The CONDOR soars

What a way to start the day!

This morning I got news that Thorpe (Ulverscroft) has made an offer to publish a large print edition of THE CONDOR'S FEATHER.

That's amazing!
The book is not due for publication until next week.
And I haven't yet seen a copy of it!

Wow!

Notley Gorge – Matthew Brady's hideout

Five minutes from where I live is Notley Gorge.
It’s a pristine area of rainforest where some of the giant trees have stood for several centuries and even the tree ferns are over 100 years old.

This is also one of the locations in Tasmania that ‘Gentleman’ bushranger, Matthew Brady and members of his notorious gang, hid in the 1820s.
It is reputed that they used this particular burnt out tree, now known as 'Brady's Tree', as a hideout.
Rifles and ammunition were found here.

Brady's short but intruiging life, from his sentence at the Lancaster Assizes and transportation to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), to his time on Sarah Island and his exploits as a bushranger, make fascinating reading.
He was eventually caught in the Tamar Valley and was taken to Hobart where he was hung, along with other members of his gang, in 1827.

In the next couple of months, I intend to travel to Strahan and visit Hell’s Gates and Sarah Island to learn more about Matthew Brady and other covicts and bushrangers.

Note: My profile picture on the Blog header is taken at Brady's Lookout. From this point the bushrangers could watch for ships sailing down the Tamar River. With no roads through the bush, the river was the only means of transport - and the only real means of escape!

Pics: Notley Gorge - a veritable fairlyland of ferns!
Sign at the start of the walk to Brady's Tree (original sketch by convict artist Thomas Bock - State Library of NSW).

THE CONDOR’S FEATHER - Patagonian adventure – out now

In the centre of Punta Arenas, on the Strait of Magellan, stands a statue to, Ferdinand Magellan, the navigator who in 1520 named the sandy beach along which the town is now built.
Situated at the tail end of the earth, Punta Arenas has had a troubled history.
It was first settled by sealers and whalers, shipwrecked mariners, convicts running from the law, native Indians and treasure seekers.
Then in 1877 a riot resulted in much of the town being destroyed and families murdered in their homes.

In 1879, a real-life Englishwoman, Lady Florence Dixie, sailed to Sandy Point (as the English called it) and embarked on a ride across the pampas accompanied by her brother, the Marquis of Queensbury and a friend.
When I visited the town a few years ago, I read a snippet of information about this remarkable young aristocrat and was intrigued.
Inspired by her exploits, by the town’s history and by the remarkable landscape of southern Patagonia, I wrote THE CONDOR’S FEATHER – an equestrian adventure set in 1885.

THE CONDOR'S FEATHER is now available at your local library or can be ordered from The Book Depository (free world-wide postage) or Hale Books (free UK postage)

For more about THE CONDOR’S FEATHER press here

Neverland - a place of dreams

Michael Jackson tried to find Neverland in this life by creating his dream ranch - ‘Neverland’.
Perhaps now he has moved on to search for the Ethereal Neverland!

In a previous post I wrote about the movie, Finding Neverland, in which Johnny Depp, (JM Barrie) introduces Kate Winslet (Sylvia Llewelyn Davies) to the wondrous realm of the imagination – the Neverland he created on paper and immortalised in his play, Peter Pan.
When I was a girl, I saw Peter Pan performed on stage as a pantomime and was always of the impression that Barrie had invented that name - Neverland.

Last week, however, I read Laurence Bergreen’s, Over the Edge of the World , the true and often disturbing story of Ferdinand Magellan’s Circumnavigation of the Globe.
In this real-life odyssey, I read of several early references to Neverland and realised how ignorant I was.
It seems this mystical place, Neverland, has been around for a long time.
Pliny the Elder, who died in the cataclysmic eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, wrote of such an enchanted realm.
And the early adventurers/explorers; Prester John, Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville, not only wrote about it, but went searching for it.
Bergreen dedicates one of his chapters on Magellan to the ‘Neverlands’ and makes reference to Stephen Frimmer’s book, Neverlands, which ‘offers a diverting introduction to the subject of mythical kingdoms’.
But, today, with little of the world unexplored, where do we go to find this elusive place?
And does it really exist?

In the movie, Finding Neverland, Barrie is adamant that Neverland is real, but to go to this wonderful place you must Believe.
When interviewed, co-actor, Dustin Hoffman, said Neverland is a metaphor for a journey to the imagination.
And that Neverland exists for all of us in the wish part of the brain.
Obviously it has been around for a long time.
Let us hope Neverland never dies.

Pic: from cover of the DVD - Finding Neverland

A winter cloudscape

If you glance at this picture quickly you could be mistaken into thinking it's a scene from a snowy landscape or a picture of a large frozen lake.
Or it could be an Arctic seascape with a line of ice-covered mountains in the background.
Or that's the way I see it (with just a little imagination)!


But as the full picture below reveals, it's just cloud sitting in the valley.
And hidden beneath it is the winding Tamar River.


And finally - a few days later, an early morning without mist.
Voila!

Mushrooms of toadstools? A pretty pile

At a glance, when I walked past these fungi, I thought I was looking at a pile of pebbles.
They reminded me of tiny bells.
Or half closed umbrellas.
Intersting formation.
I've never seen anything like these before.
Anyone any ideas what they are?

A winter's morning in the Tamar Valley

It's mid June and winter is here.
I slipped on the frosty grass when I went to take this photo of the morning mist rolling up the valley.
It's mesmorising to watch it.
It's like the tide coming in.

I've just set up a Tasmania site with lots of pics.
If you want to look go to: My Tasmania

Funicular railways, ascensors, cable cars - worth a visit

An invention of the late 1800s, some original funicular railways around the world are still operating.
The ascensor (funicular) Artilleria in Valaraiso, Chile was built in 1893 and still runs every few minutes from the busy Port area to the houses and Maritime Museum at the top of the hill.
I rode it last year.
In Wellington New Zealand people are building private funiculars to transport themselves to their houses built on the inaccessible steep sides of hills overlooking the bay.

The funicular railways still operating in Scarborough, Yorkshire, attract locals and tourist and for me they are a reminder of childhood holidays at the seaside town.

If you would like to read more go to my new site I'm building about funiculars.
Pic: Ascensor Artilleria in Chile
Pic: Scarborough, UK, funicular

Tasmania - Island of Inspiration - but it's a secret!

Island of Inspiration are the words which appear on the car number plates.
But it is true.
It has so much unspoiled beauty and is just far enough away from the Australian mainland to be ignosed by the major hords of tourists.
I have just set up a site dedicated to Tasmania and it is filled with pictures.
Link on My Tasmania and see if it doesn't make you want to come here.
Pic: Heading for a wilderness camp in the far south of the island.

Extract from The Condor's Feather

In this extract, Thia Beserford comments on Kattn - the Tehuelche Indian girl who travels with them on their expedition:

‘Her heart is as deep and silent as the pampas,’ Thia said. ‘It is as though she is in tune with the vast countryside around her. A kind of innate animism which native people posses, which we civilized people seem to have lost.’
William had no answer. There was certainly something about this native Indian woman which he could not explain. Without meaning or intention, she attracted him like a pin to a magnet, yet she hardly ever spoke, showed little expression, even conserved her gestures to essential movements. She was as tall as a longbow and moved like a willow in the breeze. Was as strong as any man he knew and slightly taller than he. She was not beautiful by English standards with her plucked eyebrows and painted skin, but she had the elongated face and forehead of the high priestesses he had seen engraved on the walls of the ancient temples in Cairo. Now he wished he had drawn her portrait as he could never replicate it accurately. Yet her face was engrained in his mind and he knew he would never forget it.
.......................................
The Tehuelches Indians territory was mainland Patagonia.
This old picture depicts a group of young Selk'nam indians (Onas) of Tierra del Fuego.
The Indians were usually naked despite the freezing condition on the island.
The natives of this region are now extinct.

Sunset - extract from The Condor's Feather

‘How stark and beautiful this place is,’ William said. ‘If I had a glass of wine, I would propose a toast. But I shall propose it anyway. To Patagonia – a place we will never forget.’
Thia and her brother clinked their imaginary glasses as the sun finally slid behind the mountain peaks and the night folded down like a concertina curtain - layer upon layer, pink on mauve, purple on blue, grey on navy; dropping slowly; pressing every ounce of pigment into the final few inches of sky in a fiery display of burnt orange. Polished mahogany. Burnished gold. The rich colour reflected in the skin of the Tehuelche Indians.

THE CONDOR'S FEATHER is for publication in July.
To order at a BIG discount price and with FREE WORLDWIDE DELIVERY go to:
THE BOOK DEPOSITORY.

Did you know? - Tasmania has the cleanest air on the planet

It's true - Tasmanian air is the cleanest on the planet.
This is probably because the west coast of the island is in the belt of the Roaring Forties - the winds which circle the southern hemisphere and blow over thousands of kilometers of sea touching only the tip of South America.
On the north west corner of Tasmania is the Base-line Air Pollution Station.
Here air samples are collected and monitored and it is from these samples that the rest of the world compares the quality of its air.
Interesting!
Pic: Low Head Lighthouse, Northern Tassie.

Autumn sunset

Fire in the sky

May - Flower of the month

Can anyone tell me what this is?
It's blooming now - May in Tasmania (late autumn).
It grows on a long (10ft) stem which is hollow in the middle a bit like a thick bamboo.
Marg

May - Fruit of the month - Pomegranite

I couldn't resists buying a pomegranite.
I haven't tasted one since I was a girl.
I enjoyed the flavour but not the seeds.
But then I don't crunch passionfruit seeds either.
Marg

Newfoundland dogs in fact and fiction

He is not trained to be noble and loyal - it is just part of his nature.
And few dog breeds can equal the Newfoundland for courage.
From the sinking of the Titanic to rescuing Napoleon, to heroism and death in the face of modern warfare; to the classic stories of Peter Pan and Jane Eyre.
For over two centuries the Newfoundland's heroic deeds have been immortalised in both fact and fiction.
Having studied the breed to include the dogs in my latest book, I found some of the stories fascinating.
I've listed them below or you can link to:
Newfoundland dogs

Pic: 'The Face in the Window' - the soft doleful eyes of Ishmael (courtesy of Karen Mercury www.Karenmercury.com)

NANA and LUATH - the fact and fiction of a pair of Newfoundland dogs

Few animals, save for BLACK BEAUTY and LASSIE, have appeared more often on the silver screen.
NANA was the character in Peter Pan who was cast as the nanny to the Darling Children. The dog's name has been known to generations of adults and children around the world.
It was not difficult for JM Barrie, author of The Boy Castaways and the stageplay, Peter Pan, to imagine a dolice and kindly large black and white dog caring for his charges.
His own dog, LUATH, was a Landseer. Barrie wrote about his writing: "I must have sat at table with that great dog waiting for me to stop, not complaining, for he knew it was thus we made our living, but giving me a look when he found he was to be in the play, with his sex changed.".
In most stage versions of the play, the part of NANA was performed by an actor dressed in a large fluffy dog suit but the role was based on LUATH, the writer's pet.
For over 100 years, the Newfoundland nanny, NANA and the boy who never grew up, Peter Pan, have given pleasure to countless children (and adults) around the world.
On one occasion JM Barrie commented that: "At one matinee we even let him, for a moment take the place of the actor who played NANA, and I don't know that any members of the audience ever noticed the change, though he (the dog) introduced some 'business' that was new to them and old to you and me. Heigh Ho!"

Pic: Poster: Michael Darling riding on Nana's back (corrected) - www.allposters.com

BOATSWAIN - Epitaph to a Newfoundland dog

Two hundred years ago the poet, Lord Byron, erected a tombstone in the grounds of his home, Newstead Abbey, in memory of his Newfoundland;
The opening lines of the inscription reads:

BEAUTY WITHOUT VANITY,
STRENGTH WITHOUT ISOLENCE,
COURAGE WITHOUT FEROCITY,
AND ALL THE VIRTUES OF MAN WITHOUT HIS VICES
BOATSWAIN was a black and white dog with some hunsky-like features, which born in Newfoundland in 1803 and brought to England to become the poet's favourite companion.
It is said that Lord Byron would take a boat out on his lake and once in deep water, would tip the boat and throw himself into the water.
Whenever this occurred, BOATSWAIN would seize his master by the collar and drag him to shore.
Lord Byron was rather eccentric man kept a menagerie of animals including a bear, but his other Newfoundland, THUNDER was less bold when facing the large beast.
BOATSWAIN bravery led him into a fight with a mongrel infected with rabies. The bite was fatal and BOATSWAIN succumbed to the dreadful disease.
But BOATSWAIN's line was to continue and it is recorded that when Lord Byron died his remains were returned from Greece and on the voyage his body was accompanied by a black and white Newfoundland - a direct descendant of the bard's faourite pet.

Pic: the famous dedication engraved on a tombstone in 1808.

Bella and Byron - a pair of Newfoundland dogs

THE CONDOR'S FEATHER is a dramatic adventure in which a pair of Newfoundland dogs accompany their mistress as she ventures across the Pampas of Patagonia.
The dogs are names after Lord Byron and his wife.

THE CONDOR'S FEATHER is due July 2009.
To order at a BIG discount price and with FREE WORLDWIDE DELIVERY go to:
THE BOOK DEPOSITORY.
UK buyers can order postage free from www.Halebooks.com

Book cover artist : Michael Thomas
Read more about THE CONDOR'S FEATHER below.

The Newfoundland dog's webbed feet make him the stongest canine in the water

A Newfoundalnd dog having recued a child.
By Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873)
Landseer's name became synonymous with the black and white or mixed colour Newfoundlands.

Newfoundland dog - hero of SS Ethie shipwreck

On a stormy night in December 1919 the SS Ethie foundered on rocks.
The local paper reported:
"A line was fired from the ship, but got caught up amongst the boulders, so the people of Martin Point sent out one of their dogs, a very sagacious animal , to bring it ashore."
It is said that the well trianed water dog dashed into the water and swam for the line. Grabbing it in his teeth he struggled back to shore thereby saving the lives of over 90 passenger and crew on board.

Pic: A shipwreck on the Strait of Magellan (MM)

HAIRYMAN, Ann Harvey and the wreck of the Dispatch

HAIRY MAN is perhaps an unimaginative name for a noble dog but this Newfoundland and his 17 year old mistress, Ann Harvey were responsible for saving the lives of 163 Irish immigrants from the wreck of the Brig Dispatch in 1828. When fishing with her fathernear the Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland, Ann noticed flotsom on the water and realized a ship had been wrecked nearby.
They immediatley set off with their Newfoundland dog, HAIRYMAN and soon found a group of survivors huddled together on a tiny island later known as Wreck Rock. Already some unlucky passengers from the SS Dispatch had drowned or died from exhaustion.
Unable to get close enough to the island because of the heavy seas, they threw a billet of wood to which the survivors attached a rope.
George then instructed the Newfoundland to swim out to retrieve it. By this means all the passengers were taken off the rocky outcrop.
Some survivors died on the rock and ten more expired on land after their dramatic rescue.
The crashing waves swept babies from their mother's arms. But over a three-day period more than 180 people were saved by Ann, George and their brave Newfoundland.

Pic: Courtesy of Newflands, NZ [newflands@ihug.co.nz]
Photo: Unicorn Images NZ

Sergeant GANDER - gallant Newfoundland hero

The heartwrenching story of a Newfoundland's courage is that of SGT. GANDER, the mascot of the Royal Rifles of Cananda.
Originally the pet of one of the soldiers the Newfoundland regularly visited the barracks to such an extent that they requested he become their mascot.
When they were posted to Hong Kong Island, GANDER accompanied them and during the fighting there were several instances where the Newfoundland's bravery was recorded.
Sadly his final act was his last.
When a grenade was hurled at the battalion, GANDER retrieved it and carried away in his mouth.
In doing so the granade exploded killing him instantly.
In 2000 fourty-nine years after this event, this courageous Newfoundland was honoured with the Dickin Medal awarded by the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals
Pic: Sgt. Gander

Newfoundland dog - GANDER - receives Medal of Gallantry

For saving the lives of Canadian Infantrymen during the Battle of Lye Mun on Hong Kong Island in December 1941. On three documented occasions "Gander" the Newfoundland mascot of the Royal Rifles of Canada engaged the enemy as his regiment joined the Winnipeg Grenadiers, members of Battalion Headquarters "C" Force and other Commonwealth troops in their courageous defence of the Island. Twice "Gander's" attacks halted the enemy's advance and protected groups of wounded soldiers. In a final act of bravery the war dog was killed in action gathering a grenade. Without "Gander's" intervention many more lives would have been lost in the assault.

RIGEL and the TITANIC - fact or fiction?

Several movies have been made over the years recounting the sinking of the Titanic on 21 April 1912. Few of the movies depited the dogs which were included on the ship's manifest. There were several of various breeds and all but two perished.
Christine Jamesson, a Titanic researcher, published the allegedly factual story, 'The Legend of Rigel' about a Newfoundland - the pet of the First Mate.
On the fateful night when the 'unsinkable' ship sailing on its maiden voyage hit an iceberg more than 1500 souls perished.
Had it not been for the response of the SS Carpathia even those who had managed to find a seat in a lifeboat would have also died of exposure to the cold.
Too weak to cry out a warning and with no light signal their predicament, one of the lifeboats was almost run down by the rescue ship.
But in the water beside the boat was RIGEL, the Newfoundland, who for 3 hours had been swimming around in the icy water presumably looking for his master.
As the Carpathia steamed towards them the dog's bark was heard by the captain attracting the crew to the plight of the survivors.
All on board the lifeboat were saved and RIGEL, wet but still warm was pulled from the water.
Once safely on board the ship, one of the seamen took RIGEL to his cabin and became the Newfoundland's new master.
Whether this story is fact or fiction is yet to be established.
In fact, the body of one woman was found in the water. She was clinging to a large dog, probably a Newfoundland, but both had succumbed to the elements.

Pic: Courtesy of Newflands, NZ [newflands@ihug.co.nz]
Photo by Unicorn Images NZ

Ishmael - Newfoundland dog

Ishmael is the much loved pet of Karen Mercuty - author of historical fiction stories set in the exotic wild of Africa (www.Karenmercury.com)

PILOT - the Newfoundland dog in JANE EYRE

Newfoundlands dogs have had cameo roles in several other famous books, Charlotte Bronte introduced a Newfoundland as the companion of Mr Rochester in her classic novel 'Jane Eyre'.
The dog's name was PILOT. In the story it is decribed as: a great dog, whose black and white colour made him a distinct object against the trees - a lion like creature with long hair and a huge head.'
Bursting from the bushes Jane was at first alarmed by the dog's sudden appearance.
Later in the story she realised how faithful and docile PILOT was.

Napoleon saved by a Newfoundland

It has been written that when Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the Isle of Elba he fell overboard into the Mediterranean Sea.
Had it not been for the Newfoundland dog which rescued him he may have drowned.
If you know anything more about this story, please let me know.

Pic: Ishmael's home is California with author Karen Mercury.
Visit her website at www.karenmercury.com

Coming soon - The Condor's Feather by Margaret Muir

When a group of mismatched English aristocrats embark on a voyage to South America, they do not realise what is in store for them.
Beset by Pampas winds, Indians, inhospitable terrain, mountain lions and escaped convicts, they must battle to survive their treck across the Pampas of Patagonia.
Travelling with them are two Newfoundland dogs - Bella and Byron.
Share their joy and pain and find out what happens at the tail end of the world.

THE CONDOR'S FEATHER is due July 2009.
To order at a BIG discount price and with FREE WORLDWIDE DELIVERY go to:
THE BOOK DEPOSITORY.
UK buyers can order postage free from the publisher www.Halebooks.com

For more about the story behind the writing of the book go to 'The Condor Feather' Squidoo page on the link below

For the Term of his Natural Life – by Marcus Clarke (1846-1881)

One hundred and fifty years ago, Marcus Clarke sailed around Cape Pillar on the SE coast of Tasmania.
Last month I witnessed the same inhospitable scenery from the deck of a replica sailing ship.
Here is Clarke’s description:

The south-east coast of Van Diemen’s Land from the solitary Mewstone to the basaltic cliffs of Tasman’s Head, from Tasman’s Head to Cape Pillar, and from Cape Pillar to the rugged grandeur of Pirates’ Bay, resembles a biscuit at which rats have been nibbling…
Viewed upon the map, the fantastic fragments of island and promontory … are like the curious forms assumed by melted lead spilt into water. If the suppositions were not too extravagant, one might imagine that when the Australian continent was fused, a careless giant upset the crucible and spilt Van Diemen’s Land in the ocean.

Clarke’s novel, For the Term of his Natural Life was first published in serial form in 1870 under the title His Natural Life.
Today it is recognised as a masterpiece.
Though written as a fiction story, the book provides a detailed historical insight into the inhuman penal system at work in Van Diemen’s Land in the first half of the 19th century.

This chilling page-turner tells of Rufus Dawes, a man sentenced to transportation for life for a crime he did not commit and destined to spend the rest of his life in various prisons in Van Diemen’s Land including Port Arthur and the infamous settlement at Macquarie Harbour on the wild west coast.
Fate plays a big part in Dawes unfortunate life, from his wrongful arrest and sentence; to the sinking of the ship transporting him; to the companions he sails with; and even to his birthright.

For the Term of his Natural Life is a compelling story with a spectrum of assorted and questionable characters neatly interwoven into its pages.

It has been said that the convicts transported to the penal colony were, ‘more sinn’d against then sinning’, and for many of them, death by their own hand or that of a brother was preferable to a life of pain and suffering.

For the Term of his Natural Life is a classic historical novel, a primary piece of literary history and an indictment of the infamous British Penal Code which sent hundreds of thousands of men, women and children to suffer unbearable hardship at the hands of their evil overseers.

Quote: Chapter 13 – The topography of Van Diemen’s Land – Marcus Clarke
Pic: Cape Pillar from the deck of The Lady Nelson (read about my own voyaging on a 1789 replica ship below)
Pic: After the ravages of time and bushfires, the old penal settlement at Port Arthur is now a traquil place