Specimens of the Australian native Banksia serrata were collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770 and later named for him. They are funny, gnarled trees that look ancient long before their time (rather like weather beaten Australian gardeners). Serrata refers to the tough, saw edged leaves; Their knobbled trunks
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A favourite shrub in my woodland garden is the spikey Australian native shrub Lambertia Formosa. It was once known as the honey flower, but today is more usually called Mountain Devil. It is related to the proteas. The shrubs grow to about 2 metres. They are great
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Engineer George Morris arrived in Australia in the 1890s. He settled in Sydney, marrying Priscilla Walker in 1903. The couple then moved to Lithgow, in the Blue Mountains, where George was initially employed at the town’s blast furnace. In 1910 he left, to open a foundry in
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Some years ago I had to spend a few weeks in a major Sydney hospital. I didn’t actually feel sick, and since I was editing a book at the time I took along my notebooks and computer. There was no restriction at all on visitors. In fact,
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It’s easy to forget just how concerned ordinary Australians were for their safety during World War II. This was not without reason, given the bombing of Darwin and the arrival of Japanese midget submarines in Sydney Harbour. A giant metal boom was suspended across the harbour
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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.
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Nullarbor, from Latin meaning ‘no trees’, but that’s a bit of a misnomer. STORY 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 imagined the scenery across the Nullarbor
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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
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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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BIRTH OF THE PUDDING The English have long been maligned for the uninspired stodginess of their cooking, particularly by their gourmet neighbours, the French. Nevertheless, it was a Frenchman, Misson de Valbourg who, upon visiting England in 1690, was moved to exclaim: ‘What an excellent thing is
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