Currently Reading: Trent Dalton – Boy Swallows Universe | Alice Bishop – A Constant Hum | Victor Steffensen – Fire Country | Ian McEwan – Sweet Tooth My primary reason for return to Tas this time round was to join a small group of family and close friends for a journey up the Gordon River … Continue reading West Coast Tasmania
Literature
Thesis life gives way to this novel concept called free time
Currently Reading: Alexis Wright – The Swan Book | William Faulkner – The Sound and the Fury | Jennifer Egan – The Invisible Circus I have been hermiting for the past several weeks as I went about the final stages of my 6.5 year PhD candidature journey. Hence the lack of recent posts. About a … Continue reading Thesis life gives way to this novel concept called free time
A Week at Varuna – The Writers’ House
Currently Reading: Aldous Huxley – Mortal Coils I am currently staying at 'Varuna' in Katoomba on a one week writing residency as I near the finish line with thesis. This was the home of Eleanor and Eric Dark, who bought the land in 1923 and built the house pictured below. Eric was a medical doctor … Continue reading A Week at Varuna – The Writers’ House
Porters Pass – Blackheath + Sydney Writers’ Festival
Currently Reading: Patrícia Melo – The Lost World | Peter Matthiessen – The Snow Leopard | Herta Müller – The Fox Was Ever the Hunter I've struggled to find time to get out for a longer hike of late, hence the lack of recent posts. I've been active, but most of my time has been … Continue reading Porters Pass – Blackheath + Sydney Writers’ Festival
Hanging Rock and South Lawson Falls
Currently reading: Patrícia Melo – The Lost World | Peter Matthiessen – The Snow Leopard | David Foster Wallace – Infinite Jest (getting a run on with this one now...) | William Faulkner – Collected Stories (after skyping with my friend Nadine last night – who lives in beautiful Heidelberg – we have resumed our … Continue reading Hanging Rock and South Lawson Falls
Horseshoe Falls Reserve – North Hazelbrook
Currently reading: Jeff Greenwald – Shopping for Buddhas (still) | René Taton and Curtis Wilson (Eds.) – The General History of Astronomy Vol. 2: Planetary Astronomy from the Renaissance to the rise of Astrophysics (dabbling for thesis) | Sir Isaac Newton – Opticks | David Foster Wallace – Infinite Jest (this one could take a … Continue reading Horseshoe Falls Reserve – North Hazelbrook
Amphitheatre Track – Leura Cascades
Currently reading: Levison Wood - Walking the Himalayas (still) | Cristina Garcia - The Lady Matador's Hotel (still) | Jeff Greenwald - Shopping for Buddhas I thought I'd hiked all the trails in the Leura Cascades area, but was pleasantly surprised to discover the Ampthitheatre track on yesterday's romp. Despite Sonia Overall's advice to never … Continue reading Amphitheatre Track – Leura Cascades
Back in the Blue Mountains of NSW
Well, I didn't complete my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail this year as I had hoped, due to the whole broken arm fiasco, but I managed to cover 600 miles so it was a decent start. Perhaps I will try again some day... In the meantime there are hundreds of miles of great hikes in … Continue reading Back in the Blue Mountains of NSW
Literary Ramblings
While in Massacusetts, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit Concord (of Thoreau's Walden fame) and Salem, the epicentre of the late C17th witch trials, immortalised in Arthur Miller's wonderful, yet tragic play, The Crucible. But of course, once you start digging for literary dirt in this neck of the woods, there is really … Continue reading Literary Ramblings