Back from my week in Melbourne, struck anew by how much colder the more southern latitude makes it, by how culturally alive that city is, and how terrific their metro transport system – even I worked it out eventually.
I wore long johns under my jeans every day, fell in love with the Victoria Markets and the State Library, and was interviewed by terrific women on commmunity radio: Bridget Bosun on JOYFM, the gay & lesbian station; Gab Reade on 3CR, the left-wing social justice and environmental one that felt like home, and 3MDR, where my friend Ann Creber interviews really interesting people in extraordinarily diverse fields. All of them had read my book, and that’s more unusual than you’d think.
No camera, so no pics for you, but can report that the Eltham New Voices Festival went well, in wonderful venues like the faux-ancient Montsalvat and a mudbrick church hall, as did the Belgrave library talk, with lots of keen environmental interest and questions.
Now I am going into retreat to finish the text and illustrations of my next book, Mountain Tails, before the deadline of the end of August. Nearly there.