Autumn in Carlton - and a fond farewell

G'day

Does the title of this blog sound like a Mills & Boon novel? If so, and you're worried what this post will be about, never fear, there are no damsels waiting to be whisked off their feet by strapping sailors or such like.

Instead I thought I'd make note of the changing season. March is officially the start of autumn here and so far it's been rather lovely. Warm and sunny days and cool (bordering on chilly) nights are great for those of us of northern English descent. And I've just moved to Carlton, a trendy inner suburb of Melbourne, just north of the CBD (I'm not explaining CBD again - if you haven't remembered by now then you haven't been paying enough attention). I'm housesitting for one of my authors and her house is fantastic - very contemporary with cool decor, and in a perfect location, just north of the Melbourne Museum and Carlton Gardens and five minutes from happening Brunswick and Gertrude streets.

And what's the only cloud on this horizon? Well, it looks like my faithful companions since last December (in fact I haven't been seen without them since then) will soon be saying their adieu. I am, of course, talking about my shorts. They've served me well these last four months or so but I think it might be time to get the full-length trousers on. I'm aiming to stick with the shorts until the end of the month but these chilly nights are making this less and less likely. Sigh. And the worse thing is that I won't be able to wear them again until next year when I'm back in the UK, as after winter here I'll be back in London just in time for winter there. Double sigh.

Books
On a lighter note, now I've been in Australia for five months I thought I'd take a quick look back at the books I've read (not many as I'm quite a slow reader). Note they're all about Australia as I aim to read only Australia-set novels this year.

• English Passengers Matthew Kneale (Story about Tasmania, the treatment of its aboriginal population by the first British settlers (horrific) and one Englishman's belief that the Garden of Eden was to be found on the island (his journey doesn't go well).)

• The Slap Cristos Tsiolkas (Famous book by Melbourne author, looking at the modern Australian way of life - though if the characters depicted in this book are representative of Australians then I need to get out of here asap as everyone in it is really rather nasty.

•  Picnic at Hanging Rock Joan Lindsay (Not particularly well written but gripping all the same, this is the well-known (though fictional) story of a picnic that goes wrong.) 

• A Fortunate Life A.B. Facey (Incredible story of one man's life growing up in early 20th century Australia. His tough life - including being injured at Gallipoli - is inspiring. Get a copy.)

• The Secret River Kate Grenville (Beautifully written story about a convict and his wife establishing a life for themselves after being transported to Sydney in the early 19th century.)

And that's it for now. Photos next time!

G'bye
Cliff