Coffee Festival

Coffee @ Peace

I've been having a great time over the last few months working on the marketing for a coffee festival being held down my way in July. My way is Sutherland (just south of Sydney).

The Shire Coffee Festival or Coffee @ Peace will be on Sunday 12 July so we are daily praying for good winter weather. July is usually a fairly good month here in Sydney. March and April are usually damp, May cold, July and June okay, and August windy. So far so good. The last few weeks have been a mix of cold, wet, and sunny (the usual mixed up mix).

Our progams come back from the printer next week, but I've had a look at the proof and they look great! I believe that I may have done a pretty good job of these given that I have a strict corporate styleguide to adhere to.

We have 8 coffee vendors booked and piles of food stalls. The arts and crafts section is going to be amazing! Our live entertainment consists of The Peter Morgan Band (latin jazz) and a comedy act called Pull Your Head In! I can't wait to see these guys as they are cartoonists who include celebrity characterures as part of theiir act. In between their on-stage performances, they split up to do separate cartooning and magician acts at some of the local cafes. We also have a guitarist "busking" at the cafes.

There's stuff for kids - art making, storytelling and Walkabout Reptiles - and stuff for the culture buffs - Japanese Thin Tea Ceremony and a Turkish Coffee Ceremony.

I wish everyone could come to Sydney to attend this event!

If you are in the area and want more information, just go to the Sutherland Shire Council website and type "shire coffee festival" into the search engine box. Alternatively, click on one of the Coffee @ Peace links I've left lying around, or leave a comment here and I'll get right back to you.

Coffee @ Peace

The Great Arch

The Great Arch by Vicki Hastrich

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is about the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, its impact on the city and residents, and the toll it collected from the workmen who brought it to life. The Bridge plays a central role in Sydney culture today, learning a bit about its birth, I think, needs to be included in teaching Australian history. Not just for the benefit to Sydney-siders but to know more about the people and culture from the time of its building.



The story though is not an easy read, especially for someone (like me) who's eyes glaze over when conversation turns to detailed technical specifications. But don't be put off, there is no info-dumping. It is the character's personality, his obsession with the Harbour Bridge, and his desire to educate everybody around him on its feat of magnificence. Looking back over his life, the main character, bed-ridden with a stroke, relives his favourite years. The times when life really meant something and passion ruled his thoughts and actions.



The author breaks through reminiscences with less-rosy reports on the growing cost in human life. Fills in gaps with stories of a parish in decay, not through natual attrition but through fast-moving progress.



Stick with this one and you'll experience a slice of life not usually looked at in an area not quite as "famous" as the other side of the bridge though both areas must have been similarly afflicted.



When you've finished, catch the train to Milson's Point, go for a walk around to Lavender Bay and look up at that bloody bridge. I wonder if the bridge-walkers have any inkling of what it is that they're traipsing all over.



I wonder too what the Reverend Ralph Cage would have thought of Luna Park...


View all my reviews.

Sydney Writers Festival

SWF is held every May at one of my favourite spots to be in Sydney - Walsh Bay, under the Harbour Bridge. The same area is home to Sydney Theatre Company, Bangara Dance Group and, I believe though I could be wrong on this one, Sydney Dance Company. Tucked away on the piers are several other theatre companies, dance groups, cafes and million-dollar homes and boats.

But back to the Writers Festival. I've been informed that SWF is the second largest writers festival in the world. Run over several days and always crowded, I'd believe it. This year I decided to take advantage of a very flexible job situation and volunteered for two days as a Runner. Basically, this involved helping out the event coordinator on the day and at the scene with anything that popped up. Barricade erection, queue control, water-girl, usher and ticket collector - I was foot sore and more than a little exhausted by the end of the day. But I had fun, learned a lot and was able to take advantage of my experience in the event industry.

The Writers Festival was an excellent event. I managed to see a few speakers. In particular, Kylie Kwong, who is a "celebrity" chief here in Sydney. Kylie has a couple of tv shows, the most recent being about her experiences travelling to China to discover her heritage. Great speaker, too! I was fascinated and I don't even like to cook!

Seminars, workshops, panels, films, theatre, radio shows - SWF is packed with the things to choose from. That's the hardest part of the whole thing, deciding what to do and making travel arrangements. I probably should mention at this point, that while Walsh Bay is the main venue, SWF is spread far and wide - Katoomba (linked with the fabulous Varuna Writers House), Parramatta in Sydney's west and several other city venues.

Drop in to their webhome and look for yourself. There are year around events and news.

If you're planning a trip to Sydney, come in May and take in the Writers Festival (and Walsh Bay). Volunteer if you can and meet some really dedicated people (volunteers, guests, staff and attendees). Did I mention how close it all is to the Sydney Harbour Bridge?

Australia Day - January 26

Australian's love a reason for a big party and Australia Day is dedicated to just that.

It's not all party-fun though. January 26th started being celebrated as Australia Day in 1935. The party theme didn't really kick in until 1994. We may be slow but we sure know how to have a good time.

The history of this date is quite important in Australia being the day, in 1788, that Captain Arthur Phillip dropped off the first load of convicts and free settlers at Sydney Cove. That auspicious fleet of ships and cargo is known as the First Fleet and much of modern-Australia culture [or the underbelly of it] stems from those days. Captain Phillip went on to become the first Governor of New South Wales [we became "Australia" under the governorship of Lachlan Macquarie in 1826 though the name had been around since Matthew Flinders coined it way back in 1814].

Matthew Flinders, by the way, was quite the adventurer. He along with his buddy,George Bass,and crewman, William Martin, explored, named and mapped most of the Australian east coast, and a fair bit of the south coast, including Van Dieman's Land [Tasmania]. He later survived shipwreck on the Barrier Reef, a six year imprisonment in France and published the influential book, "A Voyage to Terra Australis".

But I digress. Having been celebrated as Foundation Day by the First Fleet settlers and later as Anniversary Day, in 1936 a Celebrations Council was set up in order to have a really good time for the 150th anniversary in 1938. The parties continued on, each year being bigger and better until 1988 and the 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia.

1988 was a year full of controversy and the biggest party ever! Indigenous Australians made a concerted push for reconcilliation and land rights that is still being felt today. A Tent Embassy was set up outside the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens with the aim of creating awareness of indigenous people and issues. Among the indigenous, Australia Day is known as Invasion Day. Recognition of their presence prior to European settlement and rights as prior occupants of the land has resulted in an improved standing, access to resources, official "Sorries", and a constant remnder and awareness that Europeans live on Aboriginal land.

Celebrations that year included a parade of sail from Hobart to Sydney. This event replaced the annual Sydney to Hobart race [Boxing Day 1987] and became an invitational to yachts and tall ships worldwide to participate. On Australia Day itself, the Tall Ships, historic steam ships and thousands of smaller craft paraded the Sydney Harbour. It was a magnificent day!

Since then, Australia Day has grown from a single day celebration to a party lasting several and including at least one weekend. The Big Day Out is a "touring" day-long rock concert featuring local and international performers, and attracting massive crowds. The concert series actually starts in New Zealand then spends a day each in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Every major city holds its own party usually involving music, family events, festivals and eventually, fireworks. Regional areas aren't to be left out either having as much fun with only slightly less the glamour.

Outside of the party theme of the day, civic ceremonies concerning gaining citizenship and naming of Australians of the Year are held around the country. Many events are also dedicated to a charity and major funds are raised through merchandise sales and donation collectors on the day.

Australian's know how to party all right and we pack as much into an event as we can.

Thanks for the help

It seems the subscription link is indeed working. Thank you for all those that responded. I'll have to resubscribe myself... perhaps it was all the bad weather we'd been having. Speaking of bad weather, it's batten down the hatches time here in Sydney. The latest weather reports have gale force winds, lots and lots of rain and even some hail expected later on tonight. The day started off quite pleasant, some sunshine making it through the rainclouds [it rained heavily all night last night] and not too cold. It all went down hill from there. By mid-morning the temperatures had dropped and the sun had snuck back behind the cloud cover. Lunchtime saw the return of the rain and now, dinnertime, it's raining and quite cold.

I am happy to report that some rain is at last falling over our dam catchment area. Warragamba Dam reported a 53mm fall over the past 24 hours. Sydney has not gone completely dry just yet! Just a few million more millilitres to go and I can finally go back to the long hot showers I prefer.

My neurotic dog is loving the weather. She spent last night on the lounge with "dad" who, grumbling true, vacated his snug warm bed so she would settle [and the rest of the family could sleep]. What a man! He didn't get much sleep though so it will be my turn tonight, I'm sure. Our pooch doesn't like the rain, or the wind, or thunder, or any sort of loud noise really, and has mastered the "pathetic" look to perfection. Imagine a skinny-looking whippet with her tail tickling her ribcage, shivering violently and one front paw lifted... it works nearly everytime.

I have just had a number of articles published at ezinearticles.com and am almost 1/2 way through the LK Spring Article Challenge. My daughter had a look at my article list and said, "Loofahing? You're writing about loofahing?"

"Yes," I replied. "I'll write about anything." [and I do love a good loofah, so why not share it with the world!]

I also have a couple of articles about PowerPoint presentations. As I'm immersed in producing advertising for big screen presentations [I'm talking big, big screen here] for work, why not share some of the ins and outs?

Enjoy your reading and why not drop a line or two in the comments section. I love to see who's been around...

TrishA