Pauline Conolly

WONGA PARENTS – CHANGE OF SHIFT
So our resident Wongas are raising yet another set of twins. They were sitting on eggs all through the March ‘big wet’ here in the Blue Mountains. The chicks need constant care and it’s time for Mr Wonga to take over the afternoon shift. His partner has...
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THE KINGSFORD SMITH BROOCH
Among the treasures from the Trevor Kennedy collection, purchased recently by the Australian National Museum, is a unique brooch. It was made-to-order in Amsterdam for pioneer aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, as a gift for his bride to be, Mary Powell. The couple had become engaged on Mary’s...
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OUTSPOKEN ALBERT OGILVIE OF THE APPLE ISLE
Always a progressive, two world trips convinced Tasmanian Labor Premier Mr A.G. Ogilvie that Australia was a land of ‘wowsers’. He expressed his views in Sydney in 1937, after attending the coronation of George VI in London. He had called in at the harbour city on his...
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JARDINS….LITTLE TREASURES OF THE LOT
It is mid winter here at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, cold and very wet. I have been watching Monty Don’s TV series on French gardens. Oh dear, the longing it evokes is almost physically painful. How long will it be before we can enjoy that beautiful...
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OUTSPOKEN ALBERT OGILVIE OF THE APPLE ISLE
Always a progressive, two world trips convinced Tasmanian Labor Premier Mr A.G. Ogilvie that Australia was a land of ‘wowsers’. He expressed his views in Sydney in 1937, after attending the coronation of George VI in London. He had called in at the harbour city on his...
Read more →
THE KINGSFORD SMITH BROOCH
Among the treasures from the Trevor Kennedy collection, purchased recently by the Australian National Museum, is a unique brooch. It was made-to-order in Amsterdam for pioneer aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, as a gift for his bride to be, Mary Powell. The couple had become engaged on Mary’s...
Read more →
EDWIN TANNER; THE PERPLEXING PAINTER
In June 1954, Welsh born artist Edwin Tanner was living in Tasmania, working as an engineer with the Hydro Electric Commission. He moved to Melbourne in 1957. Tanner (1920-1980) was a man of many parts. As well as being an artist and professional engineer he was an...
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NORMAN LINDSAY AND THE WEIRD LADY
Someone asked me recently why people often speak of artist and author Norman Lindsay (1879 – 1969) as having lived at Springwood in the Blue Mountains, when the property is actually in the neighbouring village of Faulconbridge. One reason is that Norman himself always wrote his address...
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The Water Doctor’s Daughters