Ambergris is one of those rare, mystical materials that have captured the imagination of people for centuries. But what exactly is it? Well, it’s a waxy substance occasionally (very occasionally) found in the intestines of sperm whales, or washed up on beaches after being excreted by them.
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The quirky business card from Bowery in Katoomba gives a clue to what you will find inside the old St Andrews church building,,,other than the great food I mean. By the way, that’s Mr Lorikeet, dressed to impress. Bird related items form part of the restaurant’s
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Ann Hordern (nee Woodhead) arrived in Sydney with her husband Anthony and their four children in 1825. When their ship the Phoenix docked she wrote a letter to her parents, to be sent back to England on the ship’s return voyage. After a wander up George Street
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I’m ashamed to say that I had no idea Western Australian born Dorothy Tangney (1907-1985) was Australia’s first female senator in federal parliament (elected 1943). In 1944 it was announced by the Government that her portrait was to be painted for the nation. The other woman to
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Twenty year old Roy Fluke was studying to become an artist when he enlisted in WWII and served in New Guinea. His leg was amputated at the thigh due to a severe gunshot wound and he spent many months in rehabilitation hospitals. It was a sad
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One of the now forgotten, long term chocolate makers of Sydney was Hilda Gurr (nee Bell) and her husband Arthur. The couple’s enterprise began in the 1930s, when Arthur was seriously injured in a car accident and had to find a way of making a living without
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Butter is one of the joys of life in my opinion. Mind you, I’m a dairy farmer’s daughter, so that’s hardly a surprise. But..er, 😎 can this age old, natural product be improved upon? YES IT CAN! COMPOUND BUTTER Compound butter is simply butter incorporated
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With the arrival of winter here in the Blue Mountains I bought a packet of Golden Crumpets. My partner Rob and I both commented that it was exactly the same red and gold packet we remembered from our 1950s Tasmanian childhoods. It also had that unusually soft
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BEFORE READING THIS ARTICLE IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE READ PART ONE OF ERNEST’S STORY. In 1937 twenty year old Ernest Renault from Launceston became the world champion banana eater. Yes…strange, but true. 😎 After a difficult childhood there was a brief period when the possibilities of
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Earnest Renault did not have the best start in life. He was born illegitimate in 1917. His mother Violet successfully sued his father, Raymond (later named as Ronald) Holmes, for maintenance. Oddly enough Violet married a William Holmes in 1919, when Ernest was two years old. I
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