Day 3 – the final day Today we’re up a bit earlier than on our second day: at 7.30. After a quick breakfast of ‘overnight oats’ and a coffee-bag coffee, we begin to pack up to head home after our first multiday hike through Newland Head Conservation Park. First the sleeping bags are rolled up,…
In my posts about our three day hiking adventure I’ve mentioned a few times that Jerome spent a lot of time researching and purchasing our camping and hiking gear, and because it was light, well-designed and comfortable, it contributed significantly to our great experience. Because the gear was so integral to the hike, I thought…
Waitpinga to Parsons Beach On waking in the Waitpinga campground on the Fleurieu Peninsula on day 2 of our first multiday hike, we find it rained overnight. Although tired from our 11.4km hike the day before, we are tucked up warm and dry inside our tiny two person tent in our new down sleeping bags.…
Day 1 – Kings Beach to Waitpinga Campground Newland Head Conservation Park is about 10km west of Victor Harbor, South Australia’s most popular holiday spot and it was here that we decided to do our first multiday walk after rediscovering our love of bushwalking during the COVID 19 pandemic. And we decided to do it…
I’m not sure when or where my love affair with nature began, but a year 12 biology/geography camp in the Flinders Ranges may have really ignited the spark. It’s definitely what drew me to study science at University. And I was fortunate that my time there was in dispersed with field camps in and around…
Mine has been walking – bushwalking. I’m grateful that I live in South Australia and because we’ve had few COVID 19 infections and deaths, the restrictions here have not been as stringent as in other parts of the country and the world. Some weeks ago, during the depths of COVID 19 restrictions (where we were…
‘Write what you know’ is an often recited mantra, particularly to beginning writers. My view is that although this is useful, it can confine our writing if we stick to it. However, I interpret this a bit differently – in way that is broader. My interpretation is to put things you’ve experienced into your writing,…
Many beginner fiction writers wonder where ideas come from and worry whether they’ll run out of ideas. I worried about this too, and the good news is that I haven’t run out yet. So I thought I’d share with you the way my most recent short story, First Steps came into being. The seed was…
You may have been following my travels on Kangaroo Island and have been saddened by the results of the bushfires, and unfortunately it has got even worse since I left, but I wanted to share something unique about Kangaroo Island – it’s mulberry trees. Growing up, my garden was full of fruit and nut trees:…
A week ago I sat in the Penneshaw pub and wrote my previous blog on camping on Kangaroo Island, reflecting on all that I’d seen in the preceding days. Particular highlights had been five nights in Flinders Chase National Park where the Superb Fairy-wrens flitted around our feet and Tammar Wallabies munched in the undergrowth…
Family and colleagues were surprised when I told them I was going camping on Kangaroo Island for two weeks over Christmas. Why wouldn’t I want to go camping? It’s been incredible! If I hadn’t gone camping I would’ve missed out on seeing a vivid blue Superb Fairy Wren checking out whether I’d dropped…
It was about three years and 11 months ago that I first discovered the Historical Novel Society of Australasia (HNSA) and their biannual conference – a whole month too late to attend. Two years ago I didn’t feel I could attend because I wasn’t earning an income so finally, this year I’m here: at the…
A few years ago a wrote this short story and it won first prize at the inaugural Langhorne Creek Writers Festival. Instead of letting it gather cobwebs I thought I might share it with you. Walking in silence we concentrate hard so our feet don’t slip on the muddy path. We try to dodge…
I’m not the bravest person when it comes to trying food when I’m travelling, but my husband is. So, I wanted to make sure I’d shown a bit of courage before he came to join me in Penang by trying out a few places off the beaten (tourist) track. True to my usual form, on…
With it’s mix of languages, races and religions, this country is intriguing.
the yarn spinner's chronicle 