Noosa Holiday fantastic place to walk , relax and play

My husband  Graham  recently returned from a two week holiday in Noosa, Queensland, Australia. 
We have been there ten times now. 



Are you a passive relaxer?
Graham relaxing  reading Luminaries By Eleanor Catton  on the balcony of South Pacific accommodation in Noosa

Or an active relaxer?

Janet relaxing, writing haiku in response of a book of 108 haiku collected by another author.
 Great exercise.
 Get a haiku book and write responses.
Brilliant way to be mindful and relax.

Why go to the same place you might ask? 
 Doesn't it become boring? 

Berries on a giant tree with ibises in it. I doing know whether these berries are poisonous, couldn't quite identify the tree. beautiful yellow, red and orange.

The answer lies in the trees. 
They are never boring. 
I have an ongoing love affair with trees. 
I love breathing in their freshness.

 You just have to come to our place to visit my studio for art and mosaic lessons to realise  this. 

In Noosa and in the surrounding areas; people are greenies and there are bird-filled trees everywhere. 

 Three kookaburras came to the pool in front of our apartment, diving for insects most days, quite camera shy though.

 The council not allow jarring, commercial signage to ruin the presentation of their town.
 They don't believe in tall, high-rise buildings and they have a strong regard for the importance of protecting their wild life.
 There is no graffiti to be seen anywhere and very little litter.

People who own a restaurant up the Noosa river in  Tewantin this guy and others ( including giant pelicans)  fish every day, how cute is that?


Many of the shops have Queen Palms in front of them and most of the accommodation is surrounded by succulents and tropical foliage.
It is an area of such eucalyptus smelling purity, that it always makes me feel  like recommending to our council in Rotorua to plant more trees everywhere and ban bright yellow and ugly signage.

 Botannical Gardens Brisbane, didn't have enough time to see it all must go back.

 This is an ornate old glasshouse with tropical vegetation and a giant pond containing fish in it.

Noosa and the (surrounding districts), people are art and literary appreciators.
They are upbeat, friendly and polite with beautiful manners.  

The  shopkeepers are always helpful and warm without  being intrusive.

Everyone seems to be smiling.
 I believe it has something to do with the sunshine and vitamin D.  
I often have conversations with complete strangers about how they feel about living in Noosa and all of them delight in it. 

In Queensland they have lots of small, intimate, yet modern libraries and great bookshops with books you never see in New Zealand. 
 One of my favourites is in Maleny. 

Sometimes I take off by myself and read uplifting magazines and write poetry and short stories in their libraries. 
Sometimes I listen in to people's conversations and record them for dialogue in my short stories. 

The strawberries, tangelos and passion fruit are pops of supreme pungency. 
Everything tastes intense in Noosa.  
The tropical flowers are bursts likefireworks

 I keep saying to Graham as we go walking among the lushness that  I just love, love, love, this place. 
We are so lucky to be here together. 
This is paradise.

 How important do I think holidays and rests are? 
Vital.

Resting tis as important as deep breathing, exercising,  thinking positive thoughts, working towards goals, following your passion, staying in the moment, making art and writing and showing appreciation to people who help you; like surgeons. 
Hugs and touches are important as well. 
You never know when a kind word or gesture will make someones day go more smoothly.

 Graham and I, since his prostate cancer diagnosis, (three years ago),  eat a  fairly consistently healthy diet, filled with fresh fruit and vegetables, restricted red meat, chicken, fish, including tinned salmon and fresh snapper and gluten free bread.

 We try to eat as little sugar as possible. 
I cook most, (varied Nationalities, including French, Italian, Chinese, Thai, Greek and English) meals from scratch using fresh seasonal produce, some of which is home grown in our organic garden.

I often make him soup to come home to for lunch, filled with chicken and fresh veges and herbs. 
I love to look after him with nourishing food because he is very precious to me.

 We also eat nuts and lots of garlic, ginger and turmeric. 

 Does this all help with prostate cancer? 

I don't know but psychologically, physically and emotionally it makes us feel better.

We always stay in accommodation in Noosa where I  can cook   because  I can control what goes into our food which includes a reduction in salt.  
This year we stayed in the South Pacific Resort. 
It was reasonably priced and had a great kitchen with a large comfortable bed and free Wi-Fi.

There are blessings amid challenging situations.

This year we took vitamin B before we went, and during our holiday
This was to ward off the mosquito's and midges. 



Was this helpful?
Not really or hard to say. 
There were plenty buzzing around and avoiding my skin  during the day but some sneaked in and pierced my  rump, legs, face and eyelids during the night. 
No mosquito screens on the windows of this four star accommodation which I thought was unusual. 
For a brief moment I had a miniature anxiety attack that they could have been bed bugs, but they weren't.


 We stayed away from the dreaded mangroves at dawn and dusk but we were still attacked and this was despite piling on the Bushman's repellent. 
This is the only drawback  I can see with Noosa.  
They seem to be getting worse every year but maybe I'm just getting older and my skin more tender and succulent. 

Midges and mosquito's.
It's difficult to feel grateful for them and the itching afterward is as intense as their strawberries. 
 The itching almost could drive you mad.
 Graham says don't scratch. 
He has way more self control than me. 

But I must say that the amount of bites we were gifted this year was way less than the preceding years where we were totally blown up from the knees to the toes. 

Do not whatever you do go walking among the mangroves without repellent at dawn or dusk.
 Total torture. 

So on this note I'm going. 
 I'm busy because I am writing and publishing a book of haiku and illustrations. 
 I want to have it finished before  I go to Auckland for the  NZ Society of authors NATIONAL WRITERS FORUM on 21st to 24th September.
 As usual I am working towards honours photographs for the Rotorua Camera Club.   

Life is so enjoyable when it's balanced. 
  If  you haven't taken a break in a while, you could maybe think about it because resting is as important as working :) 


 I  hope you enjoyed  some of the writing and photos in this post.

Humour and laughing is excellent for health. 



I do like it so much when surgeons use it because it lightens your mood and brightens your day like Queensland sunshine and strawberries. 

Creative Quotes of the day
A surgeon is surrounded by people who are sick, discouraged, afraid,  dying - but also courageous, loving, wise, compassionate and alive. Bernie Siegel


Some critics will write 'Maya Angelou is a natural writer' - which is right after being a natural heart surgeon. Maya Angelou