Back in the Stone Age when I was still a working girl my go to lunchtime destination was a bookshop. Some of you might remember them. Rows of shelves labelled by genre. Special displays where the latest releases by popular authors were given pride of place. Comfortable corners where you could browse for half an…
What passes for winter in Queensland has arrived. It was 6c – SIX degrees overnight. Now, before anyone from colder climates spits out their coffee, yes—I know. “Winter” here is mostly a suggestion. But when the air turns crisp and the mornings have that ooh, that’s fresh bite, my whole routine shifts. The ceiling fans…
Australia is still a very long way from almost everywhere. This isn’t a complaint, exactly. I love Australia. I wouldn’t live anywhere else. But nobody can look at a map and pretend we’re conveniently placed. We’re tucked away at the bottom of the world, surrounded by a lot of ocean and a great deal of…
It’s been nearly 2 weeks now (12days but who’s counting) since I discovered I have gall stones. Gall bladders don’t get much attention — until you have gall stones. I soon discovered I didn’t know much about them, and why it doesn’t really matter if you don’t have one. Sort of like your appendix or…
There’s little doubt that the public health system in Australia is creaking at the seams. Like most Western democracies, Australians have access to (almost) free medical services at the large hospitals. Did I say ‘most’? Let’s change that to ‘all Western democracies except the USA’. If it’s an emergency, you go to the local taxpayer…
The Europe trip this year is already receding into history. Which is why I write the blogs. The blogs don’t cover everything. They can’t. They catch the places, the moments, the things we thought worth writing down at the time. But step back from the detail, and something else starts to emerge, the impressions that…
On the 25th April every year Australians and New Zealanders take the time to remember the men, women, and animals who have served in the wars in which Australia was a participant. On that day in 1915 the Anzacs (the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) took part in the attack on the Dardanelles in…
In a way, the effects of the current tensions with Iran and the ensuing oil crisis should be an object lesson for those who insist our economy can simply run on renewable energy. To those down the back, it won’t work. Not yet. Our entire Western economy still runs on the assumption that fossil fuels…
Choir at the chapel After a full day sailing, we stepped off the boat in Lyon and into something completely unexpected, a concert in a chapel that no longer serves a religious purpose. It’s still very much a chapel, though. The moment you walk in, you feel it. High domed ceiling, stone and marble everywhere,…
From Avignon we cruised down to the Provençal port of Arles. It’s famous for two things, its Roman past, which is still very much on display, and Vincent van Gogh. Being Dutch, I can pronounce his name properly, which is more than can be said for most people on the tour. Roman times Arles began…