Cocodile Dundee, Outback Steakhouse, shark attack cocktails

Crocodile Dundee was the second-highest-grossing film in the U.S in 1986, and stood as the highest-grossing non-U.S. film ever at the American box office. There is a strong consensus that the film relied heavily on outback stereotypes that do not represent most modern Australians, who largely live in coastal cities. Contemporary critical commentaries pointed out that the movie featured out of date social dynamics regarding gender, race, foods, drinks and clothes that many modern Australians would not have recognised. Principal photography for Crocodile Dundee began in 1985, starting with the scenes filmed at the Federal Hotel renamed the Walkabout Creek Hotel in McKinlay, Queensland

 Nonetheless it is the American home of juicy steaks, spirited drinks and Aussie hospitality.

Outback steakhouse shark attack cocktail called Aussie JAWSsie

The ocean blue has clouds of red blood. Etsy

Outback Steakhouse didn't copy Walkabout Creek Hotel, but its vibe was generated by Crocodile Dundee which featured the iconic pub. Compare the two photos below.

The first Outback Steakhouse location was opened in Mar 1988 in Tampa Florida, and now there are 660 Outback Steakhouse locations in the U.S. Despite its Down Under branding and Aussie-themed slang eg three Australian appertizers (Bloomin onion, Aussie Cheese fries, Coconut shrimp), the chain was inspired by the popularity of the film Crocodile Dundee and served American-style cuisine rather than authentic Australian food. Outback Steakhouse operates a small number of locations (c8) in Australia but only in NSW and QLD; so I have never seen any in my state, Victoria.

Outback Steakhouse, Randolf MA 

Trip Advisor

Walkabout Creek Hotel, Qld

delicious

Outback Steakhouse is touted as an Australian-themed restaurant but focuses on American-style grilled steaks, seafood, chicken and ribs; big portions at moderate prices. The menu’s famous items are the fresh seafoods, wedge salad, mashed potato and cocktails - the Wallaby Darned is a signature, frosty frozen peach cocktail. The Outback Steakhouses targets itself between casual dining and classic steakhouses, hearty food without fine-dining prices.

Shark Week has been an annual week-long summer programme at the Discovery Channel focusing on shark-themed programming since 1988. Originally devoted to conservation efforts and correcting fallacies about sharks, Shark Week is marked at the Outback Steakhouse chain each year. It offers $8 drinks and 50% off appetizers for Shark Week. The shark-attack drink, named the Aussie JAWSsie is made with New Amsterdam Raspberry Vodka, Blue Curaçao, a trio of citrus juices and grenadine. Directions for making the shark-attack drink are as follows.

Step 1. Pour spiced rum, club soda, vodka, blue Curaçao and lime juice together in a pitcher.
Step 2. Gently mix with a long spoon. Pour Shark Bite cocktail into ice-filled individual glasses.
Step 3. Drizzle 1 1/4 ounces of grenadine into each glass to create a blooming effect that resembles blood in ocean water. Strain cocktail over ice in the glass. Add drops of grenadine to cocktail.
Step 4 Garnish with a blue gummy shark in each glass.

The Aussie JAWSsie: a blue tropical alcoholic cocktail crafted with New Amsterdam Raspberry Vodka, Blue Curaçao, a citrus juice blend, and topped off by squeezing red grenadine i.e shark blood from a keepsake plastic shark toy into the drink. This is the jaws-themed cocktail!

Outback also has a new mocktail - Sharky Temple: a child-friendly, alcohol-free version made with a base of Sprite and grenadine, also served with an interactive shark toy. These 2 drinks became popular to Outback Steakhouse for the 2026 summer and Shark Week promotions.

Walkabout Creek Hotel

Queensland

Mick Dundee & crocodile in Walkabout Creek Hotel.

ABC News, 1985

Has anyone ever visited a Outback Steakhouse? Did you try a shark attack cocktail? 

Remember hopscotch from 1950s & 1960s?

Although I assumed my post-WW2 generation invented hopscotch, that seems highly unlikely. The earliest confirmed mention of the game actually comes from Britain in C17th; in fact a manuscript book of games from 1635-72 by Francis Willughby and an entry in Poor Robin's Almanack for 1677 contain the earliest references.

Hopscotch players on side of road

The grid was added in chalk

Te Ara New Zealand

Children all over the world play Hopscotch in much the same way, but the patterns they draw can be very different. Children in Scotland have a game where the pattern is like bananas lying next to each other. In Japan there is a pattern that looks like an old telephone with a rotary dial, and in France there is Escargot, a pattern that looks like a snail. In Vietnam there is a game called Build A House, which has floods, fires and the Mekong River, and in China there is a game with an animal’s head at the top of the pattern. There are clearly many different versions of the game.

In Australian schoolyards, the most common pattern was Aeroplane Hoppy with 8 squares. It was usually painted on the ground although some schools had/have chalk for children to use at lunch time, so they can draw their own patterns. This means that Hopscotch can be changing.

As I discovered in my Melbourne primary school, the boys had a full size football field while the girls were given a smaller area of paved ground for games. So small that only a small number of friends could play girls’ games. To play hoppy as we called it, the squares were marked out in chalk and therefore used primarily in summer (to avoid the winter rain). It was shaped as a grid of lined-up squares dispersed with blocks of 2 lateral squares, ending in a home base shaped as a semicircle. The squares are then numbered in the sequence in which they are to be hopped.

A game of hopscotch

Dept of Education, Sth Australia

Each player tossed a small flat marker called a taw in post-WW2 Melbourne (eg coin, large button, horizontal stone) into a numbered square, hopping through the court without stepping on lines or the marker, and picking it up on the way back. The player stopped in the square before the marker, reached down to retrieve the marker and continued the course as stated. This had to be without touching a line or stepping into a square with another player's marker.

I know that hopscotch is said to still be popular but I haven’t seen it played for decades. Then this week outside my coffee shop, I saw the chalk grid laid out on the concrete and some young girls playing as if 1958 was still here ! There have been different versions of this game recorded over the years and in different countries, but hopscotch was and still is an effective form of play that teaches children important skills: hand-eye coordination; balance; body control; social development; arithmetic skills; and leadership. Played in most outdoor places it encouraged physical activity because there were no competing activities: no tv, no mobile phones and no computer games back then. So are these skills still crucial in the modern world because they limit screen time?

Playing jacks, 1954

Facebook

Hula hoops, 

Coleham Primary

skippy on London streets in the 50s

Facebook

There were other memorable games in the 1950s and 60s eg yo-yos, jacks, hula hoops, Oranges and Lemons and Cat’s Cradle string game and skippy. But some of these games were played by children sitting on their bottoms and didn't encourage any physical activity. And there were some games that required the children to buy and bring their own games pieces to school. Unlike hopscotch which only required the teacher to lend a piece of chalk.

If you played hopscotch at school in the 1950s and 1960s, I would be delighted to hear from you. If you played hopscotch since then, let me know if your game differed from how I described it.

Archibald Art winners 2026 in Shepparton

Australia’s favourite and most significant art award opened in Shepparton Art Museum for a Victorian showing of the annual Archibald Prize. Judged by the Art Gallery of New South Wales/NSW trustees, the prize is awarded to the best portrait. Since 1921, it has highlighted figures from all walks of life, from famous faces to local heroes of our times. Australia’s most significant art award is annual Archibald Prize is eagerly anticipated by artists and audiences alike. This touring exhibition is a chance for Victorians to see the 59 finalists, the exhibition's only destination outside NSW.  From 5 Sept–1 Nov 2026, open 7 days a week.

Archibald finalists in NSW Art Gallery, 2026

 
This leading Australian regional art museum is recognised for its Australian nationally significant collection of Indigenous art, its programme designed to be locally relevant while engaging with global contemporary ideas. Via exhibitions, collection & programmes, SAM’s art helps an understanding of ancient cultural Australia AND multicultural Australia.

The Museum announced that it was hosting the Archibald Prize 2026, one of the country’s most beloved annual art events, the first stop after the exhibition closed at the Art Gallery of NSW. From celebrated cultural icons and bold contemporary figures to the artists and activists who shape our national story, the Archibald Prize brings together a compelling portrait collection. They spark talk, reflect identity and invite audiences to look through the eyes of Australian artists. SAM’s commitment to presenting high class art experiences for regional audiences amplifies the cultural vibrancy and creative energy of Central Vic, delivering significant economic impact as well.

SAM Artistic Director said: “We are honoured to be the exclusive Vic host of the Archibald Prize 2026. We are celebrating the extraordinary talent showcased in this iconic exhibition and we’re thrilled to be bringing such an event on the nation’s cultural calendar to the Goulburn Valley.”

NSW’s Gall Director of Collections & Exhibitions said: The Archibald has a long, proud history of connecting audiences over Australia with the best in modern portraiture. Shep AM is an remarkable cultural partner, having hosted the famous Brett Whiteley: Inside the Studio touring exhibition in 2025. See the Archibald Prize 2026 celebrate the extraordinary diversity of artists & sitters from everywhere.”

Shepp City Council Mayor said: “This nationally recognised exhibition is one of Australia’s most prestigious art events. It is attracting visitors from across Australia, boosting local tourism and show casing everything Shepparton has to offer, from our thriving arts scene to our hospitality and culture.” The programme of public events incl artist talks, guided tours, workshops, educational and community activities.

The Museum serves as a dynamic cultural & community hub and houses one of the nation’s key collections of Australian regional holdings of South Eastern Indigenous Art. Through its programmes, events, collection and temporary exhibitions, SAM creates opportunities for creative souls to engage audiences with the stories of our country’s ancient cultures and contemporary multicultural Australia.

Celebrate the Archibald Prize 2026 at SAM with talks featuring artist Richard Lewer, six-time finalist and 2026 Archibald Prize winner, and curator Beatrice Gralton, Senior Curator of Contemporary Australian Art at NSW Art Gallery. Enjoy insight into the artistic and curatorial sides of the celebrated annual prize.

portrait of Iluwanti Ken 

198 x 198cm.

Archibald Winner Richard Lewer.  Iluwanti Ken is an elder, senior artist & traditional healer. I spent time with Iluwanti at Tjala Arts in Amata, Sth Australia. Although we have known one another for several years through shared exhibitions, being on Country together deepened my under-standing of her presence and the responsibilities she carries. Iluwanti paints with an urgency I recognise. Her work depicts the story of the eagles. Birds are in her drawings, paintings and ceramics as teachers of care, protection, provision and resilience, particularly for women and children. These lessons shaped how I approached this portrait. I wanted to convey her strength and attentiveness, and reflect the way she watches over others. Illuwanti is a small woman, but she carries immense, quiet authority. I painted her life‑size so her presence meets the viewer directly. The yellow ochre background holds the intensity of the heat and light we worked in. She loves bright clothing which feels inseparable from her spirit, and the traces of paint on her arm acknowledge her as a working artist.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke. 

oil on board, 114 x 150 cm

 Art Gallery NSW

Packing Room Prize by Sean Layh. This portrait is actor Jacob Collins. It arose after Layh saw him in the title role of the 2024 production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in a Melbourne theatre. It was performed by candlelight in a tight physical setting and blended Hamlet’s dark brooding with the plot’s spooky supernatural undercurrent. Layh paints compositions influenced by classical literature and theatre. He asked if Collins would like to repeat the role for a portrait, depicting Hamlet’s death scene in Tragic History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. But they decided that the final painting, stripped of its obvious props eg poisoned chalices, captured more of the character than his final moments.

Peoples’ Choice Winner Michael Zavros said A while ago my mother thought she saw me on tv, but it was Alex Ryvchin. Then a few friends also observed that we looked alike. Following the attacks on Israel in Oct 2023, Alex was often in the media. As CEO of Exec Council of Australian Jewry, this natural leader spoke passionately about his community’s pain and the changes he feared would emerge here. When two gunmen attacked Jewish people on Bondi Beach in Dec 2025, Alex led the nation in a way our elected leaders failed to do. I found common ground with this man-father. When we met earlier this year, I knew I wanted to paint Alex in the sea, symbolising much for all Australians. His tefillin symbols are so important in contemporary culture.

Michael Zavros, Alex with his tefillin in the sea 

oil on canvas 205 x 138 cm

Art Gallery NSW

HandleBar Adelaide - pub on wheels

The HandleBar Adelaide uses vehicles devised by brothers Henk and Zwier Van Laar in Amsterdam in the 1990s. The four-wheel, open frame vehicles, the size of a family car, have allowed fans to take in dozens of US, European and Asian cityscapes, beer in hand, since the vehicles were first tested. Americ-an Stephen Lindsay and Australian Jason Seris operated 9 of the Amsterdam-manufactured vehicles in the U.S since they took up the venture in 2012. The vehicles were brought to Adelaide in 2016 by Lindsay & Seris because the 2 men found the project has most positive impact in smaller cities. The two men chose Adelaide because they liked the size. From experience in the USA, they found that a somewhat smaller city was generally more receptive

Driving down Franklin St

Experience Adelaide

The men met extensively with Adelaide City Council and State Government agencies to ensure compliance in safety, food and alcohol service, waste disposal, suitable city routes and stopping points. The final stages of securing a liquor licence for the vehicles was critical.

Australia’s first pub on wheels in Adelaide is an open framed, pedal-powered mobile music, fun and drinking experience, offering two-hour tours of the city centre. The bike allows 16 customers to book a tour, pedalling around the CBD at 10 ks per hour, and the company provides the driver. They are tot-ally powered by the pedalling passengers with the driver-bar handler guiding its braking and direction. Each side also has a seat over the wheels, which means they don’t have pedals. Each bike also has a bench in the back that seats 3 people who want a rest and is perfect for those who don’t fit the height (5’3” min) and weight limitations (136 k max).

The HandleBar is great for pre-wedding parties, birthdays, corporate team building and Christmas parties. Australia’s only pedal pub ride includes beer, Adelaide wine, pre-mixed spirits and cider that can be pre-ordered and prepaid online while pedalling around Adelaide’s city centre. Wear sunscreen and hat in summer, comfortable clothes and avoid high heels! The pedal-power exercise is VERY energetic!

 

The driver controls the steering wheel and brakes

Adelaide Mums' Group

Though the vehicle’s speed is provided collectively by the pedalling drinking passengers, steering-braking is the sole responsibility of the driver/bar handler. And while they’re cruising around the city, the bike itself the license making it legal to drink on. So the designated driver  maintains control of the vehicle at all times and the riders don’t have control of steering or braking. And the Adelaide City Council controls vehicle compliance and safety, food and alcohol service, waste disposal, suitable city routes and hotel stopping points en route have been satisfied. Lindsey, who drives one of the vehicles, says he and Seris were in discussion with local bars about stopping off during the tours, choosing handpicked, small pub-crawl stopping points for their customers. For comfort onboard, drinks are pre-organised and paid for online before leaving the starting point, so there no need for cash. If a customer thinks that pedalling tends to make him peckish, he can bring snacks on board. If the whole group pre-books food, everyone can enjoy progressive dinner sampling at some of Adelaide's favourite eateries.

The HandleBar Homebase

Tripadvisor

While the tour drives around,  the customers pedal the streets of Adelaide, enjoying a drink to remain hydrated. Making 2-3 stops along the way, and waving to pedestrians, it is heaps of fun! Sip and sing through Adelaide's vibrant WestEnd aboard a giant party bike. HandleBar trips are Adelaide's most talked-about experiences.

A vehicle can operate with as few as 6 people, people who can decorate the bike, and play their own tunes for a personal touch. There is only one thing I, Helen, cannot find i.e confirmation that the bikes feature electric assistance so groups can pedal less and party more if they choose. I hope it is true. I broke the bottom of one leg 2 legs ago and could not pedal even some of the time.

An organised tour filling two vehicles

Adelaide Mums' Group

Bookings for groups cost $400 Sun-Thu, $500 Fri-Sat. The minimum number per bike is 6, the maximum per bike is 16. Larger parties can rent multiple bikes, the price per party bike remaining fixed regardless of party size. Get details and start planning the adventure at The HandleBar.

Dutchies in orange, hot New Year Bondi

                                                 

  

   

Scheveningen beach Netherlands, Facebook

The Dutch connection to Bondi is deeply rooted, generally featuring Dutch-speakers, Dutch music and traditional foods eg pea soup, rookworst. This draws both locals & tourists to a special Sth Hemisphere New Year celebration. The first official Dutch New Year's Dive at Bondi Beach was on 1st Jan 2015. Dutch tourists were already influencing the Bondi Beach summer scene, largely due to a massive influx of working holiday backpackers and expats. They started linking specifically to Bondi by bringing a popular winter tradition to the Australian summer heat, a bonding event for the Dutch community being each New Year's Day Dive. While the traditional Dutch event involves jumping into freezing Netherlandish waters, while in Sydney's summer thousands of Dutch tourists and expats gather along our warm ocean waves.

4 PM New Year's Day

Visit Bondi Beach

New Year's Dive

Visit Bondi Beach

Beyond this event, Bondi is a hub for Dutch travellers. Back packers stay at local hostels eg Noah's Bondi Beach that hires Dutch-speakers. The beach's lively cafe culture & surf schools eg Let's Go Surfing, are popular with European travellers in Dec.

There is also an easily accessible cliff-top walk from Bondi to Bronte Beach, taking c35 minutes each way. During the whale-watching season from May-Nov, this cliff-top walk offers a super view of the humpback whales as they head north to Hervey Bay.

The Dutch tourist Bondi summer timeline revolves around the New Year's Day Dive. While the Dutch winter tradition began in 1960, Australian-based tour groups adapted it for Sydney's sum-mer. Dutchies flock to Bondi Beach for its surf culture & back packer life style. The major highlight is the annual New Year's Dive when hundreds of Dutch expats dressed in orange gather on clean sands to swap freezing Dutch waters for Australian warmth. They run into the ocean to celebrate the New Year.

The influx of Dutch travellers and working holidayers is a major part of Bondi's summer identity. If people are looking to connect with the Dutch community: Nederlanders in Sydney Facebook Group are great hubs for Dutch back packers to find shared beach flats, buy used cars and plan gatherings. In Jan, the New Year's Dive allows participants to align their plunge with the morning dive in the Netherlands.

Aside from the New Year's swim, nearby Eastern Suburbs are often frequented by European back packers, with Dutch travellers comprising an important portion of the summer surf and hostel culture. After absorbing the Bondi sun, take the famous Bondi-Coogee Coastal Walk, a 6km beautiful route that passes secluded beaches and coastal cliffs. Dutch tourists love this walk because of the swimming-snorkelling, although note Coogee does not have surf like Bondi has. Dutchmen also socialise in Coogee Bay Hotel

Then after a Covid-initiated break of 2 years on 1st Jan 2023 Bondi Beach Australia turned orange again, also this year organised by Dutch Travel. 500+ dancing hats were ready for the big splash in Sydney in 2023. A large orange group of travellers, expats, backpackers and emigrated Dutch people formed an orange family on Bondi Beach. With feet in the warm sand, arms around each other, Unox hats on & flags in hand, the orange army was ready. In Bondi Beach’s centre, a huge path was cleared where an honorary hedge of Bondi Rescue workers and surprised beachgoers formed. The dancing, singing and jumping orange army moved through it bouncing into the water. The main sponsor is UNOX, the Dutch brand used for meat products. 

Midnight fireworks over Sydney Harbour Bridge

Dutch tourists love the event

Blueprint Traveller

Dutch tourists have a long history at Sydney's Bondi Beach, largely driven by the influx of young European travellers seeking working holidays and sunny getaways in Australia's summer. Today the beach is multicultural with a strong international presence where Dutch can frequently be heard.  the Netherlands, New Year’s Dive is the yearly traditional running into the freezing winter waters to celebrate New Year. The plunge began in Zandvoort and Scheveningen in 1960 eg in Scheveningen c10,000 people joined in yearly under severe conditions. After, participants enjoyed Dutch winter food. This freezing winter tradition was adapted into a summer festival by Dutchiestravel & the local community. Meanwhile the event started spreading by Duchies globally.

Australia is known for pristine beaches, many of them found in and around Sydney. The Bureau of Stats puts Sydney’s population at 5 mill, so 60+% of the NSW population lives in and around the state capital city. Much of the moneyed Sydney population hugs the lovely coast-line.

Bondi Beach is one of the finest beaches in the world, located c10ks from the Sydney CBD and easily accessed by public transport. Bondi Beach is surrounded by parklands, barbeques, picnic areas, children’s playgrounds, showers, toilets, multiple restaurants and cafes, and a paid parking area. Since then hordes have gathered on the sand in orange gear to plunge in the warmish waters. Dutch backpackers, expats and tour operators eg Dutchies Travel flip the freezing winter tradition upside down, launching the New Year's Dive at Bondi Beach. The event attracts endless participants who dress in orange and don Santa hats with Dutch flags. The traditional plunge time was 4 PM when participants gathered on the sand and make a festive run into the Pacific Ocean.

After WW2 160,000+ Dutch nationals migrated to Australia from the late 1940s on. Driven by war devastation and post-war economic crises at home, Dutch citizens were lured by Australian assisted passage and promises of housing & jobs. See Dutch interests in Dutch Australia Cultural Centre. 

If you cannot get Comments to work, send your comments to me on helenw@bigpond.net.au and I will print them and answer them in the post. Apologies, all.

VERY grand hotels!

During our first three years of marriage, while working and travelling around Europe, spouse and I lived in Youth Hostels or slept in the boot of our car. Later, when the children arrived and had started primary school, we stayed in cheap hostels that at least had a private toilet and a shower in each room. Decades later I read Grand Hotels, a heavily illustrated architectural history by Elaine Denby covering the international deluxe life of the 1830s-1930s. Denby is an architect and a member of the Art Workers Guild.

Fairmont Empress

WESTJETVacations

Her chapters appear thus:
1. Origins
2. Size and Grandeur in the United States
3.Euope Burgeoning
4.The Swiss Genius
5. Fin de Siècle
6. Founded in Empires
7. Journeys to the East
8. Into the Twentieth Century and Times of Change
9. Reality and Illusion

The Federal Coffee Palace, Collins St Melbourne, in 1888

largest and grandest Coffee Palace ever, demolished in 1973

Wiki

The styles of architecture and decor have varied enormously for grand hotels: a French Renaissance château manner for the Canadian Pacific Railroad in the 1880s; a fantastic Moorish-style confection for the Tampa Bay on Florida's Gulf Coast (1891); Art Deco for Oliver Hill's seaside Midland Grand at Morecombe in England (1933). And the services available were equally stunning: Turkish baths, rifle-ranges, even a fleet of vintage Rolls-Royces at Hong-Kong's Peninsula. To keep this illusory world glittering, the reality had to run like clockwork, with managers like César Ritz, king of hoteliers, monitoring every detail from ballrooms to basement boilers. Grand Hotels explores every aspect of this all-but-vanished world of opulence, from the entrepreneurs, architects and designers who made it possible to the ambitious individuals and dynasties that kept it going.

The Grand Hotels of Joseph Cornell is a book by Robert Coover that explores a world of Grand Hotels. The book describes rooms that are accessed by a ferris wheel and open onto crystal cages, sand fountains and night voyages, evoking a sense of childhood, games and princesses. "Although childhood is the model of all architecture, the Grand Hotel Nymphlight is the only one known to be specifically devoted to the child within. The grand hotels that Coover, best known as a trailblazing fiction writer and proselyte of hypertext, describes in this small book of prose poems belong to the hotel series by the American dioramist Joseph Cornell, making this book a set of brochures to the marvellous. The Grand Hotel Nymphlight temporarily transforms its residents into innocent, joyful childhood versions of themselves. The Grand Hotel Night Air Balloon boasts a lobby filled with caged tropical birds, a musical fountain and rooms without walls, all enveloped in a blue haze recalling helium. and The Grand Hotel Sand Fountain, a hotel of brief encounters, provides the ultimate therapy for the alienated wallflower, never permitting anyone do anything alone opening a door, riding an elevator except leave. 

Coover, with magnificent simplicity, orchestrates countering strands of pathos and wonder, decadence and innocent glee, in these 10 short chapters that are sure to make anyone permanently dissatisfied with the run-down bed-and-breakfast place. Forecast: Coover is classed with John Barth and Donald Barthelme as a fiction writer, and is particularly well read on campus. A creative display might feature this small press book, Utopia Parkway (a biography of Cornell).

This one-volume international survey of grand hotels focuses on the century ending around 1930, when "profound social changes following the Great War of 1914-18 had reduced the demand and left many of the grand hotel buildings falling into decay." While the book focuses on grand hotellerie in Europe and the US, fine hotels in Canada, Australia, South Africa, the Middle East and Asia are also cov-ered. The author has done a wonderful job of weaving together the histories of some 475 hotels (some no longer exist) to help clarify a period of unprecedented social and technological transformation. The text flows nicely and is accompanied by over 400 photographs of interior and exterior views, architectural drawings and plans, and portraits of noted owners, architects and builders.

Arising from many years of travels and visits throughout Europe, North America, the Near East and the Orient, this examination of the luxury hotel is an architectural and social history that covers the world from the 1830s to the 1930s, but also takes note of recent refurbishments.  Elaine Denby is an architect and a member of the RIBA and the Art Workers Guild.

Fairmont Banff Springs, built 1888

My only experience with these grand hotels was the Canadian Pacific Railway Hotel which was completed in 1885; general manager William Cornelius Van Horne wanted to boost ridership and realise the tourism potential of the Canadian West. The luxurious Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta was among the first hotels built by the railway to realize Van Horne’s vision. Designed by New York architect Bruce Price to resemble the castles of Scotland, the hotel opened in 1888. The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel standing today, the one in which spouse and I experienced the Good Life, was rebuilt in the late 1920s after fire destroyed the first hotel building. It’s within Banff National Park, perfect for us arriving by train on our Rocky Mountaineer tour across the western provinces.

Grand Hotel Vienna

Jet2Holidays

Grand Hotel Vienna

public area - reception, restaurants, bars and pianos

State killings: Saudi Arabia, USA & Victoria

Saudi authorities beheaded a Pakistani in Feb 2014 for smuggling drugs.
Photo credit: Newsweek.

This article was written by the journalist Phillip Adams and published in The Weekend Australian (27-28 Sep 2014).  What has changed since?

When it comes to beheadings, ISIS are rank amateurs. In the past year the despotic Saudi Arabian regime has decapitated dozens. Enjoying favoured status as a US ally and provider of the good oil, this brutality has aroused no criticism. In Saudi, you can get the chop for everything from adultery to sorcery and minor drug dealing. We are talking public executions. Beheadings are a popular entertainment.

In 1995, Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk reported how 12 women of various South East Asian ethnicities had been executed after callous trials, including a mother and daughter who were beheaded in front of a male audience for murdering the woman’s abusive husband. Last year it was reported that more than 45 foreign maids were on death row in Saudi Arabia. The response from the West and its diplomats? As ever, deafening silence.

Phillip Adams became concerned by Saudi justice in 1980 when seeing the British film Death of a Princess screened, over Saudi protests and the regime’s threats of economic sanctions. A young member of their royal family and her lover had been executed for adultery. His praise for the doco-drama resulted in his first-ever death threat. No sooner had the broadcast began than the tv station received a bomb threat; the discussion continued on tv with the bomb squad and their dogs searching around.

But let’s not be eager to take the high ground. The huge death toll suffered in Iraq as a result of the Bush-Blair-Howard invasion, for example. But at least Australia (1973) and UK (1965) abandoned the death sentence. Not so the US where Texas leads the charge, having killed 600 people by lethal injection since 1982. Meanwhile 31 other US states continue to carry the death penalty, as leaders follow the example of former Texas governor George W Bush in demonstrating their Saudi-style manliness.

execution chamber Georgia Diagnostic Prison, Jackson. 2020

NBC News

Those executions are as political and cruel as the ISIS. And they serve as public entertainments for ultra conservative voters, in the proud tradition of American lynchings. And so often the chemical cocktail fails to do its job, leading to a death that is agonisingly slow. The US government is keen to talk up the savagery of the ISIS beheadings, but while many U.S states employ the death penalty so often, so arbitrarily and so clumsily, and in light of the torture of prisoners in Guantanamo and in secret rendition locations, the High Moral Ground seems totally inappropriate.

I agree with everything Adams said, except for the arbitrary nature of capital punishment in Saudi Arabia and in those American states that execute criminals. Saudi Arabia uses executions specifically to get rid of its problematic populat-ions: single women, married women who talk to men-not-their-husbands, foreign women, people who use guns to kill and drug dealers. Texas (to use Adams’ example) uses executions specifically to get rid of its problematic populations too: young black men, older black men, people who use guns to kill and drug dealers.

And one more statistic to make sense of. The 3 main countries that sent troops to invade Iraq in March 2003 were, as Adams noted, the USA, Britain and Australia. In the 3 weeks taken to complete the air strikes, 7,500 Iraqi civilians were killed by us Westerners, according to The Guardian. The 345 civilian executions in Saudi Arabia, carried out from 2007-10 by public beheading, seem puny in comparison.

Tens of thousands of people protested against the imminent execution of Ronald Ryan

Melbourne, 1967

Photo credit: Herald Sun newspaper

I recommend Dick Hamer: The Liberal Liberal written by Tim Colebatch and published by Penguin Books in 2014. Rupert Dick Hamer (1916-2004) was Premier of Victoria in the critical years from 1972 to 1981. This sympathetic biography was drawn from members of the Hamer family who shared with the author their stories, documents and photos. Colebatch also included details from personal and political diaries that Hamer wrote when he was a very young politician (1939-41). Since I am a paid up member of the Labour Party, it was incredible for me to have admired a conservative. But under this leader of the conservative party, abortion and homosexuality were decriminalised, anti-discrimination laws were introduced and protection of the environment emerged for the first time in legislation. What was there not to love?

Of all of Hamer's achievements listed in the book, focus on Hamer's strength on the abolition of capital punishment. Although opinion polls indicated that some Victorians still supported capital punishment, at least for particularly heinous crimes, Hamer allowed state MPs a free vote; he successfully legislated to abolish capital punishment in Victoria in 1975. This had been a risky move - in 1967 his predecessor Premier Henry Bolte had brutally ordered the execution of the last man in Australia to face the hang man. Ronald Ryan's execution devastated the state; remember the protest marches that brought the City to a standstill.

Was Victoria a leader of  Australian states in abolishing capital punishment? Hardly. Only W Australia (1984) and New South Wales (1985) were slower bringing in their legislation.

My favourite books 2006 Vs now

I can remember nearly every novel set by English teachers in high school (1960-65) . But when I recently found a 2006 newspaper article discussing my reading preferences, I couldn't remember the era when my children still lived at home. This newspaper article covered the books I most loved in the decades from 1975-2005.

  

Book column

Australian Jewish News

Melbourne March 2006

 

The Women's Room is the first novel

by American author Marilyn French,

published in 1977.

These days I read big, beautifully written and glossy books that I leave on the family room table to impress family and friends. And because they are too heavy and expensive to carry around. My three best current examples are: Palazzi of Rome, by Cresti and Rendina, published by Konemann, 1998; Patrons and Painters, Art and Society in Baroque Italy by Haskell, published by Yale UP 1980 and The Library, a World History, by Campbell and Pryce, Chicago UP, 2013. 

If any reader is interested in the book I would like for my next birthday, I suggest Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes by Le Corbusier, Mardges Bacon, Prof Barry Bergdoll (contribs) et al, Museum of Modern Art, 2013. Many thanks.

Old Parliament House Canberra & museum

Duke and Duchess of York 

opened Parliament House May 1927.    

                                   

The need for a national capital city arose when the colonies united to form the Comm­onwealth of Australia in 1901. The constitution provided that a new national capital should be built half way between Melbourne and Sydney, to avoid jealousy and conflict. The new Australian capital city of Can­berra was fixed in 1908 and the area was formally ceded to the Federal Government in 1911. However the Parliament couldn’t relocate from its interim location, Melbourne, to Can­berra until the new building was ready.

Parliament House was designed by Scottish John Smith Murdoch (1862–1945), the first Common­wealth Government archit­ect in Australia, and a team of assist­ants from the Dept of Works & Railways. The building wasn't int­ended to be permanent or elaborate; rather a provisional building to serve Parliament for 50 years max. It would be a classical building like the Parthenon, but with­out all the ornate details. And it was to look out over Lake Burley Griffin.

Murdoch’s provisional parliament building was to be modest & funct­ional. It was designed on a basic square, which provided the building with regular pro­p­or­t­ions. It was a 3 storey brick building with the principal floor on the middle level. The funct­ional aspect was reflected in all the des­ign, extending to the interior fit­t­ings & furnishings. The faç­ade originally included a grid of recessed openings and balcon­ies, with four bays having arched bronze windows and stepped parapets. The building’s front façade had strong horizontal lines, display­ing only 2 storeys, with higher massed elements behind the faç­ade, indicating the loc­ation of the debating chambers. The lower mass in the centre was where King’s Hall was. As a result, with its now enclosed verandas and colonnades, and strong horiz­ontal lines, the building was not as some people expected a proper Par­liament House to be.

Old Parliament House, front entrance

It didn't include cl­assical arch­itectural elements like columns or pedim­ents, but did have the necessary sym­metry. In the end, he had designed what is now considered a significant, nation­ally-listed heritage building with fine classical simplicity, order & proportion. And the design ex­tended from the building to include its gard­ens, dé­cor and furn­ishings.

Murdoch designed both the exterior of the building AND the int­er­iors. He had to integrate all the spaces required of a parliament including: chambers, King’s Hall, party rooms, library, offices, members’ dining rooms and kit­chens. And he designed a distinctive set of furniture that shared the architecture’s design language.

Everything was pre-planned. Old Parliament House was designed in the Strip­ped Classical Style, commonly used for most Aust­ralian government build­ings built in Can­b­erra in the 1920s-30s. It was also recognisable in Murd­och’s other Can­ber­ra buildings eg Hyatt Hotel Canberra and Hotel Kurrajong.

Parliament House and Old Parliament House are the most significant features in the area covered by the National Triangle. Other build­ings key to the design and symmetry of the Triangle are the High Court and the National Gallery near Lake Burley Griffin, and the National Libr­ary.

Note that some of the integrity of Canberran architecture came after John Murdoch persuaded archit­ect Walter Burley Griffin to come to Australia from the USA. He was very busy.

Old Parliament House was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927-88. In the 63 years that the building served, there were changes in the size and nature of the Federal Parliam­ent. During those years, the House of Representatives grew from 76 to 148 members and the Senate from 36 to 76 members. In 1927, only the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, Prime Minister, Lead­er of the Government in the Senate and ministers had their own offices. But in the next 60 years, great changes took place in Australian social and political life, and democracy matured.

In 1927 the bush landscape in Canberra stood in stark contrast to the estab­lish­ed lush gardens of Parliament House in Melbourne. So throughout the 1930s, gardens were established to the east and west of Old Parliament House, patterned rose and annuals display beds, set in lawns and trees. Located on either side of Old Parliament House today are the rebuilt House of Representatives Garden and the Senate Garden so that when Parliament moved, the old gardens could be opened to the public.

By the 1980s, the building had exceeded its capacity with 3,000 people crowded into a building intended for a few hun­dred. Members and senators had tiny, overcrowded offices. In June 1988, mem­bers sat for the last time after 61 years in the old building, as Parl­iament trans­ferred to the completed New Par­l­iament House on Capital Hill.

Senate chamber

House of Reps chamber

Was King's Hall,

now Museum of Australian Democracy

So the sig­nif­icance of Old Parliament House today lies in its hist­or­ical value. In May 2008 King’s Hall became the Mus­eum of Austral­ian Democracy. It tells the herit­age of the build­ing and the story of Australia’s democracy. During its life as a work­ing parliament, the building was the setting for many of Aus­tral­ia’s major polit­ical events. Debates that influenced the future of the nation took place here, key decisions were taken, pol­itical careers were made and ended.

The Museum of Australian Democracy displays Aust­ralia’s pol­itical heritage. Old Parl­iament House is open daily, for either a guided tour or a self-tour where we can visit nearly all areas of the Old Parliament. See, for example, Kings Hall, House of Representatives Chamber, Prime Ministers Office, Cabinet Room and Senate Chamber.

In 1998 Old Parliament House became home to The National Port­rait Gallery which holds a range of changing exhibitions. And it serves as a venue for lectures and con­certs.

Image credits: Mildenhall images of Old Parliament House

Sam Neill, brilliant films & tv series

Born Nigel Neill in 1947 in Omagh, Nth Ireland to an English mother and a New Zealand father serving in the British army. His family moved to Christchurch N.Z in 1954 where Sam went to school. He became Sam because there were several Nigels at school, saying “I moved more easily as a Sam”.

Sam Neill and Meryl Streep as Michael & Lindy Chamberlain,

Evil Angels, 1988

Sam Neill went on to study English literature and acting at Canterbury Uni. He began acting in Canberbury Uni productions, then moved to Wellington to the Downstage Theatre as a professional actor, being paid $35 a week. Neill acted in some tv films and shorts for New Zealand in the 70s before winning his first lead role in the locally produced thriller Sleeping Dogs 1977, receiving inter-national acclaim in the first New Zealand film to open in the US. Soon after that he landed a leading role in My Brilliant Career 1979 directed by Gillian Armstrong; played the son of the devil in Omen III 1981; in the  1988 biopic Evil Angels, as Lindy Chamberlain’s husband Michael with Meryl Streep; and in The Hunt for Red October 1990. His role in Ivanhoe 1982 boosted Neill in Sweden where the film’s on TV every New Year’s Day for 40 years. In fact he built his career as dashing romantic leads and magnetic villains. He truly arrived on the international film stage as Damien Thorn in Omen III.

 

Sam Neill & Judy Davis on My Brilliant Career, 1979 

Michael Ochs Archives

He soon moved to Australia, landing another internationally lauded role with My Brilliant Career 1979. He was one of the leading candidates to succeed Roger Moore as James Bond and screen-tested in 1986, but lost out to Timothy Dalton. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his spy role in the 1983 miniseries Reilly, Ace of Spies.

He went on to star in some films of varying success for the following 45 years, incl Dead Calm, Hunt for Red October and The Piano 1993. Neill came to widespread international attention in 1993 with his role as the New Zealand settler Alisdair Stewart in Jane Campion’s Oscar-winner The Piano. Neill, well known for his role as palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park 1993, a role originally offered to Harrison Ford. Neill played Alan Grant again in two Jurassic Park sequels. 

My favourite was The Piano. In mid-C19th a mute woman went along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer in New Zealand, but was soon lusted after by a farmworker. Jane Campion was the director and it starred Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel & Sam Neill.

Dr Alan Grant and Tyrannosaurus Rex, Jurassic Park,1993, 

by Murray Close 

Neill shaped a career playing memorable romantic leads & captivating villains with 150+ credits in 50 years, incl Dead Calm 1989, Jungle Book 1994, In the Mouth of Madness 1995, Event Horizon 1997, Bicentennial Man 1999, The Dish 2000 and Peter Rabbit 2018. Neill also worked on tv, incl miniseries Merlin 1998. The Tudors mini-series 2007, as the corrupt Maj Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders tv drama 2013 and The Twelve miniseries 2022.

Sam Neil and Holly Hunter, The Piano

Sam Neill was the New Zealand actor whose career spanned Oscar winners and famous films, so he dreaded any prospect of retirement. He won Officer of the Order of the British Empire 1991 for his services to acting and a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2007. Years later, the New Zealand’s honours system allowed recipients to convert his Order of Merit into a knighthood, Sir Sam accepted a knighthood in 2022.

Actor Rachel Griffiths, who cast Neill as Michelle Payne’s horse trainer father in her directorial debut Ride Like A Girl, also commented on social media. Two Paddocks is the label under which Neill has been making wine for decades, a pursuit he took as seriously as acting. When not working, Neill split his later years between his Surry Hills home and his farm in New Zealand, where he kept rescue animals and produced wine from his vineyard. Based in Central Otago Sth Island, it created classy pinot noirs and average Picnic range.

Aust Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on X mourned Neill’s passing. “Sam starred in so many beloved Australian stories and he earned a special place in Australian hearts. Wry and thoughtful, Sam fought illness with the same dignity, humour & conviction that gave strength to his performances.

New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon said “Sam started out when there was barely a film industry in this country to speak of. For 50+ years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today, one of our greatest cultural exports. His work will be watched and loved long after us.” NZ’s foreign affairs minister Winston Peters said Neill was a Kiwi icon whose work in both local & Hollywood films entertained people globally for decades.

In 2023 Neill’s memoir, Did I Ever Tell You About This? revealed he'd been undergoing chemo-therapy for a year after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma blood cancer. By the time his Memoirs were published in March 2023 his cancer was in remission, but he underwent monthly chemotherapy for the rest of his life; he signed a contract with the drug company that if he was alive in 4 months, the treatment was free. Neill explained it was an aggressive form of blood cancer with fewer than half of those diagnosed surviving 5+ years. But it this was not the cause of death.

He wrote that he later went into remission after undergoing a trial with a new chemotherapy drug. In 2023 he wrote “I’m not afraid to die, but it would annoy me. Because I’d really like another decade or two. We’ve built all these lovely terraces, we’ve got these olive trees and cypresses, and I want to be around to see it all mature. And I’ve got my 6 lovely little grandchildren. I want to see them get big.”

The extended family group shared the tragic news of Sam’s passing in July in Sydney. Surrounded by family and passing with dignity, Sam was survived by 4 children & 8 grandchildren.

Martin Ferrero, Sir Richard Attenborough, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, Laura Dernin Jurassic Park,

Yahoo Life

Tolpuddle Martyrs tried to save workers

6 English farm labourers who were sentenced in March 1834 to 7 years’ transportation to an Australian penal colony for organising trade-union activities in Tolpuddle Dorset. Leaders George & James Loveless created a Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers’ lodge during the national wave of trade-union activity in 1833–4. The Whig government, alarmed at working-class discontent, arrested the Tolpuddle labourers for administering unlawful oaths: Loveless brothers, James Hammett, James Brine, Thomas Stanfield and his son John. Actually their crime was combining to protect their miserable wages. Convicted and sentenced by a hostile judge and jury, transportation was brutal.

Shire Hall was Dorset’s courthouse until 1955

inc 1834 trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs

Shire Hall, Dorset

From smoky, stinking cell below Dorchester's Court, the convicts were taken in chains to the Portsmouth prison-hulks. Hulks were condemned ships, holding 500-600 prisoners who were given coarse convict clothing and heavy irons riveted to their legs. Disease was rampant; cholera, dysentery and smallpox swept through the packed masses, resulting in tragic deaths in such fetid ships. 5 of the men were shipped in vile conditions to NSW where they were assigned as convict labour to landowners. George Loveless was too ill to travel after trial but by Ap 1834 he was declared fit and soon sailed to Tasmania.

poster, what year?

Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum Shop

Each Martyr described his experience of transportation in the Horrors of  Transportation. George Loveless wrote: “To enumerate the various miseries and evils which prisoners are subjected to, from landing in the colony until their death, is dreadful in the extreme. James Brine wrote: “I was employed to dig post-holes, and having walked so far without shoes, my feet were so cut I could not put them to the spade. I got a piece of an iron hoop and wrapped round my foot to tread upon, for six months. I went without shoes, clothes or bedding, and slept on the bare ground”.

Yet in U.K the men became popular heroes! There was an immediate public react-ion across the country, esp in London, where there were large demonstrations. The government largely ignored popular sentiment, and it was not until Mar 1836 that the sentences were remitted. News of the punishment spread and the UK fledgling unions knew their existence was under attack. They had to overturn the sentence and win the right to organise. Unknown to the 6 farm workers in Australia, their case was being taken to Parliament and onto London’s streets.

As news of the sentence spread, the young trade union movement organised a re-lease campaign. In Mar 1834, there was a meeting called by the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union at leader of the Grand Consolidated Union Robert Owen’s planning. 10,000+ people arrived! The agitation spread and The London Central Dorchester Committee formed to campaign for the pardon. A huge rally was held Ap 1834 when c100,000 people met near King’s Cross London. Fearing chaos, the Government took strong control: Lifeguards, Household Cavalry, detachments of Lancers, 2 troops of Dragoons, 8 battalions of infantry and 29 cannons were mustered. 5,000+ special constables were sworn into this “armed camp”.

By 7am protesters gathered by trade union stewards on horse. A grand parade with banners marched to Parliament. Citizens lining the streets & crowding the rooftops cheered. At Whitehall the petition, carried on unionists’ shoulders, was taken to the Home Sec Lord Melbourne’s office. He hid and didn’t accept the petition! The Government resisted, but agitation for the men’s release mounted. MPs questioned Parliament often; petitions came with 800,000+ signatures.

By mid 1835, 10 months after arriving in penal colonies, conditional pardons had been granted by Home Secretary Lord John Russell. But Russell was premature; legally a convict could not be conditionally pardoned under 4 years. The mail between Whitehall and Sydney & Hobart caused confusion and delay.

Book by Doc H Evatt, 1937

federal parliamentary leader of Labour Party

MP Wakeley presented 16 petitions to Parliament! The Tolpuddle men refused to accept conditional pardons and the Government finally agreed in Mar 1836 to a full pardon. By the King! Months passed before orders to free the men reached the Australian authorities but the farm workers would be coming home from penal colonies as free men!!

Few sent to the penal colonies ever returned, because they died OR couldn’t afford the journey home. The Martyrs didn’t return home until years after the infamous Trial. George Loveless was the first to arrive back in the UK in June 1837, welcomed by the London Dorchester Committee. George slipped quietly into Tolpuddle where he wrote The Victims of Whiggery, a strong statement against bad employment practices, and the profits went to the families.

James Loveless, James Brine, Thomas and John Standfield sailed by ship in Sept 1837. They were delayed in New Zealand as the ship took timber onboard, so exactly 4 years post-trial, the ship anchored in Plymouth Sound. People flocked to greet them from the quay and they were taken to an Inn before moving to the prominent local trade unionist James Keast’s home. The Committee of Trades organised a public welcome in March in Plymouth’s Mechanics Institute. The men went by coach to Exeter where another public meeting was held. They stayed in Dorchester at an inn with new clothes, then went to London for a grand Easter dinner at White Conduit House with c2,000 people.

James Hammett was the last returnee, arriving at New House Farm in Aug 1839. He was given a public welcome in Sept at the Victoria Theatre/Old Vic. Hammett did not write his experiences; he was the only one with a criminal record pre-arrest and he fell foul of the law in NSW. He remained in Tolpuddle, quitting farm work to become a builder’s labourer. His life story only emerged in 1875 when he was honoured by the Agricultural Labourers’ Union leader. 

Tolpuddle Martyrs plaque London Ontario, 2014

Wiki Commons

The London Dorchester Committee raised funds with public support to buy farms leases in Essex for the returning men. Five still campaigned for working men’s rights, supporting the Chartist movement. They organised a Chartist association in Greensted, based on The People’s Charter: 1. Manhood Suffrage 2. secret voting 3. MP payments 4. Annual Parliaments and 5. Equal electoral districts.

The Greensted Vicar in Essex preached against the Chartists’ activities, saying: the foundations of decent society were being undermined; paternal order where all knew his proper place had to be restored. He alerted the Home Office. Essex Standard said “George Loveless, instead of quietly fulfilling his station, is still dabbling in the dirty waters of radicalism and publishing pamphlets to keep up the old game”. Pressure from landowners forced the others to seek lives in Ontario Canada, as farmers.

Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum, Wiki

Portland stone sculpture in front by Dagnall, 2001

Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum was a library in Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Memorial Cottages, built 1934. The library had a collection of historical documents & collectables but in time, a display telling the Martyrs' story made it into a Museum about workers’ rights, trade unionism and human freedoms.