Halloween was never observed in Australia until the past few years, as far as I can remember. It happened suddenly one year we were living at Porepunkah that several neighborhood kids, dressed in costumes, knocked on our door for “trick or treat”. It was a novelty then and we found some lollies for them. Our [...]
Beyond The Pale
Thanks to regular commenter Ebony, I have just finished reading Beyond The Pale by John Hooker (1998 Allen & Unwin). It’s a tough uncompromising look at early colonial life in South West Victoria, just across the border from Mount Gambier. At the beginning I thought it was set near Wannon Falls at the foot of [...]
Jessica by Bryce Courtenay
I finished Jessica by Bryce Courtenay in one day of holiday reading. It’s a powerful novel by the master storyteller set mostly in rural New South Wales from the years leading up to the First World War through to the Great Depression. Although gripping, the end left me disenchanted and after some belated sleep I [...]
Turnbull’s ‘courageous’ politics
Every time a politician does something stupid I’m reminded of the Yes Minister episode in which Sir Humphrey advises Jim Hacker the proposed course of action would be courageous. Translated from bureaucratic language that means political death. It’s very hard to fathom why Malcolm Turnbull wants to delay millions of Australians receiving a timely handout [...]
If I had easy access to a helicopter …
I’d fly to Kangaroo Island this weekend. South Australia is enduring a heat wave. It should be a lot cooler there, and if it's not I'll escape to the beach. This post was automatically published here from Plinky. From their own description: “Plinky makes it easy for you to create inspired content. Every day we [...]
