White Cockatoo Heaven from Tree Fern to Sea Foam

Nature lovers and meditators, welcome to our 50 acre farm offering well-maintained native forest with several safe walking trails leading to orchards, paddocks, six dams and beautiful ocean views. The guest-house with South terrace & North patio has comfortable lounge seatings under large umbrellas, and is airy, bright, tastefully decorated, with landscaped gardens & distant ridges, 20 mins away from pristine beaches, coastal heathland trails & the Pacific Hwy. All welcome! GENERAL DESCRIPTION Please have a look at the pictures first to have a general idea of our layout. The long axis of the Guests-house runs from East to West and the doorways face North or South. Checking in, you will access your accommodation entering the art studio from the North Patio, a high ceiling and 36m2 of floor space, shared between you and the hosts (as explained further down). The double garage on the Western end houses our tractor and 4WD so it is part of the farm only and not open to our guests. From your allocated parking spot facing the Western wall of our double garage, you will easily and directly get to the kitchen-dining area, at both ends of which are 2 private bedrooms. The Eastern bedroom (12m2) has one large window with screen facing the Chincogan Ridge to the South and has a single door to the Kitchen. The Western bedroom (12m2) has a large sliding door to the Kitchen with a venetian blind & another large sliding door with a screen to the South Terrace. The kitchen-dining area (16m2) overlooks the South Terrace through two large sliding doors with screens, and has panoramic views of the farm. You get into your private bathroom through the art studio. The bathroom slider is kept locked at all times. In the bathroom there are a toilet, a vanity and a wide shower cubicle. In all the rooms, there are plenty of lights, spots, various lamps, and there is also one night light to make sure you can safely use the toilet at night. Both art studio and Bathroom open to the North Patio, and the Northern Ridge enclosing The Pocket. Along the Eastern outside wall is a corridor with utilities (water taps, gas bottles and water-heater), which we need to access easily at all times. We appreciate that you remain close to the Guests-house. There are many paddocks for our Sahiwal cattle, so lots of fences and gates on our farm, which need to be left exactly as you find them! Bush walking trails start South West and due West of the Guests-house. Sam can take you on a free tour of the whole property early in your stay. SHARED SPACES AND WI-FI In the shared art-studio there are a small art books library, a French collection of songs on compact disks with a brand new CD-player, and a handy art bench with high stools and power points around where you can work on your pads, laptops, and/or have fun with your own art projects and materials. We are happy to share with you as well our Infrared Sauna, and well-equipped Laundry. We trust you can be as careful and mindful of these places and their equipment as we are. Wi-fi connections are on the laundry bench. Please be aware that whenever the weather threatens (lightning and electrical storms), we must disconnect them - daytime, evening or night time . The farm heavily relies on Wi-Fi, so we cannot take any risk of damaging this Network. PRIVACY Please note that there are no curtains or blinds over the window bays in the art-studio looking to the North Patio. Therefore, at night time, we will never use this pathway for the sake of your own privacy, and there is no other human nor car traffic around the Guests-house after sunset. Should we have guests to our own Home, they bypass the concrete ramp leading to your accommodation, they drive past our house and park near the cattle yards. For the sake of your own privacy, there are 2 mobile screens which you can easily set up at night in the art-studio, especially if anyone sleeps on the single bed, in the cosy corner, right next to the North patio. There also are curtains over the sauna door, on the toilet window, in the shower, on the laundry window, as well as blinds in each bedroom. Know that we hold privacy in high esteem, because the Guests-house and our own home are only 26 metres apart, door to door. We do not have any view whatsoever from our house into the laundry nor your bathroom and bedrooms, even though you, on the other hand, might be able to catch sight of us standing in front of our sink, in our kitchen, at night. We also need to use laundry/sauna and to do gardening outside the Guests-house regularly on week days. Before entering the shared space, we always knock at the main entrance, only in daytime. After using the sauna, we go back to our own bathroom, since the shower/toilet room is strictly your private space during your stay. OUR LAND Cherished and well maintained, has been carefully designed for quiet and peaceful nature lovers, meditators and artists mostly. Star gazers, be prepared for an amazing journey through the Milky Way, the Southern Cross, Orion's Belt and Constellations such as Scorpio!...Either romantically strolling on the hills or chilling out on the South Terrace or North Patio, you are always in company of hundreds of frogs, crickets, cicadas and nocturnal bird songs. Beautiful trails, dams and orchards are to be enjoyed as well, while bush walking. Please, note that we reserve to ourselves the right of managing the use of the dams on the land. We will let you know whether swimming in our biggest dam is appropriate or not. Wandering off the main tracks is at your own risk. Please keep distant from our cattle. They are big and have horns. We know them as very peaceful and gentle creatures. Still, they can be unpredictable at times. Our land is sacred to us. White or black cockatoos calling at dusk remind us all about Light, Love and New Beginnings. To get around this local area, you need a car, and preferably a 4WD, as our local roads can be either rough or very wet, namely nearby sea shores or through our closest national park (Mount Jerusalem). There is no public transportation to our place. There are private taxis, very costly. Airport shuttles and The Blanch's Line Company only serve main towns : Mullumbimby, Brunswick Heads, Byron Bay, Bangalow and Ballina. For more information, please go online. Cycling and biking are very popular around here. A word of caution though, as trucks and speeding cars can be dangerous. There is no parking on our local road, and metered parking in Byron Bay is compulsory. You can park right next to your accommodation on the property, provided that you face the nose of the car into the wheel on the outdoor wall. Please be mindful not to block either of the two roller doors. To protect your car from overheating in the sun, please park under the big shade trees near the North patio. Our Home is hardly 26 meters away from the Guest-house. We are happy to help our Guests whenever they need help. We must be around both buildings daily for proper maintenance of lawns, bed-gardens and clusters of trees as well as for good husbandry of our seven Sahiwal cattle. Our guests safety and comfort are top priorities on the farm. So we provide them with a HOUSE MANUAL about all our facilities and amenities. (keys, water, filtered drinking water, waste handling and recycling, interior/exterior lights etc...). There is a copy available for you to consult our NSW CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SHORT-STAY RENTALS. Our INSURANCE policy does cover liability to certain extents. You can always consult a copy of this important document as well. Privacy, cleanliness, peace and quiet are paramount values here. Hence we expect every Guest to be caring and careful as well as compliant to our policies and rules around the farm, the dams and on the trails, though this is predominantly an independant farm stay experience. To the East (right exiting the property), Billinudgel - Home of the King Parrot - was built in 1881. It's a one street town with a very active pub, art gallery, op-shop, Post Office, general store, Health Services, Indian restaurant, auto-repair shops and many other businesses in the industrial zone. This is also the road to the nearest beach South Golden Beach (15'), then New-Brighton, Ocean Shores, Brunswick Heads, Byron Bay, Bangalow, Ballina... To the West (left exiting our property), we are very close to Main Arm and its grocery/liquor shop/pizza-café. Turn off right from the Pocket Road. Turn off left from the Pocket Road is a 20 minute drive to Mullumbimby, a thriving town with various boutiques, a big range of cafes and restaurants, health services, 2 pharmacies and 2 medical centres, a Police station, 1 petrol-station, Mitre 10, Woolworth, IGA supermarkets, local groceries and Santos Organic Food, 2 pubs, 1 liquor store, 1 florist shop, 1 post-office, hair-dressing salons, 1 Press Agency, a great city Hall...and a lovely park along the Brunswick river, worth strolling into if you want to see interesting contemporary scupltures and millenium trees!... People living around here are mostly grass roots and friendly. Most of the community is engaged in various sustainable aspects of modern life, as well as diverse activisms. "Reclaim the Night" and "Vagina Conversations" are among plenty others concerning Climate Change, Permaculture, Sustainability, Education, Arts and Culture. Many flea markets, farmers markets and special events are worth checking in our local paper called The Echo, wich is online too. It's the land of many Festivals as well! We are minutes away by car to amazing venues which will hopefully reopen in not too long, Covid 19 free: Blues & Dreaming Festival, Writers Festival, Splendor in the Grass, French Film Festival at Byron Bay Palace in March/April, as well as many other Film Festivals such as Short Film Festival. Cultural life itself is thriving with arthouse cinemas like The Palace in Byron Bay, Cinemax in Kingscliff, The Regent in Murwillumbah, The Picture House in Brunswick Heads, NORPA in Lismore, HOTA Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast, The Tweed Art Gallery in Murwillumbah and the GOMA in Brisbane. In our area, minutes away from White Cockatoo Heaven, you will easily find inspiring workshops at affordable prices: Sound Healing, Yoga, Chi Qong, OPen Floor Dance, Five Rhythms Dance... Or trek along amazing endless coastal trails in splendid Nature Reserves and National Parks like Billinudgel Nature Reserve, Mount Jerusalem or Minyon Falls ... Or catch the highest wave at sunrise... Or just chill out sipping some Kombucha whilst chatting with a Pelican or some extravagant Blue Collar Lizzard at sunset... Yep! You've got the picture! Our neighbourhood and area are for alternative life style all right! And we love it! There is no public transportation serving our area per se. Your own vehicle is essential, and preferably a 4WD, as some of our country roads are rough. Biking and cycling are popular around here. Extra caution is needed on rural roads where traffic can be tricky (huge trucks, speedy cars) on some narrow roads, and some farm dogs rather impredictable. There are lovely trails along the sea shore though. Shuttles from airports go to main towns like Mullumbimby (Uncle Tom's pies), Byron Bay, Bangalow and Ballina. There is also one local bus line called The Blanch's Line Company, serving these towns, stopping at bus shelters located in various places in these towns. You will find these services on line for more information. A GPS on mobile or in car could save you lot of time and money as well. Many bookings in museums, restaurants, cinemas or public events are done on mobiles, so make sure you have plenty of "mobile data", and your charger handy. We are 40 minutes away from the Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta and the same distance from Ballina Airport. Also 1 hour from Lismore Airport, and 2 hours 30 minutes from Brisbane Airport. We are only 10 minutes away to the Pacific Highway, so commuting is made very easy from our place. WET WEATHER IN BYRON SHIRE Our area is prone to severe FLOODING during torrential rains in Summer months, but usually not more than once a year. Boots and raincoats, a must, if coming at such times. Airbnb has policies about refunds under extenuating circumstances such as natural disasters. We communicate with you as soon as we receive any official warning of an impending disaster from our NSW emergency agencies. Official period of natural disasters - namely, raging bushfires and major flooding - will be blocked on our calendar until further notice from our NSW emergency agencies. Please NOTE WELL that there is usually the safe option of getting to our property via inland through MULLUMBIMBY, instead of through Billinudgel. From Billinudgel, there are numerous narrow flood-prone causeways, which are not to be crossed EVER when covered with waters. Therefore, should you be returning to your accommodation - daytime or nightime - under heavy rain, you MUST go via Main Arm (with a brand new high bridge) through MULLUMBIMBY. Moreover, bear in mind that on that stretch between Mullumbimby and Main Arm, there can be 200 metres of bitumen UNDER WATER in very severe flooding rain. In this case, should you be trapped and unable to reach our place, do not try anything heroïc, please - even large 4WD can be swept off! Rather seek alternative accommodation until the flooding on that stretch subsides. There are motels in Mullumbimby, Brunswick Heads, and Byron Bay. BOM is a very reliable meteorogical App from the Australian Government. We highly recommend you have it installed on your mobile, along with a good GPS in your car. ACCESSIBILITY ON THE PREMISES Our Guests-house could be safe and comfortable in terms of accessibility. Please look at all the pictures closely. No stairs. No steps. Well lit. Large doorways. However, it does not feature any special equipment such as rails, ramps or lifts, anywhere inside nor outside the accommodation. Please, don't hesitate to submit your inquiries to us. DRINKABLE WATER AND OTHER LOCAL PRODUCTS Our spring water is filtered by two special cartridges replaced every six months so that they can safely process clay particles and micro-organismes. It is a very good alcaline water, according to our local testing stations in Tweed Heads. It is available only from the RIght Hand tap in the small kitchen sink, and nowhere else. Also, organic herbal teas, teas and ground coffee ready to percolate are available in the kitchen with basic staples like rice bran oil/balsamic vinegar, salt/pepper, sugar, rice/GF pasta, tomatoe paste, white flour and various spices. As much as we can, we use organic and natural local products for washing, cleaning, disinfecting and sanitising. Disinfecting sprays and sanitising hand lotions are offered in each room. SHORT INTRODUCTION TO YOUR HOSTS Your hostess Monique is native French from Paris, and lived in Canada for 25 years. She also has family in Minnesota, USA, and can speak some Spanish to get by. She has two sons and one grand-daughter in Quebec, Canada. She teaches French conversation to Adults and is retired from experimental professional theatre since 2000, and always on the look out for exciting projects for the stage, and a good yarn in French! Your host Sam was born in Melbourne and grew up in Sydney and Brisbane. He has been beautifying the land of the White Cockatoo Heaven for over thirty years. He has two daughters, one - a famous cinematographer- living in Sydney, and one - experienced art teacher - in Melbourne, and mother of Sam's grand-daughter. Both your hosts have been involved intensively in personal growth training, community and creative projects: Monique, semi-retired now from French Teaching and Theatre; and Sam, from Software Development and Group Facilitation. Both are still passionate about SkyDancing Tantra, Singing, Ecstatic Dancing, Travelling In and Out, Under, Above and Beyond!... And meeting with you, Dear Travellers!