Author: Isolde

I used to play in an orchestra – two in fact – while I was at university. The first was the University of NSW, the highlight of my week, though not just because of the music. The second was the Monash university orchestra a few years later. We played Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony; a Wieniawski violin symphony, Beethoven, Holst. A few years ago when planning my year, I discussed with Stacey how I would love to join an orchestra but it was probably not possible because there tend to only be two or three flute players and there would be many…

Rhea: It was a 2-hour drive along the Great Ocean Road to get there, the road was windy with nice views. The campsite was next to a river and it was pretty empty. We got there at around 4 and set up the tent. All of us except Jolan walked to the beach (Jolan was sleeping at the campsite) and the sand along the path was really hot. We thought it would take about 20 minutes but it seemed to take longer than that, it was a long walk with big sandflies buzzing around everywhere. We all went for a…

Lara:The first day when we got there, we got off the bus and the camp leader had gotten on when we were at Cooma. His name was Sean. We sat in a circle and he told us about what we had to do that day. They gave us lunch first then we got our packs and waited around for a while then we walked over to this big open space where the campground was. Maya got swooped by a big bird, I think it was a magpie. She curled into a ball because she hadn’t been swooped before and then…

We arrived in Paris early afternoon and lugged our large bags up five flights to the apartment. We took the metro straight to the Dior shop which was very elegant, including sweeping staircase, fresh flower arrangements and a wall of white dresses. There were shirts there costing $AUS 5,000 and I felt self-conscious in my cargo pants and small backpack, but the doorman was kind (‘You are welcome to come in you know!’). We also walked to Avenue de l’Université for the best views of the Eiffel Tower – one of many views we had during our visit – sparkling…

We weren’t far into our holiday to experience the challenges of a big trip, in fact we didn’t get off the air. Due to a ticketing issue, we were not able to take our flight at all and it was only thanks to Steve’s aunt Kay’s kindness in putting us up in Sydney and her sister Annie’s liquidity and generosity in sharing it that we got off the air at all, and were able to have a day in Bangkok. Not the two days with the girls’ friend and her parents that we had anticipated, but we packed a lot…

We’re going back to Europe in a couple of weeks after more than 15 years away. We are spending a couple of days in Bangkok on the way through, staying with the girls’ friend and her family. That will be the tropical change to shift us into holiday mode. Then on to Greece, where we have never been, a tightly-scheduled week in Paris, Serviers again with Jenny and our tour will be complete. How nice it will be! Being in Greece, relaxing in the modern house with pool overlooking the coast that Steve has hired in the Greek Islands, perhaps…

Naidoc week is over for another year. The Aboriginal writer, theologian and former journalist Stan Grant wrote an article last week about his weariness with words and what they have done in our world. He wrote that he was turning to music such as by Arvo Pärt instead. Another article in the Saturday paper this week by Santillla Chingaipe wrote that seriousness has been lost in American politics as it is replaced by spectacle and entertainment, such as the meeting between President Trump and President Zelensky which was marked by the absence of respect shown to Zelensky. She notes that…

Rhea has had the quietest birthday celebration in her life on turning 15. This coincided with the worst birthday of her life: the start of two days of exams testing her on all of her French subjects’ curriculum for the year. A kind parent bought celebratory pizzas for the whole class at the end of each day, which softened the blow a little. It meant that Rhea wasn’t hungry for dinner on her birthday evening, though she did eat some of the chocolate layer cake with cream frosting that I made for them. Blowing out the candles and two parents…

Lara: We left home with dad and drove to Sydney and got to the Air BnB in the afternoon. We started getting ready while dad watched the election on TV. I wore a matching shirt with different colours with Rhea, and a white skirt. We had more time to get ready than Billie Eilish. We were trying to make a video where Rhea flips me over her shoulders. We did it twice and then we filmed ourselves and she dropped me. The warm up act was Ashe. We got there and got some hot chips and a drink and then…

My uncle Roger’s 40th birthday party was held at his brother, my uncle Malcolm’s rustic guesthouse on the Gippsland lakes forty years ago this month. I was eleven and dressed up as little miss Muffet, with my hair curled in strips of rags made out of shredded old sheets that were twisted around strands of my hair. I remember the preparations and the excitement of all of the arrivals by boat, and having my grandparents, cousins, my immediate family and mum’s cousins and their partners, as well as Roger’s friends all around. Most of the guests congregated in the ballroom,…