A warm hello from the Sanctuary Jungle and all the Sanctuary family and staff ...

It seems that the nEwsletter is now a biannual event ...
What a Fantastic two years we've had ...

Lots has changed again at Sanctuary, but the most important things have stayed the same......... Sanctuary continues to be the enchanting, relaxing place you remember... the hammocks still manage to tempt people to spend hours floating in the bubble of rainforest that surrounds the Sanctuary longhouse.

Our Retreat Center, yoga studio and massage room had its grand opening in August, just in time for our first week long yoga workshop

.. but not before Susan had the pleasure of teaching the inaugural class to a record 30 students.

Thank you to all the staff that worked around the clock to beautify the construction site just in time for our first class ..

.. it was really worth all of your efforts ...

are becoming a regular feature at Sanctuary. In the past two years we have hosted very successful and enjoyable retreats and next year we will be hosting some of our own.

How does a week long session of yoga, good food and Sanctuary sound? Keep checking our website for updates and new announcements.

has gone from strength to strength and flavour to flavour with the arrival of our Chef Paul who to our great relief took over from Susan 4 weeks before Zoe was born, when she could no longer reach the stove.

He is tantalising our guests with a daily changing menu still focusing on interesting, clean flavours in addition to decadences such as the flourless chocolate fudge cake with hot chocolate sauce - recently recommended to someone as far away as Sydney... a long way to come for a dessert ... but they did.

is as beautiful a home as ever, though the trees have been crying out for rain. Much of Australia has experienced extremely dry conditions.

The dramatic downpours that we usually in December have been rare .... and probably makes this one of the sunniest places on earth.

Since the last newsletter we have seen two generations come and grow. The cassowary continues to fascinate all of our guests, some of whom were lucky enough to witness the father of our territory with his baby just days out of its egg.

The chick is "Junior" and is now a 2 year old sub-adult and we still see him on most days. Unusually the parents seem happy enough to tolerate him in their territory, even though the father has recently emerged with two more brand new chicks ..

perhaps the lack of an alternative home is insisting on some kind of evolution in the cassowary physci.

The fate of the Southern Cassowary is still unknown and in danger as long as forests are destroyed, but many positive efforts are made by locals and conservation groups to plant wildlife corridors which will enable them to travel between remaining rainforest and hopefully increase the Mission Beach population.

Zoe, pictured here 2 days after she was born to the sounds of the Sanctuary jungle and Jen on guitar.

While, the first Sanctuary baby, Eve (now three and a half years old, but still tiny) continues to win hearts, requesting stories to be read and singing songs for any willing audience. The sisters, both now run around with squeals of pure excitement, exploring the wonderland of the Sanctuary forest with the innocence and wonder of babes.

Our Wwoofers, the travellers who volunteer their time for accommodation and food, have again been fabulous these last two years.

We would like to thank everyone who has ever added their energy to Sanctuary.....and remember them. We would like everyone, past Wwoofers and guests to help us reconstruct a family tree-timeline of our ever evolving family over the past four years, so let us know the names and approximate dates of any of the wwoofers that you remember at Sanctuary ..... any photographs and contact details would also be great.

Thank you all again for your visit and for your recommendations ....please remember your experience of Sanctuary fondly and allow it to remind you of the intrinsic importance of the rainforest to all living creatures...including human beings.

From all of us to all of you, we wish you the merriest of Christmas's and the happiest of New Years ..... and of course we look forward to your next mission to find Sanctuary.