ON N DECK

With Declan

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Rachael Smith – 0417267373 rachael@mackayandwhitsundaylife.com

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Rebecca Douthwaite bec@mackayandwhitsundaylife.com

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Mike McCann – 0427897960 michael@mackayandwhitsundaylife.com

JOURNALIST: Declan Durrant declan@mackayandwhitsundaylife.com

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April is the cruellest month to depart the Whitsundays.

The stifling air is finally running off - the rain, rain has gone away - and I decide to move to the country’s opposite end? The kookaburras on the fence line are laughing at me for that.

I have been a writer for Mackay and Whitsunday Life newspaper for two years, and in two weeks, I will write my last word for this masthead. This is my final editor’s note. I have made the decision to leave the region and the publication behind. Onwards to greener pastures, as they say.

Let us do away with any pretence: I am a sentimental man. I will miss Pioneer Bay, levelled out on the horizon, blue and tinged with green. I walked the bicentennial boardwalk on Easter Weekend and watched rainbow lorikeets chirruping to each other – I miss the sound already. I imagine I will cry when I drive up Shute Harbour Road through to Proserpine for the last time.

Roof Top

The sugarcane will wave me goodbye in the wind. And that’s simply the place; I will miss the people more. Writing for them, and for all of you, has been an honour. You know how incredible you are. And that alights on something else: I will miss my friends. But “friends come in and out of your life like busboys at a restaurant,” don’t they? We will see each other again.

So, to the Mackay and Whitsunday Life team, to my friends: thank you all for making the Whitsundays my home. This new chapter in Tasmania will be an exciting one, and I will not forget you.

To you, I say thank you, Constant Readers. Goodbye, for the last time.

Declan

Quote of the Week:

“Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance. They make the latitudes and longitudes.”

– Henry David Thoreau

It’s not every day that you hop off the bus and are greeted with a woman, a stranger at that, handing you a single gorgeous red rose, telling you ‘Have a nice day!’ and waving you off.

Well, that’s exactly what happened to Jan Smith, just prior to Easter, when she got off the bus in Cannonvale one afternoon.

The bus stop sits just opposite Karen Hill Florist, a local florist that prides itself on having the most exquisite floral arrangements in Airlie Beach.

When Jan and another woman alighted the bus, they were greeted with a Karen Hill Florist employee, giving them a red rose, and wishing them well.

“She just dashes out of the flower shop and says, ‘Don’t move! Stop!’... we both didn’t move.

You do what you’re told, you know!” said Jan. “And she came out holding these two absolutely beautiful single roses.

“The strange thing was that I had just been wishing that I had enough money to get a bunch of flowers for the dining room table!”

Jan is no stranger to the Whitsunday area, living between Airlie Beach and England, often spending months with her daughter in the region, participating in local events and community functions, including the Airlie Beach Book Club and the Whitsunday Writers’ Festival.

“I have never gone into that shop, never bought flowers from there. But now I will, and I will talk about her generosity,” Jan added.

Elevated to capture the Whitsunday breeze, you can celebrate with incredible food, your own private bar whilst enjoying the chic, spacious interior Paradiso Roof Top Bar is the perfect place in Airlie Beach to celebrate a special Birthday, Wedding, Corporate lunch/dinner or a Christmas Party. We can arrange unique food & beverage packages to enjoy in our amazing space overlooking the stunning Airlie Main Beach. We cater for sole use parties up to 70 people, so get in touch to book your next special event: gm@paradisowhitsundays.com.au