The movie AUSTRALIA

Baz Luhrmann’s movie AUSTRALIA has its premiere in Sydney tonight and as someone who’s been writing romances set in the Australian Outback for the past ten years, I’m straining at the bit to get to the nearest cinema to see it.
Actually, I think the whole country must be holding its collective breath. We feel as if our nation will be on show for all the world to see and (hopefully) admire.
As a local journalist, John Andersen, wrote on the weekend: " There can be no half measure. Call something Australia and it has to be gigantic. It has to have a heart as big as Phar Lap’s. It has to be a million times bigger than Texas. It has to have the blood of Burke and Wills, Kennedy and Leichhardt thumping through its veins, and just like the Australia we all know, it has to be as beautiful as a bay horse galloping across a Mitchell grass plain and as tender as the pink sky of a Kimberley dawn."

Well, it seems Oprah Winfrey was impressed enough to devote an entire show to the movie and Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman were her special guests. To quote Oprah: "Congratulations (Baz Luhrmann) on your imagination, your vision, your creativity, your direction. Our hearts are all swelling because, my God, it's just the film we needed to see. I have not been this excited about a movie since I don't know when."
“It's the best movie I've seen in a long, long, long, long time. It is epic, it is magic, it is a spectacle and the scenery is so gorgeous you can barely stand it. Australia is going to make you jump on a plane and go Down Under."
So, that’s why we’re a tad excited and hopeful about this movie. If you remember, I visited Bowen last year when some of the Darwin scenes were being filmed and I saw part of the set, so I’ve been quietly looking forward to this movie for a long time. I love the Outback. I love romance. I love World War 2 settings (I have a half written novel set then still waiting to be finished.) This movie is definitely my cup of tea. So fingers crossed.
Good luck, Baz, Nicole and Jack!!!!!

Move over Bollywood...

We've had a wonderful break at Noosa that included visiting family and friends down south. A wonderful big family get-together for Mother's Day was gorgeous!!

Listened to an audio tape of the book ‘The Shifting Fog’ by Kate Morton on the drive home and thoroughly enjoyed it. Kate, a young Brisbane woman, earned over $1 million advance on this, her debut novel, and I can understand why it was so well received. It goes on sale in the UK as ‘The House at Riverton’ in July 2007. I hope it does really well. I’m sure many British readers will never guess that the author is a Queenslander.

On the last leg of our journey home we called in at Bowen, because I was very keen to see if we could catch a glimpse of the set of the movie ‘Australia’ that Baz Luhrmann is making there.

Over the past six weeks, the seaside end of Bowen’s main street has been transformed to depict Darwin in 1938. They’ve created an entire township – including a picture theatre, jail, pub...

Recreated 1938 hotel -- The Northern Territory Hotel

There's also a police station, a brothel, Chinatown and stockyards. 750 head of cattle have been penned there as well!

More of the set. There were calls in local newspapers for authentic 1930s cars.

I wasn’t sure what we’d be allowed to see, but we were quite pleased (Ok – make that incredibly excited) that we were allowed to get reasonably close to the set. A local told me a brief outline of the story, which runs on the delicious theme of The Lady and the Larrikin).

In 1938, Lady Sarah, (Nicole Kidman) comes out from England to Darwin on a flying boat to join her husband on his newly acquired Outback cattle property. A ringer from the station (Hugh Jackman – sigh!!) is supposed to greet her, but he’s in the pub brawling and they meet when he arrives through the pub window in a shower of broken glass.

Not impressed, Lady Sarah makes her own way to the property, only to discover that her husband is dead, which she apparently doesn’t mind, because he was quite a womaniser. Then cattle barons threaten to take over her property and she decides to take the cattle 1,500 kilometres to Darwin, to sell them at the sale yards. Of course, Hugh Jackman accompanies her on this hazardous journey and during that time the fall in love!

As you can guess, this is exactly my kind of story!!! In fact, I wish I had written it!

A local building is covered in signage in keeping with the movie

The story continues into WW2, and the 1942 bombing of Darwin takes place as well. Actually, all the sets you see here, including the pub, will be bombed! That’s happening in about 4 weeks and I’d love to be around when that happens!!

We weren’t lucky enough to see Nicole and Hugh while we were there, but apparently they regularly stroll through the town and speak to locals.

This elevated metal sheet provides shade for the actors

Actors (extras??) getting ready for their scene.

And of course, in North Queensland, Bowen has been re-christened Bowenwood!