On the trail of Lone Pine

We've just been on holiday to Brisbane again and this year we took the kids to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Established in 1927, Lone Pine was the world's first koala sanctuary and is the largest, housing 130 koalas of all ages as well as other Australian natives such as kangaroos, wombats and crocs.

The Sanctuary has only recently reopened after the floods in January. Its location - the Brisbane suburb of Fig Tree Pocket - was one of the worst affected areas. Luckily staff had enough time to move the animals to enclosures on higher ground and no losses were suffered. Staff camped out with the animals to make sure they were safe and Sea World at the Gold Coast sent its helicopter with food supplies.

The koalas are housed in a number of different areas, depending on age. Joeys hang onto their mums in the Mother and Baby enclosure, toddlers are in the Cubby House and there is a retirement enclosure for koalas in their twilight years.

The highlight for most visitors is the chance to cuddle a koala for the cameras. In the gift shop are rows of photos of celebrities, including Eric Clapton, Jackie Chan and Mikhail Gorbachev, getting up close and personal with the Sanctuary's gum-tree dwelling inhabitants. I wasn't keen - having been reliably informed that they are prone to pissing on you - but the girls had a go.

The Sanctuary also has a large kangaroo and wallaby enclosure where you can wander about and feed Skippy with specially prepared food for sale in the gift shop. If you're lucky, like we were, you may even spot a joey in its mother's pouch.

The Sanctuary also has wombats, Tasmanian Devils, a platypus house and a selection of the most venomous snakes in Oz.

However, the highlight for me was the Aussie sheep dog show. A Bushie farmer in an akubra hat and with an accent so strong I don't think the Japanese tour party watching with us would have understood a word of what he was saying, demonstrated the skills these dogs require on properties so large they dwarf Wales. Once the sheep have been rounded up, the yard dog - trained in handling the sheep in the yard - takes over. He runs up and down their backs to keep them in order.

Next, in a scene reminiscent of the Thorn Birds, a Bryan Brown lookalike demonstrated how the sheep are shorn - although Ian, who worked on a property once in his youth, assured me this was a very sanitised version and that in real life the shearing is done in much less time and with a lot more cuts and nicks inflicted on the sheep.

Round the afternoon off with tea and cake in the cafe by the river, and you have an excellent family day out.

A novel idea

A friend of mine is writing a novel. It's her eighth, and this one is to be a departure from her usual rural Irish setting.

"It's to take place on an exotic island where the Sultan is on the look out for his fourth wife and has his eye on a blond stewardess who works for his private airline. I'm still working on the synopsis but I'm trying not to make it too fantastical," she tells me.

I say: "How about the Sultan is a bald middle-aged billionaire lothario who has two known illegitimate children, one with a waitress and the other with an air stewardess. He spots a gorgeous blond athlete 20 years his junior and persuades her to marry him. Just before the wedding she does a runner when rumours of a third love-child emerge and ends up having her passport confiscated and being bundled back to the Sultan's court to go through with the wedding. She does so only when promised she can divorce him as soon as she produces a child. Oh, and on the honeymoon they sleep in separate hotels and go home early to await the results of the DNA tests on his latest alleged love child."

She gives me a you-have-clearly-never-written-a-novel look and says: "It has to be believable, Kate."

I tell her of the latest revelations about Prince Albert of Monaco and his new wife Charlene.

"You see," I say. "Truth really is stranger than fiction."

Let's talk!

Bahrain's much vaunted National Dialogue has begun. After weeks of build up and a concerted poster campaign around the island, more than 300 participants have registered to take part in talks which it is hoped will help the kingdom move on from the troubles of February and March.

Political societies, human rights activists, women and children's societies, professional societies and NGOs are among those taking part and will over the next weeks debate more than 180 topics under four broad themes - the political system, the economy, social issues and human rights. The talks, which will take place three times a week, will bring together all spectrums of society under one roof to discuss the kingdom's future. The King has even held special meetings with the expatriate community to canvass their views on change and a website has been set up to keep the public informed of progress (http://www.nd.bh/en/). Many here believe Bahrain has been badly misrepresented in the western press over the last months and are hoping the dialogue will help to change this. The king has also announced an independent inquiry into the riots in consultation with the UN Commissioner for Human Rights.

Al Wefaq, the main opposition party, decided at the last moment to join the Dialogue "for the sake of Bahrain", although it has expressed reservations as to what can be achieved. Of the other opposition parties, some are participating, some are not and there were opposition protests over the weekend and more are planned for this weekend.

The talks are to take place without preconditions as to what can and cannot be raised and the sessions will include sensitive issues such as the handling of state assets, compensation for psychological damage in the recent unrest and human rights issues. After each session is concluded, provided consensus has been reached, the outcome will be sent to the King.

Only time will tell how difficult it will be to reach consensus on the topics under discussion and whether any changes implemented as a result of the talks will be enough to allow the country to heal. Here's a comforting thought though: should things get too heated and blood pressures rise, Bahrain will be well-placed to cope for it has just officially entered the Guinness World Records for the most blood pressure readings taken in 8 hours - 3,252, in case you were wondering. Regular readers of this blog will know Bahrain has had several aborted record attempts in recent years, so I'm pleased to announce it has finally made it into the record books.

The Gallery: Love that Lippy!

It's week 63 of The Gallery and the theme set by Tara over at Sticky Fingers is 3 Word Gallery: one picture, three little words. I've titled mine: Love that Lippy!

This photo was taken the other afternoon when Olivia invited her best friend over for a play. After an hour of tearing round the garden, they became suspiciously quiet. The bathroom door was shut...something was afoot. They emerged some time later to reveal the results of a "make-up your friend's face blindfolded" session.

I've noted down the idea for her next birthday party; it's cheaper than an entertainer!

Expat Women: Confessions

I first lived abroad at 18 and have spent only eight of the last 25 years in my home country. I've lived in Germany, Australia, Belgium and Bahrain, have married someone from the other side of the world, gave birth to both my daughters abroad, and have put my career on hold to become the perfect trailing spouse. And while expat life has undoubtedly been both exciting and rewarding, it brings its own pressures and dilemmas which sometimes only another expats can understand.

The recently published Expat Women: Confessions - 50 Answers to Your Real Life Questions About Living Abroad is an anthology of issues raised over the years on the popular confessions page of the Expat Women website: an agony aunt column for expat women where they can post dilemmas anonymously and have them answered by experts.

Compiled by Andrea Martins (one of the founders of Expat Women) and Victoria Hepworth, both seasoned expats, the book is an A-Z of real-life problems encountered by expats from all over the world and gives objective and pragmatic advice on how to handle them as well as an extensive reference list of useful books and websites. And I was surprised how many of the confessions could have been written by me over the years: frustrations as a trailing spouse; homesick new mother abroad; intercultural couples; and third culture children, to name but a few.

Written in an accessible and chatty style, the book is an easy read and ideal to dip into when confronted by a problem. All too often, expat women have to work through complex personal and practical issues to which family and friends at home simply can't relate. Now we have a handbook to turn to.

I was contacted by Suzanne Scatliffe at Expat Women and asked to review this book. I received a free copy of the e-book. A sample of the book is available for download on the Expat Women website and the book can be purchased from Amazon.

A week is a long time in F1

"Back on track: F1 October 30" ran the headline in Saturday's Gulf Daily News, the main English language newspaper in Bahrain. The paper ran lengthy articles thanking the FIA for their decision to reinstate the Grand Prix and saying how it would help the economy, particularly the tourism sector, bounce back from the damage caused by the unrest. The community newspaper, GulfWeekly, has been running a campaign to garner readers' support to reinstate the race. "We did it!" proclaimed yesterday's headline.

Press conferences were held at the Sakhir race circuit where executives told of their delight at the decision and proudly kick-started a 150 day countdown to the event. The Grand Prix, they said, is a source of national pride and an event that transcends politics.

Yet even as celebrations were taking place here, it seems all was not well behind the scenes at the FIA. Teams and drivers were unhappy at the decision to reschedule the race and yesterday Bernie Ecclestone said he believed the race would not go ahead because of the situation here - anti-government protesters had called for a day of rage on the race date - and opposition from teams.

After the euphoria of last week, Bahrain's business leaders have branded the decision shameful and claim it smacks of hypocrisy. The three month State of Emergency has been lifted - although there are still numerous checkpoints, they are now manned by community police and Bahrain's National Guard as opposed to GCC forces - and a national dialogue will start next month to boost reforms within the Kingdom. The Crown Prince has been in the UK and is now in the US holding talks with President Obama. He has emphasised the country's commitment to reform, no matter how difficult the process may be.

Whatever your view on the situation in Bahrain, the decision not to hold the F1 will be a massive blow to an already hard-hit hospitality industry here as well as a huge disappointment to the many F1 fans in Bahrain. Maybe next year...

The Gallery: My Backyard in the Desert

When we moved into our house about 15 months ago, the garden was an overgrown shambles. Our Indian gardener, Joy, has worked wonders in the intervening months, pruning, seeding and planting and we now have a lush lawn for the kids to play on and plants galore for me to enjoy.

The frangipani trees and bougainvillea are in blossom at the moment and in the evenings, the scent of the jasmine fills the air. It's hard to believe sometimes that we live on a desert island.