Lilian's Tree

 At the beginning of July Paul and I spent three nights at the Mantra on Bond Street. We had a Light Rail stop at the door, Circular Quay, two blocks away, with ferry terminals. Eleven floors up, we looked south along George Street.  We had a one bedroom, split-level, self contained apartment. Friday saw us drop of the bags and walk to Circular Quay and take the ferry to Watson's Bay. We had wanted to do the South Head walk, but the wind was whistling up the harbour and clouds scudding by we opted out of the walk. We walked along the water front, several street and across Camp Cove beach. Looking back up the harbour the views were beautiful. Watson's Bay Looking back towards the City. Camp Cove. Camp Cove. We meandered back to the ferry terminal and then across the park to a cafe for morning tea. Catching the bus back to the city, we alighted between Hyde Park South and North. It was a lovely stroll through Hyde Park, North to St James and then into Pitt Street Mall. I did som...

 It is great to see in-person conferences returning and the past weekend I attended the Royal Australian Historical Society's Conference, with the Theme being, Windows into Local History.  Held at the Campbelltown Catholic Club, it was two full days of learning, plus pre-conference drinks, on the Friday night and the Conference dinner on the Saturday night. I stayed at the hotel, next to the venue, which was great. As we arrived, we were given a 'goody' bag and book. The bag contained our program for the two days, information leaflets on places of interest and a note pad and pen. Seating was at round tables, and I joined with a group of friends. The day was divided into sessions, each with a theme and two or three speakers. Session A - Welcome and Keynote Address. Session B - Windows into Local History: Views on Campbelltown's Past. Session C - Windows into Local History: Opening Classrooms to Community Stories. Saturday ended with tours of the local area and dinner. Se...