A short trip over Christmas to Australia and Tasmania. How to even start to talk about what I encountered - from MONA a 'gallery' tunnelled out of rock to house a collection of extravagant installations to watching an echidna feasting on a nest of bullet ants. Completely taken by the natural environment - the trees, birds and animals are other. You find yourself constantly stumbling upon creatures only previously seen on nature programmes. The first kangaroo is amazing, but I loved the mind-blowing birds. Their feathers and calls. Melbourne is a thoroughly modern city and so lush, every space between the built landscape seemed filled with excessive amounts of growth. There were great galleries, parks, food markets and stunning architecture. Tasmania was stunningly beautiful, miles of 'empty' space filled with light. A boat trip to an uninhabited island off an island off an island offered real tranquillity and calm only broken with a host of extraordinary bird noises including the amazing Kookaburra ……Then there is the glorious food including chicken parva, giant prawns, 'bugs', champion pies, curried oyster pies, and the endless snacks, sweets, biscuits and cakes I've never seen before, to many to mention.
