The Road to Nowhere Leads to a Shack

16th October 2012 After a day of travel we have arrived in Strahan (pronounced “Strawn” as the locals immediately tell you), on the western coast of Tasmania, close to the spot which officially has the cleanest air in the world. An excellent patch of...

Wimborne Literary Festival

Do come and see me at the Wimborne Literary Festival tomorrow 2nd November 2012. I will be at the Waterside Cafe, Allendale Community Centre, Hanham Road, Wimborne at 3.30pm. It’s £3 per ticket, and for that I will be talking about my career and how to make a...

Melaleuca’s Vanishing Parrots, and other stories

14th October 2012 It usually takes the warm glow of distant memory to assign any particular experience to one’s pantheon of top treasures, but I cannot imagine that today will ever slip out of my list of “best wildlife days ever”. It was simply...

Tasmania Sealife

13th October 2012 Over the years I’ve heard a lot about Tasmania. In fact, I chose Tasmania as a school project when I was about 11 and bored my friends stupid talking about its wildlife. Now some 20 years later it’s my chance to see what the fuss is...

Wind blowing, mindblowing

11th October 2012 The strong south-east wind blowing off the Antarctic this morning ensured two things: cold and breezy conditions, and potentially sensational seawatching. Our admirable guide Chris Baxter (affectionately known as Kangaroo Island’s “Bird...

Island Hop

10th October 2012 This morning we did the quick hop, appropriately enough, over to Kangaroo Island, off the coast of South Australia. It’s a half hour flight from Adelaide, on one of those excitingly small planes powered by propellers. It turns out that half an...