Rainforest Estate, near Mossman in Far North Queensland

Until mid-2017 we will be caretaking the wonderful Rainforest Estate property.  The property is a high-end rental property and we will be here when there are no guests in occupation.  When there are guests, we will move out with or without our caravan, depending on what we want to do.  We will also be able to spend some time exploring this part of our country.

The house we’re looking after is HUGE.  Its really 2 houses - 1 with 3 bedrooms/4 bathrooms and a smaller 1 bedroom/2 bathroom “pavillion”.  Total room to sleep about 16-20 people.  We have a pool, a hot tub, beautiful tropical rainforest gardens - and an indoor pond and waterfall.  Being in the rainforest there is an abundance of wildlife.  Birds, we have resident bush turkeys and stone curlews as well as sunbirds, various cockatoos and kookaburras; butterflies - bright blue Ulysses and orange toned Cairns Birdwings; geckos; various snakes (pythons and tree snakes) which keep to themselves (we like it that way) and wallabies. We keep the outside doors closed - to keep the rainforest animals from coming inside.

Lucky for us there is a gardener who comes with his 2 or 3 helpers every week and a pool guy every 2 weeks to keep everything spiffy.  Robert gets to play with some "boy's toys" and has a tractor mower to keep the lawns under control.  It’s strange to be living with so much space and we seem to do a lot of walking just around the house.

We’ve had pretty good weather except for last week when it rained pretty much constantly - and we had an ongoing battle with mould in the humidity.  It's the "dry season" now so the rain was unexpected.  The wet season will be interesting.  Now it's back to normal with bright sunny days about 28C and cooler nights around 20C.

We’ve both joined the library and have also joined the local art group (DAB).  Robert is going to pottery classes and Cherryl spent several hours learning how to make glass jewellery.  Watch this space for some pictures of our masterpieces when they are all fired and completed.  This weekend the Mossman Show is on.  It’s the last regional show in Queensland before the EKKA in Brisbane.  Tomorrow is the Show Day holiday here so we are planning to go to the show then, along with the rest of Mossman.