Category Archives: Australia

Return to Tasmania

Posted on 25 January 2023 by sheg4184

This summer, we finally realized a dream of long-standing: to return to Tasmania. You may remember that I wrote about my first visit in the late 1980s, when the One & Only took me on a trek to Frenchman’s Cap? … Continue reading →

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“Core of my heart, my country!”

Posted on 28 December 2022 by sheg4184

An opal-hearted country,A wilful lavish land –All you who have not loved her,You will not understand –Though earth has many splendours,Wherever I may day,I know to what brown countryMy homing thoughts will fly. For many Australians, the words of poet … Continue reading →

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Of swimming, surfboards, and River Cats…

Posted on 21 December 2022 by sheg4184

It’s only 7am, but already the beach is awash with bodies: walkers, joggers and surfers, canoes and paddle boards skim along the edge of the sea. The coffee shop is buzzing, and families are hoeing into enormous plates of eggs … Continue reading →

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Post Production Ponderings

Posted on 15 December 2022 by sheg4184

November arrived with a clash of cymbals, a tarantara of trumpets and thunderous drum rolls. I submitted my thesis on the first of the month, which was a huge weight off my shoulders. The following day, the Lyceum Club Adelaide … Continue reading →

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Christmas Cards: Setting the Mood

Posted on 6 December 2022 by sheg4184

Then its zippity jingle and dash away pingHang holly and berries in all the hallsThe tassels on all the thermostats andWrite merry Christmas on all of the walls…~ from Eloise at Christmas Time by Kay Thompson One upon a time, … Continue reading →

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Of sheep and seaside daisies…

Posted on 8 November 2022 by sheg4184

The first sign that the town had a connection with Scotland was its name: Glencoe. The second sign: a redheaded ‘Weasley’ walking down the main road… Glencoe is a small country town in south-eastern South Australia, to the north-west of … Continue reading →

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In Essence

Posted on 5 October 2022 by sheg4184

SpringMating dance of beesOr dance to the death?Short and sweet. Years ago, in Manila, I joined a workshop to write poetry. I had read myriad poems, but never turned my hand to writing anything except creating silly rhymes for the … Continue reading →

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Christina & Her Sisters

Posted on 12 September 2022 by sheg4184

These eight, somewhat startled-looking women were all born during Queen Victoria’s reign, in the colony of South Australia. Meet Annie and Clara, Edith and Grace, Lily and May, Christina and Kathleen. All sisters. There was a ninth sister, Alice, but … Continue reading →

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Daybreak near Wilpena Pound

Posted on 26 July 2022 by sheg4184

Pulling out past the pub onto the pre-dawn highway,the car headlights cast a narrow channel of white to guide the way.Beyond the sweep of its incandescence,the wider world is locked in darkness.Imperceptibly, a pencil line of blood orange appears on … Continue reading →

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A Taste of the Top End

Posted on 27 June 2022 by sheg4184

A jetty floats above a still, blue sea. Masked lapwings and ibis, tiny double-barred finches and those small but sturdy ‘peaceful’ doves peck about in the grass. Honey eaters dance in the branches of the fig trees with their pendulous … Continue reading →

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