Hey Hey APJ,

Recently Azar sent me this. It’s filled with so many things I love.

When we were kids we went for a holiday to Lord Howe Island with the family. It has long lived in my memory as my favourite family holiday and one on which I caught a stripy tuna which in my memory was bigger than I was at the time at around seven or eight years old. On this holiday we went of a fabulous journey by boat to see Balls Pyramid and it was breathtaking.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

The island was the perfect place to take children. We were given bikes and told to come home at sunset each day. It was also the first time we had ever been into a Kids Club, where the parents drop off the kids in the morning and you are doing nature walks, riding bikes to beaches where you can hand feed the fish, painting pictures of your adventures and learning so much about the wonderful place we were in. We had the most wonderful young woman for Kids Club, she was soft, dark haired and smelled so good, she smiled a lot and was lavish in her hugs. I was so smitten that when we left I cried and cried. Mum and Dad spent most of their holiday time swimming and reading, eating and chatting with the very few other guests. Back then we stayed at Pine Trees, the only hotel on the island, and I think there were only about 20 rooms. In my memory it was a wonderful, sunlit, blissful adventure. It was also the place that I first discovered Gerald Durrell, the author, and his books have been a constant source of wonder, laughter and delight ever since.

Anyway, here is an incredible story of a creature brought back from the jaws of extinction. FABULOUS!
Portia xx