Our YaYa Adventures into Hobart & Ratho

Hobart Harbour, Tasmania

Two hundred years ago two young sisters (children really) stepped off the “Castle Forbes” which had just docked into the new settlement of Hobart in Tasmania. Ann and Margaret Honeyman were just 11 & 10 years old. They had been newly indentured to the Reid family as maids to the Reids two babes. They had left their mother and two younger brothers aboard the Castle Forbes to travel onto Sydney Town having just received news that their convict father, who they hoped to join up with in Sydney Town, had died. These two girls, new arrivals to the penal settlement of Hobart, a town settled just 18yrs prior, were Scottish emigrants now bound for the colonial outpost along the Clyde River in the highlands near to what was to become the township of Bothwell on the Central Tasmanian High Country. 

Aussie Cities – Oldies at Large

Making your way around the big cities of the world can be a daunting prospect for most. In Aus’ however it is somewhat easier… after all we don’t have so many of these ‘bigger cities’ despite having one of the biggest cities in the world, in terms of area, when it comes to Brisbane.

Australia really only has a handful of places that can truly be termed as a ‘big city’ to contend with. We have one capital city per State or Territory, which is the ‘major’ city. Then there is Canberra, which is also recognized as the territory of the ACT (Australian Capital Territory). It is where we planted the politicians firmly in the middle of nowhere, half way between Sydney and Melbourne, and we had a lot of trouble even agreeing on that believe me.

The Ancient Spirits of Australia

Have you ever been making your way through the bush and suddenly had the sense that you are being watched? There is something out there… something unknown… the break of a twig underfoot… someone else’s foot? Yet there is no one there. Do all your instincts scream that you are not alone? Well in Aus’ you usually aren’t.

No… it’s not always the drop-bears, nor the other forest animals. What it is likely to be watching you as you walk through the bush is the little forest spirits known as the Jongorrie. Well known by the tribal people who lived in our bush and forests for tens of thousands of years, the Jongorrie is a rapacious little bugger of indiscriminate appetites. Known to steal food most commonly, he is also not above a few other less desirable habits.

Ghosts, Graves and Spirit Creatures

We have been spending time in and around what is said to be one of the most haunted towns in Australia, Picton. I’m not sure about the town’s reputation, one that dwells in murder, mishap and mystery as I can think of a few other contenders for the ‘haunted’ category but I do love to delve into these things.

Our Cities – Places of History

We’re in Sydney once more, on our annual (or bi-) migration, having just completed the fun loop from Sydney through to Canberra, on to Melbourne and back and in comparing the big three there can be found a lot of entertainment.

The Land Downunder and it’s Ancient Lore – Australia

Australian Aboriginal Lore is the most ancient continuous Lore known in the world of man. It has been practiced and has evolved in one continuous evolutionary stream over some 50,000 – 60,000 years of the known history of man. This was on one vast secluded continent of the earth, the largest island on our globe. These clans and tribes of ancient Aus’ moved around within their ‘Country’ following their marriage and trade Lore, this, which governed their lives and practices. This Lore had evolved within boundaries and continuous practices, found in ceremonies developed over countless eons of time.

Devils Marbles NT – A Place of Meeting and Legend

In a landscape that sits quiet and still within the vastness of a singular horizon, when you come across such a striking natural feature as the Devils Marbles it is no wonder that the old Aboriginal tribal people as well as Aussies today, found much to be amazed with. In the Central desert and vast savannah country of the Northern Territory in the red heart of Australia, you find a truly wonderful landscape. The photo is deceptive… there a hundreds if not thousands of these clusters of marbles scattered within the bowl of their creation.

Aussie Tales of the Featherfoot – Lands Edge

The ancient Lore of the Kadaitcha, or Featherfoot is a Lore lost in time. I first began writing fictional tales about this ancient Australian Aboriginal Lore some years ago now, mostly for the young adults seeking something of their own in Australia. Yet still, after four novels and the framework the new series,  I find not only is historical reality a rich resource for a fiction entwined in the facts, but that there is so much more yet to be told of this ancient world.

That these tales went on to become a series dealing with the growth of the Kadaitcha man within his culture and within the mainstream Australian culture, was as much a surprise to me as it is to my readers.

The Convict Trail outa’ Sydney Town

History is a wonderful thing, it provides us with a frame of reference, a background and tales of the past, ours. It is our greatest shame that our children are not taught Australian history in our schools and are instead taught mostly English maritime history.

Australian history or the deeds and challenges of the past are epic, from the trials of the native Australians to the building of our nation, including both the good, the bad and the downright distasteful.

Freecamping – An Australian Historical Right

The history of freecamping in Australia begins back to the very first days of the young colony. When Governor Phillip chose a spot to set up camp on what was Aboriginal land, he gave birth to the nations first Freecamp. The Legality of his Freecamp is still being debated in some quarters but the argument has been lost in time and the nations history. However his right to freecamp was never revoked… until most recently by some municipal Councils.