~Finding Inspiration~

I returned from a short holiday in the Terranora Heights & Crystal Creek areas last week, both of which are on the New South Wales/Queensland border of Australia.  And both are very beautiful places.  My hopes (and plans) are to move back down there before my granddaughters get much older.  I am missing out on so much fun watching them grow up and seeing them change every day.  They are my inspiration for a better world.

Other than my son & his family, I also have a sister & niece living in the area as well as my nephew & his missus.  It is an area where my parents settled into retirement before they died, and where I spent a year during a period of soul-searching working out what my next move would be.  I have mainly good memories of the Tweed Coast area, although it is a place that allowed me to be in touch with my family as well as the place that helped me discover how to move on with my life.  My brother lives about 3 hours away from Tweed and I live 5 hours away in the opposite direction so Tweed Heads has become a meeting ground for us to catch up (other than Facebook)!!

My parents ashes are scattered in the Tweed River, as they both saw the area as a place to rest & see their days out.  R.I.P. Mum & Dad .

My best friend of 21 years lives in the Crystal Creek area, which is only a few minutes drive away from Tweed.  She also has her daughter & grandson with her.  Her eldest daughter & granddaughter live next door as well, so I catch up with them all when I visit & I love the fact she has her family all around her in such a beautiful place.  Good for the soul.  

Tweed Coast & its hinterland are very close to the most prominent tourist mecca in Australia.  Located just below Queensland's Gold Coast, on the east coast of Australia, it is just far enough away to avoid the rat race, but close enough for convenience.  However in my opinion, the main advantage of living there involves the amazing views, climate & closeness of the mountains & the sea.  It is an absolute paradise.

Inspiration is endless.  Creative people flock there to settle on the outskirts, or right in the cities & towns where there are art & craft galleries, cultural diversity, culinary delights to satisfy all tastes & the endless, magnificent views.  Along the coast on beachfronts, sunrise & sunset viewing, blue skies, mountainous horizons, panoramic views of the coastal areas from mountain lookouts, tree-lined country roads, & acres of palm tree, tea, cane, nut & fruit tree plantations are beautiful vistas to name a few.  In under 30 minutes you can travel from skyscrapers in Surfers' Paradise, through suburbia to mountainous hinterland.  There is so much more this place has to offer, and it is somewhere I am looking forward to returning to in the very near future.

The visit before last, I collected some sparkly crystallised rocks from Crystal Creek, beautiful wind & wave worn driftwood from the beach along with shells, stones, sea glass;  anything I can get my hands on (legally) to remind me of this beautiful place.  I will be using a lot of these items donated by nature to create some lovely windcatchers that will sparkle & dance around my home for my viewing pleasure.  

But keep an eye out for photos in my next BLOG, you won't be disappointed, and I will likely put them up for sale on my eBay, Etsy & Artfire sites.

~please come back again to  LOVE.OCEAN.EARTH,  for lover's of all things natural  (: