On fish and uncertainty: more musings on the Margiris
The lovely Pauline Mak recently requested that I discuss the science behind my opposition to the FV Margiris “super-trawler” in a little more detail. Specifically, she quite rightly asked me to explain...
View ArticleA dose of perspective
There is nothing like travel to give you a heaping dose of perspective. We in the western developed world, the vast majority of us, anyway, are so damn spoilt. Here in Australia we write ourselves the...
View ArticleGuest Post: Van from Speed River Journal
It’s time for another guest post! I believe we should hear from a range of different voices in the sustainability conversation: we have different perspectives, expertise and experiences and should...
View ArticleNo peace in the forest
I love Tasmania’s forest. Happiness is a mountain-top or a myrtle forest in my world and I’ve spent many blissed-out hours walking through the mossy half-light of the old-growth forests that quietly...
View ArticleGreen gifts
Can you believe it’s November already? November, when the weather finally warms up around here, the days grow long and the garden takes off. Time to plan for the summer and the busy period to come. I’m...
View ArticleRemember
11:00, 11/11/2012 They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. Lest We...
View ArticleRaise your voice for the future of Tasmania
Tasmanians, the Forest Peace Deal Agreement is going through the Upper House, where the legislation will either pass, or crash and burn with a huge loss of public faith and return to community division...
View ArticleI grew this
These last couple of weeks I’ve been feeling a little low. This time of year does it to me: I get over-scheduled, over-committed, under-slept, and with most folk getting busy with family commitments...
View ArticleRemembering what it’s all about
I’ve just returned home from a failed attempt to do my usual weekly produce shop down at my local farmer’s market. I go most every Sunday to buy my fruit & veg, perhaps a little free-range meat,...
View ArticleFrom the ashes…
Chances are you heard about the severe bushfires that swept through Tasmania a couple of months ago. It was awful, a terrible combination of a hot dry summer and a day of searing temperatures and high...
View ArticleAnti-holidays and sustainability
When is a holiday not a holiday? When it involves working and studying and throwing yourself head-first into a foreign culture and totally different economic reality. People keep asking me how my...
View ArticleSeeds of revolution
Seeds: they are amazing. That these tiny things hold within themselves the complete potential for an enormous tree, beautiful flower or delicious vegetable is a wonder of nature and evolution. That...
View ArticleVolunteering: how to build the kind of future you want to see
Today is International Volunteers Day, apparently. There’s a day or a week or a month for everything, it seems, but volunteering is a good thing to stop and think about now and again. Volunteering –...
View ArticleFor the birds (Los Pantanos de Villa)
When you’re living in a desert city of 10 million people in the developing world resources are stretched tightly. There’s not much room for nature in Lima, beyond the inevitable urban pigeons and a few...
View ArticleMy problem with plastic
I just brought home shopping in plastic bags. I feel… ethically compromised. I haven’t used a plastic bag in years. I even made sure I brought enough fabric bags with me to Peru so I wouldn’t need to...
View ArticleThis Expat Life
It might sound crazy, but sometimes I forget I’m living in Peru. The part of Lima that fills my day-to-day world isn’t so different from any other city. “Home” is in the expat precinct, a clean, safe...
View ArticleOn being a well-intentioned rich wanker
So here I sit in a specialist coffee chop, tucked away underground, at Larcomar, the boutique brand outdoor mall on the edge of the sea cliffs of Miraflores. Larcomar is a celebration of rampant...
View ArticleEconomic whiplash
I have been up in the sierra on field work. It was an interesting and somewhat dramatic trip, for various reasons, and has left me with a lot to think about. We came back yesterday: 8 hours on the bus...
View ArticleSix months in Lima
Last week I passed the half-way point of my project here in Lima, so it seems a good time to reflect on the six months that have been and to consider what the rest of my year here may bring. It hasn’t...
View ArticleBailando Caporales
Caporales is a folk dance originating in Bolivia and spreading into parts of the Puno district of Peru and areas of Argentina that share the Amaya culture. The roots of the Caporales go back to the...
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