Ipoh Old Town

She has been visited by many and forgotten by many as time passed us all by, however, she is back even stronger with a big attitude of hip, retro and gothic. She has and will continue to be visited by many on their transit journeys, food indulgence or just to take a walk into memory lane. Wonder no more! It is no other than Ipoh, the capital city of Perak.

Visiting Lockhart NSW: Billabong Motors

In 1935 Mr JM Smith established the firm of I M Smith and Co. which carried with it the Ford Company franchise in Urana. The motor business was registered in 1950 under the name of Billabong Motors. In 1959 the Ford Motor Company extended the franchise to take in the Lockhart district. Then in October 1962, the old garage formerly occupied by Mr Darcy McDougall in Urana Street was purchased and the business opened in Lockhart.

Mapping Australia's coastline

Every map tells a story; it reflects the individual mapmaker's particular perception of the world. Maps are a graphic representation of how we understand the condition of the human world based on concepts and events. They show the location of items and places and the spatial relationship between them. Specific cultural symbols and lines are often used to illustrate geographical features.

Matthew Flinders. Published by Joyce Gold, Naval Chronicle Office, 1814. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia: nla.pic-an9455829-1-v.

European mapping is based on Western concepts as they relate to geographical space. From the early 1500s to the 1800s, maps represented religious and political views of the communities that the map makers were serving as well as the scientific knowledge at the time. Artistic beauty was combined with geographical information because of the intention to sell the map or please a patron or employer.

South Australia: In the beginning

Colonel William Light

 Firm steps to establish the province of South Australia were taken in August 1834, by the Imperial Government when Colonisation Commissioners were appointed. Captain (afterwards Rear-Admiral Sir) John Hindmarsh became first Governor and Colonel William Light first Surveyor-General.

The instructions issued by the Commissioners concerning the selection of a site for the capital of the new province were as follows:

When you have determined the site of the first town, you will proceed to lay it out in accordance with the regulations. You will make the streets of ample width, and arrange them with reference to the convenience of the inhabitants, and the beauty and salubrity of the town; and you will make the necessary reserves for squares, public walks and quays.

The following letter dated 13 July 1836 (the original of which is in the possession of the Adelaide City Council) from Lieutenant-General Sir Herbert Taylor, Private Secretary to King William IV, to Governor Hindmarsh, communicated the command of the Monarch that the capital of South Australia should be named after his consort, Queen Adelaide.

Motorcycle racing history at Woodside, SA

Motorcycle races at Woodside SA, October 1949. National Motor Museum Collection

Racing and competition have been an important element of motorcycle culture from the start, beginning with friendly club competitions and road races. 

The Stanthorpe Heritage Museum has fifteen buildings and more than 20,000 items

School Residence (1894): The North Maryands schoolhouse features displays of a schoolroom, kitchenalia, religious vestments. banking office and photographic equipment.

Ardmore House (1920): This was one of five summer holiday homes built in Stanthorpe during the 1920s. It houses hospital, ambulance, dental, bathroom, bedroom, music, toy, domestic and textile collections plus the local Italian history.

Visiting Tibooburra in Outback NSW

There is something impossibly romantic about Tibooburra; there it is in the far north-western corner (Corner Country) of New South Wales. Tibooburra is 335 km north of Broken Hill, 1504 km north-west of Sydney, 900 km from Adelaide. It seems so isolated and yet it is full of friendliness and activity.