Australia Archives - Page 3 of 3

All You Need is Love: What It’s Like to Live in a Van With Your Fiancé

"I need to buy some bin bags to shit in or there'll be an explosion in the night," said my fiancé of one month, roughly three-and-a-half minutes after we’d packed our life's possessions (and dreams) into our little commuter van. This suddenly brought to my simple mind a question. Do you really know the person…

ByCassandra ClarkMay 10, 2021

Australia Story

Michael the (Snake) Charmer: a Month in a Nimbin Commune

When I arrived at his dilapidated treehouse, I complimented Michael on the taxidermy snake he had draped on his kitchen window sill. I found comfort in its lifelessness, its alien body, the intricacy of its scales. Michael, slowly dragging on his cigarette and puffing out dragon-like smoke, crossed one thin leg over the other as…

ByTawney BevilacquaApril 12, 2021

Australia Editorial

The Heart of it All: An Ode to Tassie

Hints of sweet honeysuckle and mint. Crisp forest dew and pine bark, damp. Soft touches of wood-like nectar circle the air, subtly paired with a burnt caramel popcorn. Tasmania’s winter aromas linger as they dance harmoniously on the tips of my nostrils. Raindrops fall, softly decorating the surrounding flora. I sit on our aging…

ByKatelyn BohannonMarch 2, 2021

Australia Story

Beyond the Claddings: A Commune in the City

Young families are plentiful. Kids play on bikes and tradies dash about. Seemingly everybody has a dog. The area is much like a maze, but you finally arrive at the outer rim of a newly built housing development site. Look outwards, and behind you are individuals living simple lives in their simple homes, unaware that…

ByTom SchulteJanuary 28, 2021

Australia Story

The Grand Escape

"Farkkk. Well, there go our winter holiday plans.” As Gladys announced the NSW-Victorian border closure, I felt my heart sink. It wasn’t unexpected, just another shitty trick in the shocking magic show that has been 2020. I closed my eyes. The spark of hope that had been a planned roadtrip during an otherwise dreary year…

ByPippa SalmonJanuary 23, 2021

Australia Story

“We Won Tumut”: A COVID-Inspired Roadtrip

Every good road trip starts with a morning after pill. The morning after pill is basically the same as time travel and is particularly good bought from a pharmacy in a one-street town just off the highway three hours inland from Sydney. The road started to wind as we ate pies and ascended into Kosciuszko…

ByLucy SmallAugust 24, 2020

Australia Story

How Living in a Hare Krishna Community Turned Me Vegetarian

“Eating is a spiritual practice, and if you do it right, it will boost your health and your mindfulness.” Vaḷḷi, a female meditation guru with a shaved head and clinking anklets, is giving a short lecture on Ayurvedic beliefs. “It’s all about your personal dosha, the energy that circulates throughout the body. You have to…

ByGaia LampertiMay 19, 2020

Australia Story

I Don’t Remember the Countdown, I’m Puking My Guts Up, and I’ve Done This Before

Because I cannot bear the thought of spending New Year’s alone, I get in a car with a friend and two others I’ve never met before. One of the strangers is driving. We’re travelling to the other side of Melbourne, an hour and a half away, to a suburb I’ve never been to before, to…

ByKyara StrachanJanuary 20, 2020

Africa Australia Story

Melbourne // Southern Africa: A Series of Stories

In 1994 in Melbourne, Australia, my dad sat in peace. He had marched and fought, and now could return to the country he’d left, with pride and without fear. 13 years later, we were packed up and heading across the world from our life in Australia to post-Apartheid South Africa. * April 2007 The anticipation…

ByTembi TlhabaneOctober 1, 2019

Australia Story

An Open Letter to the Police Officer Who Saw My Boob

Dear Officer, I am writing to you as I sit grappling with the dilemma of whether or not to pay the $423 fine you issued me with for not wearing my seatbelt correctly. I am unsure whether paying a fine for an offence I did not commit or going to court in the remote South…

ByLucy SmallMay 3, 2019