There’s always a horror story some time around Christmas – plane crashes, strikes and the like. But nothing quite so awful as the events in Devonport, Tasmania, where five kids attending an end-of-school windup party died in a freak accident, others are in hospital, some in critical danger. They were in a jumping castle which…
Our last day in Tuscany was very full. In the morning we went to San Gimignano, a little medieval village on a hilltop. And it certainly was a charming place. The bus parked in the bus carpark with the other buses at the bottom of the hill and we walked up, through the gates, into…
Our river boat was tied up at Libourne on the Dordogne river. In the morning the mist burned off, promising a beautiful day. The river is always turbulent, probably as a result of the tidal movements opposing the river’s own flow. In fact, the Dordogne is one of those rivers which has a tidal flow…
Today we visited the imposing Blaye fortress. Situated as it is on the heights overlooking the Gironde estuary, there would have been a military installation here from the very earliest times. In fact the remains of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s castle nestle inside the walls. Remember her? King Richard’s and King John’s mum? Louis XIV’s military…
The third wave of immigrants to Norfolk Island were the people from Pitcairn Island, and they form the basis of most of the permanent population. The mutiny on the Bounty is part of their family history. It’s how their ancestors came to Pitcairn Island, a remote 2 square miles in the South Pacific. I suppose…
Years ago what attracted Australians to stay a day or two or three in Hong Kong was the shopping. Sure, it was an accessible way to get a look at the Orient, but mixed with that was the great exchange rate, and the quality goods for sale at substantially less than the prices in Australia….