Travellin' Penguin

A Very Busy Couple of weeks

I try to post every weekend but the days have their own way of disappearing. So let’s just keep going forward and don’t worry about those missed days.

BOOK I ENJOYED

I read Muriel Spark’s novella The Driver’s Seat. What a very strange story. I will go as far as to say it was weird but it kept me turning pages. She packs a punch in this book and I think the reader has no idea where the story is going. All we know from the start is the woman named Lise as the main protagonist is going to be murdered.

Overview

The story follows Lise, a strange and erratic woman who leaves her job and travels to a southern European city (often read as Italy). From the beginning, her behaviour feels off: she’s confrontational, overly specific about trivial details (like clothing), and seems to be following a rigid internal script.

What makes the novel distinctive is that Muriel Spark reveals a crucial outcome ahead of time: Lise is going to be murdered. The narrative then becomes a kind of inverted detective story where the “victim” appears to be orchestrating the circumstances of her own death. (AI explanation)

Lise has worked in a boring job for a number of years. She suddenly takes off on a ‘holiday’ to an unnamed country in Europe, the reader thinks, for a holiday. On the plane she sees a man who she “thinks is her type”. She is so weird he gets up from his seat and moves. She finds her hotel upon landing and had agreed to meet up with the man seated beside her on the plane (who is really creepy) for a drink at his hotel later. 

In the meantime she meets an elderly woman outside her hotel and they decide to spend the afternoon together, having lunch, shopping etc. 

She keeps running into various men during the day and she continually tells the older woman, “He’s not my type”. The reader thinks she is looking for romance but as we are also told she is going to be dead there is quite a twist of events.

Spark’s writing is:

• Sparse and precise — very little emotional explanation
• Disorienting — jumps in time and perspective
• Darkly ironic — often undercuts expectations

The tone can feel almost clinical, which makes the disturbing content even more intense.

I really enjoyed this book as it kept me on my toes. I just kept asking what is going to happen? Why does the elderly woman keep talking about her nephew who is flying in to meet her? Why does she think he will be a good match for Lise? Why is Lise controlling every situation? What is she looking for? Why does she reject everyone she meets? 

As we know from the start she is going to die? Why? 

I really got into this little story. I have read Spark in the past but it has been awhile and I’d like to read more. This book has been unread on my shelf for awhile and now I can pass it on to an op shop or a small library and it can creep someone else out.

PHOTOGRAPHY

I mentioned in my last post I’d be doing some photography at some wetlands but unfortunately it was located in an odd spot I’d not visited before and parking wasn’t available where I thought it should be. One of those mornings that just don’t work out. However I did get to go to the dog beach with my two dogs and I got a few photos there.

I also had a morning in the city doing street photography. I had watched a video about a street photographer in Lebanon in the past and he did a lot of photography with bright colours. I took the bus into town and spent time looking for brightly coloured walls and some light, though it was a flat cloudy day.

BOOKISH EVENTS COMING UP

***Tonight three of us went to a book launch about Gough Whitlam, a former Prime Minister of Australia. Here is the quick blurb.

Gough Whitlam | In Conversation with Troy Bramston

Troy is also known as his in depth biography of previous Prime Ministers Paul Keating, Bob Hawke and Robert Menzies.

The Blurb: Whitlam’s bio is a commanding biography of one of Australia’s greatest and most visionary prime minsters by an acclaimed political journalist and author. There has been no one like Gough Whitlam in public life – a charismatic, inspirational and visionary leader who ushered in a reform revolution to modernise Australia, which endures to this day. But Whitlam’s immense self-belief, relentless determination, misjudgements and blunders were truly Shakespearean and help to explain his downfall. 

***Last night I bought a ticket for Irish writer Tony Niall who is coming to Tasmania the end of April. I love his writing and look forward to hearing what he has to say. It will be packed event for sure.

Thursday 30 April 2026

Beloved Irish writer, Niall Williams, reflects on his writing life and career and the country home that inspired his acclaimed novels. Niall Williams was born in Dublin in 1958. His critically acclaimed and bestselling fiction has been shortlisted for the Irish Times Literature Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the IMPAC Award. Williams’ debut novel Four Letters of Love, an international bestseller, has been adapted by the author for screen and will star Helena Bonham-Carter, Pierce Brosnan and Gabriel Byrne. His most recent novel Time of the Child was an instant Irish Times bestseller and was awarded the Kerry Group Novel of the Year Award. He lives in Kiltumper in County Clare, with his wife, Christine. Join Niall for an unforgettable night.

***I’m heading into the middle of our April book group with the Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. More on this book later. 

That wraps up another couple of weeks. Hopefully I’ll be back in another week all decompressed from life’s events lately.

Question of the week- As Ministry of Time features time travelling/sci-fi I’m trying to get my head around it though it is interesting. It is a genre I never choose for myself so here’s your question:  

What genre do you want to read more of but rarely pick up?

What a beautiful summer’s day we’re having but I must say I’d love a good rain storm. It is so dry here in Tasmania. 

BOOK OF THE WEEK

I just finished a really good Tasmanian book. I really liked it. I mentioned it before. It is called My Heart at Evening by Konrad Muller. The author grew up in Melbourne, studied Arabic in Egypt and was an Australian diplomat posted in Cairo and Tel Aviv. He now works on a small family vineyard in northern Tasmania. This book is his first novel. 

The story:  In 1832, Van Diemen’s (original name of Tasmania) land. A troubled emissary narrates his journey north from Hobart Town to Circular head (in the northwest of state) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the suicide of Henry Hellyer- surveyor,  amateur botanist, artist and friend to the wife of the Chief Agent in the north. There he navigates the horror of a fledgling nation.It is an irresistible foundational story and observation of the forces that shaped Tasmania, and Australia more broadly from power, to mateship, sexuality a nd isolation-forces we still recognise today (book blurb). 

From Chat GPT-  Henry Hellyer was an English surveyor and explorer who played a crucial role in opening up the remote north-west of Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen’s Land) in the 1820s.

Why he matters in Tasmanian history

1. Surveyor for the Van Diemen’s Land Company
In 1825, the powerful Van Diemen’s Land Company was granted vast tracts of land in north-west Tasmania. Hellyer was appointed chief surveyor. His task was to:

• Explore and map rugged, heavily forested country
• Lay out farms and townships
• Plan access routes and infrastructure

2. Founding of key settlements
3. Overland exploration
He cut tracks through extremely dense bush between the north coast and the inland plateau — an extraordinary feat at the time. His journals describe:

• Thick rainforest
• Difficult river crossings
• Encounters with local Aboriginal Tasmanians
• Harsh weather and isolation

His work was physically punishing and psychologically demanding.

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Henry died of suicide and Governor Arthur at the time wanted to know the circumstances around his death. The book is about the narrator going to the northwest of the state and trying to get the story. The writing is beautiful. I loved this man’s writing. The history is anything but dry. It is an easy read for learning so much about this time period and this man.

MY COMMONPLACE JOURNAL

I came across this type of journal recently and I am really enjoying writing one. I enjoy seeing how others use it.

A commonplace journal is a personal notebook where you collect and organise useful or meaningful information—such as quotes, ideas, observations, and excerpts from things you read. Instead of recording daily events like a diary, it serves as a curated reference of knowledge and inspiration you want to remember and revisit

While reading the Henry Heller book I took notes of places in Tasmania I wasn’t sure of location. I had some 1800s clothing vocabulary I didn’t know. There was a quote a man uttered under his breath about another I didn’t know what it meant. I jotted these words/quote down. At the end of my reading session I looked them all up and wrote it in my commonplace journal. I had a lot of fun doing so as I love research and the rabbit holes that follow.

I’ll share a couple of examples. 

• While walking in a garden the flowers Delphiniums were mentioned. I couldn’t remember what they were. When I looked them up and saw the photo it was a forehead slapping moment. Of course I know what those are.

• Describing a woman’s. clothing the word “pelisse” was something she wore. What the devil is a pelisse? Turns out it is a long or short dress/garment with a tightly fitted bodice, often with embroidery decoration.

  

• The names of two children were Walterus and Carolus. Why not just Carol and Walter. I wanted to know the origin. Turns out it is of a Latin origin. It was then shortened. It is of English/Dutch origin.

• One man in authority, talking to another man who is a freed convict (not as good as him, of course) mutters under his breath at the end of the conversation “Iscariot!” Why call a man an Iscariot?  Turns out it is a reference to Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus. Iscariot has become a permanent reference to a man who betrays another.
• I wondered why Emu Bay was called that. Are there emus in Tasmania? Not now but supposedly at one time there were. I need to look into that one a bit more.

I had a lot of fun looking these terms up and I wrote them in my Commonplace journal and then I illustrated them with my five year old’s drawing skills.

I now have this terminology committed to memory. Ha!

With an older brain it is lovely to know there are tricks to keeping one’s memory of something one reads!

PHOTOGRAPHY:

I haven’t done any photography this week but our photo group is going to a wetlands area on Friday morning. I understand there could be a platypus there as well as birds and who knows what else. So stay tuned for a couple of photos from this wetlands  I never knew this wetlands is where it is, a 25 minute drive away tucked behind a hotel.

So all the best for the rest of the week and I’ll catch up again.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Are you going anywhere this week you’ve never been before?  I find it’s always a fun thing to do. Maybe shop, maybe enjoy a. New nature walk, maybe a new place to have a coffee or a meal. If not why not do so. 

Books of the week.

I’m currently listening to Lily Brett’s Old Seems to Be Other People. I have always enjoyed her a lot. Brought up in Melbourne but now lives in New York City she tends to write short essays, almost anecdotes of the thoughts in her head. Many about life experiences, her relationship with her father who at the time of writing is 99 yrs old. She is quite a hypochondriac. Her parents lost everything while interred in the death camps of WWII but survived. Although other family members all perished.  Listening to this audio book is like sitting in a crowded living room in a New York apartment with a lot of ‘tchotchkes.’  I have always loved books about New York City but have never been there. I have a large image in my head of probably old New York and if I visited I would lose that. It is the only city in the world I feel that way about. 

The other very short book I read was Claire Keegan’s story Foster. What a beautiful book. I will say that again. It is just so beautiful and the ending would make for great discussion in a book group. I read it in a single setting. I will give you the Good Reads description in case you haven’t read it though everyone I know has told me to read it. 

“It is a hot summer inn rural Ireland. A girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm, not knowing when she will return home. In the stranger’s house, she finds a warmth and affection she has not known. Before and slowly begins to blossom in their care. But in a house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers how fragile her idyll is.”

Reading this book is like sitting indoors on a rainy evening with a cup of hot chocolate and a purring cat in your lap. I will probably read it again. It is only 96 pages long so I guess more of a novella. 

Photography this week

I haven’t done too much this week. A friend and I popped into the Botanical Gardens looking for things in the lily pond. Insects, ducks, any thing that sparks our interest. It is such a lovely place to drop into and only 15 minutes away from where I live. Going in late afternoon is nice as not many people are there and no running and screaming kids darting around. 

Playing with filters.

Random photos from the bus. Each time the bus stopped on way home I snapped a picture out the window.

Vinnies thrift shop- always several people milling around

Hobart street scene. All our electric boxes in town have art work on them by various people.

Life

As I write this I have the windows open on a mild summer’s day.   The council just laid about a meter (it seems) of hot tar on the road out front and the smell is strong. Now they have big roller machines going back and forth flattening it out. I always hate to take the car out on hot tar but I think by this evening when I need to leave it will be pretty well squashed into the ground. Looking forward to the white lines.

There is going to be a lunar eclipse tonight right across Australia and a blood moon and I have another engagement so can’t take up the invitation to go to the top of Mt Wellington and try to get photos. Even the clouds are moving away. I am really disappointed I can’t get up there. I guess there will be other nights but the lunar eclipse could be interesting but photographing the moon can be tricky. You need a building or a tree in front or beside it as it rises. If you’ve ever pointed your camera or phone camera at the moon and snapped a shot you’ll know what I mean. It turns into a “nothing-burger” as one of the photographers in America often says about photos he critiques. I already have a bunch of nothing-burgers so don’t need any more.

Family life with 5 pets.

Peanny falls asleep watching me write this.

All of our guys are doing well. Our cat, Cousin Eddie was at the vet last week for a severe gastritis but modern medicine has knocked that right out of him. People can break the world speed record when they hear a cat retching and about to throw up on your bed. We often have someone sprinting across a room to move him to the floor before he finishes the task.  It is a good way to really fly out of a chair.

That about sums up life around here for the past 10 days or so. Let’s hope it gets a bit more exciting. I did book a couple of photography tours but they are later in the year. More on that later.

All the best for the rest of the week. 

Question. Did any other Australian see the blood moon and eclipse?

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Note: I wrote this yesterday then accidentally deleted it. So the lunar eclipse was last night. I could see it from our yard. The moon did in fact look orange and I watched it as the shade covered the moon.