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  Another holiday newsletter: COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS NEWSLETTER February 2026 If you can imagine Christmas Island as a lump of greenery with a sharp black crunchy volcanic fringe, then for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands you have to be a little more imaginative. Take a hula hoop. Break it up into 27 randomly sized pieces but lay it out to keep the circle shape. Then surround it by a coral reef and fill the inside with water and create a large lagoon.  We stayed on West Island in a comfortable house 250 metres from the seaside and 250 metres from the lagoon with a runway between us and the lagoon. And that’s the widest part of the island. Are you starting to get the picture? Christmas and Cocos Islands are nearly 1,000 miles apart in the Indian Ocean but they are connected through history and culture. Those of you who are around my age and grew up in WA will know the name Clunies-Ross. There were shocking headlines in the newspapers in the 1970s about slave labour on Cocos which w...

  I'm afraid that having holidays on tropical islands has distracted me from doing regular blog posts. I'm going to cheat with this one and just add the content from the Holiday Newsletter I've already sent out to friends. Christmas Island Newsletter  February 2026 It may seem somewhat unusual for someone like me to head off to an environment that is designed for people who love hiking, love nature, love diving. But I do like gentle walks and manageable nature and snorkelling, so the idea of a week on Christmas Island and another on Cocos (Keeling)  Islands for a summer break and a reward for Sebastian completely his PhD seemed like a good one. And of course, Sebastian does like hiking and nature.  Christmas Island (known to the locals as CI) is a series of contradictions.  While named Christmas Island by an English captain sailing past in 1643, the bigger celebrations are likely to be Chinese New Year with 20 temples scattered across the island or even Ramadan ...

  It may seem somewhat unusual for someone like me to head off to an environment that is designed for people who love hiking, love nature, love diving. But I do like gentle walks and manageable nature and snorkelling so the idea of a week on Christmas Island and another on Cocos-Keeling Island for a summer break and a reward for Sebastian completely his PhD seemed like a good one. And of course, Sebastian does like hiking and nature. The Settlement So far, a couple of days into our trip, nature has dominated from the red crabs that scuttle across the road to the monstrous Robber crabs that clamber up trees; from the brilliant green Giant Asian mantis (seen) to the equally large blind cave scorpions (not seen yet thank goodness); from the soaring frigate birds that harass other seabirds to give up their dinner to the under-threat flying fox gliding past. It’s all fascinating to watch.  Robber crab Giant Asian Mantis Erica, the 36 year old frigate bird, and friend Flying frigate...

 H aving seen many Iranian films over the years I was rather shocked to hear that The President's Cake is the first Iraqi film to be shown in the Perth Festival. In a Q&A with an Iraqi film maker who now lives in Perth, he seemed somewhat embarrased by aspects of the movie. He insisted that Iraqis weren't like the bad characters we were about to see; that it wasn't a "true" story; that life was too difficult in Iraq to make films just for entertainment. But it was more than entertainment and as is often the case with a good film, it's "truth" lies in its exploration of the human condition.  Set during Sadam Hussein's regime, in the southern marshlands of Iraq, its the story of a young girl who lives with her grandmother in a reed house above the water. The landscape is amazing and a character in itself. In a time of American sanctions and bombing, she has to find the ingredients to make a cake so her school can celebrate Hussien's birthda...

There were some solar panels on the roof of 106 Archibald St but in the flush of finance, saving some money by buying in Willagee rather than a fancier suburb, we decided to help the environment and invest in both more panels and a battery. Of course I have to confess that I know nothing about how to make the best choice of a new solar system but luckily Susan had a well informed friend and we have a self-described electricity Nazi as a neighbour. So between these two helpful blokes, we signed on the dotted line for: 10kw inverter 16kw battery 36 new solar panels Plus all the wiring, switchboard upgrades and even a bollard to protect the battery from bad drivers! The team that came to do the installation included Phil, the boss, an electrician for 40 years, plus a team of young apprentices including his godson. They were all nice folk, grateful for the cool drinks and biscuits we provided, and good at cleaning up after themselves. Usually, the company takes away old solar panels and sh...

I've mentioned the Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre before and I had another chance to visit it last weekend. Susan and I had a delightful lunch catching up with cousin Andrew and his partner Debra in the grounds of the Arts Centre. It was the perfect day to be sitting out under the shade of some trees. I've often felt ghosts in places that have previously been mental asylums or prisons but not in this building. Maybe because no matter how difficult life was for the inmates, they could come outside and enjoy the sea breeze and the sunshine. After lunch we went in to see an exhibition of a Fremantle artist Theo Koning (1950-2022). The exhibition includes artworks spanning his entire oeuvre with examples of assemblage, sculpture, repurposed materials, paintings, drawings, collage and print editions, including artist books and examples of his poster art. Over many rooms, this tells a story of a man who must have lived every day for his art, always on the lookout for something to tur...