A Modern Miracle in Yankalilla (South Australia)

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Nestling into the rolling hills outside Adelaide, among sheep, cattle and, Yankalilla is a quiet, historic town. In the week that Australia’s first saint, Mary MacKillop is due to be canonised in the Vatican, tiny Yankalilla still hosts the first small schoolhouse built by St Mary’s Sisters of St Joseph order around 150 years ago.

However it is for another religious miracle that the town is known. In a humble and elegant stone church, an image of the Virgin Mary cradling the crucified Christ emerged from the wall of the church in 1994.

Looking carefully, a visitor can make out the familiar Pieta scene of an angled view of a slightly stooped Mary comforting Jesus, made famous by the superb Michelangelo sculpture in St Peter’s in the Vatican (shown below). Lit by the striking stained glass windows in the afternoon sun, the area has been left unpainted and framed to highlight the event.

Unusually, the event has occurred in an Anglican church – one of only two Anglican Marian shrines in the world (the other is in Britain). The location has become a pilgrimage site with visitors from all around the world arriving to view the venerable image or to collect holy water available from the church well.

As a sidelight, the Christening font originally came from Salisbury Cathedral in England and is 100 years older than the church and has a fine collection of graffiti from folks in earlier times who scratched their names into the marble.

Whatever your beliefs around such events, the picturesque and sparsely populated peninsula is sprinkled with world-class wineries and stunning beaches, now coupled with a hallowed and mysterious image in a humble stone church.

Photo of the Week: India Gate (Delhi, India)

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In a similar vein to Paris's grand Arc de Triomphe, Delhi's India Gate proudly stands in the centre of twelve radiating streets near central Delhi. Standing 42 metres tall, the names of some 90,000 soldiers who lost their life in World War 1 (and other wars of the time) are inscribed into its light coloured brick, the moving tomb of an unknown soldier lies under the grand arch.

Removed on India's independence in 1947, the smaller canopy used to contain a statue of King George VI of England. It has lain empty since with suggestions that a statue of India's famous independence fighter and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi as an appropriate replacement.

Majestically located on a broad boulevard, India Gate stands elegant and serene in India's frenzied capital and is a must-see Delhi travel wonder along with the Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, the 11th century Qutub Minar, the Jama Masjid mosque and the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum.

Book Review: Tea Time with Terrorists (Mark Stephen Meadows)

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Stranded in Paris (if that is the right word when in Paris) when 9/11 struck, Mark Stephen Meadows was planning to travel home to the US. With airports shut and terrorist becoming the new word of the moment, Meadows decided to follow his journalistic instincts and explore the psychology of terrorism and the makeup of the people behind such acts. As his laboratory (“something like a Galapagos” in his words), Meadows selects Sri Lanka – an island nation with a self-contained evolution through terrorism.

The book starts like an action thriller – a dozen or so bombs going off in various parts of the capital Colombo in 1984 sending the country into chaos before sharply contrasting the relaxed, easy-going life that has been practised for centuries. Meadows describes Sri Lankan life: “Water is pulled from the wells, coconuts are knocked from the trees, fish are dragged from the sea, and the big tropical sun swings overhead, tying the days into each other in a steaming, sweaty rhythm of ancient customs.”

Renting a motorcycle, Meadows headed north into Tamil country and home to the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) and scrabble set of other terrorist, free-fighter, drug smugglers and militant organisations. The Tamil Tigers are infamous for inventing suicide bombing, along with conscripting children, women bombers and linking financiers into militancy.

Throughout his journey, he arranges interviews with leading players in this three decade conflict, including the mastermind (Shankar Rajee) behind the multiple Colombo bombing. Each interview is conducted in a relaxed manner (often under intense security) over a cup of tea, such a symbolic and treasured element of Sri Lankan life.

“I have never had tea smile at me. I push my nose into the steam and inhale an entire spice market in one breath. Cardamom and cinnamon and berries roll out with a sugary flavor that, despite being smelled, hits the sides of my tongue, making it water, and the smell also has a silver lining of something almost like a delicate soapy scent.”

The book continues in its three phases and the contrasts between them – the rich culture and life in Sri Lanka (key symbols such as tea and the elephant are a consistent thread through the book), the savagery of the terrorist acts and the interviews with the leaders of the various organisation, each adding a further insight into the conflict. Meadows reflections on the interviews and his introspection and developing thoughts are probably the highlights of the book.

Remarkably Meadows opens all his interviews with the same question, getting hesitant, non-committal or clichéd answers to the differences between the Sinhalese and Tamil people. It is a constant reminder that the world often battles small differences far more than large ones.

I am not sure that Meadows ever completely comes to grips with terrorism and the reasons behind it and the psyche of the major protagonists. One militant leader hauntingly describes terrorism as follows:

“Terrorism is simply targeting innocent people…Everything else fails…We are weakening the economy and making it feel our struggle. And by doing so we gain the attention we need.”

As I suspect the case for most readers, I knew little of Sri Lanka nor the civil war before reading this book. All up, it is a fascinating read – part rollicking travelogue, part portrait of an ancient culture and country and part introspection into the grisly world of terrorism, all through the humble cup of tea. I heartily recommend it.

Disclosure: The publishers sent me a complimentary copy of the book for review.

Monster Minarets and Monuments (Delhi, India)

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Currently hosting the Commonwealth Games, a sports event for the 70-odd nations that comprise the vestiges of the British Empire, Delhi is an intense, seething city of chaos – a sensory overload of bazaars, colourful people, grand monuments and striking contrasts. A melting pot of religions, Delhi is home to some of the richest, and poorest people on Earth – ramshackle constructions sit next to opulent edifices, tired hand-drawn carts are passed by gleaming European luxury cars. Huge British built boulevards compete with narrow aroma-filled laneways. With a rich history of rulers, each left their mark in architecture and grand buildings.

Among the most striking of Delhi’s sites is the Qutub Minar Complex highlighting eight centuries of Islamic rule through the middle ages.

The main feature of this exceptional Islamic complex is the Qutub Minar or victory minaret. Reaching almost 73 metres in height, the soaring five-storey tower is the tallest brick minaret in the world and is seen on signage and advertising all around Delhi. Ironically too tall for calls to prayer, the minaret celebrates the establishment of Islamic rule in Delhi (which lasted until British rule in the 19th century) after victory over the last Hindu king in battle.

It is richly inscribed with ancient Koranic texts and verses that have stood the test of time. Indeed, the tower (and neighbouring mosque) is constructed on the site of a former Hindu site from the remains of 27 temples. Only three metres across at its top and built on rocky foundations, the temple has developed a slight lean though nothing to rival its famous cousin in Pisa.

In a nearby courtyard is a seven metre tall iron pillar that has defied scientific explanation. Bought from another site, the pillar is impossibly pure for its time, the 98% iron purity leaving the pillar completely free from rust despite its 1600 years of exposure to the elements. A legend describes that a person who can reach his arms around the huge pillar while facing outwards will have his wish granted. A simple fence prevents any attempts at modern divine intervention.

While architecturally striking with ornate inscriptions, the remainder of the complex is a slightly rambling collection of monuments, buildings and tombs including India’s oldest mosque. While many reminders of the Hindu faith abound (such as the squared pillars and images of the various Hindu gods), the builders managed to erase many of the Hindu images in the mosques.

The intricately carved tomb of Iltutmish celebrates the man who completed the minaret while the later tomb of Imam Zamin boasts the typical Islamic window screens.

Across from the minaret is a 25 metre roughened foundation to a more ambitious minaret. With plans to tower over the existing minaret, one can only imagine the immense engineering work required for the time. The idea perished with the leader and lays abandoned and worn, though strangely photogenic.


Somehow, the Qutub Minar Complex mirrors Delhi itself. Somewhat chaotic in its layout, the sight is attractive for its intricate carved buildings that have survived the test of time and the mesmerising towering minaret which continues to draw your eyes in wonderment wherever you wander in southern Delhi. What extraordinary times this minaret has overseen, eight centuries of life in one of the world’s most hypnotic cities.

Photo Credit: minaret detail

Drinks Around the World: Chocolate Mocha Martini (Hotel Chocolat, Cambridge, England)

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guest drink around the world article by Hotel Chocolat, which I can recommend for their superb chocolates.

The ancient university city of Cambridge lies fifty miles northeast of London, surrounded by the low-lying farmland of East Anglia. It’s small and picturesque car-free city centre – where cafes and shops sit amongst ancient university buildings and narrow cobbled lanes – is perfect for a walking tour of the sights.

On clear autumnal afternoons in Cambridge a light mist settles on the River Cam, and weak wintry sunlight bathes the crisp brown leaves littering the perfect lawns of the historic university colleges. In this season of shortening daylight, red cheeks and wrapped-up scarves; warmth, comfort and indulgence are craved. All these can be found in this sumptuous cocktail recipe from Hotel Chocolat – a British luxury chocolatier and cocoa grower, based in a town close to beautiful Cambridge.

To make this unusual gourmet chocolate cocktail, you’ll need a bar spoon or similar, a mixing glass, a chilled Martini glass and strainers.

Take a high quality double espresso shot, around 50mls of hot coffee, melt in two bar spoons of Hotel Chocolat Liquid Chocolat – 100% Cocoa and stir together to make an excellent high quality mocha.

Pour this into a mixing glass; add 2 shots (50ml) of vanilla vodka, and half a shot of gomme syrup to sweeten the rich dark chocolate and coffee flavours a touch.

Top off the mixing glass with ice and mix well in a shaker, then double strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a sprinkle of the delicious liquid chocolate powder and sink into an armchair by the nearest log fire.

Check out a video showing a Chocolat Mocha Martini being made.



This is a real winter warmer of a cocktail that mixes the rich bitterness of coffee and fine cocoa with the smooth sweet flavour of vanilla vodka. Hotel Chocolat is the only British chocolatier to own their own cocoa-growing estate, found on the Caribbean island of St Lucia. Further inspiration for cocktail recipes and other gourmet chocolate cuisine can be found on their website along with a wealth of information on fine single estate cocoa for the discerning chocoholic.