It's great to be home and to have my family around me again. The Fellowship was wonderful and I achieved more than I thought possible. What would be fantastic now is a mini fellowship each day - where there were no interuptions for at least a couple of hours. That I could get used to on an ongoing basis.

I've spent the week catching up with paperwork (not mentioning any domestic things uh uh) and phone calls. I've written myself a list of tasks and crossing them off one by one. I've been offered a contract for another picture book which is exciting.

The chapter book draft has a due date and I'm working towards that. It's shaping up nicely. Non fiction and poetry are awaiting tweaking and submission. The novel is shaking the cage and asking to be let out again, but redrafting will need to wait until boys are back at school and more pressing projects have been completed.

This post feels naked without photos. I'll have to take the camera on my morning walk. Today I walked on parkland at Williamstown that was only saved for public use by sustained effort on the part of locals. It's a great spot, with panoramic ocean frontage. It looks out into Port Phillip Bay. Our puppy, Emmi, loved it as much as I did. It's an off lead park and she was the only dog. Bliss, all those birds for her alone!

Last day

Richard and I were determined to have a final walk. We left Edward tucked in bed and set out for the parks. We only encountered one shower as I showed him the lake and the parks.

Alice for some reason is now sheathed in temporary fencing (for modesty???). We walked through the atmospheric olive groves.

We also saw beautiful rosellas but they wouldn't pose for photos.
These seed pods were amazing. In the past, when dry we've used the caps for long fingers/fingernails.

After a late breakfast, Edward decided that bed was too good a place to leave. Richard and I looked at the blue sky and decided to visit the zoo. Well the sky was teasing and by the time we arrived at the front of the zoo, the clouds were hanging heavy overhead. The meerkats ignited a discussion I thought closed about whether we should get more pet ferrets (because meerkats are not allowed as pets). Hmm. Not while there's breath in me (because they pong, really pong despite what Richard says). The meerkats, however, are very entertaining to watch and we weren't close enough to smell whether they smell like their relatives.

We were in time for feeding time for the lions...who were ready and waiting ahead of time. A small boy approached the gate where the keepers and food would enter and was told clearly by the dominant female that he should move. He did. The keeper told us a bit about the lions before feeding them, as once they have their food, they disappear to eat it. The two lion sisters are about to have a male companion, once he completes his 30 days quarantine. He's a lot younger and smaller than they are at present, so will be side by side with them until the zoo is assured they'll all get along.


Then the rain began. We watched the leopard being fed until the drips began to find their way down my neck. We repaired to the nocturnal enclosure where it was lovely and dry. The rain continued off and on for the rest of the afternoon, pouring then clearing to blue sky. It really was as if Loki, god of mischief, had gained control of the weather. We persisted in an almost empty zoo, racing from shelter to shelter and seeing what we could on the way. We lingered to watch Pusang, the male orang-utan, Karta the female and the pair of siamangs. All seemed intent on their own activities, largely ignoring each other. Many of the apes and monkeys were sheltering out of the rain, and those that were visible were not very active. Richard and I were both soaked despite coats and headed back into town and onto the bus. We were very pleased to get home and change into dry clothes.


Now to pack. How is it that repacking is never as easy as packing in the first place? Where does all the extra come from. Luckily for me, neither Edward or Richard arrived with full bags, so I've loaded them up with books and bits.

I've had such an adventure here in Adelaide. It wasn't just the volume of writing I was able to achieve. It was being on my own here for a month, meeting so many wonderful and supportive people. It was meeting publishers, writers and illustrators. It was walking everywhere and discovering Adelaide. It was all of these and more. It was grand, just grand.

Notes and transformers

I wrote up my notes from yesterday's interview while boys got going this morning. Richard curled in next to me reading. He and I then walked up to the shops for provisions before a late breakfast. We decided to see Transformers, an extreme example of product placement, the toys having come first. The film was pitched at an older audience than the toys and it was M-rated. It was an action movie first and second and plot really a linking device between elaborate action sequences. Add a pretty girl or two and that about sums it up. Long too at 143 minutes. Still it gave us an opportunity to eat our Haigh's chocolate.


Edward, who's in those horrid early days of a cold, curled on the couch for a snooze and Richard and I went for a walk. I showed him the avenues and we found some more photo ops...well I did and he tolerated them!

Meetings, elevenses and such

The mystery object photographed in the post below is a hand-stitched camel saddle. Amazing. There was a display of tools for the making of saddles as part of the museum exhibition. There was a wooden round-headed hammer-type tool particularly for pounding the straw stuffing smooth.


On Monday, I found more 'parades' to walk around. The trees are impressive now when most of their leaves are around my feet, they must be glorious in spring time. Then Mary collected me and dropped me at Omnibus Books for a meeting with Dyan Blacklock. I heard Dyan comment at one of the Reading Matters sessions about the way Omnibus archive. She expressed concern about the longevity of electronic storage methods. I'd meant to ask her about that, but it must have been about the only question I forgot to ask. She's given me some books for my boys, but I think I might read them too. One is by John Heffernan, whose 'more than gold' I'm enjoying reading at the apartment. John was a Fellow in 2005.

After the meeting, Mary and I had afternoon tea before she dropped me back at the apartment. I will be travelling to the same general area on Wednesday to meet with the chair of the Pedal Prix organisation. I'd considered walking, but now realise it's a bit far!

Today there was a morning tea 'Elevenses' at Tin Cat Cafe, a sort of farewell because the end of my Fellowship is approaching. There were people I've met in my time here and several new faces, a lovely gathering. I spoke about my experience here and also read two poems, 'Iceberg' and 'How to Grow a Flower'.

There were several 'Fellows' present and they shared their experiences. Elizabeth Hutchins has just returned from her Fellowship in Brisbane where she takes credit for breaking their drought...there was 62mm rain in the day or so following her arrival. Well done Elizabeth!

Odds and ends, Museum and Art Gallery

Yesterday was an odds and ends day. I walked in the rain to get a printer cartridge, bought a Canadian writing magazine, some postcards and forgot the cartridge. I sent the postcards and a letter. I tightened up a poem and also the 3 Pongo stories. I tried to start work on another story, but it just wouldn't happen.

Despite a night where my dreams told me the story was about maths 'factors' and then that it was about being too small, I woke determined to get into the story. I did too. I was keen to go to the museum and told myself that I wrote 500 words, (half of my target) then I could go into the city and finish the rest when I returned.

I went to the museum first and saw the Afgan Cameleers exhibition. My knowledge of their role in Australian history was very sketchy and it was great to see artifacts and photos from this time. I wonder how their experience compares to muslims arriving now? Any guesses about what this is? (Front and side view)



I walked through most of the other galleries. I'm not sure how I feel when I visit the animal galleries. It is interesting to see the animals together, and compare their similarities and sizes. But I also find them rather spooky for some reason. The Pacific collection is quite amazing, with examples of weapons, tools, decorations and basketry from many small islands.


I don't think I'd ever really thought about the origin of sayings about Snake Oil salesmen, but I found bottles of snake (and scorpion) oil amongst other medicines and syringes and even needles. It doesn't bear thinking about how blunt those needles would have become after multiple uses...making an already difficult experience more painful.


There was a fantastic collection of hats from Alice Spring's Annual Beanie Day. The felt ones were my favourite, although the picnic hat was amazing.



The art gallery was full of people lining up for the second-last day of the Egyptian Exhibition. I opted instead for the permanent collection and had a lovely time wandering through the different galleries. I particularly liked the collection of Sidney Nolan portraits. I also liked the work of an early 20C Australian woman painter, but can't remember her name. Sigh.

I waited for the bus but when the free bus pulled up and people hopped off carrying their fruit&veg, I thought I'd go to the Central Market. When I checked my map, the bus didn't really go all that close and I hopped back off again at the next stop and walked home. Fortunately the promised rain held off until after I was safely inside.

I completed my daily target of words, but think I'll need another post-it note session tomorrow before I do any more.

Haighs and circus

Yesterday I wrote the third of the three interlinked stories and worked out just what was going to link them, while still allowing them to stand alone as individual stories. I also workshopped (via email...thanks L) several poems three of which had their genesis here in Adelaide.


My tulips are opening up and just look better and better.



Today I reworked the three stories and kept working on the pesky ending to one of the poems. I had an ending but it wasn't as strong as it should be and I've had several goes at the final stanza. This end of the day, it's feeling stronger.


I also walked through Victoria Park and the South Terrace parklands This parkland has some game grounds but has avenues and is more 'treed' than those along East Terrace. I nearly walked into a small creek (twice) while I looked everywhere but down. The day was warm and glorious, but recent rains have greened everything.


My destination was Haighs Chocolates. They make the chocolates here and sell them too. I'd signed on for the tour with about a dozen others. There was a Swiss couple, some Japanese businessmen, a family and another singleton like myself. The tour hadn't begun and the other singleton was making asides to me about starting late. She continued through the tour, with not one positive thing to say. Not sure why she came really. The Japanese were carrying jars containing what looked like pond water, but may have been herbal tea. We saw cement-mixer-type machines for making things like scorched almonds, marshmallow bars being chocolated, and rockyroad being hand-mixed. Samples at the start, samples at the end, and then into the shop. What more could a chocoholic want?


I've started work on a final project here...an already plotted out story based on circus classes, aimed at younger readers. It's interesting jumping from long work to very short, to poetry, to chapter book. Again, having the luxury of writing all day with no distractions, this isn't as difficult as it would be at home.

Thank you Friday night TV programmers

I walked into the city yesterday morning. The parks are quite different during the week. On the weekends, all the activity is in the park. During the week, most of the traffic is speeding around the outside. Nicer on the weekends.

I came back late morning and got back to work on the novel. I knew the end was close, but the closer it got the harder it seemed to be to tie up all the plot elements. The challenge was to keep going, rather than be distracted by other things (like reading some of the wonderful books left here by previous fellows, or taking just a little walk around to the Haigh's chocolate factory).

I stopped for tea, and watched a bit of TV, but the novel kept calling me back to the computer. Finally, about 9.30pm when my fingers felt fit to fall off, I stopped. It wasn't quite the end, but everything came together, leaving only the 'mop up after the storm'.

So, as of mid morning this morning, the first draft is done. Whoo-hooo! I took myself up to a cafe and shouted myself a coffee and cake. There were moments when I wanted to let those around me know what I'd done, by shouting it at full volume. But it's not really that kind of neighbourhood, so I contented myself with the occasional grin and later, the occasional skip. I'll save less restrained impulses for another time.

But lest the temptation be to fritter away the rest of the time here, I've set myself two further projects, the first of which I began to work on in the cafe.

btw the stone at the end of the previous post is in a grotto in the Palm House at the Botantic Gardens. But what sort of stone? It's almost like coral, but I'm not sure it is...any clues?