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
Read more →One of the most beautiful villages in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales is Wentworth Falls. It’s hard for a proud Blackheathen to admit this…but it’s true. My favourite destination is Conservation Hut, originally built as a resting place for bush walkers, and a meeting room
Read more →Travel is not easy for someone like me. I never have a proper seat, so no life vest. Pathetic. What would happen if we crashed? Arrived in Darwin. They are obsessed with crocodiles up here. Do I really want to go to Kakadu? Pauline made me pose
Read more →My first trip on The Ghan was in 1966, from Port Pirie to Alice Springs. My friend Desma and I were 15, and on a school trip from Tasmania. What do I remember? Well our teachers caught the flu and some of us took full advantage of
Read more →Lost in a Labyrinth of Consonants It’s fun showing of your pics when you return from foreign parts. The only problem is pronouncing the name of the places you captured in those fabulous shots! There’s no problem if you’re showing them to cousin Frank, who lives in
Read more →ORIGINS OF THE FARM Following the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II, many farmers were destitute and unable to produce sufficient food for the enormous influx of refugees. In 1951, Hong Kong businessman Lord Lawrence Kadoorie and his brother Sir Horace Kadoorie, formed an
Read more →CLEVER HANDS CELEBRATING THE PAST When Stanley Hennock died last year aged 83, he left a special legacy. The retired farmer from Canberra had been able to turn his hand to almost anything. Farmers have to be multi-skilled and Stan certainly was! Over a period of three
Read more →CONTINUED FROM…….WESTWARD HO! Chatting to fellow passengers and gazing at the passing landscape takes up a good deal of time aboard the Indian Pacific. I always thought the scenery across the Nullarbor would be a bit
Read more →CONTINUED FROM – Westward Ho!-on the Indian Pacific TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING…. Up in time to see the sunrise as the Indian-Pacific approaches the outback mining town of Broken Hill at 6.00am. Indian Pacific passengers have a choice of excursions here and Rob and I are going to
Read more →As someone who frequently writes on crime, a tale of death on the Indian Pacific Railway came to mind when my partner Rob and I booked our trip from Sydney to Perth. I even checked Dr Google to see if anyone had written a murder mystery inspired
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