Dear all, The San people are a direct link to the past for all mankind. They have lived as hunter gatherers in the Kalahari for an estimated 30,000 years. They hunt the eland antelope, a large and dangerous beast. A small group of men, five or so, set out on the hunt. First they scare up a herd of eland, and identify the strongest, fittest male with the largest horns. Working silently using only hand signals, they slowly split off the male from the rest of the herd. The larg...

I saw Luthor as I stepped out of under the waterfall, just sitting there, absently watching some squabbling sparroes as the hopped betwee the son-drops and forget-me-nots that had begun to carpet the forest floor. He turned suddenly, somehow aware that I'd noticed him. He smile, but sat still. 'Hello John!' he called over his shoulder as he turnded back to his quiet, considering delight of the newly sprung spring morning. 'How are you?' 'Well indeed, Luthor, well.' I dried myself ...

'And Christmas trees in summer sigh with withered bough and leaf....' It really is the oddest thing of all for a Welshman to be abroad at Christmas. Where there should be driving winds and rain, instead there are flies and beating sun. Instead of overcoats pulled tighly against the harsh weathers there are rather bikinis and vests flashing fields of tanned flesh. The piped carols seem displaced among the frenzy of spending that infects all the muddling masses that dart hither and thithe...

The United States of America should have a foundation free from the influence of clergy" George Washington, President & General 'to save your world you asked this man to die; would this man, could he seeyou now, ask why?' W.H.Auden 'To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public' Roosveldt 'We have grasped the mystery of the at...

Most of you at some time will have come across the legend of the wandering Jew. Who was he? Or she? When Jesus bade Peter to follow him, he asked Jesus what should John do? Jesus replied, 'If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?' Middle aged theologians concluded that John did not in fact die and was wandering the earth still, waiting for the second coming. This rumour gave way to more speculations and rumours, perhaps it wasn't John. What about Malchus, whose a...

Siloti is a charming man. He has a big moon face and a mouth full of metal fillings. His beard and hair are white and immaculately groomed. On his head is a hat with a yellow and tangerine piping, matching the yellow and tangerine feather that was stuck into the top of the hat at a jaunty angle. He is beaming. He is beamin so much I was briefly concerned that his head might fall off. Sitoli likes to be called uncle. He insists in fact, and shakes hands at every opportunity, almost li...

The Indian Pacific Railway (Saturday 6th - Sunday 7th) At last, I was leaving Sydney. Now I loved Sydney, there's always plenty to do and see, the restaurants are generally good, but I felt I was slowly drowning in Sydney, just as I eventually drowned in London. But now, the tourism switch was truly off, and I was about to wend my way westwards towards Adelaide. Via the Indian Pacific railway, a line that stretches from coast to coast from the well, the Indian to the Pacific. I...

To the Tasmanian Mercury Newspaper Dear Editor, Just under three wekks ago I found myself here in Hobart wondering what the hell I was going to do in Tasmania other than hike, climb and watch the game I adore, Rugby Union. It was a Thursday, a public holiday, everything appeared closed and the fear that I had arrived at a ghost town began to gnaw at this lonely traveller, new to Australia let alone Tasmania. Three weeks later I now wonder what on earth I was worried about. ...

La Dolce Vita (edited). The Piazza Navona, Roma. It’s the morning after the night before. I stop in one of the many street cafes that line the Piazza and pause, to take stock, rest my weary feet and reflect on the week gone past. The hubub of the milling crowds flocking to the square, staring at the mimics, reminds one that this is a slow day, a deliberate day, a day of standing still and thinking. As I gesture to the waiter for a drink, the plinking sound of plucked strings ...

From Zin Zan Brooke after France thumped Scotland by fifty points: 'The Frenchmen looked up the Scots kilts and found that they had no balls!' From the Sunday Age. The reverend Sion Gough Hughes, minister at the Welsh church in Melbourne, said, 'To some people it is more than momentary relief from day-to-day life; it's almost like a second family. And there's nothing worse than losing to England. As a nation we're not anti-English, but we are anti-English rugby Phil Bennet, no ...

From Gwlad Rugby: Kiri te Kanawa, Philip Schofield, Russell Crowe, Edmund Hillary, Shane Howarth ("Are you sure about this one?" - Ed) - your boys took one hell of a beating! Steve Hansen - an apology Since he took over from Graham Henry in February 2002, Gwlad, along with many of our colleagues in the media, may have given the impression that we thought Steve Hansen was the worst rugby coach ever to don a tracksuit. Headlines such as "Shove your pods up your arse", and "F@ck off ba...

Dear all, A mate of mine rang me up a few weeks ago and said, hey Welshy! I've got two tickets for one of the semis in Sydney - fancy going? So obviously I left my wife and kids, told my boss that he looked exactly like a pustular boil I once found under my left testicle and that he needed lancing. I took this first flight out I could to Orstralia, forgot to get off the plane at Sydney and found myself in Tasmania. Oh well, there's plenty of time to get back to Sydney for the semis. ...

Dear all, Well, loved and loathed as I am, I am shortly to undergo another Odyssey to unchartered lands. Yes, that hotbed of ingrown slack-jawed and recidivist peoples otherwise known as Orstralians. Or Oz. I'm going hiking in the Tasmanian interior for a few weeks, a holiday in Sydney watching the World Cup, have a few weeks to kill thereafter until I leave for Thailand early in December. Then I plan on an intial foray into the sub-continent. I haven't yet worked out the India...

Dear all, I offer this as a form of prayer. Indeed it is really for Simon. I wanted to offer a prayer but did not know how exactly. I just wanted him to know that many people appreciate his unstinting and unswerving efforts for peace. God bless you Simon. Make of it what you will, it is all true, though I joined the dots myself obviously. For Simon...... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 'I see a shoe. There is still an ankle in it. It is ...

The first real contest of the tournament was a real eye opener. A game for the purists perhaps, but the game effectively underlined the weaknesses of both sides. Starting with England, the seemingly invulnerable championship favourites were exposed for the first time in over a year. And suprisingly, it was up front that they struggled against an 'in yer face' Springbok pack. With the Boks competing and disrupting England possession, they were able to slow the delivery to Wilkinson ...