How Australia transformed English, A real story behind Australian slang

From Bondi to Bells, Noosa to Cable, Australia is renowned for its beautiful beaches. Less well known is the way beach culture has influenced Australian English. If you were told to ‘put on your cossies and thongs’, ‘grab the esky’ and ‘watch out for any Noahs’, you would be forgiven for bewilderment. Australia’s mainland coastline ...

The German village that changed the war

Like many people, I initially visited the German island of Usedom for its sandy beaches, fischbrotchen (a local fish sandwich) and quaint seaside towns, such as Heringsdorf. The small, remote resort was popular with the Prussian royalty, and later, East Germans. But between 1936 and 1945, the Nazis occupied one village for a darker purpose. ...