I am from a land of far-reaching horizons, from a place of tall trees and deep gullies filled with tree ferns.
I am from a city where each street was made wide enough to turn a wagon with an eight bullock team, but where trams now trundle. the smell of coffee permeates the air.
I am from the home of the eucalyptus tree where koalas live and cockatoos nest.
I am from a migrant family with parents who celebrate Hogmanay. I am from a family with green eyes. Mine are the colour of moss.
From the time I was little I believed in fairies and aliens. I believed we were not alone in the universe. Yet I have never seen a fairy nor an alien. Not in the flesh anyway. It is hard to think that our beautiful universe does not hold many, many secrets. I still believe in fairies and aliens...!
I am from a family who were brought up with stovies (a Scottish potato dish cooked slowly on the stove with lots of gravy, leftover meat and always served with a glass of cold, full-cream milk and buttered white bread). And then there was cloutie dumpling (a dried fruit filled pudding made in a cloutie [Scottish for cloth] and boiled for hours in a really big pot). I don't like dried fruit.
From the time I was little my big brother would let me read his science fiction books. My brother's love of all things science fiction, including Star Trek and Doctor Who, rubbed off on me and to this day I love sci-fi... but I found Star Wars all by myself!
I am from a land where the southern night sky is rich with stars and undiscovered planets. Oh, to journey to them...
I am from Melbourne, Australia.
