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
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In days gone by you could turn up a week late to catch The Ghan and still be in plenty of time. The Aussie outback train was often delayed by wash-outs, sand-drifts or mechanical failures. I love this poem from 1952 about a car speeding along the
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This is a guest post by Warren Bishop, a direct descendant of James Smith, who built Tasmania’s famous ‘disappearing house.’ The Disappearing House at “The Corners” Conara Standing at the turnoff to St Marys at Conara, the so-called “Disappearing House” earned its name by the illusion of
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Dr Henry Croker Garde was a long term resident surgeon at the Maryborough General Hospital in Queensland. Born in 1855, he was a graduate of Queen’s University, Belfast and a prize winning Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The doctor was well travelled, having
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First, a little background. In 1931, art collector George Garnett presented prominent Hobart surgeon Dr. Victor Ratten with a gift, in thanks for saving the life of his 14 year old daughter Myra. Appropriately, the gift was a large oil painting of the British nurse Edith Cavell.
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In April 1929 there was a devastating flood in the small tin mining town of Derby, in north-eastern Tasmania. A dam burst after a period of unprecedented rain. Fourteen people lost their lives and many others their homes and livelihoods. The death toll would have been much
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In the late 19th and early 20th century, Arnotts sought testimonials from people feeding their little ones on milk arrowroot biscuits. The possibility that an image of their child might be chosen to illustrate an advertisement was irresistible. The company was soon swamped by photos and letters
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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
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Edith Cavell was a nurse, and WWI heroine. A portrait of her was a fitting gift for a Tasmanian surgeon. IN APPRECIATION….. In 1931, Dr Victor Ratten performed life-saving surgery on 14
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Stephen W. O’Flaherty was a worker in Scott’s sawmill at Derby, a small community in the north-east of Tasmania. In 1913 he suffered a significant injury when a lever at the mill rebounded and a lag slipped, breaking his arm in two places. It was said that
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