front of me with a lovely greeting. It seemed like they were going to swim right into me (almost like playing chicken). At the last minute they separated, still swimming very close, circled and surrounded me. All I could do was to place my hands over my heart and receive their love, embrace their energy and send back my love for them.

We were looking deep into each others eyes and I felt their energy welcoming me back. They then positioned themselves in an upright position in a small circle around me, and just “hung” about for a few moments. As quickly as they arrived they swam back out to sea, one of them leaping in the air, as if to say – “welcome back, we look forward to playing with your group.

The Dolphin retreat is my favourite time of the year. I have been so fortunate to have found such an amazing house to hold the retreat in. Its' uniqueness is that it is right on the bay the dolphins frequent and where the whales and dolphins birth their babies. ‘Aka', a powerful and beautiful Hawaiian woman, shared with us how the year before, just a few feet from the house, a whale birthed her baby unusually close to shore.

Each morning we awaken early for a sunrise meditation to bring us into the energy of the dolphins and prepare us to connect as a pod in a unified group. It is of extreme importance to respect their space! Everyone is given extensive briefing of how to behave in the water, recognize when they are in sleep mode and Dolphin etiquette. Beautiful Amber has joined us as one of our swim assistants. Her energy is so pure and sweet and the Dolphins love playing in her space. Her partner, Nassim, a physicist, also joins us for an afternoon lecture - ‘Crossing the Event Horizon'. This is amazing and profound information. His website is: http://www.theresonanceproject.org . From our balcony we can see the dolphins entering the bay. The whales have been especially active. On one of my swims I found myself within approximately 30 feet of a mother and its baby! What an amazing thrill. Someone once shared that ‘swimming with the dolphins is like swimming with the angels and swimming with the whales is like swimming with God.' This experience leaves me without words.

The snorkeling here is amazing. When we don't have the dolphins to swim with; the turtles delight us with their gracefulness in the water and occasionally bask on the beach in the sun.

On one of our swims near the boat, another group of whales went by. When we dove under the water, time and time again, we could clearly hear them sing and felt the vibration of their song permeate our bodies. It was awesome.

Back on the boat and lots of drumming, didgeridoos, laughter and enjoying this marvelous day.

One of my favourite afternoons, is the day we light a campfire on the beach and Dolphin Dave teaches us to make and play our own didgeridoos. The didgeridoo is an aboriginal “dream-time” wooden instrument traditionally played to call the whales. When we are out on the boat, we notice the Dolphins respond to the music as well.

The magic of this retreat is the magic of the people that come together. And, David is pure magic. He spends the entire week with us, and brings with him the Aloha spirit. “It's all about Love, Love, Love” is his favourite saying. He brings with him not only Love, also tremendous Joy and Laughter. God Bless you David, thank you for blessing our lives with your wonderful playful presence and Spirit!

We stop on the way at a wonderful fruit stand and enjoy white chocolate macadamia nut butter, mangos, papaya and other tropical fruits, great coffees for those that need their hit, ice cream and more. Once we reach the Volcano area, we stop at a picnic site and have lunch. Todd and his crew packed a delightful taste treat for us to enjoy.

It was such a treat to have Joseph join us and lead us into areas I previously had not been to. After walking through hardened lava and around crevices, we walked through lush tropical forest and into a lave tube. Once deep inside, we turned off our flashlights and experienced the power of the complete darkness and silence. After our silence Joseph played the ‘Pua' a Hawaiian instrument. There in the darkness of the lava tube, hearing the enchanting sounds of the Pua and honouring the Spirit of the Volcano, well, you had to be there!

Our day at the volcano is a long one, and we are all left with our individual profound insights.

Every day is beach day, soaking up the sun, swimming, snorkeling, playing, sharing and laughing. To complete our perfect days, we relax and enjoy music, song and are entertained.

‘The Place of Refuge' is a place of forgiveness. We all gathered after a relaxing afternoon and ‘free time', to visit the sacred ancient Hawaiian village. Here we did a beautiful sunset ceremony of ‘letting go' and of ‘forgiveness'.

Todd has, as usual, been the perfect caterer for my retreat. Todd, Mi, Grace and Mona put so much love into the delicious, succulent, gourmet, mouth watering, scrumptious selection of organic meals and spectacular deserts. The presentations were works of art with special attention given to detail, as our taste buds were bursting with anticipation and satisfaction of each salivating experience.

Thank you!

I feel so blessed to share this experience with others. This is a time for miraculous transformations.

This retreat came together because of a magical connection I had with the dolphins. Since then I wanted to share this connection and experience with others. We face many challenges and responsibilities in our lives, and this is the most profound gift you can give to yourself. This is my gift to myself. It is a time I let go and let my inner child come out and play, and a time to connect with my inner joy, love and peace. The dolphins have the gift of connecting us with our Bliss!

This was the first year that I booked the house for one day before and for three days after the retreat dates. This allowed for a relaxed ease into the start of the retreat, and we did not have to rush off at the end. The group is so high and ‘Blissed out' at the end of the retreat, that it makes it difficult to suddenly say goodbye and scatter in all of our different directions. It was great as the whole group stayed on. We had such an wonderful bond and were one big happy family. We had an amazing time! I have booked the house in this way for the February and March 2006 dates!

See you next year!

It was great to work/play with Dolphin Dave, Melanie and Bruno. They were incredible making sure everyone was happy and settled in as they embraced and shared their Aloha spirit. Thank you, without you this would not have come together!

Farewells are always sad. Everyone had left and I was gathering the last few things from the house and preparing for my flight to Honolulu , then off to Tokyo , Japan .

I checked in for phone messages and received a message from my son, who with a shaky voice said he and my daughter were okay, but to please call as soon as possible. They were calling from a hotel in Kelowna , B.C. and were returning from a visit with their father. Driving back to Vancouver , they hit ice, skid then flipped over 7 times landing upside down. My son Sean, my daughter Kyra and Sean's dog Obi were in the Jeep. When people came to rescue them, they were not expecting anyone to have lived thru the crash. There were jars of pure Cranberry juice in the vehicle, which when it finally came to a stop, Kyra found herself hanging upside down covered in red. She thought it was blood, which only added to the impact of the shock she was already in. Thank God, they were all okay and only badly bruised with muscle and tissue damage. The vehicle was a write off. I felt in such a dilemma as instead of returning home to be with them, I was leaving for the other side of the world! The impact of my disconnection from my family, friends and home really hit me.

I flew to Honolulu and spent the night visiting with my friend Barbara. We don't see each other often, but readily catch up when we do.