We had to change dates from our original request so we shared Desley and Garry's home with them during out exchange. This turned out to be a wonderful bonus as they were gracious hosts and delightful to be with. We shared many meals with them and yet they gave us space to do our own thing. Their lovely home was roomy, very clean and the large tropical yard was spectacular. We loved our 3 day trip on a dive/snorkel boat to the Great Barrier Reef on Reef Encounter (highly recommended!) as well as many day trips and restaurants in the Cairns area. Communication with Desley was easy and prompt and this was one of our best exchanges ever! Thank you Desley and Garry!

Our recent 6 week Oct – Nov exchange with Desley and Garry was perhaps our best ever. They have been great to communicate with - friendly, open, generous and, concerning their stay in our house, responsible. Their self-designed, open plan, air conditioned home in Freshwater, a northern suburb of Cairns, is bright, modern and decorated with their own beautiful paintings and we loved their adorable cat Touloula. Their house sits on the edge of a bit of Queensland rainforest and features a breath taking variety of colourful birdlife and exotic flowering plants and trees and their own garden is a delight as well. A gardener visited on several occasions. We practically lived outdoors in the comfortable outdoor seating, at the large dining table, in the gazebo with a view down into the rainforest, and a large patio area, which are all under cover and shaded, which is important at temperatures above 30C. Cairns itself is a lovely small city featuring a long ocean side Esplanade with restaurants and bars and, perhaps best of all, a lovely huge outdoor civic swimming lagoon, which we visited often. We were appreciative to exchange cars, which gave us ample opportunity during our 6 week stay to explore the amazing natural wonders of northern Queensland – the Great Barrier Reef where we were able to scuba dive and snorkel, the Atherton Tablelands, the Daintree Rain Forest, etc., and nearby beach communities like Port Douglas and Palm Cove.

This is a beautiful home enveloped by a tropical forest that has been lovingly trimmed and trained into an oasis. It draws the human eye as well as colourful butterflies and many birds. The artistic hosts have filled their home with their canvases, and the garden is another. We had a hard time leaving this nest to visit the many destinations of interest in the area! We returned to Canada with a whole new perspective on the mighty Pacific. There were lumbering sea crocodiles on a local beach, day trips out to the Great Barrier Reef, mighty forests and hills rising from the shore and housing the sweet Koalas. For two Canadians, the tropical heat and humidity over Christmas 2022 was both a challenge and a unique adventure. Desley and Garry's home was our perfect landing and they generously shared it with us.

Our house swap couldn't take place unfortunately but we enjoyed getting to know Gary and Desley via facetime and have no doubt that our house swap would have been perfect!

We did not get bored for a single second in this beautiful tropical region of Australia (Down Under). Between the primary forests and the sea of coral everything was pretext to discover under a radiant sun. We loved the Williams house, very comfortable, located in the greenery away from the city and lined with an exotic garden. The cockatoos and the kookabarra served as an alarm clock and the turkey of the bushes crossed the garden every morning while we were having breakfast under the patio. The last day we were able to share a breakfast with our hosts that most of the time we cannot meet. This exchange made us want to discover more about this beautiful continent. Thanks to Desley, Garry and Touloula (the family friendly cat, a real purring machine!) for these unforgetable vacations.