What a Story!

© Jim Low

On the morning of May 31, 1928, the three-engined Southern Cross began the first successful flight across the Pacific Ocean from Oakland airport, San Francisco, on the west coast of the United States of America, to Australia. On board were two Australian pilots, Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm, as well as two Americans, the radio operator James Warner and the navigator Harry Lyon.

A year before, Kingsford-Smith and Ulm had been successful in flying around Australia in a record time of ten days. Continue reading “What a Story!”

The Distant Candles Still Dance in the Bushland: On Discovering a Rock Engraving

© Jim Low 2018

In his 1946 poetry collection entitled The Dosser in Springtime, Douglas Stewart includes the poem Rock Carving. This poem, unfairly treated in my opinion by Peter Read in his book Belonging, published in 2000, has as its stimuli the rock engravings of a fish and a kangaroo.

kangaroo rock carving

While night fishing in waters north of Sydney, Stewart reflects upon creativity, its longevity and questions whether artistic accomplishment requires an audience. Continue reading “The Distant Candles Still Dance in the Bushland: On Discovering a Rock Engraving”

Careening Cove – A Convenient Place at the End of the Rainbow

In 1963 I drew a picture, using black ink and water, of the view from the back window of my High Street home in North Sydney. My drawing featured a partial view of Careening Cove as it joins Sydney Harbour. Private yachts are scattered around Careening Cove at safe moorings. The harbour water view extends across to Rose Bay. It was from there that we often saw tiny flying boats make their tenuous run before finally rising into the distant sky. The flag of the Royal Australian Yacht Squadron can be seen flying above Kirribilli.

Continue reading “Careening Cove – A Convenient Place at the End of the Rainbow”