The population of the forty-spotted pardalote might be in freefall, seemingly headed to extinction, but the people of Bruny Island are not going to let the little bird die. On a sunny afternoon in the Jetty Café at Dennes Point, Bruny Islanders were talking up the bird they describe as the “quiet achiever”, saying that it was too precious to their community to be allowed to go the way of the dodo. Dennes Point is famous in forty-spot folklore as having the largest … [Read more...] about The quiet achiever defies extinction
Archives for November 2012
That place ‘over the road’
Frankie Allen stood in the lift, his back to the wall, facing the mock-Tudor bar he had just left. He had not looked back when he had pressed the button to summon the lift to the first floor of the Elizabeth Hotel in Johannesburg. Perhaps he didn’t want to look back at the colleagues remaining in the bar, carrying on with their drinking and chatting, carrying on with their lives. But in the split second it took for the lift doors to close Frankie Allen turned around and … [Read more...] about That place ‘over the road’
Marathon bird brings cheer
The bells of Christchurch Cathedral once rang out each September to herald to return of the New Zealand harbinger of spring, the bar-tailed godwit from their breeding grounds within the Arctic circle. The bells might be silent now following the devastating earthquake that destroyed much of the city last year, including the cathedral’s bell tower, but the people of Christchurch still rejoice in the arrival of the godwits. My sister who lives in Christchurch found … [Read more...] about Marathon bird brings cheer
A date that defies destiny
The assignment was not the one reporter Lucy Archer wanted when she looked at the newsroom diary that morning. Courts were sitting, there might be a juicy case and here she was presented with the prospect of joining a dating agency with the eventual aim of writing a feature article about this growing social phenomenon. She came to Bentley to complain, who always provided a sympathetic ear for reporters with a complaint, a grouse. Bentley always listened, and understood. … [Read more...] about A date that defies destiny
All the world’s a stage
Don Bentley was so engrossed in his book on journalism and that he didn’t notice the young woman looking at him. Not at first. She sat facing him on the Basingstoke semi-fast and her eyes shifted from the cover of Bentley's book, and its title, How to be a Journalist, to Bentley and back to the cover again. After a while, looking up as the carriage rocked and swayed as it crossed the points at Clapham Junction, Bentley sensed that he had attracted someone's attention. He … [Read more...] about All the world’s a stage