Tourists are like dragonflies on an autumn afternoon. They hurry from attraction to attraction and monument to monument in search of beauty or history, hovering over gardens, harbours and mountains, footpaths and shopfronts. Sometimes they alight softly in a library, among books rising from wall to wall...
In Pursuit of Oz: The Blue Between
Across the valley rose the broad, flat silhouette of Mount Solitary. To our right, the Three Sisters revealed themselves from behind—an unfamiliar, almost private perspective far removed from the celebrated view at Echo Point which we would later visit. Beyond them stretched the Narrow Neck Plateau, its sandstone spine disappearing into an unbroken sea of eucalyptus.
In Pursuit of Oz: Conversations with Sydney
Australia's flora is itself a meeting place of distant worlds. Some species are native to this ancient continent; others journeyed here from across the globe and found a new home. Rooted to the same patch of earth, they have watched Sydney reinvent itself.
A Journey, Noticed
Every writer sends a piece into the world with little certainty of where it might travel.
In Pursuit of Oz: Finding Sydney
As though reluctant to let us go, Hyde Park sent us off beneath hesitant drops of rain. By the time we reached College Street the drizzle had thickened into a mild patter. The rain gave us an excuse we scarcely needed.
In Pursuit of Oz: All That Light in Sydney
Nothing about the bustling waterfront around me suggested 1844. The wooden sailing ships that had once relied upon wind, tide and stars were gone. Engines, radio and radar belonged to a future beyond imagination.
In Pursuit of Oz: Lost in the Bush
Step inside and look up, and you’ll find a waterfall dropping through a perfect hole in the ceiling — like the mountain quietly decided to let a little daylight in.
In Pursuit of Oz: All Quiet on the Gold Coast
Despite being one of Australia’s best-known tourist precincts, the atmosphere felt remarkably restrained. Nobody appeared particularly interested in impressing anyone else. People walked, cycled, surfed, lingered, watched the ocean, or simply occupied themselves with the agreeable business of doing very little.
In Pursuit of Oz: Along the Great Ocean Road
Armed with a 7-Eleven umbrella, she soon discovered that the local winds regarded umbrellas as little more than suggestions. After a brief but unequal struggle, the contraption inverted itself with remarkable efficiency, possibly as a precaution against its owner being carried off like a reluctant paratrooper.
In Pursuit of Oz: The Spirits of Melbourne
I had watched Spider-Man swing between skyscrapers often enough. I had simply never expected to audition for the role myself.
In Pursuit of Oz: Temporary Melburnians
Crossing the road from Flinders Street, we stepped into Federation Square. It is arguably Melbourne’s principal public space and, quite possibly, a declaration of war against the straight line. If Flinders Street Station belongs to the age of clocks, domes, and punctual railway ambitions, Federation Square appears to have been designed by a committee of highly gifted triangles.
In Pursuit of Oz: The Hong Kong Surprise
The young woman attempted an explanation in English. Unfortunately, the circumstances required a language altogether different. The more she explained, the less I understood, and the less I understood, the more elaborate my objections became.
One Grain Amongst the Storm 