Fancy having your waist strangled by whalebone? Or using coal-heated tongs and risking your hair burning? At the turn of the century women's fashion was very feminine, but also restrictive and modesty prevailed. Long sleeved blouses, skirts and dresses ensured skin was covered. Tops were billowy and loose, and sleeves exaggerated, the extra fabric enhancing [...]
As March 1st is publication day for The Last Station., I thought I'd share why I wanted to write it. When it comes to deciding on the subject matter for a historical novel some of the questions I ask myself include; is it a fascinating period in Australian history and if so are the actual [...]
The 1960s. Life in the bush is filled with busy work days, long hours spent out in the sun working with livestock, planting or harvesting crops, or in the paddock mending or constructing fences, sheds and yards, delving bore drains, fixing windmills or digging new dams so vital water flows. The weekends however are bliss. [...]
The man who defied shackles, chains, heights, padlocks, earth and water nearly suffocated to death when he was restrained in a coffin and buried six feet underground. Harry Houdini the supreme escapologist, survived to tour Australia in 1910. He arrived with his wife and an aeroplane as well an array of tricks that surpassed the [...]
I’ve been infatuated with Ernest Hemingway from an early age. It was he that swept me away in my early teens with For Whom The Bell Tolls and later, The Old Man and the Sea. His economical word usage and understated style struck a chord with me and at some deeper level I wanted his [...]
Over the last few days I’ve been compiling some of my family history to be included in a book on pioneers in the greater Moree district. Anyone who has done a speck of research into their ancestors knows what a time-consuming job it is. Tracing your family history is very much like falling down Alice [...]
We all know that dogs are man’s best friend. That’s a given. In the main, the majority of them are fiercely loyal, supremely friendly, therapeutic and for some of us, invaluable members of the work team on many a rural holding. If you come across a canine that isn’t at least one of the above, [...]
We have some interesting slang in Australia. You’re standing on the side of the road feeling like a drongo, next to your choc-a-block car which is cactus hoping that the first vehicle to stop isn’t one with a load of no-hoping bogans. You’re probably dividing your time between doing the Aussie salute and telling the [...]
In the mid north rangelands of Western Australia, at the headwater of the Gascoyne River is a station that dates back to 1884. Australian pastoralist Frederick Wittenoom was among the first Europeans to explore the pastoral opportunities in and around the Gascoyne River area, acquiring Three Rivers with B.J Carlyon. He stocked the holding with [...]
Schooling the bush way. The pushbike, car, motorbike or quadbike ride to the school bus pickup point along a dirt road. Or perhaps a short walk. The car-pooling to a local school. The switching on of the School of the Air or the studying of lessons under the scrutiny of a governess or parent via [...]
