Tag Archives: blog It’s a different world out there… In this day and age where travel is relatively quick and easy, and when communication is virtually instantaneous, it is amazing to me how much diversity still exists. Some ethnic groups have managed to resist the influences around them and to preserve their age-old traditions. Sumatra is just one of the […]  They say you are a long time dead and buried – Well, unless you are buried in Switzerland, where your plot is reclaimed after 25 years to recycle available land. Or, unless you are in a traditional Chinese cemetery, where your bones should be taken out and washed annually… In India, honouring the dead can take many varied […]  “There is a pleasure in being mad which none but madmen know.” – John Dryden, The Spanish Friar (1681) “There is a pleasure in being mad which none but madmen know.” That is the Dryden quote that opens Gerald Durrell’s first book: My Family and Other Animals. And an apposite quote it is! When I first read the book as a young adult, I remember […]  It is supposed to be a nice summer walk to Mount Tate from Guthega Dam on the Snowy River in Australia’s High Country. I wouldn’t know. Three times I’ve driven over the bumpy dirt roads to Guthega, on the back side of Blue Cow Mountain, in search of the unmarked circuit through Consett Stephen Pass and across the […]  “Take me to the Light!” It is Christmas Day here in Australia: – A good time to reconnect with family and loved ones, even though some might be far away, or missing completely. An ideal time to reflect on the possibilities of love and peace – although the world at the moment seems to be providing few examples. […] |
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