Sydney: Of rules and strange familiarity

  I went on a trip, following in the footsteps of my itchy-footed great great grandmother, Ethel, from South Africa to New Zealand. This follows on from where I left off in my earlier post about my great Antipodean time-travelling adventure… So, there I was, lying on the shiny tiled floor of Sydney airport’s International Arrivals Hall. After … Continue reading →

Oh my! Isn’t that wonderful?

Almost 12 years ago now 23Thorns and I were on our honeymoon at a beautiful hotel called Cybele Forest Lodge. Our room had its own swimming pool, the white bed sheets were crisp, the towelling robes were huge and fluffy. There must surely have been a scattering of rose petals on the bed, but I forget … Continue reading →

A Heartbreaking Story of Staggering Weepiness

This is the sort of story that I want to wrap in a ribbon and present to a writer far better equipped than I to tell it. It is the story of terrible heartbreak. It is a family story. My family stories are quite often leadeningly depressing, so if it all becomes a bit much for … Continue reading →

Of Old Newspapers, “The Native Franchise” and that Frayed Tail-End of the Year

It’s a Tuesday night although it feels like it should be Friday already and I am tired beyond reckoning; goodness this year is too long yet not long enough. But, it is Tuesday night and it is December, and I am sitting on the lounge floor beside these papers below. You won’t be able to see the details on my … Continue reading →

The Shipwreck of The Grosvenor 4 August 1782

The East India Company’s Grosvenor was a three-masted, square-rigged, frigate-built vessel. She was built by Wells of Deptford and set off on her maiden voyage to India in 1770. Twelve years later, on her fourth and last voyage from Madras to England, she plowed straight into the African continent in the early hours of a stormy, misty morning. She … Continue reading →

Sharpeville Massacre 21 March 1960

On the 21st March 1960 a large group of black South African protestors marched on the Sharpeville police station. They were protesting the Apartheid government’s pass laws which required every black person over the age of 16 to carry a pass, to be presented to the police on demand. Tension at the protest escalated as protestors began … Continue reading →

I’m a White South African