MANNERS AND OTHER MATTERS

Final Year Photo CCGS 1973 I have just returned from a great week at my beachhouse at Guilderton, about 100 kms north of Perth. I had originally hoped to have 2 weeks there but it was not to be. So, 6 days it was and we certainly made the best of them. We laughed, cried, danced, sang, swam, cooked and drank too much wine – altogether a perfect “girl’s gettogether” And it was a wonderful mix of my friends, one of whom I have known since we were 14 and attended the Canberra Church of England Girls Grammar School. As we were both children of military officers we also ended up sharing a dormitory in our last year of school as boarders. Our parents had been posted elsewhere and we revelled in our new found "freedom" in the boarding house together. The galahs made nearly as much noise as the girls! Another friend used to work with me in Malcolm Fraser’s office when he was Prime Minister. She and I have been organising a fundraising event here in Perth with the world renowne...

  The Concorde Menu: BA 172, New York-London, 7 June 1978 I have been cleaning out cupboards in preparation for the upheaval in my house in two weeks to enable the laying of new carpet. And it is amazing what I have found…I am much more of a hoarder of mementos than I realised. In the mid 1970’s, when in my early 20’s I had what I was sure was the best job in Australia. I was the assistant to the Press Secretary to the then Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser. I held the position between 1975 and 1979. I travelled the globe, worked ridiculous hours and loved every minute of it. To this day I am still very much a “political animal” and a news devourer. Late last week I had a call from my old boss. We keep in touch a couple of times a year and after such a long period of time I like to think of him as a very dear friend. The Official London Program And then this morning when I was sorting, ruthlessly, through my cupboards I found some of the mementos of my second trip t...

Ruby waiting for a stick to be thrown into the river this morning. Apologies to the fisherman I have just returned from a long, languid and lazy walk along the Swan River which laps ashore about 250m from my home. The New Year’s weather is stunning, and the mood in Perth is very much high summer, with most people not starting work until Monday, or even the 17th. This period from Christmas to mid January is when many take their holidays, even if they don’t do anything more with their days than enjoy their families and our beautiful beaches. And I have been doing just that over the past two weeks. I have caught up with friends and heard some funny stories about the way the Australian animals, and in this case a very impolite kangaroo deal with the heat and lack of water. My friend, Dianne, who lives in the hills near Perth, had me laughing hysterically the other day when she retold her story of a close encounter of a very scary kind with a 2m tall kangaroo. She had gone outside to han...

Cottesloe Beach Today I am going to take my daughter to the airport for her return to Sydney and then I am going join the crowds and try to get a new TV at a bargain basement price…and be amazed at the appalling manners of generally well behaved people during end of year sale season as they push and shove to get the “best” deal they can.  It will be quite a contrast to the quiet tranquility of Christmas and I am sure quite confronting. Christmas Day was wonderful this year despite the heat. Here in Perth, Western Australia it reached 40 degrees and so it was difficult for me to relate to the icy conditions of Europe – they actually seemed rather appealing As is traditional in my family, Christmas Eve was celebrated with a huge, traditional English-style dinner at my sister’s home. Christmas Day lunch was shared with my children and their father, and this year my menu included a few of the favourites of both deceased grandmothers. From the Italian grandmother a ...

My Christmas Table My phone has been ringing with people wanting to know how to handle the difficulties that arise during occasions such as Christmas with “blended” families. The old adage that you can choose your friends but not your family is often relevant at Christmas, and particularly with families which have divorced and perhaps remarried partners. Unfortunately there are very few happy melded families like “The Brady Bunch”...at least initially. If having good manners is about behaving well around other people and treating each other with respect, then at times of probable stress and possibly strife, the need to be even more cautious with words and actions is really important. My children’s father and I have been divorced for many years. But over the years we have developed strategies to make our shared Christmases with our children and our new partners as pleasant as possible. We have always attended Christmas church services together, and afterwards had a glass of champa...

It’s that time of year again when the office Christmas parties start and my phone runs hot with enquiries about what should, and shouldn’t be the behaviour, and then after the parties, how to apologise for disasters which have occurred. Having recently given interviews to the The West Australian newspaper and Radio 6PR regarding Christmas party etiquette I was reminded of some of the hilarious instances I have heard about over the years. Invariably, of course, the main culprit is an over enthusiasm with the free alcohol on offer. The story of the meek and mild secretary who , after a few cocktails, turned into a candidate for Playboy; and the quiet, IT geek, who after way too many beers tried to chat up the office vamp and when successful had no idea how to take the “opportunity” further. Both of these situations I learnt about when the protagonists involved rang me to find out whether it was necessary, and then how, to apologise for their out of character behaviour. ...

(View from Bintang Flores Hotel) A mere three weeks ago I was on the remote eastern Indonesian island of Flores, staying in a comfortable 4-star hotel in Labuan Bajo, the Bintang Flores, which overlooked a “squatters” camp which had no fresh water or electricity but which shared the view over the sea. The children played happily. Today I am a world away on the glitzy and glamorous Gold Coast of Australia visiting friends. And while I enjoy a view over a scenic canal bordered by luxurious mansions my mind returns to beautiful Flores and a world filled with gentle people who need little in life but their families, their health and a few rupiah to buy rice for their bowls. It is difficult not to be cynical when I compare these two very diverse worlds. But I actually feel more lucky because I am content in both. When I first arrived at Labuan Bajo I found the poverty confronting. The streets, where they were paved, were dirty and filled with rubbish which nestled in amongst drying fish,...