Monthly Archives: May 2018

In which Evan and Barbara share their reflections in conversation with each other. BT: Our reading group’s emphasis on connection between Australia and the rest of the world and the groups within Australia has pushed me to think a lot … Continue reading →

On our early morning tour to Uluru National Park on Sunday, I asked the driver/tour guide Phil what prompted him to come to this place. He told us he had worked on the West coast of Australia, near Perth, before … Continue reading →

W.V.O. Quine the influential Harvard philosopher of the 20th century is known for his ontological parsimony. That is, he preferred to recognize fewer rather than more things in his official picture of reality and (allegedly) once explained this intellectual stance … Continue reading →

Our intrepid group of travelers took advantage of our final morning in Oz to tour the Melbourne Zoo. Shout-out to staffer Emily McLeod for organizing it and to Jenny for serving as our tour guide! This was valuable not only … Continue reading →

One of our educational journeys while we were in central Australia was an 8-hour tour of Curtin Springs Station (station=ranch in Australia). In many ways, this was one of the most unexpected and surprising aspects of our stay in the … Continue reading →

As suggested by the Sydney Fish Market’s seafood school’s brochure, such delicacies from the sea can take “your weekend barbie from casual to gourmet.”  Our latest news from the Land of Oz includes a brief update as several of our … Continue reading →

Yesterday we arrived at Uluru (Ayers Rock) — a place of special spiritual significance to the native people. It’s the connection between land and culture that made this Australia trip especially interesting to me, and the implication that you can’t … Continue reading →

We visited several art museums and exhibitions during our days in Sydney. The collections provide a fascinating record of how artists have constructed the images of Australia over time to reflect their shifting sense of identity and the conflicts and … Continue reading →

Today we departed our hotel at 6:25am for an early morning backstage tour of the famed Sydney Opera House. Our nearly three hour journey began through the large underground passageway where materials and supplies are brought into the building and … Continue reading →