Life is a journey. Mine has been like a ball of wool, slow to unravel, but as the ball becomes smaller it gathers pace at an alarming speed. At the age of 24, I married and moved to the edge of the outback, an hour’s drive north of Hay, Australia, onto a property called Eurugabah. I had […]

In 1956 I spent my sixth birthday on a ship travelling to Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon). My Anglo-Indian father was in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and we had been posted to RAF Katunayake – now the site of Bandaranaike International airport near Colombo. Sri Lanka had become independent from the UK in […]

The media coverage showing the plight of refugees trying to get to Australia by boat has been harrowing.  The desperation of families and the dangers they endure in order to give their children a better chance in life is gut wrenching.  For those that arrive the battle is not over and many endure prolonged hardships before entering the community and […]

Ross Kurtz and his wife Judy are bush musicians who perform at local pubs, private venues and markets.  They are passionate about keeping this music alive and encourage  young people to join them in their jam sessions.  Although they both live busy lives as artists and run a farm they always make time to keep the bush […]

There is nothing quite like a trip into hospital and an unexpected one at that to make a person reassess their lifestyle. I had been feeling tired and a little breathless and decided to visit my G.P. who recommended a blood test and a chest x-ray. Next day my husband and I were travelling to lunch […]

Last Cab to Darwin is a fascinating film on many levels. On one strata it is a story about human relationships and lost and emerging opportunities. On another it is about the exploration of a harshly beautiful and ancient landscape and its people which exposes deep racial prejudice and injustice. And throughout, is the central […]

For many years we have become accustomed to warm and zany comedies contained within books and films set in France including Delicatessen, Chocolat, The Hundred Foot Journey and many more. In more recent times, India has come to share this mantle with stories that allow us to explore the complexities of one of the world’s […]

Recently I came across an article which described an experiment made by a doctor for a BBC  program.  He was using a blind test on two groups of people to check the effects of rosemary and lavender. Group one were seated in a room with essential oil of rosemary permeating the air.  Group two were […]