“Meet up with me next Tuesday night, under the bridge near The Narrows in Perth, just before dusk. Bring Cash.” She said to me. It was all a bit furtive and sounded like a ransom demand! Instead of being robbed, I had a great social evening out. A friend had invited me along to a fundraising multi-group Hash House Harriers (HHH or H3) evening. But, I don’t run! I barely ever even run late. Whilst HHH are non-competitive running groups, you can also walk, cycle, ski (SKASH), s

There are no private beaches in Australia. Any land that the high tide touches is Crown Land. This means that people can use the beaches for recreational and social uses. If you are building a beachside property, your land ends at the high water mark, meaning you cannot block the beach access to the public. In some countries land owners can block off parts of their beach and restrict its use to people. In the USA I was visiting a beach and was surprised to see that a resort h

I love a success story where a hard working battler overcomes prejudice and unfair laws to succeed and help others. The Galati family is a living example of this story. In November 1998 the Galati family started selling excess produce from their Baldavis farm shed. Twenty-two years later they have launched their fifteenth store in the Perth area, at Stirling. The parents were Sicilian immigrants with a market garden helped out by sons Tony, Vince and Sam. They once grew too m

“You are too fat to fly economy. You will have to pay for a second seat!” These were the words whispered across the table as I sat in the travel agent’s office. The sized 2 person (definitely not a lady), was too ashamed to say it aloud to me. “The airlines have a policy you see….” She continued whispering, whilst looking sideways as if to make it seem a shameful secret. By this stage my face had gone bright red, just knowing that every person within a kilometre had their ear

There is something primal about a campfire. The heat it generates warms your body whilst the flickering flames are almost hypnotising. The smell of the burning wood in a campfire is comforting. Since cavemen rubbed two sticks together and created fire, a campfire has the ability to gather people around it and socialise together. Many of the other campers and myself cooked over the flames, then sat around drinking, sharing stories and getting to know each other. This is a grea

Over 5000 (and growing weekly) gnomes call this place home, Ferguson Valley in the south of Western Australia. Listed as one of the top 100 places visited in Australia, it has to be seen to be believed. I spoke to the Watson family as they placed their own group of gnomes. Mum, Dad and five children are from Kalamunda near Perth. They made a trip down here to rest their gnomes. Each family member has written their name and date on the gnome and placed them under a tree as a f