by Ian Cochrane | Apr 14, 2013 | Oceania
I’m met at the airstrip by Toi my guide, with a vice-like handshake and welcoming lei of yellow bougainvillea draped around my neck. Two skinny girls in grass skirts and goosebumps serenade to the strains of a ukulele played by a man in a knitted jacket over an...
by Ian Cochrane | Apr 14, 2013 | Oceania, Utopia
Haha, a new award, and quite a mouthful. But an award from a respected blogger is gratefully accepted; so thanks heaps to Diary of an Internet Nobody for thinking of my writing, and its recent evolution into a modest blog. `An aging hippy living in Devon’, Dale...
by Ian Cochrane | Mar 26, 2013 | Oceania, Utopia
Many in Melbourne this week are mourning the passing of Marzipan, the grand old tortoiseshell diva of the city’s theatre scene. The much-loved Astor cat died on Sunday 24th March 2013 Australian time after a lingering illness, at the ripe old age of 21 years. It was...
by Ian Cochrane | Mar 25, 2013 | Oceania, Utopia
For those in the dark : `The Sunshine Award is an award given by bloggers to other bloggers. The recipients of the Sunshine Award are bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.’ To be honest, this Sunshine Award may well be my...
by Ian Cochrane | Mar 19, 2013 | Oceania
Strange figures are painted in broad strokes of red ochre – Wandjina spirit-men – eerie round faces with big pools for eyes. I stand next to Maurice, “a Worara blackfella” and a driver at local mines. I ask him why they have no mouths. His voice is hushed, as he...
by Ian Cochrane | Mar 1, 2013 | Asia, Oceania
I’m in Melbourne, startled as the nurse draws the curtain behind me, the click of the rings on the rail loud in the quiet of the ward; the sweet smack of cough mixture wafts through the room. I turn away from Sally, my long-time neighbour having a tough time but...
