Sunset and seafood at Surfers Paradise
A gondola glides past our table overlooking the river. It’s a slightly surreal moment, given that we’re not in Venice (or Vegas), but at Surfer’s Paradise…
Here’s to better blogging
As the sun hit the beach on Australia’s Gold Coast last weekend, I was there. But instead of splashing in the surf, basking on the sand…
Kicking up at Cabaret de Paris
Many years ago, on a best-forgotten bus tour of Europe, I fell in love with Paris. In the years since then, I’ve been back a few…
Review: Other Desert Cities
Life imitates art, they say. Or is it the other way around? As Australia suffers through an election campaign, I’m guessing that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd…
Encounters with elephants
The elephant looms disconcertingly close, snuffling my foot with her warm breath and leaving a mix of mud and saliva on my open-toed shoe. “Thank God…
Hunting for a new home
Tentatively, I have dipped my toe into the piranha pool that is the real estate market. Yes, I am looking for a new home. Now settled…
Pre-school progress in Sri Lanka
The walls are slowly rising on the Samadhi Grove pre-school in southern Sri Lanka, as 30 bright little faces watch eagerly waiting for the day they…
Photo blog: Shooting the spectators
One of the wonderful things about attending a festival is the people-watching. At the Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival last month, I turned my Nikon away from…
Dancing in the dust
In an ancient ceremonial bora ring on remote Cape York, the dust is rising as feet pound the earth in what must be one of Australia’s…
Out of the darkness: Tommy’s story
Imagine this. It is 1949. In small-town Australia, a young woman makes a decision that will change her life and – immeasurably – those of her…
A Glass Half Full 