Tag Archives: blog

The writers at the Lonely Planet call it: “one of the world’s most spectacular coastal drives”. They are not wrong. Officially starting in Torquay, gateway to Victoria’s “Surf Coast”, and hugging the rugged coastline along the Southern Ocean for 243 kilometres (151 miles) to Allansford, just outside the Victorian regional centre of Warrnambool, The Great Ocean Road is worthy of its listing […]

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February 14th was a special day this year: there was a full moon. Across Western countries, the fourteenth was Valentine’s Day, that most romantic celebration of love, or most cynical expression of consumerism, depending on your perspective. In North America, the full moon was the “Snow Moon”, named for the heavy snowfalls February usually brings. In Theravada Buddhist countries, the […]

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The little alpine village of Thredbo (pop. 477 in 2012), a winter ski resort and a summer access point for sublime walks in the High Country of Kosciuszko National Park, is always a delightful place to visit. Every year in mid January, however, the village really comes to life. Blues and roots musicians from Australia and overseas fill […]

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Religion and religious faith are the heart of Ireland. So, it seems fitting that one of the most fascinating religious/historical sites sits at the heart of the country – almost dead centre – where the traditional east-west land route crossed the River Shannon. It is also apposite that this site, dating back to the earliest […]

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If you grew up in one of the many protectorates or dominions of the British Commonwealth, and are as old as I am, you will remember a world map in the classroom, covered in pink. British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada, was the last bit of pink on the left – before the […]

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