Florence Rodway was born in Hobart, on November 11 1881. Her father had hoped she would become a doctor, but after showing an early aptitude for drawing, she studied at the Hobart Technical School. At 21 she became only the second pupil in Australia to be awarded
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When the James Barnet designed Sydney G.P.O clock Tower was constructed in the 1890s there was a drawn-out dispute over the type of bells to be installed. Should the choice be traditional, heavy bells, or would a lighter, tubular variety be safer? Traditional won, but some still
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The spectre of climate change and periods of prolonged drought have created an upsurge of interest in the growing of Australian native plants. However, we have been slow to embrace them. I suspect this would surprise and disappoint women pioneers such as Elizabeth Macarthur, who began
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Who would have thought that whale watching would be a genuine tourist draw in the Blue Mountains, two hours west of Sydney? Unlike coastal whales the species, known as hedgeritum greenius magnum is very slow moving and easy to spot. At certain times of year a prime
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In 1910 Henry Lawson wrote the following lines celebrating Sydney’s restorative Southerly Buster; ‘Tis a glorious mission , Old Sydney’s Physician Broom, Bucket and Cloth of the East, ‘Tis a breeze and a sprayer that answers our prayer, And it’s free to the greatest and least.
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