Category Archives: Australia

A Jewel in the Crown

We have friends visiting from Spain, wonderful friends we met in Manila a dozen years ago or more. Friends with whom we have wined and dined at many beautiful restaurants that have featured in my blog over the years, usually … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Food & Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Jewel in the Crown

Narawntapu

We clamber over dunes that heap sand into my shoes,until a broad flat beach stretches before us –west to the estuary and east to the hills –Sky, sand, sea, space, to the end of my fingertips,the scent of salt and … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Travel | Tagged , | Comments Off on Narawntapu

Blogging 101

I went to a writing class some time ago that, in retrospect, seems a little daft. Blogging 101, after I have been writing this particular blog for over a decade? So, why did I go? You might well ask. I … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Local Culture | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Blogging 101

Shipping Notes

There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.”  — Joseph Conrad, Polish-British Writer Growing up in a land of droughts and water restrictions, I love the water, despite the fact that I am neither a … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Shipping Notes

The Many Faces of the Adelaide Parklands

“Though I have lived in London for longish periods at various times in my life, I have never been a Londoner, so that its associations to me are more literary and historic than personal. Every time I visit it, I … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Lifestyle, Local Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Many Faces of the Adelaide Parklands

Silo Art

Many years ago, we drove across the central plains of Canada, following the railway in an almost straight line from the rim of Shoal Lake to the Rocky Mountains. For almost two thousand kilometres, through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, much … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Local Culture, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Silo Art

Winter Frost & Saperavi

‘For we are the new nomads, the twentieth century, who wander the earth with trailing roots, our possessions portable, our dwellings temporary.’ ~ Charmian Clift And lo! We are finally on the road again, aboard our trusty VW Camper, Barney. … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Food & Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Winter Frost & Saperavi

Arthur Boyd: The Life of St. Francis

Last weekend, we spent a damp but utterly undreary weekend wandering through North Adelaide, dodging the odd shower, exploring blue plaques on the front gates of 19th century and early 20th century homes, dipping into quirky coffee shops, strolling along … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Local Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Arthur Boyd: The Life of St. Francis

Comfort Food

“Eating is the only thing that consoles me.” ~ Oscar Wilde, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest.’ Here in South Australia, winter has brought with it a deluge of rain and some unexpectedly chilly weather. As we shiver and quake through … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Food & Wine | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Comfort Food

A Final Glimpse of Tasmania, Past, Present and Bucolic

‘Scrimshaw.’ My favourite new word for the week. What is scrimshaw? A character from Harry Potter perhaps? No, not quite. That was Rufus Scrimgeour, I believe. Scrimshaw is, in fact, the art of engraving images on objects made from whale … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Food & Wine, History, Local Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Final Glimpse of Tasmania, Past, Present and Bucolic