We went. We bought. We decorated. What a pleasant experience it is in selecting a Christmas tree, packing it up and lugging it home (well Guy did anyway). Our tree of choice was a 6ft Norwegian Spruce (grown in Hertfordshire, naturally), a variety that smells of forest and that doesn’t shed its leaves….yeah right. Oh,…

Another cracking ‘must-see’ exhibition, ‘In Real Life’ over at the TATE Modern by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. You may remember my post from December 2018, when Eliasson installed 24 blocks of melting Arctic ice in the forecourt of the TATE, highlighting the urgency of climate change. One year on and we’re all experiencing the ravages…

“Looking is, I feel, a vital aspect of existence. Perception constitutes our awareness of what it is to be human, indeed what it is to be alive.”  – Bridget Riley I am so fortunate to be in London during a full retrospective at the Hayward Gallery of one of my favourite artists, Bridget Riley. She’s 88…

It’s November already – or as I like to call it ‘Mauvember’. A glorious time of the year when Summer returns, heatwaves blast in from the west and the Jacaranda trees explode into a purple haze. It’s also the time for the annual Sculpture by the Sea, the world’s largest free sculpture exhibition, with over…

Once again, we’re being blessed with another mild, some might say warm, winter at a balmy 19 degrees most days. This is possibly the best time of the year, jet-blue skies and blazing sunshine, though overnight and early morning can feel a tad chilly as it drops below 10 degrees. “Nice for some. We dream…

All right, so it’s not that bleak, but on a blustery cold showery day in Sydney, with barely a patch of blue to make a sailors suit, it felt like the depths of winter. And of course it is, the Winter Solstice. No druids to be found on Bondi this morning (aside from Ants of…

First full week of winter here in Sydney and we’ve had a week of extremes. We were up in the Blue Mountains last weekend in glorious weak winter sunshine, chatting to our hosts about the possibility of snow…. Naaaa, “nothing on the forecast” he said “not cold enough”…. so not a day back down on…

Sydney’s annual winter festival VIVID opened on Friday to the usual thronging crowds, spectacular Circular Quay setting, lights and projections, but tempered a little by super-cautious security and over-inflated prices. You know you’re not in Argentina when two thimbles of wine cost $27 (that’s a whopping 840 pesos for anyone reading in BA) including a…

Sydney continues to bask in glorious mid 20’s sunshine, just a few weeks out from the official start of winter. As usual, Autumn has been cancelled (due to lack of interest perhaps?) with no sign of changing. We’ll probably have two months of cooler weather, but as with recent years, it’ll be dry, sunny and…

Jet lag has been pretty rough the last few days, so what better way to blow away the cobwebs than the walk from Bronte over to Tamarama on a glorious 21-degree winter’s day. The rock pool here at Bronte is one of my favourite places in Sydney. I’d forgotten just how inviting that ocean water…