Gold Memorial at Fourth Hill in Warrandyte

It's a little-known fact that Warrandyte is the site of the first gold discovery in Victoria. Gold Heritage Walk at Fourth Hill in Warrandyte State Park commemorates the event in little more than an understated whisper. Here you can wander bushland to the soundtrack of native birds, peer into old mine shafts, consider gnarly old trees and former dwellings while pondering the uncertain prospects of the early colonial gold diggers. My review of this wonderful walk is published on the Weekend Notes platform. To read the full article, click here.

Edwards Point Reserve

Edwards Point Reserve is a 4km long sand spit, and the last remaining coastal woodland on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria. It is playing a vital role in the recovery of the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot. 

My review of this wonderful walk is now published on the Weekend Notes platform, click here.

Born To Achieve: A Little Sister Proves Her Big Sister Wrong

On The Fence Productions continues to poke a stick at little visited worlds in their latest offering. 

Playing as part of The Fringe Hub, Born To Achieve delves into the real-life personal diaries of Ruby Johnston, who conducts this one-woman show with grace, honesty and courage. Its is a study in self-reflection and poignant reminders for all those who've ever suffered through adolescence and early adulthood. More

Bread Crumbs: World Premiere at 2017 Poppy Seed Festival

Once upon a time there was no happy ever after....

"Fairytale", "crass" and "black comedy" are not terms you'd usually expect to find in the same sentence. But they're essential ingredients in BREAD CRUMBS, a new dramatic recipe that has been cooked up for this year's Poppy Seed Festival in Melbourne. 

In this original play by Ruby Johnston and Benjamin Nichol, the familiar fable Hansel and Gretel, provides a conduit into an exploration of the relationship between gender roles, domestic abuse, and the scars they grind. Continue reading

Alexithymia: Audiences Look At Life Through An Autistic Lens

Alexithymia is not one the title of an innovative new theatre experience, it is a state that affects around 85% of people on the autism spectrum. Alexithymia is the inability to name or describe feelings, and the focus of a new theatre experience on the 2017 Poppy Seed Festival program.

A_tistic artistic director and Alexithymia playwright, Tom Middleditch, who is diagnosed on the autism spectrum, says alexithymia can be best thought of as the distance one is from what they feel. 

 “Alexithymia is structured to encourage autistic thinking. Each piece explores a theme borne from the condition, alexithymia, but the full experience only emerges once the audience starts to recognise the patterns between the short works. You often hear people say we are all on the autism spectrum and by experiencing this play, audiences will not only learn about autistic thought processes, but also learn how it feels and how they may have experienced these feelings themselves,” said Middleditch. Read the preview here

Peaceful Origami At Melbourne's Shrine Of Remembrance

There is a certain irony. In an act of peaceful meditation, children are invited to Melbourne's Shrine Of Remembrance these school holidays to fold paper cranes.

Origami, a distinctly Japanese art form, is widely regarded as an act of meditation or mindfulness. Read the full article on Weekend Notes

Advent Cafe Experience

If you're looking for something different this Advent season, you won't do better than the pop up cafe at Ringwood Uniting Church in Melbourne's eastern suburbs.

The cafe is providing training for home-grown baristas, using fair trade coffee from Wild Timor Coffee and, wherever possible, sourcing food from within a 100km radius. As a not-for-profit venture you pay for your food and beverage by donation.

What does your Advent smell like? Sensory table (26th Nov)

What's more you can choose to get a new insight into Advent by attending a different input session each week until Christmas.

From sensory experiences and theological reflections to hip hop artist Dylan Joel on offer, this event has something for pretty much everyone.

Find out more about the cafe, the input and operating times here.  

'Wagner Roos' Welcome 'Ring Nuts' to Melbourne

It's big, it's showy, it's long and it's here.

In the Northern Hemisphere they’re called “Ring Nuts”, but the Australian cohort have been dubbed “Wagner Roos”. Whatever you call them, they are unique breed, travelling whenever and wherever Wagner’s Ring Cycle is being performed. “Wagner Roos” are in heaven as The Ring comes to Melbourne, courtesy of Opera Australia, The City of Melbourne and patron Maureen Wheeler. But what is all the fuss about? And are these Wagnerian enthusiasts, with apparently more money than sense, more than a little loopy? Continue reading

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