I’ve never tried finding a caravan park that will accept pet camels – but as a modern-day cameleer preparing his herd for an epic expedition across the desert, Kamahl Druesne has and he tells me it’s not easy. “There is an anti-camel mentality in Australia,” he says, after having been rejected by countless parks in the Northern Territory. …
Seeker of the Lost Arts has lined up a bumper Australian art and photography sightseeing tour for you today. Enjoy! Stopover 1: Sydney At Last – The Seventies While Sydneysiders have been lapping up the brilliant high-tech Vivid Festival light spectacular this week, if I were visiting old Sydney town I would be making a …
ANYONE who is into photographing suburban shrubs shaped into giant kangaroos is OK with the Seeker. You could even go so for as to say that this blog has been created with just such a connoisseur of the eccentric in mind. And on that note, let me introduce you to Mr Warren Kirk, 63, of Seddon, Melbourne. Warren …
A home that will never be lived in again; a church that will never receive another congregation. Entire communities displaced and buildings reduced to rubble. Christchurch, New Zealand, is full of stories like these after a series of earthquakes hit the city, the most devastating of which killed 185 people in 2011. Out of tragedy …
The wooden bowl can be traced back to medieval times and was the standard eating vessel for 1000 years. Every town had its own wood turner. In 1958 one of England’s last traditional wood turners died – and with him centuries of knowledge on how to use a simple, foot powered lathe. Decades later …
WALKING into calligrapher and letterpress designer Sabine Pick’s studio in Byron Bay means taking a step back in time. Taking pride of place in Sabine’s light-filled space in Byron Bay’s Arts and Industry Estate is a 1936 C&P platen letterpress printer, a solid-steel, rusty toned contraption that weighs a tonne and is entirely manually operated. …
This image of rosy-cheeked surf life savers was shared with me by an old-timer in Byron Bay, Keith Bensley. I had arrived at his modest weatherboard home to chat about fishing, for a story I was writing on marine park sanctuaries. Keith, 88, had prepared for my visit by selecting a few of his old photo …
Today’s tour is all about light – after all today is the shortest day of the year; the winter solstice. This tour was inspired by the most loved community celebrations of the year here in Northern NSW, the Lismore Lantern Parade, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary. Of course, once I started on the … Continue reading
Before Instagram; before Facebook and before everybody became an instant photographer with a digital camera and smart phone in their pocket, there was this quaint pastime of sending printed postcards when you were on holiday. You had to buy the postcard and send it through the mail and it may have taken weeks to reach its destination… Can … Continue reading
Rainbow lorikeets are blissfully chattering away amid the blossoms of a flowering tea tree as I arrive at the studio of North Coast ceramic artist, Claire Atkins. I am here to photograph a portfolio of new images for her arts business; Pinky and Maurice Contemporary Ceramics, and to get my fix on one of my … Continue reading
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, a much younger Seeker set off across the desert in a beat-up old van with her toddler child and two girlfriends in tow. Two days into the drive, on a highway miles away from the nearest dusty western Queensland town, the van’s starter motor packed up. We hitched a ride … Continue reading
Places to see, people to meet. Let’s take whizz around the Internet on the inaugural Seeker’s Sightseeing Tour. No passport required. Stopover 1: Cape Town, South Africa In 1996 a palm tree appeared almost overnight in a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. This was supposedly one of the world’s first ever disguised cell phone … Continue reading
When the Seeker is called upon to help unite the pineapples of the world, the Seeker acts. After all, I am the self-appointed champion of the Lesser Known Small Pineapple of Ballina and in the spirit of all things pineapple, I am pleased to share the following news: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern … Continue reading
Dear Easter Bunny: Forget the chocolate, buddy. This is the kind of egg I would like to find in our backyard egg hunt this Easter, please. “If you are looking for an intimate hideaway, a stylish chill-out room, a zen space or luxury glamping pad then The Egg can provide the ideal solution. Locate … Continue reading
The “Futura” transportable home was designed to look and act like a spaceship; landing and taking off from a site with ease. Matti Suuronen, an architect from Finland designed the UFO-like pre-fabricated homes to be easily constructed and deconstructed, or even flown whole by helicopter or plane from one destination to the next as the … Continue reading
To this day when I see a copy of Australian Women’s Weekly I am transported straight back to my grandma’s lounge room in Sydney where inevitably there was a ‘Weekly’ magazine sitting on the coffee table next to her as she sat knitting. I would park my bike next to the gate leading to the … Continue reading
Most kids would have tried their hand at a bit of origami – a paper aeroplane, maybe a paper crane or perhaps one of those chatterbox games… How about a 15ft (4.5metre) cardboard origami dinosaur? Betcha haven’t tried making one of those, huh? No, me neither, but it looks like fun – once you get the hang of industrial-strength … Continue reading
Seeker of the Lost Arts 