Author: Bobwords

Tales of quarantine and homelessness

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Had it not been for the coronavirus outbreak (the WHO calls it COVID-19), few Australians would have known of Manigurr-ma, a purpose-built accommodation village 30kms from Darwin. Manigurr-ma, or Howards Springs as it is zoned by Australia Post, was built in 2012 at a cost of $600 million as part of the Ichthys LNG gas project. Developed by infrastructure company Aecom for the multinational INPEX consortium, the village can house up to 3,500 people in…

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Wait a minute Mr Postman

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So goes the refrain of a much-covered song from a now-defunct genre of love songs involving ‘snail mail’. Well may they call it that, with packages mailed to my sister in New Zealand taking up to 12 days to arrive. A Leunig calendar mailed to a friend in London in early December still has not arrived! I’ve been hanging out every day for the Postie to arrive. What’s got me on Postie-alert is a series…

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Australia Day and the Highland Clearances

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Australia Day came and went and alas, not once did I think about my birthplace, Scotland, or the country where I spent my childhood (New Zealand). The older I get and the further away from my Citizenship Day ceremony (January 26, 2000), the more it seems I have assimilated. I do not mean assimilate in a flag-wearing, gum boot-tossing, beer-swilling, ‘It-was-in- the-‘Stralian-so-it-must-be-true’, sense. Regardless, it is some admission from an iconoclastic alien, someone who had…

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Last drinks at the Paradise Motel

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As I gave up drinking alcohol some 36 years ago, it was probably not surprising I forgot the essential ingredient for a house-warming party. “Um,” said She Who Trusted Me with the Catering, “What about the ice – for those who are bringing something to drink?” Off I went on a mercy dash to buy a bag of ice. The first guest had arrived before I returned and showed me the best way to prepare…

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