Listen to the audio postcard - click here
This Postcard is about a couple who are living the dream!
We met Darrell and Michelle about a year ago on a Parks and Resort Management Training course at the Big 4 Garden City Caravan Park in Toowoomba, Qld. The course is a practical and theoretical introduction to running a caravan park or resort and is run by PRO Management (www.promanagement.net.au) and a very useful course it was both in terms of content and the people we met.
In a previous Pats Postcard (New England Highway, NSW) I alluded to the relationship between courage and happiness, and I think Darrell and Michelle have undertaken something quite courageous in pursuit of their dream.
So what have they done!
They've moved away from beautiful Byron Bay where they have lived all their life.
They've rented their lovely home there.
They've sold the family business.
And they've moved to the north of Queensland to manage the Burdekin Cascades Caravan Park, (www.burdekincascades.com.au/) in Ayr just south of Townsville. Whilst drinking a cold beer as the sun set on their deck, I had a chat with Darrell and asked him what the new lifestyle was like.
To hear this conversation click here.
What can you say, Darrell and his wife Michelle are living their dream – they worked out what they needed to do, and then made it happen. Good on them!
Alma Beach, near Ayr
Whilst the surrounding countryside to Ayr is dominated by sugar cane, there is an interesting beach nearby at Alma. It's obviously a very popular fishing spot with families on the beach fishing and numerous cars seemingly heading out to sea. They seem to catch quite a lot there as there were the remains of numerous filleted fish such as Spanish Mackerel and Parrot fish.
Fishing on Alma Beach
Filleted fish
What was really interesting for me though was the number of birds of prey that were scavenging on the fish remains. There were about 40 black kites and and least one Brahminy kite. Whilst the black kite is probably the most common raptor in the world it is still a spectacular sight to see this many circling and feeding. It was also a little disconcerting as they flew close overhead giving you the eye. Checking you out to see if you're edible!
Sugar cane and mill, near Ayr, Qld.
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