Castle Hill, Townsville: A Tribute

On January 1, two days after our arrival in this country, Vilis and I walked the road up Castle Hill, stepping over squashed cane toads, noting the grey, dessicated grasses and sparse tree cover of th...

Celebrating Easter at Sunrise

Jolted from sleep by our 4:30 a.m. alarms, Vilis and I were nonetheless striding up the Castle Hill road by 5:15 a.m., our leg muscles stretching out the stiffness resulting from yesterday’s bushwal...

Fever Mosquitoes and Dusk on Castle Hill

In the lifting darkness of 5:30 a.m., my bicycle light cast a white beam onto the paved path beside the golf course as I rode south in the Ross River Parkway. Sprinklers on the golf course pushed long...

Castle Hill, The Strand, Cane Toads, Snakes, and Devil Facial Tumour Disease

This morning at breakfast, Vilis told me, “Last night, I killed a cockroach in the living room.” I asked him how big it was, so he indicated a length of about three inches and told me, “They...