Some people say there’s not much to love about red wattlebirds. And yes, they are aggressive little blighters, with a rasping call. But the bird is actually quite striking, with a striated chest and pale yellow ‘undercarriage’. Then there are those little ‘wattles’ below the eyes that
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I was a bit disappointed when Blackheath’s Altitude Café moved earlier this year, even if it was only next door. It had lost some of its ambience I thought. However, when I called in some time later everything had changed. One whole wall was devoted to a
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In the latter years of WWII it was feared that Australia might be bombed, and because of this all kindergartens were closed. In their place a wonderful institution was born….Kindergarten of the Air. The programme was launched on the ABC in 1943 by Lady Zara Gowrie, wife
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In September 1948, within the space of a few days, two seventeen year old youths committed murder in New South Wales. Stranger still, they had been good friends before their otherwise unrelated crimes. They had played ice hockey together, and were both snappy dressers who enjoyed the
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On September 26 1948, wealthy pastoralist James Lyon Walker Barton (aged 54) and his unmarried sister Lue Loveday Barton (45) were shot dead at their grand home, Barton Park, at Wallerawang (New South Wales). They were buried in the Barton Park private cemetery. The couple’s killer was
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THE CONCLUSION OF THE VERA WATT POISONING CASE. FOR THE FIRST PART, CLICK HERE. When the Coronial Inquest into the death by poisoning of Mrs Vera Watt ended in January 1942. her ex-lover Conald Pagett was committed for trial and remanded in Long Bay Gaol. However, on
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THE A.P.C. OF MURDER ….… click here for previous episode. The coronial inquest into the death of 36 year old Mrs Vera Doris Watt on December 1 1941 opened on December 29. She had died from strychnine, placed
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Bex and similar over- the-counter drugs were at the height of their popularity in Australia during the 1950s and 60s. Claimed as a cure for all manner of complaints, they became a ‘pick-me-up’ for bored, frustrated housewives before the Women’s Liberation movement and the contraceptive pill changed
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This is what the bower of a satin bowerbird looks like (below right), with its collection of predominantly blue ‘treasures ‘, assembled to impress the ladies. I’m afraid the birds mostly use human trash these day, especially bottle tops. Bowers were full of plastic straws in my
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