The Northern Australia Land & Water Taskforce – growing pineapples in Antarctica?
“During the decade 1950-60, a great deal of research work was carried out in tropical Australia. It has been claimed in many quarters that this research has solved the problem of agricultural development [...]
Dog of the week – Sole
This is Sole (sorry girl but I haven’t quite worked out how to insert the grave over the “e” so that your name is spelt properly!). Sole is one of our many dogs [...]
Australia is so…boring
“Australia is so…boring!!” So said the Professor from the University of KwaZulu Natal when I was in South Africa recently. “How so?”, I asked, taking a mild and curious offense to his statement. He proceeded [...]
800 guardian angels killed by a sacred banyan tree
Scores of Buddhist villagers in India's north-eastern state of Assam have performed a unique funeral ritual for more than 800 endangered storks that died after a tree where they were nesting fell ... The villagers, most of them farmers, considered the banyan tree sacred and believed that the storks were their guardian angels.
Mad Mal Brough – goodbye and good riddance
I gave up on hate as a waste of time many years ago and it is a very rare moment now that I can be bothered to even strongly dislike someone. Contempt and [...]
Buenos Aires – mugging and pick-pocket capital of the world?
Our local guide then really grabbed our attention with her stories about the local pick-pockets and street muggers that prey upon unwitting tourists in this most European of South American cities. "It is okay, they don't use guns or knives" she said, a great relief to me "Just be careful, they are very quick" says the guide, "Give them your money and they won't hurt you."
The Northern Myth – a short introduction
B R Davidson's book "The Northern Myth" was first published in 1965 and set out to dispel the then popular belief that tropical Australia could be transformed into a magical land of milk and honey [...]