Festivals in Bhutan

Each and every festival in Bhutan is the most sought after form of entertainment. The Royal Academy of Performing Arts (RAPA) in Thimphu works to preserve the unique folk dancing heritage in the country and its dancers are expert in all forms of this unique art.

Fiona McIntosh: A Spy's Wife in Berlin

The photo shows the original Reichstag of the Weimar Republic...where Parliament sat in Berlin. This is how it looked in August 1932.  By the end of January 1933, Adolf Hitler was the Chancellor of Germany and once the infamous burning of the Reichstag occurred, he began to seize full power and no one was being left in doubt that there was anything democratic about Germany or anything outward-looking and free about the once fabulously liberally-minded Berlin where the seat of power was for the Weimar Republic.  The rise of the Nazis changed everything and that magnificent, gothic building you see there was burned until the glass of its exquisite cupola exploded and shattered, just like the lives of the people who were about to be traumatised in the new age Reich.

Lake Macquarie NSW : #HolidayHereThisYear

There has never been a better time to spread your wings and visit one of New South Wales’ weekend getaway gems. Many of us have had to kiss our overseas travels goodbye and are now seeking local holiday options that don’t carry a ritzy price tag or the hassle of long-haul flights. Located just an hour and a half north of Sydney, you can find some sensational swaps for the world’s most stunning tourist hotspots in Lake Macquarie.

Introduction to New South Wales (1988)

The continent was first named 'Austrialia del Espiritu Santo' by Quiros in 1606, renamed 'New Holland' by Tasman in 1644 and finally Cook, in 1770, initially called the eastern half 'New Wales' and later New South Wales. Although the name 'New Holland' was used in British documents up to 1849, Macquarie officially adopted the name 'Australia' in 1817 as it was already commonly used.

History on the Hume: Holbrook, the submarine town

Gundula Holbrook from a 1921 painting

Gundula Holbrook: I was born in Austria m the widow of the late Commander Norman Holbrook VC, the man after whom this Town of Holbrook was named. He was not an Australian, but an officer in Britain's Royal Navy.

You may not find that curious today so many of Australia's beautiful cities and towns are named after British people and places: Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, and many more - all have British origins. Most were named after senior bureaucrats, Lords, Governors and even a Queen - Britain's Queen Adelaide.

So, how did an ordinary Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, a submariner commanding an obsolete boat, get to have an Australian inland town named in his honour? The story beggars belief, as we say back home, and probably here as well.

History on the Hume: Ettamogah Pub - from cartoon to reality.

It was as a child in the Albury district that cartoonist Ken Maynard came to love the Ettamogah countryside, and he later immortalised Ettamogah in his "Australian Post" cartoons of the "Ettamogah Pub".

History in the Hunter: The historic Arnotts bakehouse, Morpeth

This historic Bakehouse was built by Richard Chapman (1827-1887) In about 1851, Chapman was a property owner, butcher and businessman of Morpeth whose residency extended from at least 1850 to his death in 1887. His butchery business and residence was next door to this site but has since been demolished.