In a now famous reference to Queen Elizabeth; ‘I did but see her passing by, and yet I’ll love her until I die.’ Prime Minister of Australia R.M. Menzies. (1963) Early in February 1954, a group of WWI diggers travelled down to Sydney to see the young
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WELL HELLO AUNTY JACK! The Blue Mountains town of Katoomba has always been a bit retro, so what better place to open a 1950’s themed restaurant/café? Aunty Jacks in Katoomba Street is sheer bliss for Baby Boomers like me, who grew up playing the juke box
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In 1928 the Sydney publishers Angus and Robertson received an enquiry letter and a sample of work from poet Mr F. C. Meyer of Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. To say they were not impressed is something of an under-statement. Now you might
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Fire created havoc in the Blue Mountains and Lithgow during the summer of 2019/20. The heat was extraordinary. I am a firm believer in climate change, even though our beautiful Mountains have suffered very badly in years gone by. THE FURY OF FIRE The summer of 1952
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Hello, Editor Des here. Well today I went to my favourite restaurant in the whole of the Blue Mountains. I took along my camera to show you what it’s like; Do you know what? It’s in an old church, so I think it might be specially blessed. I
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Hello, this is Editor Des from the Blue Mountains. Well I went to the Winter Magic Festival in Katoomba. Pauline didn’t want to take me because it gets a bit crowded, but I had a special assignment with the Blue Mountains Council, so she had to. Haha.
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LET’S SPEND A WHILE WITH WONGAS Let me introduce……the Wonga pigeon. The name derives from wonga-wonga, an Aboriginal name inspired by their call. Mind you, I would describe it as a gentle ‘whoop whoop.’ Gentle, yes, but it can be heard more than a kilometre away.
Read more →JINGLE BELLS….. You could decorate a Christmas tree with the sweet, native bell flowers that flourish in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. In fact, I have done this in my garden at Blackheath. I used correas, cinnamon bells and apple berry blooms to adorn a
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In Australia’s bicentennial year of 2000, artist Vernon Treweeke completed a mural of an imagined night train journey through the villages of the magnificent Blue Mountains of New South Wales. The mural decorates the walls of the pedestrian tunnel beneath Katoomba station. Three of the villages were
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My partner Rob and I are making our way home from Sydney to the Blue Mountains by rail; a two hour journey. As the train begins to climb, an American lady sitting behind us asks someone a question across the aisle; ‘Excuse me, will I know when
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