A brolga walks into a bar…
I’m starting to really love blogging. So it’s quite a thrill to be asked to be a guest blogger, which has happened a few times since…
Sailing: the art of slow travel
A turtle pops its head up as I glance across the water. As quickly, it is gone again…but I know there’ll be another along sometime, for…
Swell sculpture
Sand between my toes, a soft-serve ice-cream covered in sprinkles in my hand, and a feast of seashore, surf and some stunning sculpture before me. That’s how I…
Raising a glass to Merle and Ro
On a Wednesday afternoon in March 1965, Merle Thornton and her friend and fellow feminist Rosalie “Ro” Bognor walked into the public bar of a Brisbane pub and…
A glass half full of…friendship
Thirty-odd years ago, as a rookie traveller, I signed up for a bus tour of Europe. One of those 27-countries-in-21-days tours. As a solo traveller, I…
Sir Stamford’s secret weapon
Morris is doing the crossword when I spot him in the hotel lobby. Spectacles perched on his nose, head slightly bowed, a hot chocolate on the table in…
Happy birthday, Queensland!
It’s Queensland Week, a week when my adopted home state celebrates its separation from Australia’s first state, New South Wales, on 6 June 1859. To celebrate, the state’s…
A glass half full of…sake!
I’ve always considered sake to be one of those drinks that should be treated with extreme caution. Potentially lethal for the uninitiated. So I eye the…
A glass half full of…what?
There’s a double meaning behind my choice of blog name. Of course, the obvious one is that I’m an optimist at heart. I always tend to…
The rush of rafting
White-water rafting is a rush. The adrenalin pumps, even at small rapids. On a rafting trip along Australia’s Mitta Mitta River in the Victorian High Country, with…
A Glass Half Full 