I always laugh at the idea that Rottnest means 'rats nest' in Dutch. The Dutch traders who visited the western Australian coast in the 17th century noticed from their decks that the island was infested with animals about the size of a big cat and they decided these were super rats. What they actually were is quokkas, a small and very cute wallaby/kangaroo relative that as far as I know is extinct on the mainland. They're naturally very shy, but around the resort area, they've learned people mean food so they're quite easy to spot.

I visited Rottnest on my first trip to Perth - that's a photo of me embarking for the island in September about ten years ago. I fell in love with the place immediately - it was a perfect early spring day, cold, but clear. And the colors in the water were unbelievable. I've never been to Greece but the pictures show you why I imagined I was on Crete or Santorini. It's a very rocky coast with sparkling white beaches and the waters are like opal. Magic.

There's wonderful swimming around the resort and about a half-hour walk away at a place called The Basin. That's the sheltered side of the island. You can get a bus to what they call the Wild West End (I always hear the Petshop Boys in my head!). This is the side of the island that's exposed to the full fury of the Indian Ocean. It's rugged with howling winds and steep cliffs and crashing waves and no settlement. It's absolutely breathtaking to watch the ospreys floating on the wind currents just offshore.

The first time I went there, it was whale migration season and I stood on the far western end of the island and watched the big males jumping out of the water and slamming down in a huge splash of water. Absolutely spectacular. The same trip, a mother humpback whale and her calf followed the ferry out from Fremantle to the island. Again, magical.

Every time I go back to Perth, I go to Rottnest. I just love the place. On my last visit, which sadly is a few years ago now, I was lucky enough to stay for a few days. I look back on that break as absolutely idyllic with nothing much to do but read and swim and wander the island and marvel at its beauties. The perfect escape!

Beach at Rottnest

Leaving Rottnest at sunset

The rugged island coastline

A quokka

Me making eyes with a lion on a rainy day at the Alhambra

The Alhambra on its rocky promontory looking over the city of Granada

The Court of Lions

Isn't this a romantic setting?

Because these books were written in the days before Mills and Boon included either male point of view or, shock, horror, detailed love scenes, many of them filled up their 180 pages with travelogue. For a starry eyed girl growing up in Australia, I loved to learn all about these glamorous, exciting, and above all historical places on the other side of the world.

So when I finally managed to visit Spain, it was with a lot of romantic preconceptions, thanks to writers like Violet Winspear and Anne Mather and Anne Hampson. I can understand why Spain has this perennial fascination for people from England - think of the contrast in weather, for a start. Although having said that, I was in Spain in late winter into early spring and quite often, the weather was just awful. It's freezing across that central plateau with winds that cut through you like a knife, and there was quite a lot of rain. I don't think I've ever been so cold in my life as I was one very grim day in Avila in early March.

But when we hit southern Spain, especially Andalucia which was the last stronghold of Arab dominion on the Iberian Peninsula, I remember sun and warmth and gorgeous architecture. Then I had to look at my photos and of course, the day I went to the Alhambra, it was pouring with rain. None of which managed to dampen my experience of this utterly gorgeous place.

The Alhambra from the outside looks like a fortress, which of course it was. Inside, it's one of the most beautiful and sybaritic pleasure palaces I've ever visited. In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella conquered it and thereby ended the centuries-long occupation of Spain by the Moors who had originally come from North Africa.

So when you visit the Alhambra, there's this haunting air of the end of an era, of a past that can never be recaptured. You can almost hear the ghosts whisper around the next corner or see them slip into the shadows under some lacy stonework. The stone carvings are breathtaking, like flowering marble stems. The mosaics, all geometric, form a hypnotic pattern as you wander about the rooms. The gardens with their orange trees and dark cypresses standing tall against the sky are lush and beautiful.

Of course, that nostalgic atmosphere was emphasised when I visited by the fact that it was outside the height of the summer season and rainy so the palace was almost empty. You could hear the fountains splashing on the mosaics and wander around the beautiful pavilions without having to share your romantic fancies with ten thousand other people.

The Alhambra is one of those places that lived up to the hype. I haven't been back since 1985. I'm not 100% convinced I want to go - I had a perfect day there, it seems sad to spoil that memory. One of the elements that came over so strongly in all the novels was the atmosphere of doomed romantic beauty and that's actually what I felt when I visited. All that was missing was a Spanish duke who bit out 'Dios!'  between his strong white teeth.

As most people in my circle know, I’m a complete postcard fiend. Can’t get enough of them.

I love to send postcards when I travel. They’re a wonderful way to share the trip because they’re quick to write and unlike an email, they’re visual. And hey, who doesn’t like getting stuff in the mail from foreign climes with groovy stamps and pretty pictures?

When I’m out and about, I write postcards by the hundred. I get into a routine first thing in the morning – and I mean first thing! If I’m in a place I’m using for research, I always write my travel diary,then I do a few postcards. It always gives me a smile to pop them in the mailbox! Something satisfying about that soft thunk of happy messages about to take flight all over the world!

On my travels, I also collect postcards purely for pleasure. Favorite paintings from an art gallery, for example, or beautiful shots of places I’ve been that far outstrip anything my limited talents as a photographer could achieve. Many old houses and museums don’t allow indoor photography so you have to buy a postcard if you want a visual souvenir. In front of my desk in my office, I have a corkboard and a horrible painting I’m happy to cover up. Many of these blank postcards end up there to inspire me.

I absolutely adore receiving postcards. I keep them not only in the office but on the fridge. When things get crowded, they go in a box. No postcard ever enters this house unloved!

I thought I’d share some of my favorite postcards. This column was inspired by my Bandita friend K.J. Howe who travels frequently to exotic destinations. Bless her, she knows how much I love to get pictures of foreign locales!

Just recently, K.J. fulfilled a lifetime ambition and did a South Seas cruise including Tahiti (lucky K.J.!). She sent me the fun postcard of Seducers of the South Seas. Sounds better in French, doesn’t it? Perhaps it’s just me, but I usually find these posed men shots really camp and this one is no exception – made me giggle, I have to say. Which I’m sure was K.J.’s intention! Those big long sticks are just…ahem, big long sticks!

Also courtesy of K.J. (K.J., if you’re reading this, can I become your assistant?) comes the beautiful postcard of Barbados. Don’t you just want to dive into that perfect blue water? Lovely! I’ve always wanted to see Petra in Jordan and K.J. got to visit last year. I’ve treasured the postcard she sent me because realistically, that’s probably as close to the “rose-red city half as old as time” as I’m going to come. It’s certainly cheaper being an armchair traveler!

I don’t only love postcards of gorgeous places. Sometimes the pictures are just fun or touching or pretty. My good friend Vanessa Barneveld sent me the gorgeous shot of the girl with the lion cub. Doesn’t that just make you go awwwwww? Another wonderful friend I used to work with sent me that fabulous shot of Baryshnikov’s arabesque on that grand piano. How cool is that? That one has survived years of postcard culls and probably will continue to do so. It’s a brilliant picture!

Pop back next month and I’ll show you some more from the collection. I suspect you’ll have itchy feet by the time you’ve finished reading the post! Oh, and if you’re traveling, make sure you send me a postcard!

I've been raiding my postcard collection again and come up with some real gems. I keep looking at more. I might have to revisit this subject. People sometimes think I'm joking when I say, "Send me a postcard." Nuh, uh! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE getting postcards in the mail!

First up is a rather cute punning card which always gives me a giggle. Meet Jacques Kati (as opposed to famous French comedian Jacques Tati). Does this cat look happy to be dressed up in a groovy striped jumper and a naff beret? No, I didn't think so either. This card is courtesy of my friend Amanda who did such sterling service as the interviewer when I was talking about CAPTIVE OF SIN.  Amanda always sends wonderful postcards and generally there's something a little quirky about them so there's a smile with the picture!

Next is a card that would probably be about ten years old from a work colleague in Sydney. Isn't that the coolest picture of an Oxford student you've ever seen? Again, it never ceases to make me smile.

The photo of the jetstream above Osterley Park, beautiful National Trust property just outside London (highly recommended for a visit if you're going to England), is just plain lovely. It was actually a free postcard I picked up in 2004 when I visited - what a treasure!  The photographer Edmund Clark was holding an exhibition of his works and this was used to advertise the show. I love the bleak wintry field and the elegant house with that wonderful deep blue sky streaked with white above it.

Another postcard I picked up (rather than having it sent the old-fashioned way!) is the rose garden at one of my favorite stately homes, Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. This gorgeous romantic manor house not far from Chatsworth is still in the hands of the family and it really feels like a home when you go there. The day we visited was stormier than the picture but the roses were beautiful, climbing over the old stone and scenting the air with their fragrance.

The Scottish postcard always brings back wonderful memories to me. I sent it to a friend in 2004 and she very kindly passed it back to me - clearly she's not as possessive about her postcards as I am. This view of the Silver Sands of Morar with Rhum and Eigg in the distance is one of the loveliest in the world.In 2007, I was lucky enough to stay at the hotel on the headland from which this picture was taken. My bedroom window looked straight across the sands and the sea to the islands. Enchanting!

My good friend Sharon Archer, who writes wonderful Medical romance for Mills and Boon, did a huge trip over western and northern Australia last year. Knowing my postcard obsession, she kept me supplied with wonderful mail for months. I'm eternally grateful. I've always wanted to see the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight that edge the Nullarbor. I've seen them from the air and they look absolutely spectacular. Sharon very kindly sent me this shot to show that she'd been there on ground level!

The world is packed to the rafters with Charles Dickens lovers. My mother was one.  A lot of my favorite writers list Dickens as THEIR favorite writer.  They praise the teeming life, the humor, the compassion, the variety, the drama, the atmosphere.

Hmm, I can kinda see it.

Yep, shock, horror! I'm not a huge fan of old Charlie. I've read a few - DAVID COPPERFIELD, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, A TALE OF TWO CITIES.  Tried and failed to get through NICHOLAS NICKLEBY.  I think the stories are pretty good but there's an element of caricature to many of his characters that doesn't appeal to me. And man, I really don't think he liked women very much!

But I'm seriously thinking of trying Dickens again, it's thanks to the 1998 BBC adaptation of OUR MUTUAL FRIEND.

I watched this when it was first broadcast and recently got it out on DVD. I was blown away all over again by what magnificent television this is. It (along with NORTH AND SOUTH which deserves at least one MFT column to itself and not just because of gorgeous Richard!) is my favorite of the BBC takes on classic books. What, I hear you ask, not PRIDE AND PREJUDICE? I enjoy that but have a few problems with it, pretty as Colin and his wet shirt are. BLEAK HOUSE had numerous admirers too but while I think it starts beautifully, the ending is like one of those three-day tours of the sights of Europe, rush, rush, rush. Hey, perhaps they went to Russia! Snort.

OUR MUTUAL FRIEND strikes me as just right. And breathtakingly romantic which is even better! You get not one, but two luscious love stories for your money as well as a panoramic view of Victorian society from the very poorest to the upper classes. It's a huge, delicious banquet!

People often comment on my books as a journey from darkness to light (and they're right). But OMF is an über journey from the depths of darkness to shining brilliance.  The story starts in the murk and fog and desperation of the lives of the people who scavenge the Thames for flotsam and jetsam, including dead bodies.  Gaffer Hexam (David Schofield) drags a drowned man from the filthy river and sets events in motion. The corpse is identified as John Harmon, the heir to a dust heap fortune (basically he had scavenging rights on London's rubbish) who is back in England after many years in South Africa. The money instead goes to the naïve and illiterate Boffins (Peter Vaughan and Pam Ferris) who decide to cut a dash in society.

The Boffins adopt Bella Wilfer (Anna Friel), engaged to John Harmon sight-unseen in an arranged marriage. Bella is spoilt and avaricious, but beautiful. She's determined to rise in the world and never be poor again, although her poverty is nothing compared to that experienced by the people along the river. The Boffins employ the mysterious John Rokesmith (Steven Mackintosh) as their secretary. Rokesmith was present when the corpse was pulled from the river and is clearly hiding a BIG secret. Not only that, he's madly in love with flighty Bella who treats him with contempt. During the investigation into  the drowning, Gaffer Hexam's beautiful daughter Lizzie (Keeley Hawes) meets and falls in love with upper-class lawyer Eugene Wrayburn (Paul McGann). In class-conscious Victorian society, marriage to a woman of her background is unacceptable. He seeks to make her his mistress and she ends up fleeing London to save Wrayburn from the threats posed by her other suitor, violently emotional schoolmaster Bradley Headstone. By the way, David Morrissey gives a bravura performance as the tormented teacher.

That's only an introduction to the riches of this series. Over its nearly six hours, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be scared, you'll be horrified, and you'll sigh over the two love affairs. The acting is wonderful and Sandy Welch's adaptation is exemplary. How she manages to juggle all the plotlines leaves me utterly in awe.

This is just the show to watch on a rainy weekend. You'll love it!

One of the questions I often get asked on blog interviews is whether I listen to music when I write and if so, what music. The answer to the first is YES! I find music really puts me in the space when I'm working on a book. The answer to the second is it depends.

I can't have words going on in the background, or not too many of them. So mostly I have our local classical music station playing (thank you, ABC Classic FM, you are an essential part of my life - especially since you started letting me download the programs I want when I want them from the Net!).

Sometimes a book screams out for a particular CD. I remember I did CLAIMING THE COURTESAN to Handel's Water Music. UNTOUCHED was Philip Glass ballet music. Interestingly enough, both of these have strong and regular rhythms and I think that's the secret behind a great writing soundtrack. Anything too frenzied or wayward is distracting. TEMPT THE DEVIL was mostly the LAST OF THE MOHICANS soundtrack. Love that music!

Which takes me to the subject of this piece - the joy of soundtracks. I listen to a lot of soundtracks when I'm writing. There are generally no words (occasionally a song at the end, like the gorgeous final track of GLADIATOR) and the music is emotional and dramatic. Some favorites include BRAVEHEART, THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR, IRIS, BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA and OUT OF AFRICA.

When I watch movies, I'm almost always aware of the music. Partly a legacy of having been a music student for most of my young life! So I'm always disappointed when I love a soundtrack and then can't buy it as a CD. I've got a wish list of out-of-print CDs on Amazon you wouldn't believe but I refuse to pay the excruciatingly painful amounts of money the specialist shops ask.

So imagine my delight when I discovered a four CD set called EPICS: THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HOLLYWOOD! Epics have the greatest music - I think something in that huge sweep of story really brings out the best in composers. My wishlist included a lot of epics like SPARTACUS, TARAS BULBA and THE ROBE. All out of print.All with substantial excerpts on this CD collection.

There's some wonderful music in this collection. All the old faves like BEN-HUR, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and THE MISSION. And a few surprises. I didn't see the Brad Pitt-Eric Bana epic TROY. It sounded a bit too grim and violent for me. But the music is fantastic! I keep hitting repeat when I get to that bit and then never hear the rest of the CD.

So if you've visited my house in the last few weeks, you'd find yourself walkin' like an Egyptian, my friend. Or perhaps a Biblical character.Or a Roman. Or a pirate! I wonder if under the influence of this new obsession, my Regency rakes will suddenly start waving their gladius around! You have to watch a rake with a gladius!

When I was a young 'un in the 60s, my parents were quite a bit older than many of the parents of my primary school friends. I grew up in a small farming community where most people married young and had a passel of children straightaway. Mum and Dad were older when they married (25 - wow, really on the shelf, snort!) and then waited to start a family.

That meant a slight generation gap when it came to the music we listened to at home. My friends' parents were mainly Top 40 people and in the 60s, that meant some great music. Mum and Dad loved American musicals. So I grew up knowing all the words to songs from CAROUSEL and MY FAIR LADY and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. If I were a rich man yidee di dee….

My fondness for a good show tune has persisted. Yesterday I was taking a short break from polishing my next book and playing the piano (you've got to keep the neighbors on their toes!). And what was I playing? SHOW TUNES!

Yup, there I was pounding out "If Ever I Would Leave You" from CAMELOT and "The Impossible Dream" from MAN OF LA MANCHA. Both have that wonderful build to a climax that a classic show tune offers. As a romance writer, I like that bit for obvious reasons! Both share a theatrical but somehow deeply sincere profundity of emotion. Back in my primary school days full of Rodgers and Hammerstein, talent shows were very popular on TV. "The Impossible Dream" was a favorite for lines and lines of emoting baritones and it still gives me goosebumps! To reach the unreachable….STARS!!!!  And as I thumped (I always thump on those two!), I thought great show tunes count among my favorite things!

I know I'm not alone in succumbing to the power of a GST. Do you remember the worldwide frenzy when Susan Boyle appeared on BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT and sang the beautiful "I Dreamed a Dream" from LES MISERABLES? The simple, poignant power of that song (with its big climax) really touched people through Boyle's performance. If you're one of the four people on the planet who haven't seen it, here's one of the many YouTube links. This particular one has been viewed nearly 43 million times!

It still gives me goosebumps (like TID) to hear that beautiful voice float out as she starts to sing. And isn't it interesting, by the way, that talent programs seem to be back in fashion? I'm getting a flashback to my distant youth!

Anyway, next month, please sing "Hello, Dolly!" as I "Climb Every Mountain" and offer up "A Song in my Heart".

Yeah, I know, I promised you another piece on show tunes. But when I was looking at the photos from all the romance conferences I've been to in the last few months, I couldn't resist sharing some of the highlights with you.  So for your enjoyment, I present some happy snaps from RomCon in Denver, Colorado (9th to 11th July, 2010) and Romance Writers of America's Nationals in Orlando, Florida (28th to 31st July).

Show Tunes Part Deux will return in October!

For any long-term readers of this column (and I'm going back to July 2006 here!), you'll know THE SOUND OF MUSIC not only provided the name for this part of my website, it also is literally one of my favorite things.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC is the first film I remember going to in a cinema, closely followed by MARY POPPINS. You can see I was fated to love musicals, can't you? And because I started primary school not long after these two phenomenally popular films were released, I spent a large portion of my early education singing songs from both shows.

Do kids still sing hits from musicals? MARY POPPINS has had a stage revival recently so perhaps it's returned to popularity. I would be surprised if THE SOUND OF MUSIC ever faded from people's consciousness.

I think one of the reasons kids love to sing the songs from these two (or at least they did in my day, and doesn't that make me sound old?) is that both stories feature children as major characters. There's the seven motherless Von Trapp children in TSOM and the two neglected Banks kids Jane and Michael in MP. Actually now I think about it, these stories are quite similar. Into both unhappy families, an unlikely positive force descends (literally in the case of MP! Although you could also argue that Maria descends from her mountain to that lovely house in Salzburg) and changes things for the better.

Anyway, the Campbell childhood was punctuated with out-of-tune renditions of "Feed the Birds" and "Just a Spoonful of Sugar" and "Doh-Re-Mi". Other popular show tunes of my youth were the theme song from CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG and a selection of songs from the 1952 movie with a score by Frank Loesser, HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.

This film was enshrined in my home for various reasons, not least because my mother came from a Danish family and HCA is a national hero. But it was also the film my parents saw on the night they became engaged so it was starry eyes galore whenever HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN showed on TV. It's many years since I saw it - I have a vague memory of it being rather sad, about the miseries of unrequited love, although both Danny Kaye and the music were wonderful. Anyway, I remember very hot summer terms in Queensland and singing songs like "Inch Worm" and "Thumbelina".

I suspect the songs from HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN are no longer as popular as they were. In fact, I imagine kids today, if indeed they do sing along to a piano in school, prefer songs from something like THE LION KING or THE LITTLE MERMAID. That's not so out of kilter with my own childhood because MARY POPPINS was a huge hit for Disney, just as the newer animation films were.

Thanks for sharing this trip down memory lane with me (perhaps even a "Sentimental Journey"? Although that doesn't seem to be a show tune so doesn't strictly belong in this column!). Next month, I'm coming back to show tunes - hey, when you're on a good thing, you should do an encore or two! Ethel Merman would have! - with a piece about the great Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. Pop by to sing along!

I've been going through the photo albums again and thought I'd do a couple of pieces on Western Australia. This is the massive state that takes up a huge amount of the country but which has a tiny population, even by Australian standards.

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to get a couple of work placements over in Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It was a place I'd always wanted to visit but the flights are so expensive, it always seemed easier to go overseas. So it was great staying in the center of the city and having plenty of time to explore. Even so, I only managed to cover a tiny proportion of the State. I saw the south-western corner, or at least a fair slab of it. Even for an Aussie, used to wide open spaces, Western Australia is huge. I just looked it up, it's 1,021,478 square miles. Wow! That's a lot of real estate!

Perth has a really nice, Mediterranean climate with no humidity. This was a welcome relief to a girl from south-east Queensland where near 100% humidity isn't unusual. Even when the temperatures were up around the 40 degree Celsius mark (and I was there in the summer when 40s were everyday affairs), it was still really comfortable because there wasn't that horrible wet air.

The city is really picturesque with a wonderful big, clean river called the Swan flowing through it. If any of you have read Tim Winton's CLOUD STREET, you'll know that people in Perth treat the river almost like a personality! When Dutch explorers arrived on the west coast of Australia in the 17th century, the river was crowded with lots of black swans. Something that blew their minds because of course, in Europe, swans are white! The irony is that construction of a commercial harbor at the turn of the 19th century means salt water has flooded into the Swan and now the swans prefer a briny sanctuary called Lake Monger which is where I took the picture.

As you can gather, Western Australia has a longer history of contact with Europeans than the rest of Australia (although the far north of Australia also had contact with Dutch and Portuguese traders in the 17th century).

Western Australia is famous for its wildflowers. This corner of the continent has the widest biodiversity anywhere in the world. The soils are so poor that the slightest changes in minerals and fertility mean a different species springs up.

My first visit, I was there in spring in time to see the flowers and they're mind-blowing. I didn't get far enough north of Perth to see the fields of paper daisies which are apparently incredible to behold. But Kings Park in the center of town has a wildflower festival and these shots come from there. The south-western corner of Western Australia is also famous for the amazingly huge trees - they really do take your breath away, especially when you stand in forests full of these giants down in the Margaret River area.

Speaking of Margaret River, all my favorite Aussie wines come from there. If you ever get a chance to do a winery tour, leap at it. The wines really are like nectar of the gods. Sadly, they're almost impossible to get overseas but if you see any Western Australian wines at your local wineshop, grab them. You won't be disappointed.

The rather eerie picture of the Pinnacles is from a day trip I did several hours north of Perth up towards the desert country. From the sea, the Dutch thought the forest of limestone plugs that make up the Pinnacles were a full-scale city. You can see how they made the mistake although they must have been disappointed when they set foot in this barren place. It's an eerie, rather creepy spot, out in the middle of nowhere. But I'm very glad I saw it.

Next month, I'll talk about wonderful Rottnest Island which is Perth's holiday playground just off the coast. A lovely place featuring miniature kangaroos and some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen.

I grew up reading Harlequin Presents by the thousands - except they were called Mills and Boons here and it was back in the days when Harlequin didn't have separate lines. Huge numbers of these books featured wide-eyed young English girls who fell hopelessly in love with dashing and arrogant Spanish men.

Spain was the location du jour of these jours many years ago. (I'm not saying we didn't have electricity because honestly if you rubbed two mastodons together, you could get a nice current going) I still know a ridiculous number of Spanish endearments. Mi alma. Mi amor. Dios!  Well, that last one isn't an endearment but these commanding Spanish types used to ejaculate the curse a lot!

You know, I'm starting to think I'll be able to milk these show tune pieces until the end of the year! I haven't touched movie musicals yet!

As I said when I started this series, I grew up listening to Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. My parents loved them and had a big teak stereogram in the corner of the lounge room where they used to store their records. The deep, rich tone of that stereo was amazing - there's something to be said for a huge piece of furniture designed just to play music. Hmm, I suppose a piano would fit that description too. And a double bass.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein first worked together in 1943 on OKLAHOMA! I'm not crazy about the movie version of this although the score is lovely but I've seen a stage production and loved it. Especially "OOOOOOOOOOOK-lahoma, where the wind comes rushing down the plain" sung with uninhibited vigor. When you're in a theatre, that nearly lifts your hair off, it's so powerful.

Their next show in 1945 was CAROUSEL. My parents really loved this show and it was one they played a lot. The score is beautiful - if you get a chance, check out John Raitt and Jan Clayton doing the long "If I Loved You" scene, it's heartbreakingly good - but the story is extremely grim. I can remember spending hours dancing around the lounge to the "Carousel Waltz" too - it's such a vivid, lilting piece of music.

The next one in my parents' collection was SOUTH PACIFIC (1949). I think, along with THE SOUND OF MUSIC (which you've already heard enough about, I know!),  it's my favorite R&H musical. I first saw this performed by an amateur group in Ipswich, Queensland, where I went to boarding school and I loved the story of the collision of cultures during World War II. I've since seen the film and again, don't think it's nearly as effective as the stage show. This score is full of magnificent music - "Some Enchanted Evening", "Younger than Springtime", "This Nearly Was Mine", "I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair". It's so packed with gems, it's hard to pick highlights. Just for a treat, check out the wonderful Mandy Patinkin singing "Younger than Springtime."

The final R&H musical in my parents' collection was the fabulous THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1959). Just one little bit about TSOM - I think it's one where the movie actually works better than the stage show. All that spectacular Austrian scenery really lights up the wide screen. I remember being spellbound by those swooping aerial shots of the Alps and the castles and the beautiful green valleys.

Check back next month for movie musicals - I'm already practising singin' in the rain!

When I was a kid, a real favorite, both as movie and as soundtrack was THE KING AND I (1951). I think I responded to all the children in the story and I loved Yul Brynner who is portrayed as an interesting mixture of perspicacious ruler and spoilt child. I think it's one where the movie really does match up to the stage show - or at least the version of the stage show that I've seen. I particularly love the "Shall We Dance" scene. All that repressed longing and sexual tension? Wow! Even as a kid, that scene struck me as powerful.

As promised, I'm going to talk about movie musicals. And I mean musicals written specifically for the screen, not shows that were successes on Broadway first then adapted for the movies.

Of course, this covers hundreds of films, going all the way back to the 1930s (must do a piece on the wonderful Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals at some stage!). So I thought I'd narrow it down to two of my favorites, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and GIGI, both produced by the Arthur Freed Unit at MGM during the Golden Years of Hollywood (and when you see work like this, you tend to accept that description as more than just hyperbole).

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) wasn't a family favorite. I'm not quite sure why - I loved it from the first time I saw it at about eight. Perhaps there was a bit too much dancing - my parents weren't crazy about films with long ballet scenes. I, as a ballet fanatic, loved those extended narrative dance sequences, especially when the dancers were people of the calibre of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse.

I've seen the film numerous times since - a lovely moment was introducing it to some work friends about 15 years ago. They had never seen it and were a bit sniffy about watching a musical (intellectual types!). And they were all absolutely entranced to the stage that a couple of them now list SITR as their favorite film. It's a pleasure to pass on the lurve!

It felt like serendipity that having decided on featuring SITR in this month's My Favorite Things, I turned on Turner Classic Movies a couple of weeks ago and caught the overture. I sat and watched the whole thing, thinking that while people rave about the wonderful dancing, one of the unsung strengths of the movie is just how clever it is. The lines are razor sharp and witty with some of the best going to the waspish Lena Lamont, the villainess of the piece. She's stupid but she's got animal cunning, not to mention a voice that would cut glass. Jean Hagen plays her to the hilt - it's one of the really great screen performances, going right to the edge then hovering. A balancing act worthy of Mr. Kelly himself!   Another treasure of the film is Donald O'Connor who plays Gene Kelly's best friend Cosmo. The Make 'em Laugh song and dance sequence is justly famous but one of my favorite routines in the whole film is this one where DO and GK are having such a wonderful time together just being silly! Check out Moses Supposes on YouTube.  I bet you're singing "Moses supposes his toeses are roses but Moses supposes erroneously" right now!

Actually an interesting point of Hollywood trivia. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN is now considered the greatest musical movie ever made, yet it won not one Oscar in 1952 (in spite of nominations for Jean Hagen and best score).

Lack of Oscar success isn't an issue with GIGI!

GIGI (1958) won nine Oscars, including Best Picture, and I'm not surprised. It's luscious and romantic and altogether gorgeous. Oh, and by the way, it has no extended ballet sequences, so it WAS a family favorite. My parents were huge Maurice Chevalier fans - they'd been lucky enough to see him in concert in the 1950s and always said it was the best live performance they'd ever attended. Lucky them! I think he would have been magic on stage!

Here's Maurice in one of the best moments in the movie when he's reminiscing about a youthful love affair with Gigi's grandmother played by the equally magic Hermione Gingold. Such clever lyrics and so full of wistful humanity for lost chances!

The first time I saw GIGI, I remember loving the music, and the glamorous costumes and settings, and how picturesque the stars were - seriously, Louis Jourdan and Leslie Caron are almost too beautiful to be human. But as a primary school kid, most of the story went completely over my head. Gigi is being groomed as a courtesan and Gaston (Louis Jourdan) is set to become her first keeper. But as a slightly more worldly person, I've come to love the sophistication and wit of this romantic story.

One of the most romantic moments in the film is when Gaston sings this Oscar-winning song after he realizes Gigi isn't a child any longer. I can't help seeing a similarity with Henry Higgins's I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face from MY FAIR LADY. Both follow very similar structures - rage and bewilderment followed by a completely unwelcome revelation of love. Gaston and Henry Higgins have a lot in common too. They're both smart, mouthy, spoiled and emotionally immature. It's odd that they're strangely attractive as romantic heroes!

Oh, dear, I could rave on forever about both movies but perhaps I should stop. If you haven't seen these films, I strongly recommend seeking them out. They truly DON'T make movies like this anymore!

OK, promise you we'll take a break from show tunes for a while, although probably not forever!

To continue my rhapsodies about the beautiful south-western Australian coast, here are some photos of gorgeous Rottnest Island which is about 25 minutes by ferry from Fremantle.

Rottnest is quite small - I just looked up some statistics. The island is 11 kilometres long, 4.5 kilometres at its widest point, and the land area measures 1,900 hectares. For American readers, a kilometre is about half a mile. But that small space is rich in history, landscape, flora, fauna and especially its gorgeous coastline.