“Are you related to one of the cast?”, I was asked by one of the women on the door, handing out tickets for the ANU student production of “The History Boys”. “No, I’m just in town for the week and looking for nice things to do, and this seems like fun”, I told her. On top of that, “The History Boys” is a wonderful play and film, and so when I saw it listed on Eventbrite as playing this week in Canberra, I bought a ticket straight away.… Read the rest “History Repeats”
When you talk to people about Canberra there are often a lot of negative stereotypes. There’s the political thing, of course. But there’s also a perception that it’s dull, suburban etc. In contrast, I have really positive views of Canberra. I lived and worked in Canberra for a while, and usually visit once or twice a year, and I really like the pace of life, as well as the sophistication the city offers. Though I’ve lived in Sydney for twenty years, I’m still a country boy at heart, and so perhaps Canberra is a combination of the two for me: part city, part country town.… Read the rest “Canberra”
Having previously written a few times about Sydney’s Red Chilli restaurant, I was super excited to discover one in Canberra too. Over a bottle of wine and great conversation, a colleague/friend and I enjoyed a most excellent dinner there. Ham, eggplant, fish. All brilliant. Highly recommended (AGAIN).
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!
– Dorothea Mackellar
Here are some photographs I took today of the sculpture “Wide Brown Land” by Marcus Tatton, Chris Viney and Futago at the National Arboretum in Canberra.
What a wonderful piece of public art.