| aroma tours ® |
| newsletter november 2005 |
|
THIS ISSUE
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Welcome ==================================== A warm welcome to all of the members of our Aroma Tours newsletter in more than 42 countries around the world.
We are back from our Australian adventures and
what a fabulous time we all enjoyed. Robbi and I were so happy to be
sharing the beauty of our home with our dear guests and a whole new
chapter has been added to our fond remembrances.
The busy time continues with Robbi overseas in
Asia teaching as well as preparations continuing for next year's tour
season. We are both looking forward to a little quiet time towards the end
of the year but most of all we are looking forward to next year's
adventures.
If you have not visited for a while we invite you to drop by for a peek at our latest details and photos on our Aroma Tours site. As always detailed information, including pricing and itineraries are available via our Information Request Page
Aroma Travellers, Our Thanks
==================================== One of the main reasons that we have continued to grow and flourish is the on-going support we receive from returning Aroma Travellers who consistently make up more than 20% of our bookings each year. Because we will not be offering more than 10 or so tours a year ( to maintain the character and quality of our offerings ), we look forward to this percentage growing in the future. Robbi and I would also like to give our heart-felt thanks to all of you who continue to support us with your kind words and referrals and by spreading news of our tours and retreats amongst your friends. More Lovely Photos of our Journeys ==================================== We have added some lovely photos of our Bali Women's Retreat and Australian Aromatherapy Tour to our site and we hope that you enjoy viewing a few of the wonderful places and experiences we shared.
We are always continuing to add to our photo collections and encourage
you to browse our Photo
Gallery Pages from time to time.
Le Feu de St. Jean
====================================
This year during our Heart of Provence Tour we witnessed the ancient ritual of Le Feu de St. Jean - The Fire of St. John.
The celebration dates back to pagan times and is always held on the
eve of the summer solstice. It represents victory of light over
darkness on the shortest night of the year. All manner of healing
and benefits are associated with the fire, such as protection from
sickness, curing of disease, enhancing fertility and protection from
adversity.
It was a perfect summer's eve, warm and balmy as
strolled about the village after dinner. We were treated to a
colourful procession of villagers all dressed in traditional Provencale
costume parading through the narrow streets. To the
sounds of flutes and drums they offered garlands of
rosemary and lavender from a horse-drawn wain laiden with corn,
fruit, wheat, brush-wood and aromatic plants.
The parade ended in the village's central square where a large bon-fire
was built and the mayor in his tri-coloured sash spoke of the
ripening of the season and the harvest soon to come. He was flanked by
dancers and musicians who enthusiastically performed for us all.
Once it was fully dark, the bonfire was lit and the villagers
along with quite a few of us hang-er-on-erers, began to circle slowly
around it three times throwing flowers, herbs, and
garlands into the flames with the words - "May all my ill-luck
depart and be burnt up with these."
Everyone in the group was enchanted by the experience and Robbi and
I gave thanks for the year gone by and blessed the
year ahead as we circled around the fire.
==================================== The outstanding start to next year's season is continuing, with over 70 bookings now confirmed and more on the way. We are well on-track for an exceptional year and are so thrilled to see our dream flourishing. Our current booking status is:-
We are encouraging everyone wishing to
join us next year to make their bookings as early as possible to avoid
disappointment and to help us with our planning.
You are able to reserve you place by visiting our Tour Booking Page which now also includes secure on-line facilities. If you have any questions or need to discuss your travel plans with us please email us directly at info@aroma-tours.com Our New Secure On-Line Booking Facility ==================================== We are happy to report that our new secure on-line booking facility has been a great success with almost all of our bookings now being made on-line. The previous booking method of creating a printable booking form to fax or post to us is still available for those who prefer to make their bookings off-line.
Australian Aromatherapy Tour
=====================================
We enjoyed a wonderful time with our guests
from Taiwan starting out in Sydney - one of the world's great
cities - with fabulous shopping, beautiful gardens and bushland blooming
with wildflowers and native trees as well as a fascinating
aboriginal art and sunset on Sydney habour with spectacular views
of the city, our famous opera house and harbour bridge.
Next we journeyed into the countryside
to a fascinating organic farm growing and distilling aromatic
plants such as rosalina, geranium, rosemary verbenone, eucalyptus
stageana, tea tree et al. We also had time to explore the nearby river for
some platypus spotting.
We stayed in a lovely hotel
overlooking the pacific ocean as well as a beautiful resort just
a short walk from the beach and enjoyed close encounters with
Australian animals such as wombats, parrots, emus, tawny
frog-mouths, possums, kangaroos and koalas, strolled on long
beautiful beaches, and explored lovely rainforests and delightful
coastal towns.
Aboriginal elder Wilay Bijay shared a
fascinating day with us visiting sites of importance and
sharing his knowledge of bush tucker and native medicine with us.
We saw 20,000 year old ceremonial sites and were welcomed with a
traditional "smoking" ceremony as experienced aboriginal songs
and stories.
One of the most enjoyable days was a journey
through the bush to visit to the largest tea tree plantation in
the world followed by a wonderful authentic Aussie bush barbeque
with wild emus, kangaroos goannas and 1000's of native birds along the
way.
On the last night of the tour we enjoyed a scrumptious seafood buffet with our twenty intrepid travellers making short work of 15 dozen oysters along with platters laden with fresh prawns and crabs! Australia is renowned for its great seafood and as we found out, Taiwanese people love delicious seafood. During our farewells everyone gathered around our table and we were serenaded with a song in Mandarin about Jasmine flowers - a first for us as we have not been sung to at the end of a tour before. It was absolutely beautiful and we felt very moved and honoured. We are still finalizing the details of next year's Australian Aromatic Tour which will be based on our experiences this year ( no need to sing to us if you don't want to ) and will be held at about the same time of year in late October. Final dates, prices and itinerary will be available shortly. If you have any questions about Australia or for that matter any of our other tours we invite you to contact us directly at info@aroma-tours.com "I am finally back home after a wonderful 10-day journey in your beautiful country, all thanks to your careful and thoughtful arrangements. The care, passion, and love that both of you have shown to people had left me an memorable imprint. How lucky I was to be able to befriend both of you."
~ Clinton Hsu, Taiwan
Sweet Wines
=================================
Some of the rarest and most exquisite - not
to mention expensive - wines in the world fall into the classification
of sweet wines. Yet as a group they are often overlooked or
relegated to accompanying desserts and often mismatched even then.
They are in fact much more versatile and are
a wonderful accompaniment to savoury foods such as pate, blue and
flavoursome hard cheeses, prosciutto, smoked fish, antipasto etc.
One of my favourite dishes is a fine fois
gras with fresh toasts, caramelized onion, rock salt, fresh pepper
and whole spices on the side. It is a symphony of flavours and
texture and the perfect partner to these delights is a cool glass of
Sauterne.
Next time you enjoy a cheese platter
especially if you can find a French Brie, Rocquefort and an
aged cheddar, instead of a shiraz or other heavy red wine which can
clash with the rich and delicate flavours of the cheeses enjoy the
wonderful way a glass of sweet wine such as a Soave, Tokay or
Muscat enhances your enjoyment.
The lighter varieties of sweet wine such as
the Italian Moscato D'Asti are also ideal as an aperitif at
the beginning of a meal.
One of the world's most famous and expensive
wines is a botrytis affected wine from Sauterne in France - Chateau
D'Yquem.
Coffee Australis
==================================
Coffee comes originally from Yemen and
Ethiopia and the first coffee house was opened in Istanbul in 1554.
These days it is largely grown in countries near the equator such as
Colombia, Vietnam and Kenya.
Australia is also now growing high quality
Arabica coffee and because there are none of the diseases and pest that
plague others ( lots of spraying ) it can be grown chemical free.
The sub-tropical Australian climate
allows the coffee to ripen slowly and creates a dense bean that has a
distinctively sweet, full flavour. Because of the lack of pests it is
also low in caffeine which is part of the plants defence against insects
pests.
Coffee trees take four years to mature
before they can be harvested and only flower for a few days a year. We
timed our visit this year perfectly and have some beautiful photos
of coffee beans and flowers on our Australian
Aromatherapy Tour Photos Page.
Coffee is ready to be harvested when the
berries are between a bright red and deep burgundy colour. They are
then washed and pulped to liberate the coffee beans - 2 per berry, and
then dried until their moisture content drops from 60% to 11-12%.
Coffee beans are covered by a membrane which
forms a protective "parchment" over the dried beans and allows
them to be stored for years without loosing their freshness. The
parchment must be removed by polishing the beans before they can be
roasted.
Next year during our Australian adventures
we will include a visit to a coffee plantation to see the trees in
fruit and experience the roasting process. A light roasting brings
out the bean's lovely fruity aromatics, whereas a darker roast adds smoky,
earthy flavours to the beans.
Dawn in Tuscany
====================================
We are pleased to introduce our dear
friend Dawn Tabet who will accompanying us for our tours in Tuscany
and Umbria next May.
Dawn has a delightful personality and
is an Italy specialist with over 10 years experience and is
a welcome addition to our Aroma Tours team.
Bali Women's Retreat - Balinese
Healers
====================================
Robbi Reports:
Some wonderful changes were made to the itinerary of the Bali Retreat this year and combined with the beautiful, generous-hearted women who attended, we created an exquisite week together and one of the highest experiences of my life. Our visit to a traditional Balinese healer on the last day was a highlight of the retreat. These healers are called "Balians" and once they discover their healing powers they devote themselves totally to their healing work based on the movement of energy through the body.
Our Balian was a fourth generation healer and
his insights and capacity to see into a person's energy field and locate
body stresses were awesome. We laughed and we cried, had herbal tonics
prescribed and had herbal pastes applied to various body parts. I had a
very moving experience with the healer the week before I took the group to
visit and our retreat week was especially heightened as a direct result of
my time spent with him. I am very grateful and I am still feeling the
effects of my personal visit.
"Robbi, I had the most incredible and
wonderful time in Bali - something that was a once in a lifetime
experience. You are an amazing woman, beautiful inside and out, to
create this retreat and enable us to gain an insight into who we really
are as women. My daughters loved the experience also and we each
took something different out of the retreat that was special to us."
~ Mary Warlop, Rhode Island USA
Aromatherapy Retreats and Tours ( repeat ) ============================================== Over the years we have developed a range of wonderful aromatic experiences for you to enjoy from the exotic and spicy delights of Turkey to delectable gastronomic adventures in Tuscany and Provence. At the same time we have also continued to add to our series of specialist retreats and tours for aromatherapy enthusiasts and professionals.
For more details about our Provence
Aromatherapy Retreat and Advanced
Clinical Aromatherapy Retreat please
visit our Information
Request Page
If you would like to be kept up to date about the details of our Australian Aromatherapy Tour which will be finalized this November, please contact us at info@aroma-tours.com
The Blossoming Heart
====================================
As you have mentioned in previous
newsletters, Robbi's book "The Blossoming Heart - Aromatherapy for
Healing and Transformation" is currently being published in
Spanish and Mandarin Chinese and is about to go into its' second
English edition.
The Chinese translation is now complete
thanks to our dear friend Sean and it looks likely that it will be
released in April next year. The Spanish version is still "in
queue" with one of Spain's most prestigious publishers and we expect
that it will be released in the second half of next year and will be
officially launched in Barcelona in July 2007.
As self publishers we are thrilled with the
success of Robbi's book and the fact that it is currently being
sold in 15 countries with more on the way no doubt, especially once the
translated versions are released.
If you would like to like to know more about Robbi's wonderful work please visit her Blossoming Heart Website
Jim has also created a Secure
Book Order Page where The Blossoming Heart can be purchased
either on-line via our secure site or off-line via fax or mail.
Stories of Interest Pages (
repeat )
==================================== Jim has been busy compiling almost 30 pages of stories and photos on our website for you to enjoy. These delightful new pages are listed on our Stories of Interest Page and can also be accessed individually using the new [ --- quick link to stories --- ] menu at the bottom of all of our site pages. We hope you enjoy them. Dessert Fit for a Prima Ballerina ==================================== Pavlova is a wonderful, luscious and very Australian dessert that was created in honour of a visit to Australia by Russia's prima ballerina - Anna Pavlova.
There are many variations and this one uses
some uniquely Australian flavours. Some of the ingredients may be a bit
difficult to find but it is great fun to make your own variation from your locally
available fruits and flavours.
Ingredients for 6 people
Crust
200 g macadamia nuts
0.5 cup castor sugar
2 teaspoons ground aniseed myrtle
2 teaspoons ground lemon myrtle
You can substitute star anise powder for the aniseed myrtle and use
lemon rind instead of lemon myrtle.
Meringue
6 egg whites
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1.25 cups castor sugar
Cream Filling
250 ml cream
350 g raspberries, strawberries, mango, peaches or any of your favourite
fruits.
75 g castor sugar
Method
Pavlova is one of Robbi's favourite desserts
and although she is a sweet and sharing person, when it comes to her
favourite treat she insists on having two generous slices.
You can see her in a "Pavlova
moment" on the top row of our Australian
Aromatherapy Tour Photos Page
Arranging Your Travel ==================================== To join us on tour all your need to do is make your travel arrangements to meet us at our rendezvous point either with the help of your travel agent, or for the more adventurous, by booking your flights and connections yourselves. All of our rendezvous are easily achieved and naturally we provide all of the information and assistance that you ( or your agent ) requires. Just a reminder that we now have a Frequently Asked Questions Page at to help answer the most common questions including how to book, travel arrangements, group sizes..... Previous Newsletters ==================================== Our past newsletter are well worth a browse and are available in our Newsletter Archives You may also enjoy reading a few of the stories that Jim has recently compiled from his writing over the years on our Stories of Interest Page Thought for the Day ==================================== "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." ~ Henry David Thoreau ~ Our Invitation ==================================== Robbi and I look forward to welcoming you to one of our delightful tours or retreats and invite you to visit our Aroma Tours website for more information as well as taking a peek at the latest photos of our travels in our Picture Gallery As always if you have any questions or if you would like us to assist you personally with advice about your travel arrangements or with any other details please contact us either by email at info@aroma-tours.com or by phone on +61 3 5331 3254 ( afternoon/evening USA time zones, mornings from other countries ). Warmest regards, Robbi and Jim Aroma Tours (R) Ballarat Australia p/f: +61 3 5331 3254 e: info@aroma-tours.com w: http://www.aroma-tours.com |
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