The tram lurches away from the tram stop at the top end of Swanston Street. We can hear the aircon but can’t feel it. All the windows are hermetically sealed. When the doors whisper open a blast of hot northerly wind enters and stirs up the city aroma of petrol fumes, stale perfumes, body odour … [Read more…]
Last night David Suzuki, Naomi Oreskes and Tim Flannery filled the huge Melbourne Town Hall to capacity when they presented, For Thought: Hope for the Planet. David Suzuki – Canadian author, scientist, environmentalist & broadcaster delivered a powerful opening address that cut straight to the heart of the matter. He recalled that decades earlier he’d … [Read more…]
Zeehan was dead quiet when I turned into Main Street around ten am. There was nobody about, so I stood in the middle of the road taking photographs of the marvellous 1800’s and 1900’s era buildings. For during the silver boom Zeehan had been widely known as the Silver City. The Rescue Shop was open. … [Read more…]
Driving up north from Zeehan yesterday morning, the bushfire smoke got so dense that I had to turn my headlights on. Winding around the sharp hairpin bends became increasingly surreal as visibility diminished, yet the bloody roadkill of the previous night remained starkly visible. So many furry wilderness animals. Gone. A local bloke told me … [Read more…]
The Little Penguins who live at Penguin in northern Tasmania are the smallest of all penguins. But when swimming in the wild waters of Bass Strait they can power through the waves at about forty kilometers an hour. I suspect the town of Penguin has never experienced a crime wave, mainly because the original goal … [Read more…]
This bronze sculpture is titled: Tommy’s Story and it’s situated on the sea wall, in Melbourne’s bayside suburb of Middle Park. I frequently pass it on my way to St Kilda and sometimes I see kids trying to lever the cap or the boots off the wall. Tourists reverently touch the bronze clothing and then … [Read more…]
It’s still dark but we’re all off to work. St Kilda road is gloomy but the tram is now trundling past the National Gallery and the bare trees are festive with colored lights. City buildings are silhouetted against a sky that is slowly lightening. The tram is past its prime and the brakes are … [Read more…]