sharing stories… sharing lessons… shoring up the future
On a long drive there are always those places that you get curious about. Or, in some cases, wish you had never spotted. For visitors to Australia, thoroughly terrified by the signs on every beach, some are quite off-putting. We pass the National Reptile Park. ‘Why on earth would anybody want to go there?!’ The…
Nothing much happened yesterday – 13th April. On the road at 8.00 am with a long drive of 480 kms ahead of us. The same good roads and light traffic as we slowly cleared the Queensland-inspired rain showers. By the afternoon it was actually dry. With not much else to do, the visitors while away…
The day did not start well – for something. The upstairs bedroom contingent reported slithering and squawks as nature took its course. Then the rain started. Again. I have been wearing the butt of my ‘land of endless sunshine’ comment for a long time now! It lightened for our send-off at the Reserve at Anstead.…
I’ve always liked the way Winnie-the-Pooh books start their chapters. ‘Chapter 1: In which we learn that bears like honey’. That sort of thing. Well, this one should start: ‘In which we learn what our friends are really like now.’ The Team has assembled. Guy, from Bristol, brings his experience from a myriad of jobs…
Dorothy Mackellar’s classic poem ‘My Country’, comparing the landscapes and weather of England and Australia are a synopsis of this trip at present. For my three friends who have flown halfway across the world to spend six weeks in second-hand swags, the change from ‘ordered woods and gardens‘ to the ‘wide brown land‘ is what…
Just after lunch on a sultry, humid, Queensland Sunday afternoon a neighbour came wandering across our lawn. “I wonder if you can help. My tractor’s fallen into a hole”. Sandy’s old Massey Fergusson is a local legend and common sight in our neighbourhood, as he takes on the task of slashing his own and other…
My mother, Joyce Barbara Shapland, or ‘Joy’ for short was playing tennis well into her 60’s. In my thirties I thought – along with her much younger tennis partners – that she was far too old for such vigorous activity and that she should be in a wheelchair. As my 67th birthday looms into focus…
I’ll keep this short — but not without meaning. Thank you. Truly. Over the weekend, your remarkable generosity pushed us past the halfway mark of our initial fundraising goal. That milestone didn’t just happen — you made it happen. I still remember with astonishment the day, just a few weeks ago, when the very first…
The HEMA Atlas and Guide ‘Great Desert Tracks contains useful practical advice about where to go. ‘One of the most obvious things missing from a bush camp is a toilet.’ ‘However,’ it goes on, ‘with some toilet paper and a shovel you’re fully prepared…’ For most conditions it seems. The advice continues. ‘Don’t forget to…
This is a venture involving the best of Great Britain and Australia. But that sounds a bit dull. So, I set out telling people it should be the third pillar of AUKUS – that defence alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States that followed Australia’s decision to buy nuclear powered submarines from…