The picture on the right is a rather brooding full moon from the balcony (merci again Arnaud) in October, received spookily enough on the next full moon. (The music that night Sabine was Morcheeba "The Big Calm" thanks to Kate) Our third lunar cycle since opening and always a defining interval.

If anybody else has some favourite Sanctuary photos, please e-mail them (JPG format is best) and we will include them in our next nEws letter, or post them on our gallery page on the Sanctuary web when we finally get the permanent site up after a long line of temporary ones. And of course, to tempt you further, the very best will be in the running for magnificent prizes. Now where did we put that crocheted toilet roll holder?

Of course we realise that not everybody will be overjoyed at having their in-box clogged up with this, howsoever occasionally, so we won't be too crushed if you reply saying that you never want to hear from us again........................ Sob.

Even though we thought we were always desperately busy, it appears there was a time (or even a few times) when we weren't. Or not desperately busy at what we thought we should have been busy on but busy nonetheless, perhaps even desperately since we are generally busy elsewhere.

But anyway, the long and the short of it is that Susan and Paul are pleased to announce the expected arrival of a new Sanctuary bus driver in 18&1/2 years. Coincidentally, plans to build a small abode have advanced considerably with construction scheduled to begin in April over a 4 week period.

We are happy to say there are now regular visits by Cassowaries close to the buildings here at Sanctuary. A number of trees are fruiting nearby and the birds have obviously become used to our presence.

Our most recent visitor is a male called Colin with two young chicks (Huey and Duey) in tow, pictured right and the other a female called Ella, who is probably the mother and tolerates the male and chicks in her territory.Which is quite uncommon in the world of Cassowaries - but all things are possible here at Sanctuary!!

The annual migration of the Torres Strait (Pied Imperial) pigeon from New Guinea to nesting grounds on the Brook Islands (near Hinchinbrook Island) took place later than usual this year for no apparent reason.

For a few weeks, flocks of these large white and black pigeons were noisily landing on the branches of trees feasting on the fruit.

On the other hand, the pundits who saw the portents for an early wet season this year proved correct. The first monsoonal trough, generally not seen till January appeared in late November accompanied by a week of rain.

On one night 6 inches of rain fell which made for an interesting experience, however the headcount the next morning showed that nobody had been washed out to sea. Still, we do have this unclaimed backpack found a few days later....hmmm....

Today though, as this typed, is one of those glorious sunny and calm days where the ocean looks like glass. Appreciated even more now, knowing that increasingly long intervals of wet weather will occur as the Wet Season progresses.

Nothing stays the same as the Lonely Planet opines but we hope that Sanctuary will only change for the better. As our first few guests will remember, the path down to the pool was a bit of a slippery slope. That has been asphalted and is now much easier to navigate if a lot less exciting. Gerd is still in the kitchen and cooking up a storm. He intends to go home to Germany for a visit early in the new millennium, so if anybody wants to be the Sanctuary chef for a month...???

Carla and Jon from Lancashire England who were among our first guests have returned after travels down South to lend a hand for the next few months and to experience the unique joys of the monsoon season. Thanks to our other help, Kate, Adrian & Jess. We wish you good travels.

Recently Jon, Carla and Paul went diving at Beaver Cay to help remove the Crown of Thorns starfish from Beaver Reef. The Crown of Thorns is an aggressive predator of live coral and periodically, for reasons not yet known, can infest coral reefs in plague proportions leaving behind barren wastelands of dead coral reefs. The last plague was in the mid seventies and devastated huge areas of the reef. The reef boat operators at Mission Beach are pro-actively combating the threat by offering free trips to divers to remove the starfish. So far about 38,000 have been removed from Beaver Reef alone with the result that the local reefs show virtually no sign of degradation from the Crown of Thorns.

We have a few more games on the shelves, a few more magazines on the coffee-table and a few more comments in our visitors book but otherwise little change so far. We are planning to expand our accommodation either in 2000 or 2001 further along the ridge. Our tentative ideas so far is to make them more like proper self contained buildings with walls and roofs and bathrooms. Still elevated and as open as possible but larger and less tent like. Obviously they would cost more to build and the tariff would be around AUD$80 per night per double or twin. That allows Sanctuary to have a range of accommodation options, either nature right there or just a little bit more removed where you can slide a glass door to keep it outside completely.

We would appreciate your thoughts on this. Would anybody have liked more self contained accommodation ?? and does the price sound reasonable still??

In fact we would appreciate your feedback on anything at Sanctuary. Things that you liked and those you didn't like or thought could be improved. Don't be shy.......

Of course, this close to the end of the year we can't finish without wishing everybody a very merry Christmas and happy New Millennium. We hope all is well with you and your families. At Sanctuary we are readying for our first Christmas and New Year celebrations with Gerd preparing feasts to match all feasts ....Mango everything?

Many of our guests will be "second timers" with guest no 12, Augusta, flying from NZ with her family for New Year. We are looking forward to seeing them all again.

All the best and we hope to find you "seeking Sanctuary" again sometime soon. In the meantime you can expect another one of these in your "Inbox" next March.