In February 2017 Cynthia attended an 8 day training in The Arvigo® Techniques in Maya Abdominal Therapy. Arvigo® Therapy is founded on an ancient Maya technique of a non-invasive, external abdominal massage. Arvigo® Therapy stimulates circulation and blood flow within the abdominal area, supporting the body for optimal function of digestive and reproductive health and wellness. It is a therapy that can be applied throughout every stage of a woman, man or child’s life. After the training Joe and Cynthia bounced around between the beach and the rain forest of Belize and had a true Belizian experience. In addition to all the natural beauty and activities you can do in Belize, the locals are some of the friendliest, most hospitable people you can find. The fact that they speak english there is a real bonus too!
Tag: family
Bryon Bay, Australia (Hippie Town)
February 23, 2011
We spent two nights in Bryon Bay! Byron Bay is a quaint, old, small hippie town a few hours south of Brisbane. Byron Bay has beautiful beaches, and one of the things that make them so beautiful is the coast line and the mountains in the background. There is a Lighthouse you can hike to and this Lighthouse sits on the easterly most point in Australia. At this point, the way the waves come in and break, surfers can get a 20-25 second ride; which is a long time standing on a surf board! Again, the tides were very strong; like it was hard to even stand in one place without being pulled. I guess that’s the story everywhere here.
We’re on a 10 hour drive to the Blue Mountains. It is supposed to be very beautiful and a great place to hike. We’re being brave and daring today. We started the day out at 6:30 and went to a place called “Minion Falls” for a five hour hike. It was drizzling when we got there so we decided we would start with an hour in and then reevaluate. About the time to reevaluate, we began noticing little inch worm leaches on our ankles and shoes. We had another encounter with them a few weeks ago and it wasn’t pretty! They look cute at first but then you realize they are burrowing into your skin at an amazing speed and you have to pull hard to get them off. They even burrow into shoes and socks! We decided with the rain, blood suckers, and the long drive ahead, that we had seen enough of Minion Falls. On the way out we got to see two large “Kookaburras”, which allowed us to get very close for observation.
Two things I love about Australia are the National Parks and the birds. Everywhere you look, there are National Parks to hike and explore. Although there is less than 10 percent of the Rainforests that was once here, there still seems to be a lot. The birds are so amazing! At Byron Bay there were flocks of hundreds of beautiful, colorful parrots flying around and chattering. The Magpie’s have the most amazing voice and I could never tire of listening to them. The Kookaburras too are so outstanding to see and listen to as they make a loud “laughing” sound, even in the nighttime.
Our time is nearing the end here and I am feeling a bit sad about it. I love this country and the diversity it has to offer. I am trying to remain on the vibration of “love” for what I have experienced here and not let the feeling of sadness enter. One of the most important lessons I have learned on this trip is “trust” and the faith to “let go” and know that there is a plan and it will be revealed every step of the way. We have completely lived one day at a time here and so many times what we thought we were going to do didn’t happen but something just as good or better did! I don’t even think more than a day in advance anymore. I wonder how that will work when I get home!
New Zealand Beach Towns (North Island)
January 18, 2011
We spent the 15th and 16th in a lovely little beach town that I could easily see myself living in long term! It was quaint, lots of cute little shops, on the water, and overall had a very good feeling to it. While we were there we hiked Mt. Maunganui, which is a cone shaped mountain that takes 90 minutes to hike up and back down. It’s at the tip of a peninsula and you have unobstructed views up and down the coast of white sandy beaches and clear blue water. While on the way up, we watched a pod of Orca Whales swimming along the coast. We saw them from various levels of the mountain. We even ran down the hill side to get a closer view! I have wanted to run down a hillside since we got here! It was fun. The hike up was tough at times. It was very steep and a hot day. It was fun, as a mom, to see the chemistry of the family. At times, either Sadie or I would decide that “maybe we don’t need to go to the summit, the view is great at every level”, and Julian would encourage us to keep going; “we’ll be there soon”, and “going just 75% of the way is like living just 75% of your life”! I love traveling with my kids! So, yesterday we headed further north along the coast and now we’re at yet another quaint little coastal town and staying at the Beachside Backpackers Hostel, across the street from the ocean (south pacific!). We’re going to be here for three nights. Today a storm is blowing through, so we’re taking the day off! Hanging out, reading, cooking, talking to other travelers, and enjoying 24 hours of unlimited internet!
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Leaving Wellington, New Zealand
January 12, 2011
Today was our last day of house sitting in Wellington. We are ready to move on. Staying put for three weeks was a good break but was also a long time. The house was very accommodating. We saved a lot of money by being there and we got to experience living like the New Zealanders live!
From what I gathered by some of the books in the bedroom, the woman of the house, Mandy, has/had breast cancer. In the beginning of our stay there, I felt like I could feel her energy and the sadness of the disease; it was heavy at times. It subsided at some point. She and I have a lot of similar interest. I read four books from her book shelf (which is a lot for me in a short amount of time), her jewelry looks just like mine, and she has my favorite cd’s on her shelf! I also love her kitchen and all that goes along with it!
We have had numerous day trips into Wellington and are feeling pretty at home wondering the streets. Joe, Sadie, and I went to Martinbourgh last week and worked on a vineyard for the day. We did it with the WWOOF organization. There were other wwoofers there working and staying. We were just day workers since we were staying so close by. Learned a lot about growing grapes and it was very interesting. Had a delicious meal with everyone. On the day we worked, Julian and Eliot went to a park called “Adrenalin Forest”. It is a forest full of rope ladders, pulleys, zip lines and all sorts of “balancing” type things to walk across, each level getting higher than the last. It took them about three hours to complete. There were areas that made Julian think twice about his abilities; some were a challenge to Eliot but for the most part, he had no fear. In Welliington yesterday, I filmed Eliot doing Parkour in various places. He also went down last week end and met up with a local group that does Parkour. I tried my hand at driving again yesterday. As long as I have someone with me helping me navigate round abouts, I’m pretty confidant. They have very few traffic lights and stop signs here. For the most part everything is either yield or a round about. There are a lot of funny little differences here. I’m going to try to start a list of them. We play Rummy every single night! Seems like it could get old, but we’re still having fun at it!
Being with the same people 24/7 for three months is going to be the experience of a lifetime! I laugh sometimes at the dynamics of it all. And sometimes I get very irritated, bothered, pissed off, the whole gamut of feelings have surfaced at some point in time. Today I realize that we are all so much alike and what bothers one bothers the other in the same way. Like, Sadie has this thing where she says “stop looking at me” (lol!) and I realize sometimes I glance at her and she’s staring at me and I feel the same way, like “stop looking at me!” (lol!) We all have our very sweet moments and then moments where nothing is tolerable. Julian is so much like me. He has a lot of patience (like extremely patient!), is very accommodating, always ready to help out and is just down right “nice”. However, he is also quite sarcastic at times and I hope I don’t have so much of sarcasm anymore; I used to.
Kids are so smart and have such excellent memories that sometimes they can tend to make me feel like I’m losing my mind. They remember every little detail of everything seen, read, or heard, and I have to be reminded of details. Sometimes I don’t even remember a movie Eliot says I watched!