A LIGHT-HEARTED ‘JOURNEY’ AROUND SYDNEY SUBURBS Currently Sydney is comprised of 658 suburbs. That’s because the city became so spread out when most of us lived on quarter acre blocks. Let’s face it, you could fit the residents of leafy Killara into one inner city high-rise. The
Read more →TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING OK, all packed for our trip across the Nullarbor on the Indian Pacific, It’s a VERY long train. Had to catch the train to Sydney first. For heavens sake…..why couldn’t it pick us up on the way???? Pretty poor service considering my status.
Read more →SCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR LATEST UPDATE! My guardian Pauline Conolly grew a special rose called Hot Chocolate. ‘Come and smell it Des’ she said. So I did, just to make her happy. I took a deep breath of the perfume and then…wham!! A *#@!*!*# bee stung me
Read more →In 1928 the Sydney publishers Angus and Robertson received an enquiry letter and a sample of work from poet Mr F. C. Meyer of Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. To say they were not impressed is something of an under-statement. Now you might
Read more →According to urban mythology, Sydney’s Sacred Ibis are actually a scary mutation of the seagull. The story goes that over succeeding generations, one strain of gull became larger, more aggressive, and far more athletic, until…..voila!; Instead of lolling about at the Sydney Cricket Ground as seagulls do,
Read more →AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL RULES I grew up in the small Tasmanian town of Ulverstone, where Australian Rules Football was the sport we were passionate about. Ulverstone’s colours have always been black and red, hence their name, The Robins. In the 1960’s football was untainted by the corporate sector and
Read more →The familiar Redheads matches were first made in Australia in 1909 by Bryant & May, in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. However, another brand came to the fore during World War II. There was scarcely an aspect of life in this country not affected by rationing, and
Read more →Condensed milk has been around for generations. I do love the following snippet, published in an Australian newspaper in 1901; When condensed milk was first introduced thirty years ago the idea was scoffed at. The inventor carried the entire daily supply for New York in a ten-quart pail, delivering
Read more →GONE FISHING MATE Hello everyone, Editor Des here. You wouldn’t think that fishing could lead to big trouble would you? But believe me it can! Well I was riding around the garden one day when I thought I spotted a fish in a big water bowl. I
Read more →TIMES ARE A’ CHANGING AT THE SHOW As I wandered around Sydney’s Royal Easter Show on my last visit I was struck by how accurately this iconic event reflects changes in our society. The cookery section is a classic case in point. Bakery entries have dwindled alarmingly
Read more →