Travel Challenge Day 6

We've just passed the midway point of the Travel Challenge and fossicking through the photos shows just how diverse our planet is, from the beach to the mountain, from the city to the desert. And that's just the natural environments, let alone the vast array of cultures and histories for us to explore. I have …

#BookSnapSunday – A Thousand Splendid Suns

I am currently rereading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, which is set in Afghanistan and centres on the lives and relationship between two women, Mariam and Laila. Afghanistan is a country I knew little about, apart from war and the Taliban, until I read Hosseini. I have enjoyed several of his books because he gives …

Queensland Symphony Orchestra – Sounds from the Deep

On the weekend Bec and I went to see the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at the Empire Theatre for their performance of Sounds from the Deep. It has been many years since I have seen an orchestra perform live. As a very young child, I can remember  going to see an orchestra at the Festival Theatre …

Dali at d’Arenberg

Whenever we are on holiday we like to check out the local wineries. On our recent trip to Adelaide we called in at the d’Arenberg winery in the McClaren Vale wine district, south of Adelaide. South Australia has a long history of winemaking. Some of the McClaren Vale vines were planted back in the 1850s, making …

Carnival of Flowers – Celebrating 70 Years

It’s the first weekend of the September School Holidays, the flowers are out in full bloom and the local parks and gardens are crowded with visitors and tour buses. It must be Carnival time. The Carnival of Flowers is Toowoomba’s premiere event of the year, a festival that celebrates flowers, local wine and food, and …

The Bolshoi Ballet – Spartacus

Last month Bec and I went to see a simulcast of the Bolshoi Ballet’s performance of Spartacus. Performed in Brisbane’s Lyric Theatre in the Queensland Performing Arts Centre at Southbank, the performance was streamed out to regional centres across Queensland, including Toowoomba, Cairns, Mt Isa, Gladstone and Bundaberg. Interestingly Brisbane is the only Australian stop on …

Dangerous Liaisons

On Friday night I went to see Queensland Ballet’s performance of Dangerous Liaisons at our local Empire Theatre as part of their regional tour for 2019. If you have read the book by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in 1782, or seen the 1988 screen version starring Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer, then you …

A Night Out at the Theatre

I really love old buildings. I love the detail in the architecture, the arched windows and the sense of character that I often find missing in contemporary buildings. Toowoomba is blessed to still have many of its historic buildings and I love wandering around the city streets, bemused at the way they sit juxtaposed to …