For the last four weeks I’ve been on a writer’s residency in the Varuna Writers’ House in Katoomba, New South Wales. I was part of an international author’s exchange arranged with the good folks in Cove Park, Scotland, (also a wonderful and stunning place to write for a month; what Cove lacks in kangaroos and koalas it makes up for in Highland cows and enormous slimy toads). I’ve been fortunate enough to have taken part in quite a few writers’ residencies over the years, but Varuna was such an outstanding experience, I wanted to jot down my highlights and say a huge thank you to everyone who made this residency possible before the jetlag befuddles my brain.