Fifty Shades of Utter Rubbish
I downloaded a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey on Sunday night, after finding no less than eleven references to it in the pages of this week’s Sunday Times. I figured that if AA Gill and Jeremy Clarkson were citing the book in their columns, there must be something beyond the hype. There wasn’t. I’ve read plenty of drivel in my life. I was addicted to Mills and Boon at age twelve and devouring Jackie Collins and Sheldon by thirteen. I’m no ...
Gas Hub at James Price Point
This is the beach at James Price Point, 60 km North of Broome. Some of you may recall that I used to live in the Kimberley. Part of me still calls it home, and always will; I have never ruled out moving back there. For some years now, Woodside has been campaigning to make James Price Point the location of a $30 billion dollar liquefied natural gas plant. The multinational has been wading its way through the usual ...
The joy of the journey
Ever since I got back from my walk, I have seriously struggled to know how to fill my blog. After all – it was begun as a way to share the trek, and for no other real reason. When the trek stopped – well, what now? My walk was always an intensely personal experience. Adventure as a wider phenomenon, or as a community, interests me very little; the journey of life does, however. I think about writing pieces titled ‘the ten ...
New adventures
I am ever hesitant of writing about new dreams and plans, since the last few years have served up a number of lessons in things not working quite as planned. But sometimes I can't help myself. For the last year I have been working on an historical fiction project set in Napoleonic era Spain. Recently, in the name of research, I spent a weekend doing something I could never have imagined - I went to a re-enactment weekend, held by the ...
Post ski season
Apologies for the long absence, and incorrect information. As has been commented on, the Insight program that was scheduled was cancelled due to the election. I am still waiting to find out if it will be re-scheduled. I had a wonderful walk in central Australia, and was hoping I would have some photos to post up - but am still waiting for them to be sent through from the other people on the trek. It was a great experience, and sheer ...
Desert trekking
I had a great week with the Talking Heads program, the Emerging Writers' Festival, and another TV invitation - this time for SBS insight program, on July 20th. I am looking forward to that one! In the meantime, I am heading off next week to Cooper Pedy, where I have been privileged to be invited to walk with a charity called Delhuntie, who focus on working with teenagers who have faced personal challenges in their home lives. We will be walking ...
COntinental Divide Trail versus Appalachian
Ok - to all you trekkers out there. I am trying to decide between these two trails, and I could do with a little help. My major consideration is walking something that is good to write about. From this perspective, it would seem to me that the Appalachian is a great one - offering lots of weird and wonderful characters along the way, and plenty of scope for writing. But the Continental Divide Trail seems a truly beautiful walk, and challenging ...
A new walk
Oh, I'm so excited! This post is a combination of a promise I made to a reader a while ago and have yet felt able to fulfil; and also by way of sharing the excitement of new ideas. Some weeks ago, I received this email from Melissa Layton after she finished reading Sahara (here in part) What I really wanted to read about, however, was how you fitted back into life after the trek. How you felt and feel now. I'm sure others ...
Still alive, sorry!
I have been away from my blog for way too long. The reasons are predictable - I have been in the darkness for a long time, unsure of where I was headed, or how, and I never feel much like writing when that happens. But a couple of interesting things have happened of late. Firstly, a young man by the name of Christian Bodegren set out from Cairo with camels last October. He had planned to walk my ...
Changes again
I have put off writing this for weeks. I just couldn't face it, but it has to be done sooner or later. My Australian walk isn't happening. In short, my second book is coming out in October this year (which is really great news, and I am very happy about) but which also means I have a lot of editing to do, not to mention publicity stuff when it actually comes out. I was getting increasingly stressed about how to combine ...
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I 'download' books all the time. Legally. It's called a Kindle, l
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