Chris Dowding - writer

The entire journey from Australia to England takes about 24 hours of flight. As far as I know, all of the airlines stop at least once to refuel and transfer passengers. You can stay on the plane and do the entire 24 hours in one step, or stop for a night or two to recuperate. Kerryn and I recently stopped in Brunei for two days. Brunei is a small country located on the island of Borneo, just east of Singapore. 95% of the country’s export revenue comes from its crude oil and natural gas reserves. The head of government is His Majesty, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, who has been the country’s leader since his father abdicated in 1967. The country is unusual for the region - its population is only about 350,000. The majority of the population is Muslim, including the Sultan himself. I have to admit that I felt some trepidation about visiting Brunei: the Western media hasn’t been kind to Muslims in recent years. However, I know that the media tends to focus on the negative news, so I wanted t...

My wife and I went to dinner in Noosa the other night with her parents – let’s call them Jim and Jane. Jim and Jane’s friends, Brian and Bron, came along. The restaurant on Thomas Street had a funky atmosphere, and the conversation warmed up as our dishes were brought out. Bron excused herself to visit the bathroom. We talked for another quarter of an hour, until Jane asked, ‘Where’s Bron?’ The young restaurant owner walked over to our table. ‘Brian, could I have a talk with you outside?’ ‘Oh dear, this sounds bad?’ asked Brian as he stood up. ‘Nothing too serious,’ replied the owner. It turned out that Bron had missed a step outside and fallen, hitting her face and right elbow. Brian looked flustered and Bron looked pale and bruised. ‘I’ll take Bron and Brian home, and you three go and get some ice cream,’ said Jane, grabbing Bron’s right elbow to guide support her. ‘Ow, Arhhhhh’ shrieked Bron. ‘That’s my sore arm!’ If you’ve read my book, ‘a few Drops short of a Pint’, you may have n...