Jolly's Lookout

The meditation nest

Summer & Elissa teach one meditation class in Brisbane once a week but most of the classes are at their home which is sweet. It definitely makes for a more homey feel.  Such a great environment to be in. An open & loving space. After the guided meditation, when everyone was enjoying tea and a different assortment of snacks, is when I met Nick. Nick is a paramedic who lives up the street. He's also an avid hiker so he invited me to hike up to Jolly's lookout. Of course I'm game. 

We started at 7:00am and Nick's Dalmatian Tully tagged along for the adventure. 

Epic trees entering D'Aguilar National Park. A certain type of fig tree keeps growing up and around and over a long period of time you have this. 

The long journey gave us ample time for stimulating conversation. Nick talked about when he first started skydiving and eventually took the leap to basejumping. He said back then it was more of an expression of the human spirit rather than the ego with all the rules and regulations. That got me all perked up and interested. Here's what I would do. Take a solid basejumping course, skydive around thirty or forty times solo so I have a good enough understanding of how to control myself in the air, learn how to pack my own chute, have some very in depth conversations with experienced base jumpers like Nick, and then just go for it. No certification. No "300 skydives first" or whatever it is. Buy my own pack. And then say I'm in New Zealand, I just drive out to a remote cliff, or abandoned radio tower, climb to the top, make sure I have enough height and the wind conditions are ok, then take the leap, pull the string, purple parachute launches out, and then I land by my car and go about my day.

After a few hours we made it to Jolly's Lookout and we were graced with some great weather. 

You can't see in the picture but from this view, far in the distance, is Moreton Island and Bribie Island. Moreton Island is the third largest sand island in the world. 

The smell of this flower. Intoxicating citrusy sweetness. (I should patent that name for a gelato flavor)

Nick also told me about a ten day meditation experience he had at a Buddhist center. No talking. No technology. Two meals a day. Meditation spread out in few hour chunks throughout the entire day. Everyone has their own little bed. Repeat for ten days. At the end they ask you to donate or come back as a server next time. Sounds like a totally unique experience. The kind of stuff I'm into. I was stoked to hear they have these centers all over the world. I plan to have that experience sometime in the next few months. It continues to blow me away how many opportunities are available world wide, but rather than costing money, it just takes some symbiosis. You know, like if you have chickens, you take care of them like family, and in return you get some high quality eggs.

On  the way back I looked ahead shocked for a moment, watching a baseball bat sized reptile walk across the trail, and apparently it was a very small one. 

Oh  the infamous Cockatoos, with their maddening screeching screams. Most people know not to feed them, especially if they are around your house, because if there comes a time when you stop, they will literally start destroying your house. Cockatoos could be likened to raging hormonal teenagers. 

The hike ended up being around 12 miles, and I couldn't think of a better way to break in my new hiking boots.

I went with Elissa to pick up her youngest daughter Silva at school (she's starting home schooling next year) and loved seeing how this particular public school functions. Kids with no shoes. Breaks for mindfulness and water fights. Imagine that? An actual school taking breaks for mindfulness. These Auzzies man. They're onto something big here.