Gerard Krefft

The sad case of Gerard Krefft and how the Australian Museum spins his story (and history) ©Warren Nunn (First published 29 January 2016. Updated 9 October 2016. Further update 30 July 2018) Johann Ludwig Gerard Krefft was a dedicated and celebrated scientist who...

Heart for healing music

Louis Vigouroux © Warren Nunn September 2004. See notes below.* THE old man sat astride a low stone seat and lovingly caressed the ancient-looking instrument’s strings. He readily greeted a passing couple and in a smiling, gracious manner, spontaneously put on an...

The cliffside is alive

Nerida De Jong ©Warren Nunn, 2004 IF ever there were an artist’s utopia, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie is it. Perched on the cliffside overlooking the Lot River in southwest France, the once-deserted village first became a haven for struggling artists in the 1950s. More recently...

Aussies bring chateau a rosy glow

Don and Pixie Lowe ©Warren Nunn 2004 A group of Australians has made a bold assault on a chateau at Figeac about 70km from Cahors in France's southwest. Two years after former Tasmanians Don and Pixie Lowe and some partners bought the rundown Chateaux De Saint Dau, Le...

Rural fare is totally fulfilling

Espedaillac workers’ restaurant ©Warren Nunn 2004 If you visit the French countryside, a not-to-be missed experience is eating at a traditional workers’ restaurant. It will cost about 12 Euro ($A24) but a more filling and challenging menu will be hard to find. The...

A wish engraved in his soul

Chris Souilijaert Version Français ©Warren Nunn 2016 Exotic birds – scores of them in glorious watercolors – stand as a measure of certainty and permanence in our fleeting, digital age. Despite that digital age, we are still mesmerised, enchanted and encouraged by the...

Les Nomades du Vent

Les Nomades du Vent Chris Souilijaert, artiste-illustrateur. Les oiseaux exotiques – dont nombre d’entre eux font l’objet d’une série de magnifiques aquarelles – représentent un monde réel, permanent à l’époque actuelle où priment le virtuel et l’éphémère. Malgré le...

How dolphins handle prey

Warren Nunn Before a bottlenose dolphin eats an octopus, it shakes its prey and throws it into the air several times in what researchers describe as a tenderising process. If the dolphin doesn’t do this, it could be fatal because an octopus has been seen to attach to...

Gregor Kartai, musician and artist

Rocamadour pilgrim © Warren Nunn September 2004. Warren Nunn, September 2004. Another Rocamadour pilgrim is Belgian violinist and sculptor Gregor Kartai who created a piece of J.R.R. Tolkein’s Middle Earth just metres from where most visitors park their cars before...