Category Archives: Australia

Scones & Cream & Camellias

The camellia against the moss of the temple, the violet hues of the Kyoto mountains, a blue porcelain cupthis sudden flowering of pure beauty at the heart of ephemeral passion: is this not something we all aspire to?~ Muriel Barbery … Continue reading

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‘Conspicuous Consumption’

Ayers House, now run as a museum by the National Trust, illustrates one of the early success stories in the history of South Australia. Situated on North Terrace, a tree-lined boulevard in the city of Adelaide, Ayers House is an … Continue reading

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Heading North

This time last year I was in London, in a city full of covid free people and lush green parks, strolling through Borough Market on a bright summer’s day. Today I am in Burra, South Australia. I am surrounded by … Continue reading

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A Sweet Escape

While current news reports still place covid at the top of the list, in South Australia we have been – dare I say it? – corona free for many weeks. Although we are currently keeping the Victorians at bay, visitors … Continue reading

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‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’

While the beaches in England are chock-a-block with holiday makers – for let’s face it who can believe in the myth of a killer virus on a toasty summer day? – here in the southern hemisphere, winter has set in. … Continue reading

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Foraging for Mushrooms

Caterpillar: … One side will make you grow taller… Alice: One side of what? Caterpillar: …and the other side will make you grow shorter. Alice: The other side of what? Caterpillar: The mushroom, of course! ~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland … Continue reading

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Pandemic Panic

We moved into our new house the week after Australia joined the Pandemic Panic. For days leading up to it, my own sense of panic rose, not from the fear of an invisible, insidious virus, but from the fear that … Continue reading

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Staccato

Obituary  He was my favourite poet through high school. He died on April Fool’s Day. Not corona virus – not everyone does – but old age. I didn’t know till today. The obituary says Bruce Dawe was a postman. A … Continue reading

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Trailblazing

As he stands being you and lifts the pack onto your shoulders, your knees buckle, and you feel the urge to tip over, fall flat on your back. You quail, unnerved by the unexpected weight. Are you completely insane to … Continue reading

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To Cough or Not to Cough

And the question is: when I pick up the phone, do I mention the ‘C’ word – (as in coronavirus or COVID-19)? Or can we talk about something else: pretend we are living in a bubble so far removed from … Continue reading

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