Tarzali... our second home

The picture above is of tree ferns "at the bottom of our garden". Can't you see why I love it here?

I wish I could play you a recording of early morning at Tarzali, but I’m afraid the technology is beyond me. It’s so peaceful as we sit having breakfast on the veranda. (Elliot’s made an omelette with our home grown basil and garlic chives.)

There are blue herons feeding quietly on the newly cut grass and crimson rosellas feeding rather more noisily in the lillypillies. A kookaburra is poised on the passionfruit trellis and might burst into laughter at any moment.

And, as we look at our view of green hills, valleys and distant blue mountains, we can hear all around us the calls of countless other birds… currawongs, honey eaters, blue jays, the whip call of a rifle bird and the long, twittering notes of a flycatcher.

Of course, there’s the inevitable crow cawing and squawking.

Did you know that a flock of crows is correctly called a murder of crows?

I wonder why?

I started my new book yesterday... I have a different routine here. I garden in the mornings and late afternoons and write from about 10.30 till 4p.m. But today I'm getting ready for visitors... my sister and her husband are taking part in the Port Douglas to Mission Beach cycling challenge and will be spending two nights and their "rest day" with us, so I'll probably not post tomorrow.

See you soon.