Are you sure you are ready for this? This is the first time I’ve been in this country for a big royal wedding. I was in New York when William and Kate married, and watching a royal wedding in the US is a whole experience in itself. They love a royal wedding over there almost…
It’s amazing where book research can lead you… and what new skills you can develop along the way. On my recent trip to Australia, I was in the beautiful Hunter Valley, checking locations, taking photographs and talking to the locals about the lovely place where they live. And somehow that led to coloured icing, roses…
One a recent trip to Morocco, I decided it was time to give in to a long held desire – and get myself a tattoo… not a permanent tattoo of course. A Henna tattoo. There are all sorts of horror stories about tourists getting caught by henna artists using banned chemical additives resulting in severe…
Did you know that January 21st was/is World Squirrel Appreciation Day? I certainly didn’t. I grew up in a country that doesn’t have squirrels. When I say that, it startles many of my UK friends. Squirrels here are so commonplace. They have adapted well to an urban environment. And of course are all over the…
This week, I travelled half way around the planet in 22 hours. Well – 22 hours in the air plus quite a few more hours hanging around airports. But when you say 22 hours, it seems so impressive. Move over Jules Verne and your 80 days. Verne wrote a lot about travel in exotic places,…
When I first came to live in England, one of the things that amazed me was all the conversation about roads – or more precisely routes. I’d listen to people saying – ‘The M3 was jammed so I exited at the A30 and came via the B389…..’ This doesn’t happen in the outback of Australia.…
When I travel I love going to museums – but recently I found myself going to a museum near my old home town in Queensland. It was like looking back into my own past. The thing about remote and rural communities is that they don’t change quickly. Whether it’s Australia, or the UK or…
I met an old friend at London’s Royal Academy the other day … a friend who caused a million dollar controversy in Australia when I was still at school. I remember it so well. The ‘friend’ I am referring to is Jackson Pollock’s iconic painting – Blue Poles. Painted in 1952, it was purchased by…