Year: 2014

I was lucky enough to be in New Caledonia to catch an exhibition which had just opened there “Kanak L’Art est une Parole”. The idea started up as a collaboration between Paris and New Caledonia and the result is that more than 160 pieces of original Kanak Art are displayed in the Centre Culturel Tjibaou.…

The airplane door shut tight and all of a sudden, tout d’un coup, we were in France. It was quite bizarre, the announcements were in French, Antoine my neighbour on the plane, was keen to talk and tell me about his own life story and with the help of some good french wine did not…

I met John and Leanne at their stall on Brisbane Riverfront when I was looking for something completely different. They were lovely and we got chatting. They are the first “miners” I met and so I made a point of contacting them and finding out about their story. Leanne very kindly wrote back. I am…

Two people are having a conversation : “I was listening to how people talked all those years ago – in 2014 and you know I am a bit baffled bit it.” “Yes there is that strange word that seems to come up again and again.” “What do you think it was – a new language…

Starting not far from the heart of the city and ending in solid suburbia and as far out as the airport Kedron Book is the place to be on a sunny Sunday afternoon.The brook extends from D’Aguilar National Park, near Camp Mountain, 29 kilometres downstream to west of Brisbane Airport at Nudgee emptying into Moreton…

You might be thinking of wild young things in the infamous Fortitude Valley but actually the ones I am going to talk about are no further than my back garden. This was a topic discussed by Gillian Paxton from the University of Queensland whose subject was Wild Brisbane Companions- living with Common Native Animals. I…

Batty Boat cruises. You hear the name of this Cruise and you really do wonder what might be behind it. This is one of the rare instances when a name in Australian is extended. This is a cruise about Bats. We went on it because we see bats flying past our deck every night – at…

Two days ago, before the weekend there was nothing between me and my post box. Look what has been built in that short time – a fine pyramid of silk threads, like the glass pyramid in the Louvre in Paris, but one which sways in the wind, catches the rays and plays away.  Postman usually…

Is there such a thing ? In a short answer very much so, and it is alive and well in Brisbane. Why this should be so I am not entirely sure, but overhearing one young man as he was ready to get on the bus has given me some answers. This is my preferred mode…

I did. I looked through my pictures of 2013 since arriving in Australia and was very surprised to see how many I had of birds – Now you have to understand that I come from an island in the Mediterranean  where the inhabitants spend their time either catching them, hunting them, or eating them in…