in Cow Bay. That is even called rain here. There is a bit more to come we are told, well we'll see...
But it is 29 C during the day, all very relaxed.
Check the website for vacant rooms and come to stay to see/feel/experience it all.

30 December 2013

Hi,
 nearly the end of this year, looking forward to 2014 and more good experiences here in FNQ of Australia and the beautiful area we live in.
Here are some pages from a wonderful photo album special people made for us as a Christmas present. We think it does capture our place perfectly. Thank you to D&K

It looks much better than these photos do.
Christmas is gone, with lovely visitors and guests, lots of presents and yummy food and drinks, even some non alcoholic..... Perfect weather even though on the day it rained so we didn't 'do' the usual thing on the beach. Good for a long walk along the beach though for some.
More perfect weather since and after listening to guests raving about their reef trip with our locally run boat yesterday I have booked in for tomorrow !!!! Yes,...3km/h wind, it should be flat as and great visibility. Just air out the stinger suit, so I don't have to use all that sunscreen and off I go......
For today there is lots of washing and some mowing on the list. Not bad, yes??!!!!!
Wishing everyone a great time on New Year Eve so 2014 is properly started and hopefully bring great times and prosperity.

 

Now in November

Hi,
 wow time is flying... we must have had fun.
Here are a couple of photos

 

Now, this is a little historic:

These chairs are called 'sqatters chairs' and were usually home build, way back during the pioneer days, when furniture was not bought in shops, why ?: no shops yet! These chairs I bought maybe 30 years ago in a garage sale in Rockhampton and they were our pride and joy on the veranda there for years. They finally made their way to Cow Bay and I restored them  6 years ago. Most recently they were in front of the Garden House, as they are a little bulky. Well, the other day Brian sat in one and on getting up: the whole thing fell apart into all its bits, due to wood rott. It looked that somehow they were set out to be assembled, however the opposite was the case. The End!

 

 

 

 

 

Now this little guy sat in front of the sliding doors this morning obviously had hit the plexi glass and got himself stunned. I gave him a little rescue remedy and sat him on the cloth, where he seemed fine. Not flying off, I was worried that it may be a baby bird waiting for the parents to come to pick him up, but eventually he took off into the mandarin tree and then flew off later. The bird book says, it is a mistle toe bird, much to my surprise. Not that I know what they look like but I didn't know that they are so tiny, ca. 85mm. Cute as!!!

 

 

Half way through November now and it is a little warmer and tropical and we all wishing for some serious rain to flush the creeks out, which are very dry now. Hopefully this  will be soon, so we can go cooling off in all the waterholes afterwards.

 

Right,..... guest rooms to prepare, mangoes and papaya to freeze and busy keeping cool over noon.

 

Tips === online bookings

Hi,
 for your online booking the best you can do is book direct on my website. This will give you direct, up to date availability and full benefit of our follow up confirmation and info sheet, we have prepared for you. There are now numerous sites who compete and rather stymie the small B&B's, plus we have no contacts for guests to advice them of any particular info to assist with their arrival and visit here.
Just a tip.
Marion
 

Fresh local Durian for breakfast !!!

Hi,
 our local Durian growers are happy that flowers are on the trees, meaning we should be able to have fresh Cow Bay Durian for breakfast during February/.March . Durian, the King of the tropical fruits is fairly unusual in shape and taste. People all over Asia love this fruit. Well: you know the 'drill' online bookings are on the website. www.cowbayhomestay.com

 

Spring time now

Hi, yes well it didn't take long and the next thing we knew,: Spring and the weather to go with it..meaning just beautiful. Still a little cool but no jumpers until later in the evening and the Happy Plants are flowering so think it nearly knocks you over, very sweet scent, a little like jasmine or Elder==Flieder== for the Germans. I love it. The lowers come out at night time, and close during the day, so the evenings are very tropical.

Then we had a little visitor the other day.

I had just cut the flower and he popped in during the evening.

For anyone who knows our Garden House, things are a changing again,now Brian does the outside cladding and has to start from scratch on some of the walls. This was the ' look ' for several days:

Yes, right we are busy and making progress, which is great.
                      Now, you all have a fantastic day.

I will put another great photo on facebook in a minute
check it out and even like it on
www.facebook.com/cowbayhomestay


 

A little later

Hi,
 yes what is going on here since June.
One Cow Bay Homestay B&B is now on face book. www.facebook/cowbayhomestay check it out and even click on like.....
This it not the reason I haven't 'blogged' anything since June though. We are just busy, how good is this. Lovely visitors from all over Australia and the world, even Hawaii and Guam. Everyone is busy with all the locally guided tours and reef trips, or just wandering on the boardwalks, or even just chilling out on the beaches. Plenty of birds right now, rainbow lorikeets are chattering away up in the top of the trees, and we have had a white breasted sea eagle calling in nearly every afternoon. Just the other day big upset, when 5 cockatoos were chasing !!!! a goanna down a tree. That was something.
The bauhinia tree flowered really well and attracted plenty of Cairns birdwing butterflies. Now the Ulysses are busy and as always orange footed jungle fowls; when do they ever sleep? We had a great full moon last months and big tides to go with it. Brian is busy finishing off the Garden House, which is now nearly cladded on all sides, looking really nice. Well, and I had better finish my jobs for the morning. See ya

 

Right on time

Hi,
 it is June and right on time the fabulous Orange Shrimp plants start to flower. Read back down to last year to find out all about these and the great photo.
even the wind has eased off a bit and a Cairns Birdwing butterflies just came past my window here.
We have 2 cassowaries 'stealing' out papayas; the boat whistle is the first to be tried out to discourage them. I think : as we can't eat the cassowary plums they should not eat the papaya. Deal.
We'll see. Check here for updates
Have a great day

 

Super Reisefuehrer

Guten Tag,
 unser Deutscher Gast Daniel hat uns letztens diesen Natur-Reisefuehrer gezeigt. Daniel hat ihn als hervorragend bezeichnet und oft benutzt.
Kreuzreferenzen sind sehr gut, in Englisch, Deutsch und im Zweifelsfall Latein.
Ueber Amazon zu erwerben oder in der Buchhandlung bestellen.
Autor: Lutz Fehling
"Australien Natur- Reisefuehrer" ISBN 9783932084348
Viel Spass. Ich bin gespannt wer als ertes mit diesem Reisefuehrer bei uns zu Besuch kommt.
Bis dann, schoenen Tag wuenscht Marion, Cow Bay Homestay B&B
... und dann war noch der Kassowar, der ueber die Veranda guckte, um die Gaeste zu betrachten, die lesend auf der Bank sassen. Alle waren ueberrascht.......
...und jeden Tag sitzt der White Breasted Sea Eagle auf einem der Baeume und checks sein Revier.
 

Was der Reisefuehrer nicht erwaehnt

Hallo,
 die Preise in den Restaurants in Australien sind sehr gehoben. Das Essen und Service ist gut allerdings ist es generell um$ 100.00 fuer 2 Personen. Eine gute Alternative ist das Mittagessen in allen Hotels=Pubs. Dort gibt es 'Counterlunch' oder 'Countertea'. Dies bekommt man in der Bar, also ueber die Theke=counter. Jeden Tag frisch gekocht und generell um die $ 10.00.
Alle Clubs : RSL, League, Sports Clubs sind zum Mittag und Abendessen geoeffnet. Man muss kein Mitglied sein, muss sich nur als Besucher einschreiben. Diese Clubs haben Personal am Eingang , die gerne helfen werden. Probieren Sie es aus. Es ist immer gut und man bekommt ein guten Einblick in ein Teil des Australischen Lebens.
Viel Spass und guten Appetit. Marion

" Zane" the last cyclone for this season

HI, no reason to be worried about ' Zane ' in this area; even the watch is cancelled for Cape Tribulation.
We have had a little rain, gusty winds and overcast , nice and cool actually.
Good weather for gardening and for visitors to do the walks in comfort.
Come and do it yourself !!!.
and have a great day now.
Marion

 

This is Good

HI all,
 check out this new tour; not for everyone, you have to be experienced in kayaking and love fishing and all. But it is a great way to explore the reef, see wild life and be active. Great day trip and you will be excited about it. Do click the you tube clip
http://www.capetribpaddletrek.com.au/kayak-fishing-and-sailing-in-north-queensland
Of course pick up from Cow Bay Homestay B&B and you can even book it on our website...soon
Let me knnow, if you like it.
Have a great day
Marion

April Update

HI there,
 just a quick posting of a unique photo take up here in the Far North of the Tropical Daintree Rainforest last Saturday. Who thought we would all be in one shoot together!!! Yes it can be done, thanks to enthusiastic people. Fantastic. You all go and have a great day now. I will be painting our pantry, that will be good as well. Marion

 

Easter 2013

Hi everyone,
 well after freezing a lot in Germany, I was very pleased to be back home in Far North Queensland just before Easter. After a  'quick' tidy up and new paint job, Brian was busy renovating one last bit in the B&B, and it looks great too; and then we had new guests. Brave souls they were, as it was very wet that weekend but they enjoyed there massages at the local spa ' up the road'. Easter however turned out to be just fantastic, with pleanty of sunshine a little breeze and even cooler nights.
Now 2. April I wonder, is this already is the beginning of our winter?
Recent guests discovered a new way to enjoy durian fruit. You know this very smelly, pungent, divine fruit with great spikes and loved or hated with passion. This lady immediately used it a spread and found it very tasty; she said, that it reminded her of avocado, which she eats like this.
Try it out.
 

and now a movie

Hi,
 not sure, if you all remember our friend from Perth taking part in the world famous Sydney to Hobart Regatta, starting in Sydney each year on Boxing Day. This and the start of the test cricket is the high light during Christmas for everyone slightly interested in sport,...mainly because all the other sports are having time off... No,... just kidding.
And here now is the movie, Sydney to Hobart on board
" This way up "
Enjoy..we did.. and I am very pleased to just watch it.....
http://vimeo.com/58162138

Meanwhile, we are very hot in the Far North, over 36 everywhere ,....except: the Creek!!!!
 while the south is mopping up from all the wind and rain and flooding. Unbelievable.
 

Hot Paint

Hi there,
 right it is done!!!!!!!
 I painted the guest rooms a couple of week ago, that was not too bad. Then..... the rest of the house was on the paint agenda. Anyone who has been here, probably understands the task a bit better. We do have a very long veranda and very high ceilings, all to do with that precious airflow and the views into the forest, we love so much. Anyway, this needed painting. I had given it all good clean, thanks to HaRa enviro and efficient cleaning, this is not too bad and best of all it lasts. But furniture has to be moved, necks become stiff, paint was rotten, yes, never had this before, it's not a good thing to happen, when the next paint shop is  2 hours away in Cairns but then they are open on Sundays. The walls and ceilings become too hot to paint in  the middle of the day, so one has to time it, and so on,,,,,,But today I finished the last bit, the really high ceiling over the dining room table and I can share this....I am very glad it is done!!!! Hoorray.Probably puts some of the spiders and geckos out of circulation for a while, no, no, no, I didn't kill them, but they like their own smell better than fresh paint.... Ah yes, and while I was at it, the office and kitchen got a new coat of paint just the same.
Just pumped some water, watered the sorry looking vegie garden, we haven't had much rain here for a number of weeks, adn now it is shower time. Tomorrow we are off to Cairns for the Christmas shopping adventure. How many eskies do we need to take????? Hopefully not everyone else has the same idea.
And then next week is Christmas !!!!
Wishing all of you a great festive season, find all your presents, enjoy them all, the good food, the good times, the cheers and the time off, and get ready for a fantastic New Year in 2013.
Catch you then, stay always happy, healthy and cheerful.
And Good luck to the special friend, who is in the Sydney to Hobart Regatta on Boxing Day.
Yeah.

Epic Solar Elipse

Hi,
 wow, what an experience.
After lots of wind, weather, sudden rain showers and general worry that it maybe dark for 2 minutes in-between tropical down pours, we had the best morning for a solar eclipse one can wish for.
Slow going on Cow Bay Beach, people only arrived shortly before the main event, well one had to be up early... but then it all happened. Equipped with solar viewers, we saw the shadow of the moon slowly covering the sun from top left  and then is became totally dark and then the corona came into view and even the famous diamond ring effect. Amazing. Very dark, ( I wish people wouldn't scream so much though),,simply amazing to see such a special nature event. I am still sort of overwhelmed with it all. That I saw this, here, in Cow Bay. Fabulous. Our guests were very happy with their viewing, being the 3. eclipse they had seen and this one the best, in their opinion. Brian experienced it at home, not seeing the eclipse as such, but the changes in the forest, birds going back into the trees, very much darker than on the beach, and the Boy Cat slinking around making unhappy noises.

Sun rises 14 November 2012

Full solar eclipse at Cow Bay this morning.
How is that....

 

Eclipse viewing on a boat

Hi,
 last minute news:
A friend of ours is offering a charter for the Eclipse happening up here on Wed.14 November 12
From Port Douglas
$ 400/pers
minimum 23 bookings
departure 4.30 am on anchor 5.30 am
return    8.30 am
breakfast included
Contact: marion@cowbayhomestay.com

The idea is that one will have a clearer view from out to sea.
Hopefully everyone who is making the effort to get up that early will have a great view of this eclipse seeing the last one was in 700 somethin...AD. in this area.

Well, I will be on Cow Bay Beach, and the next blog will report on the event.
Have a great day now.
Marion

Experience Christmas on Cow Bay Beach !!!!
You are welcome to book your Christmas this year in the Daintree Rainforest here at Cow Bay Homestay B&B.
 Arrival should be latest on 24. December as the ferry has very limited operating hours on 25. December.Most restaurants and venues are closed for the Christmas Day.
 We start the day with a nice breakfast and then pack up to go to Cow Bay Beach to spend the day lazily in the shade of the trees. Usually we have something with duck, last year it was chinese style duck pancakes; Brian is planning on prawn satays this year, instead of his freshly cooked prawns, and then we will see what else we can have: cheeses, tropical fruits,salads, a mocktail, champagne and .....nuts, fruits, ....
Our guests are welcome to join us of course and just have to arrange for their drinks.When you book your Christmas here, please let us know about food requirements.
 Usually one restaurant is open for traditional  Christmas Lunch,  and then the normal menu at night time.

 

Sunbirds are gone

HI All,
 we have been watching the building of the nest since June and that took some time. The birds did dissappear for a couple of days, and I thought they may have gone elsewhere, but returned to breed and sitting on eggs and feeding chicks, and ...now the are gone. Always without any great announcement, I just noticed not having seen them.
Maybe this year we get lucky and they have a 2. sitting so to speak. With the nest being right on the deck, it is amusing to watch them all day long.

This is how the sun birds started with the nest building, we usually have these ropes to hang banana bunches to ripen
 
And they nearly done or getting in and out during nesting.

Enjoy your day, Marion
 

a little warmer

Hi  Reader!!!!
Finally it is a little warmer. We had a fantastic cold winter, down to 10 C but always lovely 25 C and blue skies. 4 rainy days and guests during that time still wanted to stay longer.... I was impressed. We had our youngest guest in August, in the company of her family who made sure she was happy at all times. Too cute. Brian is busy building the new veranda on the Garden House. A lovely WWOOFer renovated our old silky oak side board, brought up all the way from our house in Rockhampton, and transformed something I really wanted to put on the dump into something beautiful, now sitting in the B&B in prime position.An old wardrobe, equally despised by me, is nearly done and seems to be hoop or kauri pine, stunning. We will use it for blankets. I am still a little breathless with the business of it all, but love it just the same. But I am rushing off again to do some office wrk, that is right behind.
Photos in the next blog??? YES
Take care. Marion

Orange Shrimp Plant

Hi,

This very pretty and striking plant has been the mystery in the garden for some years. My friend Coral gave me a lot of plants some years ago, when we redesigned the garden, and as it goes with busy collectors of plants she didn't know the name of this plant, suspecting that she and her friend probably liked it 'somewhere' and took a cutting.
Fortunatly one of our guests recently tracked down the name:
Its formal name is Aphelandra Sinclairinia or Coral Aphelandra and its
common name is Orange Shrimp Plant.
I love the name, it somehow it very fitting. Orange Shrimp Plant, is easily planted by taking cuttings and sticking them inot the wet ground beginning of the wet season. It starts flowering around June, this year in May and keeps going until the rains start. It is more a bush than a tree, and easliy maintained.
So, there. Mystery solved. Many thanks.

Ruhrpott Goodies

Hi, this is for the Germans, who understand Ruhrpott Talk. We received a parcel in the mail from 2 Fantastic visitors, who understood our love for Knoedel= Dumplings. Since we can make most things, even pasta, but have no luck with Knoedel, we love goodies send to us from Germany, which these 2 lovely people did. With this greeting on the card:
" ineifervonnetgefecht
habbichdichtrotzdemnichvergessen "
Schoen, nich !!!!!
Have a lovely day.
Marion

Gertrud revealed

HI,

 Python named 'Gertrud ' was a feature back in January and now we can reveal how fantastic she looked. Thanks you for sending the photos in, much appreciated. Of course 'Heidrun' enjoys her beauty sleep during these rather cold but sunny winter months, back on deck in summer!

Schoenen Guten Tag,
 die Website ist ja auch in Deutsch uebersetzt, und auf dieser Seite Holznutzung
 http://www.cowbayhomestay.com/timber-de.html
muss man entweder etwas warten 1-2 Sekunden bis der deutsche Text uebersetzt wird oder einfach rechts klicken und dann uebersetzten lassen. Brian wird sicher gerne Fragen beantworten, wenn Sie hier zu Besuch kommen.Erstmal viel Spass beim Lesen. Marion

News !!!!!!!
So, after all this time, I finally got it all together for the websdesigner to do his magic, and here is the new website www.cowbayhomestay.com check it out !!!!!
It is Monday and before I go to cut the herbs for delivery and become busy in other areas here, I better show you this photo, which has been taken in Cape Tribulation recently. Now we know !!!
Got to run. More in July.
Marion

Good morning!!
 May is nearly over and we had lovely guests, who all had a 'good' mix of weather, employing umbrellas and not being put off by clouds and wind. It is warm; even though it hasn't been the perfect beach weather, but walking and exploring and beach combing is always good. We are having fun with our new inherited ride on mower and working in the garden. Much more energy when it is cooler and enjoying every day.Birds are very busy in the last 3-4 days, with Rainbow Lorikeets and lots of noisy Cockatoos, dashing in and out of palm trees. Little kingfisher this morning and someone discovered a very haphazard nest of a pigeon up the road. So here is to a fabulous June and .....there will be weather !!!!!

Ahhh April

Hello,
 after being cut off with landslides north of Cairns, rivers flooding and  rain bucketing,  the skies cleared last week and.....we have the most fantastic weather.
Last night 18 degrees at night for Cairns, meaning it was cooler here in the rainforest, but how good are blue skies, starry nights, a moon to admire, a little breeze, flat ocean and everything looking just stunning.
Got the doonas on the beds, the gardens done and expecting Easter guests, who should be able to enjoy themselves here in the Daintree:
 go oon  walks, swim in the creeks and jungle surf, taste fantastic new exotic fruits, explore the Great Barrier Reef , swim with turtles, or just relax and look forward to great dinners at local restaurant, or how about some sea kayaking off Cow Bay Beach......
The sunbirds are coming in to feed on the haliconia flowers in the house..... no idea what makes them do that , but it is cute to watch them.
Recent guests took great delight in jumping around in our freshwater creek, after a brisk walk around the boundary.
Right: we are ready after our summer break !!!!

The Great Barrier Reef

Hi,
here is another little insight : this is FNQ down under and amongst it all.
Love it.
Marion
a new TV series about the Barrier Reef, I hope our new TVservice will have it on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPqDfoWx6fQ&feature=player_embedded

1.March 2012

Good afternoon,
finally some rain and the creek is rushing in the background inviting fitter swimmers than myself to keep up in the current; still good fun to go in and cool off though, and there are more pools now than before. Always changing.
Guests in February enjoyed good weather and extended kayak trips with plenty of turtles to admire.

Here in Daintree, in Cow Bay and Cape Tribulation   we are busy preparing for our season later in the year with workshops and other tourism activities, encouring visitors to stay and discover this fantastic part of Far North Queensland--Australia--
The pagoda plants bring great red colour dots into the green background--garden-- and attract Cairns Birdwing butterflies, not as many as last year, but back to their usual size.
Right now: sunshine, blue sky, a plan to go to the beach, what will we cook tonight? Just bought the Womans Weekly pressure cooker book, fantastic recipes.....watch out waistline...
Have a great day and enjoy.
Marion

Hot tip in February

HI,
 this is a great link for all the animal lovers, nature enthusiasts and any one else interested.
By the way: Cow  Bay and Cape Tribulation are the 'secret ' destinations for dugongs, whales,dolphins, turtles, reef, snorkelling, and best of all :bird and butterflies !

http://www.queenslandholidays.com.au/experiences/natural-encounters/animal-encounters/seasonal-calendar.cfm?cmpid=1143

Enjoy
Marion

Hot tip in February

HI,
 this is a great link for all the animal lovers, nature enthusiasts and any one else interested.
By the way: Cow  Bay and Cape Tribulation are the 'secret' destinations for dugongs, dolphins, turtles reef and snorkelling, and best of all bird and butterflies

Helga, the amethestyne python

Hi,
 we have a new resident next to the path at the house, turning up mid morning to excite guests as they leave for their daily adventure here in the Daintree Rainforest or taking the luggage to the car.
One guest named it/her/him??? Helga the other day. Providing great photo opportunities as Helga just seems to lay around on a cover of palm fronds. Not even sunning itself.
We have enjoyed fabulous weather for January, even cool at night time and blue sky and calm seas. The creeks are just perfect, clear and running over stones, but watch out...the water can be cool.
Here at the B&B we have had great guests this month, and they all loved their  'we t' season visit up in the north, because it is less crowded than down south.
The sun bird babies on the deck have taken off into the wild.
The other birds are more or less noisy, feeding on different trees during the day or early in the mornings, with the sulfur crested cockatoos making most of the racket and performing aerial acrobatics over the big garden next door.
And have a look at this hibiscus. My favourite this year.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone and all the Best for 2012 !!!
 We are recovering from the festivities, it is Boxing Day here. Brian finally can watch the Boxing Day cricket match again, here at home, we switched TV satellites.....And India has already done 2 batsmen, meaning: a not so good start for the Australians./ but any thing can happen during a test match.
We had a great day on the beach here in Cow Bay. Very few people, calm, flat sea, a breeze,swimming,walking, some company and a very relaxed time . My idea of Christmas.
Now we'll see what is happening until New Years Day, when we are looking forward to guest arrivals.
Go to go, the hammock is ............
M

our spot ....

Now..!!!!!..November

Welcome to the Tropics !!!
.. there should be a sign for this, somewhere around here.......
It is so very tropical this month:
blue skies, white clouds, some big storms, little rain, good breeze, sometimes very gusty, all the plants are seemingly bursting with greens and then the flowers....!!
For the alst week there seems to be a different scent in the air every day
, this is during the day often more intense at night time.
 The air is warm,  to touch ???? and it feels very strong and powerful and happy.
Being here.
The Daintree is just so vibrant right nowwww !!!
The photo was taken from a guest in this area. ...leave only foot prints..
Marion

Wowwwwwww

Hi, there,
 here I am writing away more or less often, always thinking who is reading this and is anyone.
Well, I just got to click on the stast of this blog courtesy of 'blogger', and there are quiet a number of people out there reading this,
 from all over the world.
This is great!!, Thanks and do write a comment everyone in a while.
Love to read that.
Happy reading.
Marion

Spring !!!!!

Hi there!!
 Have we been busy in the B&B?.. yes very !! And thank you to all the lovely guests from all over the world and of course Australia and good friends from Perth, who kept us busy during our season here in the Daintree. After I injured my thumb in July, Brian jumped in and helped with breakfast and making beds; I don't think it is his next career move, but I can defintely recommend him. We had fabulous WWOOfers as well and enjoyed their company and help: Hi to the girls in Melbourne !!!
Now for the fun part
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndnUTM57iqg
Let me know what you think...
And have a fabulous day.
See ya...Marion

New Sign!!!!

Good afternoon!
 Before it becomes really busy here in the Daintree with visitors, I had better put up these photos.

Anneka was a great WWOOFer here and is heading back home to start a new fabulous job later in the year.
 Our new street sign was well overdue seeing the termites had nearly chewed up the old one. SO this what you see when you arrive here at Cow Bay Homestay B&B. I hope you like it!!

And the Cassowary plums next to the guest room on the west side of the huse, look like Eastereggs, or like someone had neatly arranged them on the lawn. There seem to be lot around this year, good for the Cassowaries. One can see them in numerous areas and also on our boundary walk. The boundary walk is ready for use again, after we cleared a lot of debris the other day, mainly mazes of wat a while and other vines. I took guests around the other day and it takes ca 20 minutes. It is a lovely way to walk through this ohterwise very dense rainforest.

Well, I hope you enjoyed  this.

Have a great day, and keep warm.

Marion

COLD nights --- Fabulous days

Good Day!
 Well... it is COLD at night, very cold, freezing, unbelievably cool, --we are talking 10 degree and below!!--and I am pleased to discover that I do have a good selection of socks. Certainly all come handy this winter. For several weeks now, we have had very cold nights, where one needs to wear more than one jumper.
The days however are staunningly beautiful. Clear and sunny.
We have lovely guests, fantastic WWOOFers and today we will have a BBQ at the beach, I am looking forward to that.
The gardens are nearly all pruned back and mulched, and our new street sign will be put up tomorrow. So stand by for the photo!!!!
There are still some spots in the B&B calendar open for bookings, so get online and book your flight, and see the delightful Daintree for yourself.
Visitors in the driveway, Have to go!!
Marion

Magic May

Hi,
 May is here, the weater has been fantastically magic, cool, sun,wind, stars and the doonas are aired and fluffed up on the beds.  We are painting the laundry before the new floor covering is installed and Brian does the veranda deck. Today a little drizzle of rain but still low humidity, so paint dries nicely.
Mothers day today and someone' birthday yesterday, and lots of lovely greetings to everyone reading this blog from Cow Bay Homestay B&Bright in the Daintree Rainforest and up the road from the Great Barrier Reef.
This is the place to be; come to see for yourself.
Next week is the big official openeing of Cooper Creek Crossing
this is the link to its face book page, check out all the outrages photos
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_216957021650816&id=217363478276837
Marion

Green Guest!!!!!

Hi,
 wow what fabulous weather we have had over Easter. Cow Bay Beach was practically crowded. A bit of a shock to us locals to see so many people at once....
Here is a new guest at Cow Bay Homestay B&B:

a white lipped green tree frog.

He appeared yesterday under the breakfast table. he seems to be there all day and guests spotted him going out last  night. Back this morning.

We also see a pair of Cassowaries in the afternoon strolling through the garden. The big female may be Brian's 'friend' from last year.

Butterflies are still everywhere and busy.

To the weather:

it is perfect: sunny- windy- dry- pleasant

Well.....you all have a fantastic day

Marion

Easter Surprise

Hi and Happy Easter to all!!!.
 here in the Daintree we had a big surprise: no fees on the Daintree River Ferry until 2.May YEah!!!!!
This may bring lots more day trippers over the river from Cainrs and surrounding areas and we'll see how busy our roads will be.
For us here at the B&B it won't make such a difference, as our guests  have booked before they get into the area.
Lovely guests we have had last week who all had the best weather, sometimes I think our B&B guests do provide is with a break, even during this WET wet season, whenever we had guests the weather actually was good. So, thank you!!
Apparently the reef is fantastic right now, with good visibilty and 4 different typs of turtles being spotted. How good is that?
Cairns Birdwing butterflies are the hit this season. They quiet often have one female with a following of up to six males making the rounds of the pagoda plants and bangkok roses. Is that called a 'flock' of butterflies then??They seem a bit smaller this year, but they make up in numbers.
Right now the pool in our creek flows just enough so one can swim on the spot for hours. It is really good fun, and I do practice my breast stroke.
And how are all the sightings of Cassowaries recently? We had two big birds strolling around next to the Garden House 2 weeks ago. Impressive!!!
Right...things to do and a Sunday to enjoy.
Thinking about my time in Germay last year. We had a great party in Brackel with friends and family and an Easter egg hunt in the garden. Remember, Maria?
Have a wonderful Easter
Marion

Sun and Fun

Hello there.
 Sun-- blue sky --and a fun --watch this 'you tube' video
http://www.youtube.com/user/CairnsGBR#p/u/6/S4edClDnWos
Marion

The Daintree RAIN Forest

Good afternoon,
last night I wrote down some points to write in this blog: all about RAIN !!!!!
It rains, there are buckets of rain , big buckets, making a pelting noise on the roof. Can't talk,can't  listen to radio or watch TV. Sitting on the veranda I see glistening strings of water falling off the roof; one hour later it eases for 30 seconds; can it go any heavier? and then it does. Frog and insect noises are very sharp in between the noise of the downpour. Going to turn off the generator with the big umbrella and torch, the ground is flooded, small streams where garden paths are; the creek will be up, it came up to the first step yesterday. We had ca 170mm of rain yesterday, not that much by comparison, but enough. The ground is saturated. During the breaks all the water drains away, making everything look swept clean.
Planted some bamboo 3 days ago, this is perfect weather for it to settle in.
The most recent guest here at Cow Bay Homestay B&B had 4 days of perfect weather. It changes that quickly.
Plan to go to the beach later on, with the umbrella!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Marion

Cyclone Yasi

Hi,
 after an anxious night, lots of preparation work 2 days before I am VERY HAPPY to report that Cairns and north to Daintree and Cape Tribualtion has been spared any damage from this very big Cyclone Yaris.
All our best wishes to all the areas affected, I hope you will stay safe and dry and receive lots of help cleaning up and rebuilding.
Marion

Queensland on You Tube

Good afternoon,
 here is a treat
http://www.youtube.com/Queensland
This is one very action packed link with great shots and all on Queensland.
Make sure you look at the Far North Queensland videos, either to confirm that your booking here at Cow Bay Homestay B&B is a great choice or to have a little holiday at your desk.
Just keep in mind, the real thing is far better.
Enjoy.
Marion

Happy 2011

Happy New Year to all readers!
 Here at Cow Bay Homestay B&B we were a bit busy, hot and merry over November and December and had lots of rain and sunshine. We enjoyed guests from different corners of the country and the world.
Most importantly we didn't get flooded like lots of areas of South Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and even Tasmania. We do have a lot of rather heavy storms this year with bif lightning and thunders and heavy rain, but the country here can handle the amounts without flooding.
Big local news is the upgrade of Cooper Creek causeway, which took some time to complete as we had lots of rain during the last winter; but now everyone can safely drive north to Cape Tribulation in any 'normal' car. This is really a big improvement to travellers and locals. Our Daintree Marketing Cooperative is planning a big 'Causeway Opening Party' this year; to join the party: stay tuned to this Blog or check the website
http://www.destinationdaintree.com/
We had the photographer in and you can have a sneak look at the new photos for the website.
Well...........stay dry, warm and happy and enjoy what ever you are doing.
Marion

Nearly November

Good Morning to all the readers!
  Well. we have a lovely Sunday morning here in Cow Bay today: it is cool, sunny and breezy. My plan is to finish the mowing today. We do have a bit of a bigger lawn than the usual house and I like to collect the clippings for mulch, that is my excuse not buying a ride- on- mower. But it takes time. Cow Bay Homestay B&B has been busy again with lovely and interesting guests, who all seem to have liked their stay with us and the Daintree experience. There have been very VERY rainy days during the last 3 months, but right now we have great weather and I will go to the beach today! In the last blog entry I was expecting vegetables crops; cucumbers were good, but the tomatoes do ---nothing much. Is it too wet, not sunny enough? Maybe the seeds were no good. Hm.On the other hand the basil bushes are rather frightening in their growth...
With the sunny weather we also see more lace monitors or goannas and a skink has taken up residence under the big tree at the front steps, making quiet a bit of noise in the dry leaf litter. As usual the air is full of bird and insect noises ans it is very relaxing just listening to it all.
Got to do the jobs though...
A great to everyone reading this.
http://www.cowbayhomestay.com/

August News

Hi to all the lovely reader of our blog!
Wow !!what a busy July is has been. We enjoyed great and interesting guests, who all seemed to love their holiday up here in the Daintree and even though the weather was not 100%,  but what is a little rain in this rainforest?
I attach a photo one of our guests took, who said the website photos are not as good as what he found. Thank you for the great photo and I hope it will show what it is like in our house.
One problem having nice photos is: the house and gardens change all the time. Not just by myself rearranging furniture but also outside with bushes growing, flowering and new plants going in.
Here is a funny one:
Sitting on the back steps this morning chatting to a friend on the tablelands, a Kookabarra flew right over from the poinciana tree. sailed past my knee !!, seem to hit the lower part of the mandarin tree, dropped to the ground and took off back to the poinciana tree. This is all flying less than 500mm off the ground! And what eye sight!!!.
It was really good though to sit there with him sailing past ;I could have touched his wings.
Well, that is it for now, very briefly.

Have to plant all the vegetable seedlings, which did take despite the overcast weather.Looking forward to tomatoes, cucumber, melons and pumpkin, also bok choy and rocket.
Have a great day, where ever you read this.
Marion

Back Home in Cow Bay

HI everyone!
 Well it has been a 'bit' busy here after my return from Germany. I sort of just coming up for air after doing a lot of cleaning, gardening and painting. We had some great help from WWOOFers of different nationalities. We also had the first guests for the season and I feel we sort of test driven the new arrangements. We pruned back all the gardens around the house and fertilised and mulched, so the winter flowers should do their thing in due course. Initially we still had some rain and the ground was still very soft, but accept for a little rain the other day it is DRY. We even had some great sunny days, but I still haven't been to the beach for some serious sunbathing. Now that things are a bit more sorted and the big jobs are out of the way, I hope to catch up on that soon. A real great event happed though, Rolli a local painter in Cow Bay has given us some of his paintings to hang in the guest rooms, which can be bought by anyone interested. I am very excited about this and hope he will attract some buyers this way. I have a day off paid work today and better get going. Wishing all a great winter/summer- the Europeans certainly have earned their share of sunshine-

Marion

Flying back

Guten Morgen !!!!
On my last Sunday morning here in Brackel, the sun is out, the sky is deep blue and another cold night will turn into a sunny day. Still, I can do without the really cold nights. Thanks to friends and family I enjoyed lots of outings and sight seeing, walks in forrests and parks. All very different from Cow Bay, and great fun.
This is a small area in Westfalen Park with great sculptues and plants to match.

I think I put on a bit of weight and blame it all on the pastries, cakes and sitting around having great chats and soaking up the sun. I may be able to just get the smell of elder in my nose today; the flowering is a bit patchy still, depending on protection from the wind.
Now I am looking forward to going home to Cow Bay!
We were very fortunate to have two articles in the Dortmund news papers.
http://www.westline.de/lokales/dortmund/nachrichten/ln/Marion-Esser-lebt-in-Australien;art1787,117040
http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/dortmund/Leben-am-anderen-Ende-der-Welt-id2871207.html

Photos from Germany

Hi there,

 Cow Bay has been practically under water after very steady rains since my departure to Germany last month, Brian has experienced unwanted cassowary visits on our veranda and he had plenty of other excitements. Meanhwile I had a bit of a time getting used to rather chilly weather, have lots of fun wearing layers upon layers of clothes, called the 'onion look", and have enjoyed lots of visits from and with  friends and relatives. Here are a couple of photos. The best thing are the daily baked pastries....YUM
Enjoy
Marion

3.time lucky?

Hi there,
 after more than a week of sunny but hot days we are having another non stop rain day today, good for the garden I say, as it did get a bit dry. It is like that here, the soil does not hold the moisture well, lots of mulching is a good way to protect plants from drying out too quickly.
3. time lucky? Yes, well, this is my 3. attempt to write and especially have the picture of our new comfy chairs on record.

Hoorya it worked.

I am busy now preparing for my trip to Germany in less than 2 weeks an hope it will be interesting catching up with a number of travel agents, all aussie specialists, to find out more on the current trends for the next year or so. I sure hope the german broshure will help to show them where Cow Bay Hoemstay is and what we have on offer. Well that's it for now. Have a great day. Marion                                                                  

Solar Eclipse 2012

Hello!
 enquiries are coming in for this very special event on 13th November 2012.  Cow Bay Homestay B&B is apparently a very good venue to see this total solar eclipse. Here are links to some sites, which give good information and tips.
Don't hesitate to book soon. Hopefully we will have good weather, which is usually the case that time of the year. Plus there is the Marathon!!

http://www.tourismportdouglas.com.au/Solar-Eclipse-Marathon-Port-Douglas-20.3299.0.htm
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~jander/tot2012/tse12intro.htm

Hot& sticky, the Wet is here!!

Hello,
yep, the wet is here! It doesn't rain so much but the humidity is enough to feel hot and sticky all day long, even just sitting at my desk here. Good thing I can jump into the swimming hole in the creek any time, and ...I do. Just Bliss!! SO cold!! We had some great thunder storms recently, and on Friday night lightning damaged the telephon exchange, with the result that we still don't have a phone right now. Not to worry, I still have the internet and life up here in the Daintree Rainforest is slow this time of the year anyway. We still have some lovely guest arriving though, but even they take it easy. And that is all one can do really.

I am looking forward to my trip to Germany at the end of March; I just hope the weather there is a little milder than it is now!!!
AND: It is now official we have a new decor in the 2. bedroom, called Queen Room ( sleeps 2), when you book. Hope you enjoy the photo and even get to stay in it.
Have a great February.
Marion

Rain, cyclones, discovery

Hi in January,
 well, we have had enough rainy days by now and more to come. Things are growing rapidly inside and outside , and I think everyone would like to see the sun again for a little while.
We had 2 cyclones so far, Neville and Olga, but fortunately both brought just a bit of wind and rain, nothing too scary.
I made a little discovery the other day, under the mango trees, while checking the water level in the new bridge, and found a Scarlet Vine. This is on a very skinny tree, which has just a little top of leaves and the vine spirals nicely with very fluffy flowers from the ground right into the top of the tree. Beautiful and very fragile.
I am busy planning my trip to Germany at the end of March, and hope the german broshure for this will be great, still at the printer right now. The news is that the Queen Room ( sleeps 2 ) is now ready online for bookings starting in June.

Scarlet Vine

Well that's it, best start the generator, there won't be much power coming from the soalr panels today.
Enjoy, what ever you are doing.
Marion

more visitors

Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year for 2010!
We had more visits from the Cassowary and his chick, -here he walks across the front path of the house-much to the delight of our B&B guests and ours as well. The mangoes are nearly finished and we probably won't see him then for a while. We also had an inflight accident by a beautiful white tailed kingfisher. Birds can crash into our high windows,-a good reason not to clean them too well-, that is when Marion springs into action with Bachs rescue remedy and the birds, which are stunned and groggy respond very well to this. This little fellow took a bit more time, enough to have a photo taken. Then he took off into the forrest again.
 I wish everyone a great new year, where all the dreams and wishes come

Best wishes from Marion

Cow Bay Cassowary and chick

Hello,

 well, with all the mangoes we had off our old trees at the creek bank this year,we found ourselves close up and personal with a cassowary and his chick for most of this week. He arrives midmorning, always very sudden and feeds on mangos, which have fallen in the last 24 hours, with the little chick, stripes and all ,running around him. When we don't watch him he is very relaxed, but seems to notice 4 humans staring at him in amazement. The photos are courtesy of http://www.danielchinphotography.com/. Daniel and his lovely wife Jeannie stayed at the B&B and Daniel took the photos. What thrill for all of us.

New Bridge

Hello,

yes!!!!!!!!!! it finally all happened, and on the 30th of October the last lot of concrete was poured to finish the bridge repair.We will be able to listen to rain now without worry and even though we have repaired it, it is a lot more solid than the old bridge, which was 20 years old and had mainly dirt and tree trunks in it. All we need now is some heavy rain to clean it all up and refresh the pools. Can't wait. The Mango trees along the creek have a great lot of Mangoes on it, which we collect, but a drop from 40 meters is a bit hard on the ripe fruit. Durian is the other fruit we are eating a lot of now, thanks to donations from 2 friends in the area. And Mangosteen our other favourite is just perfect this year. The fruit salads are just heaven right now. We finally had a bit of rain and 'schwuppdiwupp'.. all the brown lawn and tired plants are back! It is very beautiful right now and still not too humid.

Spring!!!!!

Hi to Spring!!
Yes, here we are in Cow Bay with more glorious weather, the best winter weather we have had here for years. With lots of great, interesting and fantastic guests during August, who all had perfect conditions to enjoy their numerous activities. Sitting in my lovely office listening to the birds chortling away outside, I had better get out there and enjoy it myself. So, any one reading this,who still has any doubts about coming to the Daintree Coast? just get your booking in, bags packed and get here! It is just perfect. Happy Spring to you all. Marion

Nearly there

Hi everyone reading these stories from Cow Bay!
Nearly there, I think, nearly where????? Nearly at Christmas, I know !!! it is early but it seems nearly there. The repairs of our bridge are not done yet either, but we are nearly there!!. Guests are arriving next week and I am nearly there to welcome them. Meanwhile we have to driest June and July in years, and it is just picture book stuff out there in the Daintree Rainforest and on the Great Barrier Reef ...THERE!!! So, if you are on the way here, you MUST be nearly there!!!
Just in a jolly mood, and who wouldn't be looking out of my office window.
Have a great day......Marion

May Rain

G'day!
Nearly half way through May, which means the wet season is finished, and now it doesn't stop raining. However, the wish for cooler weather has been granted and now we are in the woolen socks and cardigan time of the year. Hm, very cozy!! Good news: the middle section of the house has been sanded and recoated and looks fabulous. I love the colour and marking of the Turpentine Pine floors. Beautiful. Work is progressing in other area except the bridge.
Don't get me started, maddening business for a B&B.
Well, we can only hope that the repairs are done sooooooonest, and make more phone calls....
Until next time.

Cow Bay --The Name

G'day !!
Right we are in April and seeing the weather is always topical, we did have cool days and nights before Easter, and since then it is very HOT and HUMID, and we are all waiting for the cooler days to come.
In the Mossman library the other day, looking for suitable books to read in the heat of the day,I came across a reference book, " Behind the name" by John Walters, 3/ 2006.
Mr Walters has researched numerous place names of the region and put it together very clearly and concise. On page 14, I found Cow Bay:
" Cow Bay is so named because William ( Bill) Smith, ( incididentally after whom Smithfield was named), pastured some cattle near there, whilst he was a Hotelkeeper and Packer in Cooktown around 1874. His cattle were known to wander down to the Bay and were often spotted by passing Mariners, who gave the area its unusual name."

March ? 2009

Good Day!
i wish it is March!!!! Not long to go, and hopefully the sweaty/ wet season is over. As much as the vibrancy of a good wet is just amazing, it is also quiet enough sweating by now!!
And what a wet we have had! 4 weeks ago it rained rather hard, long and heavy and the result was a big wash out on our bridge, which is the only access to the property. Scary!! The creek actually rose so high that it went over the bridge and the force of all that water washed nearly 1 meter of the bridge surface away and exposed the pipe underneath considerably. We can still drive over it though, after some work to holes etc. However the repair has to be done and hopefully soon. We were not the only people having flood damage after that night. Fortunately we did not have any more heavy rains after that night, however aeas south and west of us had lots of rain and much more flood damage for extended periods. Meanwhile the south of Australia, Victoria and New South Wales had devastating bush fires going on at the same time. This continent can be very extreme.
Now we are hoping for a drop in humidity and an increase in human activity as a result. All that rain, sun and heat make for a great recipe for explosive plant growth, in particular to lawns and weeds. I think some of the weeds grow more than 300mm in 2 weeks. Impressive.
Right. I had better get a plan of attack drawn up to get started on it or we will find ourselves in a wilderness of the kind we are not appreciating.
Hope all the readers will have a great 2009

Hot Hot Hot

Hello!

Yes, it is HOT HOT HOT!!!

But the creek is my retreat! Last week my friend and I cleaned some of the upstream pools of branches and leaves making it easier to sit on rock ledges with a cool drink and soak in clear pools with cold cold water. It bring the body temperature right down to the point of goose bumps-marvellous!!

We had a bit of wind the last two days and even rain and that brings a cool break.

Our guests are enjoying the hot steamy tropics, taking plenty of siestas and reading books and 'chilling' out.

The B&B is closed for Christmas and for any bookings just click on this link

http://www.cowbayhomestay.com/

Enjoy your December and Christmas break and celebrate the NEW YEAR!!

Marion

Cow Bay Oktober News

Good Day!!
and here we are at the end of October and things are going well! The garden is booming away, the latest guests were able to sample Mulberries and Jaboticaba, picked minutes before breakfast!! We had good rains and didn't have to water much and vegetables and flowers are doing very well. Even the pagoda plants are in flower and I am waiting for the Cairns Birdwing Butterflies to come around and sample. The sunbirds are very busy building nests all over.
Brian has been on his much anticipated 8 day gamefishing trip. The boats went right north to the Papuan Passage and then made their way down along the outer reef back to Cow Bay. They had good weather, loads of laughs and even some fish to keep. It seem Christmas is not far away, and I will plan a big dinner this year, making full use of our brand new oven. Hm... bring out the recipe books! Got to run.
Marion

Spring in Cow Bay

Good Day!
As usual it takes all of one day to go from winter to spring. The woolen jumpers stay in the boxes, the sarongs are out and I even had my Cow Bay Srub. This involves going to Cow Bay beach, with the sunscreen on, armed with the latest favourite book and some time. Warm up in the sun, then take some soft sand and go to the little creek, which runs into the sea. Rub dry and wet sand all over wintery body , especially feet and go into the sea to wash it all off. A little swim can be added. When back home wash off salt and lather with cold pressed almond oil. Wow, all that old skin is gone and spring is in my step and in the air. We have real great flowering plants right now, and all the birds are very busy mating and feeding and chirping. At work the other day, 3 orange footed jungle fowls had some fights, and two of them ended up in the pool. Very funny to watch. And the cassowaries are out and about again. Busy times

July update

Good July news!

Simon the local stone specialist designed and constructed this low rock wall to create a new entry to our house. Power - Phillip assisted by moving all the rocks into position and did part of the foundation work. All we need now is gravel and it will look very nice. This finishes the stone work session for this year, and I think it looks stunning. Meanwhile we have had rather chilly weather but now it is rather pleasant and beautiful. The gardens we put in last year are coming along nicely and I just 'discovered; the colour of the last hibiscus, which took all this time to flower. Well, until next time. Take care of yourselves. Bye from Marion

June News

Good Day! The news for June 2008 is, that we now have build steps into our fresh water creek. This makes a new look for the drive way and hopefully an easy access for the less adventurous to enjoy the beauty of our fresh water creek. You may even go for a swim! I always love swimming there, maybe not so much right now; you can picture me sitting here rugged up in all my best woollen jumpers and cardigans, including socks. Yes, winter is here, only for some hours in the morning and at night time, during the day is is gloriously sunny and warm. Good weather to work outside, walk at the beach, do that hike to Mt. Sorrow. The new gardens are coming along very nicely and I still ' discover' the new colours in the different hibiscus bushes. We had a surprising number of lovely guests during the wet season; travellers are more daring now than ever to explore the Wet Tropics during our summer months. Great! Even though the Daintree becomes a well known destination, it is still the place to get away from it all, and a place where nature and people come together.

Spring is in the air

Hello, well it has been a little while and I have been busy. The last couple of days have been only beautiful and spring is in the air, with cool nights, still, and fantastic days, clear blue sky and short times spent at the beach here.There are lots of birds around now, busy building nests and chirping about it all day long but particular in the mornings. We finished all the renovations and I have started on new gardens, looking forward to the wet season when everything will thrive and grow.Time to to do some weeding now. Until next time. Marion

The month of May

Hello,
well, this month we had lots to do and also had excellent helpers through the WWOOF organisation, anyone interested in this, please contact Marion. The helpers commented on being in a zoo while weeding the garden or potting up the tomato plantation to be. We had dragons, goannas, cassowaries, pademelons, birds galore and amazing butterflies as well as hardly any mosquitos. And the star attraction is a golden orb spide perfectly positioned along the front path. Well, come and see for yourself. From the 'wild life zoo' Cow Bay Homestay, Marion

And it is May

Hello,
well, April just flew past with wild weather even here, and then it turned beautiful 2 weeks ago. Bliss. We even mangaged to have a great BBQ on the beach with friends and some sausages and a full moon rising over the ocean. My main job is painting, Brian is still busy with the carpentry and does a great job. After some delays it seems to go really fast now. More work to do though, and I have to keep this short but hopefully have more time to write about the new garden design next month.
Have a great May. Marion

Im Mai

Hallo,
und im Mai sind die Renovierung fast fertig. April hatte sehr unterschiedliches Wetter selbst in den Tropen aber seit 2 Wochen ist es traummaessig, und wir haben sogar einen netten Grill Abend am Strand gehabt, mit Vollmond, Lagerfeuer und netten Freunden. Anstreichen ist meine Hauptarbeit im Moment, aber Brian ist auch immer noch sehr mit den Holzarbeiten beschaeftigt, und es sieht sehr gut aus was er macht.
Der naechste Plan ist fuer unseren Garten, und da freuen wir uns beide schon sehr drauf.
So, und weil ich soviel zu tun habe wird dies ich kurz, und hoffentlich ausfuehrlicher naechsten Monat.
Einen schoenen Mai wuenscht, Marion

Mitte Maerz

Guten Tag,
so, nach Tagen und Naechten des Dauer Regens haben wir nun schon die tollsten Tage, mit klarem blauen Himmel am Morgen, kuehleren Naechten und die Aussicht, das die Schwuele des Sommers hinter uns ist.
Alles blueht und waechst, gute Zeit zum pflanzen, der Boden ist weich und man kann viele Ableger in den Boden stecken und sie wachsen gleich weiter, ideal fur diese Gaertnerin!!!!!
Cow Bay Homestay wird bald den neuen Anstrich haben, nachdem Brian alles renoviert hat, und ich hoffe es wird unseren Gaesten dieses Jahr noch besser gefallen hier.
Ja, ich muss los, die Farbe wartet, und .........Tuess von Marion

Mad March

Hi there,
madness in March or troppo or cabin fever; well it does happen ,when one experiences days of rain, heavy or heavier, and nights of torrential down pours; when most furniture becomes sticky with the high humidity and the ground is squeechy when one walks to the generator shed in one's 'Crocs' sandals. And then when you think there is no end to it, you wake up to a crystal clear morning sky, crisp air and birds chorus and take the cup of coffee to the beach to see the perfect sunrise. Then all is well with the world and you know why you are here.
Looks as we are a bit cooler already, the worst of the wet season is over and Cow Bay Homestay is ready for a new coat of paint after the renovations by Brian.
Got to run, paint is waiting!!!!!! Call in to check it out, but call first in case we are at the beach.....Marion