Winter wanderings
It’s winter in Australia, and you can spot the visitors, especially where I live in Queensland. They’re the ones wearing t-shirts and shorts, and sometimes even…
Hats off to Hmong headgear
Covering our heads is common in many cultures. Christian women traditionally wore hats to go to church, many Muslim women wear headscarfs. But it’s not just…
A Gold Coast sunrise
Artists and writers often talk about the quality of light in Australia. It’s different to anywhere else in the world; but subtle is not always a…
Teaching youngsters about culture
One of the delights of attending the Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival, held every two years on Cape York in remote north Queensland, is seeing indigenous youngsters…
The Prison Tree
The boab tree has always fascinated me. This strange, bottle-shaped tree has such an unusual form and each one is unique. Australian boabs are found only in…
Remembering Gallipoli
The sense of overwhelming loneliness is what I remember most. Just row upon row of flat marble headstones, flanked by cypress trees and watched over by…
Sydney’s QVB shopping centre
Shopping centres generally hold little appeal for me. But there are exceptions, and one of them is Sydney’s gorgeous Queen Victoria Building (affectionately called the QVB).…
A village in monochrome
Easter in the northern New South Wales village of Ulmarra brought patchy weather. Everything from blue skies and sunshine to a massive 3am thunderstorm and drizzly…
Lunch Timed at NEXT Hotel Brisbane
The days of the long, languid – and often liquid – lunch are long past. Gone are the days when businessmen and women would linger over…
Taking a walk in Sturt National Park
The Dingo Fence – also sometimes called the Dog Fence – runs for more than 5600 kilometres through Australia’s remote desert country and is the world’s…
A Glass Half Full 