Part I As recent blog readers will know, these are crazy times in my life. My work as a trainee foundation medic is over. I have packed up my life in Manchester, and now I am typing on my laptop while drinking Gin & Tonics at an altitude of 39000 ft. This will be my first time visiting the Southern Hemisphere […]
Can time travel be achieved? The short answer is yes, you are doing it now. You’re hurtling forward at a rate of 1 second per second. Time moves at the same pace, whether you are watching paint dry or wish you had more time to spend with a friend who lives out of town. This isn’t the type of time […]
Many hotels have corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that support charitable causes. Fewer are the hotels that go one step beyond and fund only initiatives that improve the world. These places are a great way to get away. From a hotel run by a social enterprise that offers training programs to young people with disabilities to a wildlife conservation camp operated […]
Sophie Matterson, a film and television producer who wanted to take a break in 2016, chose the ‘ most random job’ she could find: milking camels. She says, ‘I didn’t anticipate how much I’d end up loving these animals’. It was supposed to be just a six-month break from her “real job,” which turned into five years working with camels. She began […]
Breaking rocks in the sun to find fossils did not sound fun. Before the first blow of the geological hammer was made, the ancient seashell embedded in the rough stone had a smooth grey arc. We started early in order to avoid the heat. We arranged our treasures for morning tea: belemnites, coprolites, and bones. We then grabbed our hammers and brushes and […]
Alpine towns hope that heavy snowfalls will bring tourists back and boost business after a quiet 2020 ski season. After a muted pandemic-affected season, the ski season is here. The east Australian cold snap this week has brought a lot of snow. The first snowfall of the year is always a special moment for Cam Barton, who owns Alpine Sports in […]
Winter is a difficult time for many Australians. Yuletide nostalgia inherited from European colonists leads us to do bizarre things like spray fake snow onto our windows during high summer. Since 1980, Australians have been offered “Christmas in Jul” as an antidote for this climate incongruity. But outside of Yulefest, the original festival, the folly proved to be too much to […]
Christine Retschlag is equally at home in the pristine tropical rivers of north Queensland. We stroll through cane and Croc country on our way to a river-drift snorkel in the Daintree, the oldest rainforest in the world. Harrowing? What about the crocodiles that live in the river itself? Artemis, named after the goddess of hunting, assures that this section of Mossman River […]
Naidoc Week, which was born out of the Aboriginal Rights Movement activism, is a week-long national event that celebrates the culture, history, and achievements of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The ‘National Aborigines (sic) and Islanders Day Celebration Committee’ used to be responsible for the organization of the Naidoc Week. The acronym is now the official name of the […]
Residents were encouraged to get creative and make decorations for the town. Residents were encouraged to get creative in making decorations for the city to be painted and knitted yellow. Carol Jenkinson explains that a pompom garden was planted in the middle, bunting of yellow and green was used to decorate the shops, and a dam with “little wattle fairies scarecrows.” Eliza, […]