Disregarding Australian Government Targets: Real Environmental Improvement – Now
This article follows the announcement on 11th August 2015 by the Australian Government that the climate action target they will take to Paris in December will still leave Australia as the nation with the highest CO2 equivalent output per head of population in the developed world. Such a target is woefully inadequate and not what […]
The man who is tired of London … Johnson and Wren
After enjoyable and informative visits to St. Martin-In-The-Fields, St. Mary le Strand and St. Clement Danes, it was time to head off. After all – St. Paul’s Cathedral had been my goal. In 1975, forty years ago, I attended a wedding in the crypt below. It was a wonderful couple – a then-popular actress and […]
How pleasant to know Sir Christopher Wren!
Walking where one’s eyes takes one can lead to wonderful discovery. Two days on my recent visit to England, led me to scratch the surface of some London history. That history charts a direct path to the London of today. I encountered the important architectural work of James Gibbs, the abode of Dr. Samuel Johnson […]
French Country Life: Less Travelled By
If you think about France for a few seconds, what comes to mind? Wine, Fine Food, baguettes, croissants, Paris? Or TGV or Airbus in contemporary terms. Three weeks in a country, happily, enables you to dig deeper than a quick business trip. There are special traits that will either endear you to a country or […]
Famous, Less Famous and Timeless in France
I have spent a lifetime living out of a suitcase. After fifty years I am still not a good packer – too many things, just in case! A bit like my home office. It’s been two weeks and four locations so far. I know I have at least 4kg more clothing than I’ll need. And […]
Paris in the Summertime: Fifty years on.
June can be a wonderful season in Paris. It can also be bitterly cold. This year it’s also been bright, sunny and wonderfully warm too. That’s the way it’s always been. A bit like Melbourne really! Several seasons all in one day. Making my first extended visit to this inspiring City in more than twenty years, […]
Recycling Cities II: London’s King’s Cross, Euston and St. Pancras
June 2nd 2015 (To view pictures larger, double click and be a bit patient! Takes a short while to grab the 1200 pixel version.) Today’s post came initially with no pictures. (Editor’s note in November 2015: Some months later I have remembered that this post went up with no pictures, which I am now correcting.) My […]
The Tesla Battery: What it means for Your Future Energy Needs
When Elon Musk stood up and made his dramatic, yet incredibly modestly stated, announcement of the Tesla PowerWall for home installations on April 30th just one month ago, a major tremor went through the boardrooms of the Coal, Gas and Nuclear industry. A number of commentators have noted that Musk announced nothing technically new. What […]
The Photographers’ Gallery, London: Deutsche Börse Winners Announced
Travel is always about learning from other cultures and discovery of the new. But you have to leave yourself open to the experience and be prepared to let it wash over and impact you, no matter which sense it is: Sound, Sight, Taste, Colour, Smell, Hot/Cold, Rough/Smooth – all are part of the Journey of […]
Gardens & Gallery workers Strike in UK: Arts Funding Attacked in Australia
Today, on her way from Buckingham Palace to the State Opening of Parliament in London, and the delivery of the famous Queen’s Speech, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth had to drive past an empty flower bed, as she rounded the statue of her famous forbear Queen Victoria and headed down The Mall. The garden workers were […]