CREATIVE NON-FICTION AND FEATURES

Blowsy gardens, houses with a story to tell, wholesome food, travel with a purpose, alternative medicine, adoption, fertility and family life are just some of the subjects I love to write about. Amongst other places, in the pieces below you will go whale watching and horse racing in South Australia, keep me company on a deeply personal pilgrimage to Sydney, and drop in for tea and cake at the Royal Manx Agricultural Show.



NOT CUTTING THE MUSTARD

This piece on the vanishing art of home cooking appeared in the October 2007 issue of Manx Tails.

Not Cutting The Mustard



ZEN AND THE ART OF BACKYARD BEEKEEPING

Beekeepers exude an enviable serenity; in conversation they are affable and calm. But is this composure - which they appear to possess in abundance - innate, or has it developed as a consequence of handling large numbers of bees without being badly stung? In short, is there a beekeeping temperament?

After spending time with members of South Australia's Amateur Beekeepers' Society, I was as keen to keep bees as I was to understand the Zen mindset. ( Zen & The Art of Backyard Beekeeping was published in SA Life magazine, February 2007)

Zen and the Art of Backyard BeeKeeping



FROM HERE TO CLARE

Perhaps the most recognisable Australian wine label around the world is Jacob's Creek, and I've often wondered, while pouring a glass of their excellent Riesling, whether the creek named on that classic black and white label really exists. This southern summer, on a trip through the wine country, I was finally able to satisfy my curiosity. ( From Here To Clare was published in Manx Life)

From Here To Clare



ENCOUNTERS WITH WHALES

Whale watching is a unique opportunity for a close-up look at the world's largest mammal in its natural habitat. The beauty of South Australia is that you can manage it from the comfort and safety of some of the world's finest beaches.

Encounters With Whales was published in SA Life and Manx Tails.

Encounters With Whales



A VIEW OF THE FOUNTAIN

The Sydney suburb of King's Cross has always led a double life. By night it is a tourist trap of strip clubs, bars and fast food joints, by day, a village with a peculiar hard-bitten charm. Many artists, writers and musicians have been permanent residents and for a couple of months back in the summer of 1972, I was one of them. A View Of The Fountain was written following a return visit after many years of absence. It forms part of a collection of essays gathered under the title The Available Light.

A View Of The Fountain



THE GOOD LIFE ON A PLATE

A visit to the Royal Manx Show is a reassuring reminder that despite the boxed meals on supermarket shelves, traditional skills still flourish amongst the Isle of Man's semi rural community.

The Good Life On A Plate was published in the September 2004 edition of Manx Life.

The Good Life On A Plate



A DAY AT THE RACES

From the very earliest days, South Australia's country race meetings have been important events on the rural calendar, social gatherings in which everyone plays a part, from horses and trainers to the toddlers picking up discarded betting tickets while judges puzzle over which of their lovely mothers will win the Fashions-in-the Field.

A Day At The Races was published in SA Life Magazine.

A Day At The Races