THINKING ABOUT LIFE… "How does it feel… to be on your own… a complete unknown…." I'm quoting Dylan here. Maybe you know the song. The words carry a tone of resignation… despair… of a lack of direction in life. Directionlessness. Adfift. That's what this story is […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

IN OUR TIME… Recent reports by The Age and monitoring groups reveal renewed attempts by far-right and neo-Nazi groups to mobilise around Australia Day through ‘March for Australia’ events on January 26. The extreme right is attempting to co-opt the day to build […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THE OUTDOOR MUSEUM… Narrow. Dingy. Dirty. Uninviting. vaguelly threating in their anonymity. What lies along their length? What happens here? They are the liminal spaces between buildings. Most people don’t notice them. They walk straight past. Lanes, alleyways […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

Time for a break and to brew a cuppa along the Pipeline Track. The 28km track ascends the lower southern face of Kunanyi-Mt Wellington in Tasmania, following the route of the Northwest Bay River at its headwaters. Passing through eucalypt forest, the track is a […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THINKING ABOUT PERMACULTURE… I am in a cafe. In between sips of our cappuccino I eavesdrop on a conversation at the adjacent table. It is a conversation between a woman and a younger man. It hovers around permaculture and political theory. It is about healing […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

EXPLORING ALTERNATIVE FUTURES… Speculative fiction offers us an alternative literary vehicle with which to explore 'what if' scenarios. But why do this? First, it frees the imagination from normal journalistic formats. Second, it can be more engaging to read […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

The US threat to Greenland: a geopolitical drama unfolds https://substack.com/@journalism43s/note/p-184179218?r=2popa4&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

THE SHED… Sheds… what you don't see when you open the door and walk in are the hidden human stories they contain. What were the stories this old shed atop the ridge contained ? READ here […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

NEW RECIPE BOOK PROMOTES LOCAL FOODS, PUBLIC HEALTH… A new cookbook for healthy, balanced meals in the Solomon Islands has been released by the Kastom Gaden association. Lyndellar Sanau compiled the recipes. The book was designed by Fiona Campbell of TerraCircle […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THE WILD… The last two months have been busy for search and rescue in Tasmania. What is behind this upsurge? Is it just unprepared adventure tourists going into places and into conditions they should not? Are there deeper causes? That’s what we look at in this […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

BUS AS HOME A couple want to live by the sea. They haven't the money to build. They do the nest-best thing. They buy a used bus and set up home in it. READ it here: https://open.substack.com/pub/russgrayson/p/the-bus?r=2popa4&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

A REWILDING MOMENT… Jagged branches twist skyward, stubbornly defying the passage of the years, of the decades. Morning sun glints off of a trunk hardened and smoothed by summer sun and the winds of the Roaring 40s. There is photographic value even in mundane […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

FRANSTRALIE: a nation that could have been… What if the French maritime explorers who charted the Tasmanian and Australian southeastern coast had been followed by voyages of colonisation, much as the British did? Here’s an alternative history of our continent […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

OUR LAND, OUR FOOD… a preliminary review… So, imagine this. You come to settle a new land you know nothing about. You have supplies in your boat that will last… what?… two years? You carry seed and farm animals to start agriculture. But what of the soils? The […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

VOYAGES OF EXPLORATION, DISCOVERY AND LOSS… Had the English not established a colony at Port Jackson, would we be eating croissants for breakfast instead of porridge? Perhaps, because the French were actively exploring the Tasmanian and the south east Australian […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

The first flowers of the season bloom on the apricot. The plum, too. Nearby, the golden spheres are Cape gooseberries (Physalis peruviana). Out front, the wattle trees are in bloom. The first sign of spring. #gardening #flowers #fruittrees #permaculture #tasmania

HERE ON THE COAST… The mass of warm, moist air rises. Trapped within it, water vapor condenses. Water droplets form and when the air between 2000 and 4000m is cold enough they freeze into ice crystals. That’s a story of this morning’s sky here at 42.8° South […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

TALES OF THE NOT-QUITE-TRUE… Sometimes, fiction is based on fact. The characters, their actions and dialog might be made up, but the core of the story that forms the plot really did happen. So it is with this fictionalised account of a woman missing in the […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

A REWILDING MOMENT… Eucalyptus, Lewisham foreshore track, SE Tasmania. #trees #eucalypyus #tasmania #bushwalking #hiking #photography #landscapephotography

JOURNAL… Clouds dim the late afternoon light. A lone walker makes their way along a path that creates a diagonal line across the frame and leads the eye into it. The bare branches exotic trees silhouetted against the sky, their foliage long gone with autumn’s […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THE WILD… Crossing Tasmania's Franklin River is easier these days than it was when we had to cross via flying fox. An old photo reawakens memories on journeys past, and on the present state of wilderness walking. READ THE STORY HERE […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THE OUTDOOR MUSEUM… The presence of the past. Look around, and you see it here and there in farmers fields, in the cities and in rural towns. Here, near the southeastern Tasmanian town of Cygnet, lie relics of the Industrial Revolution, the age of steam power […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS… “I was on the street last year. And yes, I was the most comfortable homeless person at the tent city. I was the go-to guy to start the cooking fire when it was raining or to help build a shelter with minimal supplies”… comment on a […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

STORIES OF THE COAST… The beach shacks at Bulgo on the Illawarra coast in NSW are typical of the informal vernacular architecture of Australian shack building, basic structures of wood and galvanised iron, fibro and whatever building materials were at hand… […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THINGS IN THE WORLD… What does the TV series Alone have to teach us about the psychology and physical skills of survival in hostile cold and wet environments? That is what I started to wonder after speaking with a woman in a cutlery shop… READ THE STORY HERE […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

A REWILDING MOMENT… The sun rises and illuminates the sand dunes with its golden light. Day comes, and I think how sunrise is a cyclic pattern in nature unremarked upon before the coming of humankind. Now, it brings forth a sense of renewal, of gratitude, a […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THE MOUNTAINS… When was it? some time ago now. I was looking through old photos when I came across some I took decades ago on walks into the Walls Of Jerusalem, the cluster of peaks near Tasmania's Central Plateau. Looking at them, memories came of those […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THINKING ABOUT PERMACULTURE… How do permaculture practitioners deal with the deteriorating geopolitical scene forcing itself upon us today? Some might retreat into their home gardens and shut out the world, but the world will come knocking on their doors sooner […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THE OUTDOOR MUSEUM… You will find this superb example of an Art Norveau doorway at the Saint Marys Hotel on Main Street, Saint Marys. Art Nouveau was an international style of art, architecture and decorative art that flourished from approximately 1890 to 1910 […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THINGS IN THE WORLD… Nearly every morning a large, black bird with a pointed head lands on the railing, and looking inside through the window makes the same three note call. What is it after? #birds #wildlife #tasmania #tasmanian wildlife #forestraven

PLANT NOTES… Maybe you have eaten chia, but have you tried growing it? We experimented with a few bushes here in our cool temperate climate and the plant did well, however we are not sure for how much longer as we are coming into the time of frost. Do you have […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

A LITTLE FICTION… Sometimes, fiction collides with fact to collapse into a hybrid. https://medium.com/pacificedge/the-track-37d93b42a8c6

THE WILD… I took this photo near Beatties Tarm, following the Mt Field East Track in Tasmania’s Mt Field National Park. Despite the wind howling across the alpine tops, it was sheltered in the forest. This challenging alpine circuit (Grade: 4-for experienced […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THAT SINKING FEELING… Taking on water along Lewisham foreshore trail in Tasmania. #boats #tasmania

DANCING WITH HISTORIC FICTION… It is historic fiction but at the same time it's a tale of what could have been. When we gathered that historic night at John's Bondi flat we didn't know that we were on the cusp of a new political era and, at the same time, at the […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THE OUTDOOR MUSEUM… I don’t know the story of this place. It’s in the city in Hobart, a building once a garage or car sales premises. I put it at the start of the 20th century, sometime around then. There’s a big multipanelled wood-framed display window, and the […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

ALONG THE TRAIL… It's an annual pilgrimage, the Turning of the Fagus, and it brings people from the cities and into the mountains. That was us as the end of May approached, and with it the end of the autumn of 2025. Join us for a walk to view the fagus, to […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THINGS IN THE WORLD… From traditional culture to modern culture, the tipi became a symbol of simple living close to nature. https://medium.com/pacificedge/tipi-02a16b4eddb3?source=friends_link&sk=b88e88eab01224b80f090e8c01c055ea / https://medium.com/pacificedge/tipi-02a16b4eddb3

THE WILD… They are out at this time of year, hanging on the branches of tough wiry shrubs, little dots of white that blend into the snowy terrain of the past couple days. They are another gift of edible nature to humanity. READ THE STORY HERE: Mountain […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

WILD FOODS OF TASMANIA… We are up in the subalpine zone of Mt Field National Park and the mountain pinkberry is in fruit. Mountain pinkberry is one of the edible berries that make their home in the often-chilly heights of Tasmania's mountains. But you don't have […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THE WILD… We read the story of the land in its rock, vegetation and terrain. That was apparent as I stood atop the high cliff above Lake Seal in Mt Field National Park in Tasmania. Below, the lake and the valley is sat at the head of told of past glaciers and of […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

SEEKING SOLUTIONS… Have you ever thought about how permaculture can help us tackle the big challenges facing our world? I know it might seem like a daunting task, but remember, even as individuals, we can make a difference in some ways. People are already taking action at the local level […]

THINKING ABOUT PERMACULTURE… It was when I was looking for a book on the shelf that a couple other titles caught my eye. I never did find that elusive book I was looking for, however the sight of those other titles made me realise that the saying that new ideas stand on the shoulders of those […]

AGRICULTURAL AWARD RECOGNISES RESEARCH INTO FERTILISER ALTERNATIVE… Microbiologist Mariangela Hungria, a Brazilian scientist who for 40 years researched the use of legumes in agriculture as an alternative to synthetic fertilisers, has been awarded this year’s World Food Prize. Her research […]

ALL THAT IS EDIBLE… Large and dark, the Black Russian tomato offers a sizeable feast. https://medium.com/permaculture-3-0/the-black-russian-02226a064e18?source=friends_link&ssk=64fdd9532c834202eaa735bc02361dc5110525

HERE ON THE COAST… Altostratus perlucidus clouds over Dodges Ferry, Tasmania, brought last night's daylight to a close. This is a mid-altitude cloud that offers nothing in the way or rain, being formed by convective air currents lifting warmer air to an altitude […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THE WILD… In Lagoon Park, the yellow gum (Eucalyptus leucoxylon) is in flower. It’s a small to medium height tree endemic to southeast Australia—but not Tasmania—with a smooth yellowish bark and curved lanceolate leaves that can be distilled to make eucalyptus […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

A REVIEW… Surely, we have all heard of Leonard Cohen. and, if so, we’ll all be familiar with his song, So Long Marianne. But who was Maryanne? And why did he write a song about her? That’s the theme of a TV series broadcast on SBS. Here’s a review of it. Did […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THE WILD… It was a spontaneous decision to walk the Cape Pillar Circuit on the Tasman Peninsula. A spur of the moment idea. If you have walked the circuit or the Thee Capes Track of which it is a part then you will know that our decision to go was a good one […] [Original post on mastodon.au]

THINGS IN THE WORLD… Unique, some would call it. And they would be right. 'Historic' would be another word to describe Harry's Cafe de Wheels. If you have never eaten at what is a culinary and cultural landmark in the city, your dining experience is surely […] [Original post on mastodon.au]