Living the High Life at Kewarra Beach

There we are, living the high life at Kewarra Beach in a massive 6-bedroom/5-bathroom mansion with infinity pool backing onto rainforest. Quite a change from camping in the Coaster!

Whilst the owners are away, we survey the long, tree-lined driveway, immense front paddock, too boggy to be mowed, choose our bedroom and separate bathroom, and sink into couches in the TV lounge upstairs.

The decor on the ground floor is a blend of African hunting trophies on the wall, zebraskin carpet, wooden croc carvings and displays of china figurines.

From the sitting room, we can see guineafowl, brush turkeys and sulphur-crested cockatoos coming to feed on the bird seeds we throw on the lawn twice a day.

Although the dogs forget their manners from time to time, we discover they are not guilty of creating the wet patches under the floor outside our bedroom which are buckling the parquet covering.

The big mystery is the origin of the intermittent leak.

On arrival, we found the pool was turning murky quickly in the tropical heat. The poolman came to the salt and chemical rescue.

Also very interested in the filter gutter below the pool, at least a dozen enormous, ugly cane toads found instant love and amplexus, spawning long streams of sticky spawn.

Robert broke up the toad rodeo by deporting them to the compost heap. The inward flush of fresh chemicals into the pool pickled them too.

The Wet dumped deluges of rain day after day. 

Gen rushes to Kewarra Beach at dawn where tropical cyclone Gabrielle is lurking somewhere over the Coral Sea. We were worried about the sail over the swimming pool which would have to be taken down if the cyclone got closer. Little did we know the twist in the tale we describe at the end of this.

Sunny days were glorious though, spent in the swimming pool.

When the rain stopped at night there was the thunderous roaring of cicadas and the industrial volume of green tree frogs inflating their throats in frenzied competition. With the frogs come snakes.

We are petsitting Coco, a deaf, 14yr-old, longhaired jack russell - a sedate canine grandma, we thought.



Just now we were looking out the glass ceiling to floor windows onto the patio when we noticed the old girl sniffing the ground as usual. Suddenly, she lunged forward, grabbed a passing snake by the tail, and shook it vigorously against the window. We yelled and charged out, but she couldn't hear. Grabbing her quickly from behind we dragged her back inside whilst the snake scarpered. Cool as a cucumber she looked at us as if to say what's the fuss, that's what we do for a living!

Hugo is Coco's much younger companion, another Jack Russell with deep, adorable brown eyes, an ever wagging tail and a passion to chase his ball, any time, any place, with extra serving of drool gratis.

The dogs sleep with us, diving under the sheets which are fiercely defended by Robert attempting to escape the mozzies. Four paws prevail.

Morning walks are a delight in the tropical setting. Numerous bee-eaters sit on the power lines.

We spend our evenings upstairs watching bigscreen tv in an open lounge. Last night we settled in comfy armchairs to watch "Unsolved Mysteries" on Netflix. The first episode was about an abandoned boat and a drifting body. The second episode pulled out all the stops about a haunted apartment, a kidnapped girl and psychopath mayhem.

As Robert recoiled in his seat, the hairs on the back of his neck rose abruptly when he heard a creaking, wheezing sound circling right behind him. Hardly daring to breathe he swung round ready for do or die action. The noises increased and in the gloom he noted movement. Fighting the fear and summoning all his energy, he leapt up to face the demon.

A large, cavernous, black, blinking massage chair behind the sofa had mysteriously switched to automode and was happily contorting, grinding and creaking the fear into our tortured tv souls!

In the middle of all that, we went for a cocktail/dinner at lovely nearby Palm Cove. Such a scenic place, a series of al fresco restaurants facing the Coral Sea. With the Coaster weighing over 5 tons, regulations say you have a zero blood alcohol limit. So this time we had a hire car and splashed out on Brazilian cocktails - vodka/passionfruit caipiroskas. Gen had chicken 'ribs' and Robert had coral trout. We spent a couple of hours cocktailing, dining, people-watching, soaking in the atmosphere.

In the end, after originally planning for us to housesit for one month, the property owners flew back 2 weeks early from New Zealand where they had travelled on holiday. They got an almost direct hit from tropical cyclone Gabrielle, 6km or so away. There was massive flooding, roads cut off and destruction. As they were biding their time for things to improve and having a meal out with friends, the ground started shaking. An earthquake to top off their trip. 

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Housesit, Housesitting, Kewarra Beach, Jack Russell, FNQ, Far North Queensland, Queensland