From 1953 until 1968, the Tasmanian government ran the Green Coach Line service to country towns. Now due to the curse of travel sickness I have dreadful childhood memories of being a passenger on those wretched buses. The Tasman Limited train was completely different, quite exciting really.
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I was working on my book while lunching at Blackheath’s art deco New Ivanhoe Hotel recently, and also completing my survey of local pies. This one was beef, thankfully without kidneys! As I was gazing in bemusement at the giant side-serve of gravy (wot, no tomato sauce?),
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To mangle the words of Oscar Wilde, for an institution to lose a miniature portrait would be unfortunate…. to lose a life-sized, framed oil painting sounds more like carelessness. Catherine Hayes (1818-1861) was a celebrated, Irish born soprana who toured Australia extensively in the mid 1850s. At
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The name New Ivanhoe Hotel is a delightful contradiction in terms. Little has changed at this Blue Mountains pub in 70 years. It’s located at 231 Great Western Highway, Blackheath. It has been owned by the Ray family for over four decades. I’ve been working on my
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Peter Kotz, a fellow social history buff, took the photo below. The rusting, 70 lb golden syrup drum was found on a rough bush track near Alice Springs. Golden syrup was such an integral part of life in the parched Australian outback. It replaced butter on a
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A bonus on my trip aboard the Ghan (shortly before Covid put a stop to such pleasures) was an excursion to the Dingo Proof Fence. You would not think that a scruffy looking fence in the Australian outback would capture the imagination of so many people, myself
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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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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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