Changing Scenery

The scenery that flashed past our windows as we headed toward Bunbury was lovely, but it seemed strange, too. After a month of red earth and cloudless blue skies, the green and gray that surrounded me now actually required a little mental adjusting. Could the rust-hued wilderness really only be three days in the past?
However, [...]

Joseph Banks and Banksia

I had read about Banksias, seen pictures of tiny marsupials lapping nectar from Banksias, but it was on the wildflower tour that I first came in contact with this odd, fascinating, iconic Aussie flower in the wild. There are 76 species of Banksia, all but one of which are indigenous to Australia—and most of those [...]

Kangaroo Paws

Amid the floral discoveries on the second day of the wildflower tour, while everything I saw delighted me, the one find that pleased me most was running across an area that was almost exploding with kangaroo paws. Clouds of the flowers crowded among trees and sprawled across open spaces.
Indigenous to this corner of the continent, [...]

Australind

Named for a dreamed-of Australia-India trade alliance, Australind was settled in 1841—and abandoned by 1843. It was designed as a community for ordinary people who wanted to escape poverty in England, and about 440 hopeful immigrants came with plans to farm and breed horses. It was also hoped that this western shore would make it [...]

Good Press

It’s exciting to see one’s book begin to get noticed. I’ve gotten a couple of very good reviews lately, and next week, I’m going to be interviewed on blog talk radio! (Yeah, I know — it’s not exactly Oprah, but it’s a start.)
The blog talk radio interview will take place next Tuesday, October 14, at [...]

Chasing Flowers

After New Norcia, we headed for Perth, arriving in the early evening. We had a brief reintroduction to coping with civilization, but then I was off again. Saying farewell to Jo and Nikki was hard, but I had booked a wildflower tour for early the next morning.
So next day, I was with a completely new [...]