About Me

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Perth, Western Australia, Australia
I am based in Perth, Western Australia. You might enjoy my books - The Dagger of Dresnia, the first book of the Talismans Trilogy, is available at all good online book shops as is Book two, The Cloak of Challiver. Book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. I trained in piano and singing at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. I also trained in dance (Scully-Borovansky, WAAPA) and drama (NIDA). Since 1987 I have been writing reviews of performances in all genres for a variety of publications, including Music Maker, ArtsWest, Dance Australia, The Australian and others. Now semi-retired, I still write occasionally for the ArtsHub website.

My books

The first two books of my trilogy, The Talismans, (The Dagger of Dresnia, and book two, The Cloak of Challiver) are available in e-book format from Smashwords, Amazon and other online sellers. Book three of the trilogy, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation.I also have a short story, 'La Belle Dame', in print - see Mythic Resonance below - as well as well as a few poems in various places. The best way to contact me is via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/satimaflavell

Buy The Talismans

The first two books of The Talismans trilogy were published by Satalyte Publications, which, sadly, has gone out of business. However, The Dagger of Dresnia and The Cloak of Challiver are available as ebooks on the usual book-selling websites, and book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. The easiest way to contact me is via Facebook.

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans
Available as an e-book on Amazon and other online booksellers.

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance is an excellent anthology that includes my short story 'La Belle Dame', together with great stories from Alan Baxter, Donna Maree Hanson, Sue Burstynski, Nike Sulway and nine more fantastic authors! Just $US3.99 from Amazon. Got a Kindle? Check out Mythic Resonance.

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Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong,  Australia

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've Lived - Sydney

Places I've Lived - Sydney
Sydney Conservatorium - my old school

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier
Blue Lake

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day
From Kings Park

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night
From Kings Park

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Versatile Blogger Award

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Fabulous Blog Award
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Friday 4 May 2007

Day Trips

My long silence has been due to inactivity. I've spent the last two weeks lazing about, for the most part, although I have had a couple of enjoyable day trips around Exeter. I've also spent a lot of money on summer clothes, having foolishly assumed that it would not get hot here until after I'd left in late May. In actual fact it has felt like summer for nearly four weeks, April having been the UK's hottest on record. (By "hot" of course, they mean it's over twenty degrees celsius. A trip to Perth, Western Australia, in the height of summer would show them what "hot" is!)

So I've been haunting the second hand shops picking up lightweight garments. Clothing, new or second hand, is no longer cheaper here than in Oz. In fact, I haven't found anything that's cheaper here except cheese and antiques. Yet wages here seem no higher than in Oz, so how low-income people survive I can't imagine.

Although antiques don't feature in my budget, cheese certainly does. The array of cheeses available in this country is amazing. I've been working my way through a few of them and found them all delicious so far. I'll carry on testing them in case there are any nasty ones:-)

The big expenses for me are internet access and transport. I'm hoping to take a bus trip next week to Sedgley, in the West Midlands, one of the ancestral villages, and it's going to cost me just over $AUS100 for bus fares! Even a local ride costs over $AUS5.00, so I haven't been taking as many day trips as I would have liked.

I'd love to see native British animals, but the parks and zoos that feature them are way out of town and inaccessible by public transport, even if I could afford it. I have, however, been to several local villages including Exmouth, Sidmouth and Ottery St Mary. The last named has what is said to be the best parish church in Devon, and indeed it is a lovely C14 building, much of it original. It is a miniature version of Exeter cathedral, and even though it is on a smaller scale the design still works beautifully.

Exmouth and Sidmouth are also delightful. The latter has a really excellent shopping centre with old establishments jostling new ones in a large pedestrian precinct. Exmouth is quite a big town. It reminds me a bit of Fremantle (minus the capuccino strip) with its winding streets and old buildings that must have once served as administration centres for the port. Like Fremantle, it was once the port for the region's main city, but those days of glory are gone. Now it is purely a holiday place and a dormer for people who work in Exeter. It does need someone to go and set up a good coffee shop, though. No one here seems to know how to make capuccinos properly. You know, the kind where the foam heaps high over the cup's rim and is crowned by a decent amount of chocolate...

Back in Perth in a couple of weeks. A cappucino will be my first purchase!

8 comments:

Helen V. said...

Hmmm. Cappuccino(licks lips). I'll join you for one when you get back to Perth. And now I know how to find Cino To Go in Subi.

Satima Flavell said...

I hope to see you there later this month, Helen, and spend and hour or two chewing the fat over our recent adventures! Perhaps some other KSPSF members might join us?

Anonymous said...

Glad you're back to blogging - I missed you!
xxx BJ

Anonymous said...

Apparently there's an establishment in London called Flat White, run by Australians, where you can actually get a decent coffee. Otherwise, when in the UK, best stick to tea!

Satima Flavell said...

Thanks Znaharka, but I don't like tea:-( I often buy herbals instead of coffee but the ones they have here tend to be of the fruity kind. Most of them have never even heard of roibos, although you can buy it in the supermarkets. (sigh)I'll have to pass the word around about Flat White!

Billy Jo, I'm so looking forward to seeing you next month! Blogging is proving quite expensive at £3.00 per hour so my posts are less frequent than I'd like.

Anonymous said...

Hallo Satima,
there are only 10 days left for you to enjoy England- I wish you a wonderful time with your sister and still more nice places to see (even more churches and cathedrales) and meetings with friends and rellies. Today I read an article about Bath-on-Avon, the only hot Spa in England, with 46,5 Degree hot water and I remembered our visit to Wiesbaden. How fast the time was running. After you had left we felt, we should have shown you so many more places, worth to visit. So, we hope for another visit - one can never know what the future might bring. So - enjoy your time in England.
Elfriede

Anonymous said...

Oh Satima you're without good cappi but making do with superb cheeses, sounds a fair swap. At least you will have something to look forward to on your return to OZ. I too will look forward to catching up over a heartwarmer at Cino. It is chilly here now, no rain for the farmers YET but cool.
Love Nicola x

Satima Flavell said...

It's great to know that so many friends are thinking of me and reading the blog. When I get back to Oz, Elfriede, you can be sure I'll be buying lottery tickets again - and Nicola, maybe you'd like to share them with me, as we used to do:-)

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