The beaches in Sydney were gold and blue and the orange sunsets were probably the best in the world. We lived opposite Wedding Cake Island and the sea surrounded the island like blue clouds. Coogee then was rugged and a bit rough. Mel Gibson had a house two doors up ... READ MORE
Last night Maisy, our old dog, sat outside with the crickets singing along the fence line, just getting along with each other. It was warm and she lifted her head to watch the bone white moon while everyone else was in bed and silence dropped around her until even the ... READ MORE
The other day my granddaughter Hazel and I were sitting on a little table before a creaky fan. We were on tiny chairs in the kid’s room cutting out rainbows when she said, ‘Nan can we have a sleepover at your house soon?’ I’d missed the last one because I ... READ MORE
On the plane the Irishman next to me helps with my seat belt because I’m fumbling, and I feel curiously young and old. He’s reading a thriller. In a jet plane, when the full throttle thrusts, it’s like a carnival ride and then in comes the hefty lift into the ... READ MORE
It’s been a few weeks since A started school. He’s six, now coming on seven and tall in that willowy fair way like a young sapling. I remember him at Nippers in his blue and pink rashie, his nose smeared in zinc. It was probably six weeks ago, and he ... READ MORE
At Mont Park, for a long time the empty Larundel hospital was abandoned. I went there years ago to see it as an adult, in memory of my Pa. The walls were broken, and it seemed the ghosts were near. They fly like birds, you know, diving into the wreckage ... READ MORE
One windy Friday afternoon, in a break in our lovely summer, we go to the twilight market in Anglesea. Blue grey clouds hold the hot sun back and maybe a storm will brew. We might miss it anyway because due to our grandchildren, we are very early. In what looks ... READ MORE
The days edge into the haze of the last of summer and still, the grass seems to be flowing in green waves before your eyes. In the evenings, windows open and crickets talk along the fence line, probably about the weather. Beside me on the couch is A, my husband ... READ MORE
These pieces I write are really letters to you and I thank you with all I have. Each week I write another column as I did at ‘The Age’. Then I decided to write novels. It went well for a while. But maybe I left my run too late, and ... READ MORE
Six months ago, we signed a contract to sell our house. Once it was sold, we would then downsize. Plenty of people do it and it seemed simple. Our children were forty-one, thirty-nine and thirty-five, old enough to withstand the shock. I’d been against the move for years but suddenly ... READ MORE