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