Loving These OZ Magazines

I almost had a heart attack when I couldn’t locate the latest issue of Donna Hay in Borders here. How could a big book store be running out of magazines??? Oh no, don’t tell me, because of the slow economy, they stop publishing. I walked around Brisbane to two other stores, and couldn’t find an issue of it. Oh no, oh no! Finally at a roadside magazine stand, I spotted a dusty copy of it. Not in the best condition, but hey, I must get it.

So you ask, what is the big deal about a magazine? This is an Australian published magazine, focusing on cooking, entertaining & lifestyles, totally my kind of topics. And the pictures are beautifully captured. The style is simple, modern, and elegant. If you have not seen one of these, you can get them in the US for $9.95 in Borders and it is probably 1-2 issues behind. Here, it is retailed for A$7.95. So it is a good deal with the exchange rate (currently at A$1 = US$0.65). The first time I found this magazine was couple years ago here. I have tried to get every single issue since then. I haven’t been totally successful yet. And back issues are expensive. I recall asking Tom to pick this up for me when he was here over a year ago (oh, when we first started dating)… he gets brownie points for bringing them home to me from Sydney.

I also love the Gourmet Traveller magazine. It focuses a bit more on food and travel, still a lovely read. The recipes in this one are more complex with many ingredients to make a dish, not your everyday consumption.

This is not new; I normally collect foreign magazines whenever I am aboard. I believe you get a sense of the local style and culture from reading current issues.