We’re in the middle of school holidays here in QLD so we have shipped the kids off to my brothers where they are going skiing for a few days down south.

With the kids off our hands Nat & I decided to head to glorious Noosa. The weather is perfect – about 20 degrees Celsius - with not a cloud in the sky. We picked a luxury hotel right on the beach and our suite has 3 bedrooms, 2 balconies and a spa on the roof top balcony.

Our days are filled with a sleep in, a long breakfast, spot of shopping down fabulous Hastings Street, lite lunch, reading on the beach then dinner at a fabulous restaurant. Last night we dined with friends at a ‘top 20′ restaurant in Australia called ‘Wasabi’ and tonight with my business partner and his wife at Sails – right on the beach.

The shops are quiet and for the first time in years there are ‘for lease’ signs on the windows on Hastings Street. One shop keep told me that the region has been hit hard this year because of 3 factors.

1) Japanese Tsunami

2) New Zealand earthquakes

3) Brisbane floods

The weather is perfect this time of year – come visit Noosa. The region needs an economic boost – we’re doing our bit at least!

For my 40th birthday my wife bought me a trip into Space on Virgin Galactic. Pretty cool present. I am no. 293 in the world to fly and no. 13 in Australia to sign up for it.

Here is a sneak preview from a test flight yesterday.

Today Nat & I were in the fashion capital of Australia – Melbourne.

In the morning I did the keynote speech for a conference of 129 Accountants and 1 lawyer. It was a rousing, thought provoking and challenging talk – at least that’s what the delegates told me.

Because Nat knew I was going to Melbourne she wanted to come with me – to shop. So I was finished by 11am and we were in a limo by 1120. Our driver, Tom, took us to place to place and dropped us off so we could walk and shop. We were due to rendezvous in a couple of hours.

What we did not realise was that as we walked he was ‘following’ us in the car. So we would literally come out of the shop with bags and he was there. Dump the bags in the car and off to the next place. It was very cool. However there is a problem with this service. When you are shopping without a driver / car you can only hold so much and you know when it is time to go home when your arms are tired.

We had to buy more luggage to bring the necessities home!

Arrived into Bora Bora today after an arduous trip from Brisbane to Auckland then overnight in Papeete, Tahiti (the worst hotel I have ever stayed in – ever). Anyway, all worth it now that here.

I am here to catch up with some of my high achieving consulting buddies from around the world on our annual think tank. My writing space is pretty cool. I am writing my book right now – will post an excerpt.

When my eldest son Hugh was 8 we had the ‘profit’ conversation. I told him that a profit was the selling price minus the buying price. Sell take buy he said. A couple of hours after educating him on this most important concept I asked him what profit was. Profit is good he told me! A little while after that I asked him how much profit we should make. As much as possible was the reply!

Hugh is now 15 and wheeling and dealing whatever he can. His favourite saying is ‘let’s do a deal’.

Well it seems that my daughter Harriet has the Entrepreneurial spirit in her as well. Today is election day in Australia and about 150 meters down our road is a polling station and as such there have been loads of people walking past all day today to pledge their vote. Harriet and her friend got the idea that they would capitalise on the opportunity and set up a lemonade stand and sell home made lemonade to the thirsty voters walking past. They started by juicing about 20 of my limes (that were supposed to be for my Corona beer and sparkling mineral water) and the first version was Lime based lemonade – hideous it was.

After a few initial sales I was sent to the shop to get some lemons. So with a new recipe business flourished and 51 cups later they had made $25.50. Only problem was I did not have the profit conversation with her. I paid for everything and they kept all the money!

If there are 168 hours in a week and if you sleep for around 58 of them, then you are going to be awake for around 110 hours per week. Simple maths. Out of 110 waking hours how much time is spent either getting ready for work, getting to work, at work, coming home from work or thinking about work?

More than likely half. About half of your adult waking, working life will be associated with work. HALF your life.

I hope for the benefit of your clients, your fellow team members, your loved ones at home and most importantly yourself that what you do excites you. I hope it enriches you and you are thoroughly fired up about what you do. If not it’s a long time doing something you don’t like. Do something else if it does not interest you. It’s not too late. You only have one life.

I said that to a sole owner of a small accounting firm in Western Sydney once. She told me she didn’t like owning an accounting firm and she wanted to sell it. I encouraged her to sell it. She did – the next day for $750k – cash. Take massive action.

Today (our final day) we went into Marrakech to the souk markets. As soon as we got there I had a snake wrapped around my neck – lucky it was not a nasty one. Our guide took us to his ‘endorsed shops’ which we soon worked out where the ones that he got a commission on!

The markets were bustling with people and activity. You could buy just about anything – including people it seemed. One of our party was offered 50,000 camels for her to be a bride of a local man. She politely declined. We bought a range of nic nacs and with some fun negotiation we got most things 50% off the list price.

After we were done shopping we visited Vanessa Bransons (Richards sister) ‘Riad’ in downtown Marrakech. A Raid is a small hotel – Berber style. She has a 22 room hotel which was just amazing. From the street it seems very non-discript. No signage – just a big door. When you enter you go into an oasis of rooms, gardens and pools. Each room is different and one of her rooms was awarded ‘Sexiest Hotel room in the world’ – pretty cool. We had a delicious vegetarian lunch (all the produce was from the organic garden) with Vanessa and her family on the rooftop.

It was extremely hot (40 degrees) so we hit the pool as soon as we got back. Over a couple of beers I found out that one of the guests is a software / internet mogul and he owns a Forumla 1 team – one of twelve only. It’s our last night tonight so we said our good byes and with new friends and fond memories we leave tomorrow via Casablanca, Dubai and then home to Brisbane.

What an unbelievable 36 hours. It started yesterday with Nat & I having breakfast with Richard Branson where we talked about a wide range of ideas. After that we went for a trek up the Atlas mountains. They said it was going to be moderate but it turned out to be more than moderate.

Then hit the pool, had ourselves painted in traditional hanna paint and then watched a tennis match. Being a golfer I opted for a couple of beers instead. Before dinner we had 2 local girls do some belly dancing. Seeing Richard belly dancing with his shirt off was quite a sight. I am sure someone will post the video footage on YouTube soon enough. Dinner was on the roof top of the resort where we had a 7 course French degustation menu which was just amazing under the stars.

Today we drove 25 km deep into the mountains where we were met with guides and mountain bikes. We had to cycle back down to a village some 3 hrs away by bike. However, it wasn’t always down hill. Many up hills as well. It was quite dangerous. I came within 10 cm of losing my life as I nearly went off a cliff edge. One of the cyclists was taken to hospital after a nasty fall (his bone was coming out of his leg) and a few others had tumbles. After contending with goats, mules, rough slippery roads, mud and the most amazing scenery you’ll be pleased to know that I was fine – just hot and sore.

Lunch was a BBQ under a Berber tent complete with carpet & Berber style furniture. The purpose of the bike ride was to raise money for Richard’s mothers (Eve) foundation. Eve is helping the village people to make clothing items to sell. She is also teaching them about life skills and really giving them a future. We all sponsored ourselves and raised quite a bit of money.

More roughing it tonight and tomorrow off to the local markets for a spot of shopping.

After traveling for 27 hours Nat & I landed in Casablanca, where we overnighted, and then onto Marrakech to stay for 4 days with Sir Richard Branson at his very awesome retreat Kasbah Tamadot. As part of my trip into space on Virgin Galactic we are here we 11 other ‘future astronauts’ and their partners.

There is no agenda on this trip (which is really cool for a change) just an opportunity to meet some truly fabulous people from around the world – including spending some quality time with Richard.

Last night we had a most engaging conversation with Richards 86 year old mother, Eve. She is an absolute hoot and full of energy. We also met the inventor of the ‘jog dial’ device for the ipod. He recently sold his company for a handsome price. It was great to catch up with some of the other fellow London marathon runners as well – war & sore stories abound.

Our accommodation is a Berber tent. As you can see by the pictures not your every day tent! We have stayed in some pretty fabulous hotels around the world – this one tops them all. It’s at the base of the Atlas mountains and right behind us is the second tallest mountain in Africa.

Today a bunch of us are going on a mountain walk and later on a tennis match.