In recent years there have been ongoing calls in Australia for state provided or heavily subsidised kindergarten and outside school hours childcare – a very literal example of the nanny state that Australia is fast becoming.
This call is nothing new and the groundswell for kindergartens began in Australia in the late 1800s when things were very different than they are today. Continue reading “KU Maybanke Preschool”
Coming across this along Harris Street in Pyrmont I couldn’t help wondering if someone had scampered from the nearby Powerhouse Museum with an exhibit, display case and all, and abandoned it here on the street corner. Continue reading “Insect with Lead”
Throughout the later part of the 19th century and into the 20th century the Hordern Family dominated the Sydney retail trade. Beginning with ‘Mrs Hordern’s’ drapery shop in 1823, Anthony Hordern and Sons soon became the largest department store in Sydney, with businesses in Europe, America and China. Continue reading “Hordern Drinking Fountain”
I don’t know why but I have always found it rather disconcerting that a war memorial be placed in a location more renowned for depravity and debauchery than commemoration of battles in distant lands. Placed in the centre of Kings Cross (affectionately referred to simply as The Cross), Sydney’s notorious red light district, it is hardly surprising that this memorial has become known locally as the elephant douche. Continue reading “The El Alamein Fountain”
If you visit Elizabeth Bay House (or even if you don’t, as it has very limited opening hours), a heritage property built for Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay in the 1830s, do pop across the road for a look at the delightfully manicured, though small, Arthur McElhone Reserve. Continue reading “Arthur McElhone Reserve”
It had been a number of years since I had visited the Australian Museum but I was recently drawn back, attracted by the fact that it was hosting a special exhibition, Trailblazers, honouring Australia’s 50 greatest explorers and because I had a museum pass, bought on a recent trip to Melbourne, which gave me free entry to museum’s permanent galleries. Continue reading “The Australian Museum”
Until 1967 Indigenous Australians did not have the right to vote and were not included in Australia’s census counts.
This effective non-recognition of Indigenous people as Australian citizens was particularly troublesome for the authorities when it came to them serving, or not, in the armed services. Continue reading “Yininmadyemi – Thou Didst Let Fall”
I have often wondered about the origin of this Obelisk. Surely it must be of some importance, standing grandly as it does at the top of Bathurst Street where it intersects with Elizabeth Street, on the edge of Hyde Park? Continue reading “Hyde Park Obelisk”
Running between the National Library and the High Court/National Gallery of Australia is an area of parkland given over to a series of artworks drawing on Aboriginal culture and history. Reconciliation Place, as the area is called, aims at reaffirming Australia’s shared history, from an Aboriginal perspective, and the nation’s commitment to reconciliation between Aboriginals and later settlers in Australia. Continue reading “The Path to Reconciliation”
Questacon, Australia’s National Science and Technology centre, is one of Canberra’s top attractions, much loved by children in particular though it offers plenty to stimulate the curiosity and interest of people of all ages. Continue reading “Questacon – Science In Action”
The Rambling Wombat 