Return to Perth

Once they moved to Cottesloe, Alan and Betty made Peter's Pool their favourite beach. It's a beach that doesn't appear on Google Maps. It's at the end of Napier St, between Eric St and Cottesloe Beach. It's surrounded by a small reef so as long as there's not a rip, it's a safe and delightful spot to swim albeit you have to head down stairs to get there. The look of calm can be deceiving and over the years, we have had to rescue people who were out of their depth, sometimes just hauling them out and sometimes racing up the sand to get the surf life savers. Even when I'd moved out of home, I would come to Peter's Pool on a Sunday morning and join Alan and Betty and their friends, for a swim. It's a spot that's full of warm, relaxing memories so I'm somewhat surprised that it's taken Susan and me over 12 months to visit it. Of course, it was the days before mobile phones and one rarely took a camera to the beach but I have discovered on...

In between buying cars and attending a graduation and festival and fringe shows, we fitted in some other activities. They ranged from weeding and mulching Sebastian's overgrown and somewhat unloved rose garden to catching up with friends and exploring the Biennale at the Art Gallery of SA plus visits to other loved places (the Jam Factory, T'Arts in Adelaide Arcade, the Space Theatre) and visiting new places such as MOD and Carrick Hill. The 2026 Adelaide Beinnial of Australian Art: Yield Strength wasn't particularly to my taste. "Yield Strength" is the "the stress level at which a material begins to deform plastically, meaning it stops stretching elastically (snapping back) and starts to permanently change shape." I confess (as is often the case for me when it comes to contemporary art) I just didn't quite get it. Why for example were there a number of Prudence Flint's works there amongst metal and videos? I have always loved her work so it was ...

  The reason for our trip to Adelaide was Sebastian's Graduation ceremony on Wednesday 18 March for his Degree in Doctor of Philosophy on the topic of "Investigating the scope and drivers of the global exotic pet trade in endemic Australian repitles and amphibians." He is now the best educated member of the family because I've never had the capacity to do what's required for a PhD: concentrate on one single topic for years.  He looked glorious in his black floppy hat with gold tassels and his shiny red silk array over a black academic gown in his procession through Bonython Hall at the University of Adelaide. Making his mother and his aunt very proud. It was also great to see him being congratuled by students he had taught and his peers. It was interesting to think back to past graduations. I missed my undergraduate ceremony as I was working in Canberra but I did attend my arts management post-graduate course one in Adelaide. All I remember of that event is being ...

Why is it that when we don’t want a big white car to hire, we end up with one? On our last few trips to Adelaide to visit Sebastian, we have wanted something large enough for 3 people, 3 big suitcases, and a cat and all its accoutrements for our adventures into rural South Australia. But this time, on a visit for Sebastian’s graduation, we were only going to be pottering around the city so we specifically booked a small car. But no. We were upgraded to the large Haval SUV. Its only advantage is that it’s a hybrid so we’re not burning up too much fuel. Why do people buy these massive cars for commuting in the city?  It’s a weekend of cars. Sebastian had a bingle in his 20 year old jeep (no humans damaged) and his insurance company have written it off so he and Susan went off traipsing around the car yards of Adelaide looking for a replacement. I didn’t volunteer to join them because my track record of buying second handcars is abysmal right up until my current one. There was th...

Although Susan and I arrived in Adelaide at the tale end of the Fringe and the Festival, we did manage to squeeze in some musical events that appealed to everyone’s taste - albeit very different shows. The first was the Victorian band Bush Gothic. A trio of talented multi-skilled musicians, they create interesting arrangements of both traditional Australian/Irish folk songs such as Black Velvet Band and Blood on the Wattle but also variations of contemporary songs such as John Williamson’s True Blue.  Usually, their arrangements are beautiful to listen to but not easy to sing to but they did get us on board for Great Southern Land.  I love the way they describe themselves: “Bush Gothic wander through the dankest, weirdest corners of the trad song books and emerge as post modern slash anti establishment slash folk feminists.”  We then wandered to the other side of Adelaide, to Gluttony in Rymill Park, and saw a very different show: Broadway off Broadway. Initially, the per...

  I’ve never really appreciated F. Scott Fitzgerald’s  The Great Gatsby as “the best American novel ever written” but I was willing to take a chance on hearing a spoken word version of it in the Adelaide Festival. All 8 hours of it (starting at 2pm and finishing at 10.15pm with some breaks). Gatz was developed by the New York based Elevator Repair Company in 2006 and has been touring, with many of the same cast, on and off ever since. I went with no particular expectations having given myself permission to leave at any time if I was finding it tedious. And I didn’t. I stayed. I’m not in the same five star category as the Guardian reviewer but I did find it an absorbing work. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/mar/15/gatz-review-the-great-gatsby-performed-in-eight-and-a-half-hours-of-attentive-immersive-joy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other The most impressive element of the work was the performance by the lead actor Scott Shepherd playing the office worker who starts reading “The G...

Because Rottnest is so popular, you have to book 9 months in advance without really knowing what you're going to be doing then let alone what the weather might be like. We managed to get a three bedroom bungalow looking out over Geordie Bay in the hope that it would be warm and that Sebastian might be able to join us. He was far to busy with work and box-lacrosse referring in Melbourne and so we offered the spare room to our friend, Barry. He goes to the island whenever he gets a chance and so was a good guide to places and beaches that we hadn't explored in the past.  The weather forecast was rather dismal with temperatures in the low 20s and windy conditions but it was never enough to put us off either swimming or drying off lying on the sand afterwords. Geordie is one of Barry's favourite spots and I can see why. Walking distance to four good beaches, balconies looking out to the water, a shuttle bus to the main settlement, and a little supermarket and a cafe nearby. We ...

Luckily, I'm still on a few Opening Night lists although these days, because I don't expect to be, by the time the invitation arrives, I've already bought my ticket. But this wasn't the case with Disney's Anastasia presented at the Crown Casino theatre. I confess, it's not a musical I would have chosen to go to but when the opportunity presents itself, why not.  We started the night with some very glittery cocktails, alcoholic and non, crafted specifically for the show with the rich purple created by the addition of butterfly pea flower. And this helped us get through the night. It's not that there was a problem with the cast which featured the amazing octogenarian Nancy Hayes, the long limbed comedienne Rhonda Burchmore, and some younger folk with great voices. It's just that the music is rather bland. On the way home, we listed to a "best of" musical soundtrack on Spotify and I was reminded that what makes a great musical is the specificity o...

One of the films in this year's Perth Festival collection at the Somerville Auditorium was a documentary about Marianne Faithfull. I've dipped in and out of a being a Faithfull fan. I was too young to appreciate her early work in the mid-1960s, but discovered her with the album Broken English in 1979 which is full of strong, bold songs that still resonate with power 45 years later. After that, every so often I'd dip and out of her repertoire being fascinated by her album of the Romantic Poets, She Walks in Beauty (2021) and being in love with her reading of the letter at the heart of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's epistolary novel from 1782, Les Liaison Dangereuses. I've managed to track down what I suspect is an illegal recording of her reading it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chhYlqRoJVs The book it comes from is an absorbing work which I read, day after day, on the beach during a Perth Summer holiday years ago. It's inspired all sorts of responses including...

On the one hand, I have no interest what so every about the lives of the rich and famous who thought that mixing with Jeffrey Epstein was a good thing. On the other hand, it's hard to avoid all the press coverage about this ongoing story. So what's the best balance?  I decided that reading Virginia Roberts Giufree's autobiography Nobodies Child  would give me one important perspective. And it did. Although written with help, her voice reaches out with such clarity after years of abuse and then years of standing up to her abusers. A tough read but if you're up to it, I recommend it. After that, I needed to find a good analyst recommended by believable sources to make sense of her story. Hamish Macdonald, one of the hosts of Radio National's Global Roaming  suggested an interview on the Ezra Klein Show and as I've always found Klein's choice of interviewees interesting, that's where I went. He interviewed Anand Giridharadas a journalist/sociologist of Amer...

  After writing a post about the Iranian war yesterday, I was feeling up to watching what I knew was going to be a difficult documentary. Some people weep through it. Some people object to it's manipulation of the death of young girl. And others, like me, say you must watch The Vocie of Hind Rajab. It's the story, the real story, of the death of 5 year old Palestinian girl in January 2024 and the attempts by Red Crescent staff based in the West Bank (because there's nowhere safe for them to be in Gaza) to negotiate safe access for an ambulance, that's only 8 minutes away, to rescue her. You may have seen commentary on social media at the time. The genius of the Tunisian film maker,  Kaouther Ben Hania, is that she uses the recorded voice of the child and even some of the original recording in the Red Cresecent phone room. A child who is hiding in a car with 6 dead relatives. A child who is in kindegarden. A child who is afraid of the dark. A child whose voice finally go...

I don't know where to start. It's 8 days into the illegal US/Israeli war agains Iran with no sign of either side being willing to compromise. I know Iranian-Australians who are terrified for their families back home. I know Jewish people terrified about the existential threat that the Iranian government and its proxies are to Israel. And I have a friend, on her way to a well deserved holiday in Paris, whose flight out of Doha was turned around on the night of 28 February as war broke out. She shared this pattern of her plane's journey: She's been stuck in a hotel in Doha ever since although there was word today that she might get a flight out.   Every story that comes out the Middle East is horrible but the one that really shook me yesterday morning was the an interview of the new Israeli Ambassador to Australia. When asked about the attack on the school in southern Iran. The BBC is saying that the satellite and video evidence appears to show that the school was attacke...

One of Festival of Perth highlights was a Scandinavian singing group, Akervinda.  Named for a Swedish wildflower whose roots spread far and wide, the award-winning group is made up of four jazz singers – Lise Kroner, Iris Bergcrantz, Linda Bergström and Agnes Åhlund – united by a deep love of folk music. In the words of their publicity" "Celebrated for their fresh, modern interpretations, and praised across folk, jazz and a cappella scenes, they breathe new life into traditional Scandinavian folk tunes."  Their concert was at St Mary's Cathedral and the first thing that surprised me about the event was that there was a bar outside! I've never seen a church, let alone a Catholic cathedral, serve wine outside as well as inside! The second surprise was that their folk songs are rather pagan in concept and the concert, Spellbound, was built around spells - a journey through nature, love, tradition, womanhood & witchcraft. There was even a song for about difficult...

Going on holidays in February means that you miss some of the Perth Festival but we've still managed to squeeze in half a dozen shows plus a number of films at the wonderful Somerville Auditorium that I posted about this time last year. This year it turns out that the majority of our experiences have been in the Perth Town Hall in what is called the Embassy. We've seen: Marney McQueen, a music theatre performer, with a great band. She's probably best known for over 600 performances in Simon Philiips' production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical where she played the owner of a country pub - and now, with her husband, she owns a country pub in Wyong Emily Lubitz, started in an indi-folk band called Tinpan Orange, and  produced her first solo album at 42 last year which has a country feel with songs about her family. A stunning voice and great original music. Check out the album:  Two Black Horses   The final show was Le Gateau Chocolat - an English/Nigerian d...

  My time as acting Executive Director of the WA Chamber of Arts and Culture is coming to an end. The Board have made a great choice in appointing Rick Heath to the position. Here's the Media Release that I helped craft: The Chamber of Arts and Culture WA is pleased to announce the appointment of experienced and respected arts consultant, manager and advocate Rick Heath as its new Executive Director.  Chamber Chairperson Fiona Sinclair said Heath brings both deep sector knowledge and a clear-eyed understanding of the Chamber’s operating context, purpose and potential, as well as the role the organisation can play in supporting the arts and culture sector, government, and the broader Western Australian community. “Having served alongside Rick for over three years, I am absolutely certain of his commitment to WA's arts and culture sector, and his strong belief in the Chamber's value and potential,” Ms Sinclair said. “Rick enters the role with eyes wide open, fully cognisa...

Lemon Lime and Bitters was always a refreshing summer drink in Perth and Betty's favourite once she stopped drinking alcohol in her 60s. But I can't remember when I first came across fresh limes. We always used Rose's or Bickfords Lime Cordial. But at some point in later years, there has always been a lime sitting in a bowl waiting to be added into a gin and tonic or a rum.  Once I'd discovered the joys of spiced rum, my habit on finding a new one is to have a shot of rum on ice with a glass of soda and a serve of fresh lime juice to mix in when the mood takes me. On moving back to Perth las year, I discovered the joys of Belvoir Farm Lime Cordial. Just as good as fresh juice. Surprisingly it's made in the UK but there it was on Coles' shelves so after that initial joyous taste, I bought a few bottles to get through summer. I was only when I was finishing my last bottle a couple of months ago did I discovered that Coles no longer stock it. Neither does Woolworth...