Here's a little Australia Day love ... celebrity style (via Instagram, Twitter, WhoSay etc) ... ... Miranda Kerr: "Sending lots of love to all my fellow Australians! We're so blessed with such a beautiful country!#happyaustraliaday" Natalie Bassingthwaite: "Hope u are all enjoying this brilliant day.. Happy Australia Day everyone mwah xx" Ariel Winter: The Modern... Continue Reading →

I'm hopeless at sleeping at other people's houses ... All those strange noises and unfamiliar pillows and having to share a bed with a seven-year-old with really itchy eczema ... So I decided to take a crude, over-the-counter elephant tranquilizer-style sleeping pill on the last night of my far north coast sojourn. Big mistake. Because... Continue Reading →

One of the many things Husband and I disagree upon is breakfast. He loves going to cafes, reading the newspaper and ordering big plates of eggs. Not really my thing. Not enough excitement in a brekkie menu for me ... And egg overloads make me feel queasy. I'd rather hold off for yum cha. But... Continue Reading →

Look how gorgeous this place is ... The Channon ... We spent yesterday relaxing with our dear friends Simon & Bronwyn while the kids donned their cossies to chase each other in the rain and search for crystals in the creek. Meanwhile the grown-ups lounged on the verandah drinking tea, then gathered at the dining... Continue Reading →

I didn't just pluck our holiday destination out of thin air. I booked with intent. And this is why ... Three years ago Husband took the kids to Melbourne to visit their cousins and I had a bright idea - instead of flying back to Sydney, why not meet on the Gold Coast instead. I'd... Continue Reading →

(That's a Doctor Who reference for the uninitiated. You really need to get initiated - it's almost as awesome as Kingscliff.) We are leaving paradise this morning. And I am sad. We will be back for longer next time. Ten days at least. It is GORGEOUS here, and peaceful (well, some sad would-be hoons tried... Continue Reading →

Tempting as it was to park ourselves at Mantra Salt and not leave its Truman Show-like surrounds again for seven days, we decided an expedition was in order. We mentioned to Brisbane-based friends that we were considering Currumbin Wildlife Santuary and they recoiled in horror, suggesting we check out the baby polar bear at Sea... Continue Reading →

After a decade of bone-crushing isolation and fear inside her cell at Silverwater Jail, there have finally been tantalizing glimmers of hope for my former school friend Kathleen Folbigg ... and those who feel she didn't receive a fail trial when she was convicted of murdering three of her children and the manslaughter of a... Continue Reading →

I've joked to Husband that the youngest and I should be sharing the king-sized bed while on hols, so he can burn the midnight candle and snooze until 9am in a matching single with his sleep doppleganger (aka the 10-year-old). Each morning, the 7-year-old and I rise before 6.30am and creep noisily around the apartment... Continue Reading →

I'm not one for fussing. The mere idea of most beauty treatments fills me with horror at the waste of time and money involved. But I'm rather partial to a pedicure. My feet, before they became cracked and old, were one of my favourite features - high arches, long toes, proper nails, even on the... Continue Reading →