Tag: travel

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“Camel in the Dam”

Roger Garwood

© Roger Garwood 2025 “Hey, Boss, quick, we got camel in the dam!” “Tiger, don’t call me Boss.” “No, Boss.” It was difficult. I was a ‘whitefella’ managing a ‘blackfella’ community in the mid ‘90s and reversing a 200 year old programme of brainwashing was a formidable battle.  I was working for these people, they were my boss – spinifex people who were removed from Maralinga where atomic weapons were tested between 1952 and 1963.  The community of Coonnana is 200 kilometres east of the gold mining centre of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.  Driving dangerously fast on the dusty track … Continue reading “Camel in the Dam”

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Fish Head Curry and Cheesecake

Roger Garwood

George Town is an aged British colonial outpost isolated on Malaysia’s Penang Island, a far eastern port which competed as a trading centre with Singapore and Hong Kong. I hadn’t intended to go to Penang but a colleague mentioned a Chinese chef known for concocting fish head curry. The temptation was strong bait so I changed plans and headed to the Island’s Chinese jetties.  True to form the town is crumbling around the edges while developers peck at properties ripe for development. Meantime the old Empire’s character is embedded in the architecture of George Town’s hub where more than 450 restaurants … Continue reading Fish Head Curry and Cheesecake

Features, Photography, Photojournalism, Street Photography, Travel3 Comments

Blessing the Black Madonna

Roger Garwood

Each year the fishing community of Fremantle has two ceremonies to ensure the fishermen and their boats are safe and the catches are good throughout the season. The smaller of the two festivals, held in honour of The Black Madonna, is on the second Sunday of September and celebrated by the small Portugese community who live in the city. The larger Blessing of the Fleet is held in late October and conducted by the entire fishing community, mostly from Mediterranean communities, principally Italian. Several Masses are held in St Patrick’s Basilica and a procession leaves there to parade the Black … Continue reading Blessing the Black Madonna