My Writing Endeavours Part Two

Welcome back to my unprofessional yet eager writing exercises with U3A The Writers Collective based in Brisbane, Australia. Each week I will post a short story which I have written to read out in our group. The theme comes from our prompt Word of the Week. Each writer gets the opportunity, at least once, to chose the Word of the Week. This story is basically a memoir piece from my early years and yet to be read to The Collective. Also, at 475 words it is well over our set wordcount.

PHILLIP ISLAND REMEMBERED
Unlocking the Past

Back in the 1960s Phillip Island off mainland Victoria seemed to me, a young girl, to be a million miles away from civilisation. It was a very long uneventful drive way-back then but now in 2026 only one hour fifty minutes (142 km) on a wide motorway.
Access was from the mainland is via Newhaven and we drove across the original wooden San Remo bridge onto the island, bouncing in our seats with excitement. Looking to the right there were holiday camping sites which sat among the tea-trees and scrubby saltbushes. To the left were sand dunes and the blue, blue sea. In many places the road was sand and gravel but small houses had started to pop up so the narrow main road had a reasonably better surface than my father’s younger days. I don’t remember the small village of Cowes but no doubt today it has the obligatory coffee shops, supermarket and mod cons. There were always small fishing boats bobbing in safe havens and people fishing on the only pier I can remember.
The native animals and bushland was intacked back then and you could see Koalas in the gumtrees on either side of the road but they were high up and usually sleeping. Windows down, my brother spotted a brownish koala in the fork of a eucalypt tree watching us from one sleepy eye. My father craned his neck peering through the windscreen to see it. The car tyre hit a pothole, the vehicle slewed to the left and crashed into the tree. The koala did not blink. Whereas my mother started shouting. I was embarrassed that we had done such an undignified thing and my brother wanted to take a photograph of the whole incident with his little black and white camera.
No other vehicles were around and we were able to drive away unscathed except for the ding in the front left mudguard. I remember we found a picnic spot to eat our packed lunch of sandwiches, fruit and thermos flask tea then drove to Cape Woolamai, a rugged surfing beach with gritty sand, squalling seagulls and huge curling waves which sent salt spray into the wind.
I can recall later visiting the dusk parade of Fairy Penguins (Eudyptula minor) coming up the beach to their burrows in the sand dunes, no lights, no crowds, just small penguins going home for the evening.
Regrettably here was no mention of the local indigenous people and I am now aware that the social history of Phillip Island dates back over 40,000 years to the Bunurong people, the original inhabitants of the Western Port region. Not long ago I was appalled to discover that Phillip Island hosts car and motorcycle events on the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. An even more tragic outcome, this time for the native plants and wildlife.
Unbeknown to me, our family jaunt around Phillip Island was probably packed with nostalgia for my parents. My parents and grandparents loved the place, my grandfather FC Bernet was an artisan, a skilled craftsman and he painted and sketched many aspects of the island. My father and his siblings had spent school holidays there, swimming and fishing from the jetty beside the small boats, back when the area was relatively unknown and perhaps a more peaceful destination.
I would like to be brave and re-visit Phillip Island again one day.
May this precious piece of rock and sand be preserved forever.

💗 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2026

Personal collection – Campsite Phillip Island Victoria Australia
Artist of many skills FC Bernet c1950
Image © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2026

National Simultaneous Storytime 2026!

Because my story remembers my childhood, please make a note that on Wednesday 27th May 2026 at 12.00noon AEST, millions of children, parents, teachers, and library lovers across Australia will come together to read Luna Roo the Kangaroo Baller at the same time.
So much reading fun that I wanted to give it a special mention.
Please mark the date, ready to sit down with young readers at home, school or local library to read this book together!
Last year over 2.2 Million participants were part of National Simultaneous Storytime. Could this year be even bigger? Be part of something very special and join in the free fun wherever you live in Australia. GBW.

My Writing Endeavours Part One

Perhaps you have read my previous posts about The U3A Writers Collective (Brisbane) 2026 but whether or not, I will now proceed to post my classroom endeavours once a week (or when the mood takes me) for your perusal, critique, enjoyment or just plain ‘Goodness me, I can write better than that!’
Since I do not activate a Comments Section, you will have to say your critique out loud to your partner, family, cat, dog, budgerigar, nextdoor neighbour or other writers in your group. As long as you keep writing!
So far I have attended February through to April 2026 and currently in Term Two coming to grips with being the incumbent Convenor/Tutor.
This position changes to someone else each term, and while not prestigious nor a paid position, it is a position to take seriously.
I suggest different writing methods, attending author events, entering short story competitions and keeping our classroom offerings to at least 300 words so everyone gets a chance to read.
I am tossing around introducing well-known authors books and styles for inspiration. Also Ekphrastic Method and Pomodoro Method but currently it may be a bridge too far.
Each week a different person chooses the Word Of The Week which we all have to write about then read out to The Collective.
Some members prefer to email their short stories ahead of meeting but most read out in class.
We are not very stringent with critiquing others work. Too sensitive, too shy, too lacking in confidence? Don’t want to offend? Maybe none but possibly all of these reasons. We really do have to overcome this otherwise we are just choosing a writing prompt word and reading nice short stories to each other each week.
By the way Captain James Cook is the man in my photograph, he sailed in the Endeavour and did a lot of charting, plotting and writing. He was not the first person to ‘discover’ Australia but he sailed widely and spun a good yarn.

THE WRITERS COLLECTIVE HOMEWORK MARCH 2026
THEME WORD: Bounty
TITLE: ‘A Good Haul’
CHARACTERS: William, Emily
DRAFT: Version Two
FONT: Times New Roman
WORDCOUNT: 343
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Every year William and his family attended The Royal Queensland Exhibition Show, colloquially known as Ekka. It was show-time when rural farmers came to town bringing their abundant produce and prize-winning animals to parade before thousands of city folk. It was always fun when a cow or horse kicked up its hooves and galloped towards the nearest exit.
William’s thoughts swirled. Many things would grab his attention like scary rides, food stalls, toffee apples and fairy floss, the prize-winning cakes, vigorous woodchopping, farming equipment, the dogs and bird judging, the baby animal pen and show-stopping events in the main arena.
However, this year was different. William was now a teenager and he didn’t want to attend the Ekka with his family. He had asked classmate Emily if she would like to go with him. She said yes, so now he was a bundle of pre-Ekka nerves.
Also William was unsure if his pocket money would stretch enough to cover food for two. Could he afford his all-time favourite licorice from the Showbag Pavilion? In his opinion it was the best item in the whole of the Ekka.
He waited at the main gates for an hour because he had caught the bus too early and was relieved when Emily was dropped off by her older brother, eliminating an interrogation by her father.
“Hi Em,” he blushed.
Miraculously Emily was loaded with cash. “We can buy anything we want,” she laughed, eyes sparkling.
The quantity they accumulated was impressive by any standards and only after walking through every corrugated iron shed, eyeing every produce stall, did they stop to rest in the grandstand to reveal toys and devour sugary treats.
They shared hotdogs for lunch and drank Coca-Cola, regretting it later when bile rose in their throats on the spinning Cyclone.
William declined a ride home, scared he would be sick in their car.
Emily looked green but before she got into the vehicle she handed him a licorice showbag. The bounty had lost its attraction but her smile said there would be other days.

💗 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2026

Writers Collective Read Write Review

Those of you who follow my blog (thank you!) will notice that I haven’t posted for a few weeks. Not because I don’t have anything to say, quite the opposite. I have been attending a U3A group The Writers Collective in the city. There’s always something nice about the city vibe and the building is old and mellow. It is also convenient for my bus travel. Gone is my car, replaced by City Council bus timetables and the jostle for a seat. Thank goodness for air-conditioning!

Anyway, I joined The Writers Collective to see what the format was all about and if it would be helpful for my writing: a young adult novel. There is no formal format. Each week we select a prompt word to write about or bring our latest composition. We can either email or read our work to the group in class for feedback and comments. There can also be general literary discussion, time permitting.

Currently we are a thoughtful group of eight novice writers which fluctuates each session and will no doubt change in the following months. Based on the Queensland school term, interested writers can ask to join but often The Collective is fully booked. As you will know from the title, a collective means everyone gets a turn at being the facilitator/convenor, a task which means sending and receiving emails, doing a bit of admin and prompting the group to choose a Word of the Week to creatively write about in any genre, format or style.

The Word of the Week prompt can result in some very different styles and stories. It is a good memory jog for novice writers, and often the beginning of a whole new story. My subconscious goes into overdrive and when I start to write some pretty unexpected short stories flow from my keyboard. Note: I will eventually post them on my blog. In the ‘classroom’ we The Collective read our work aloud as well as send by emails to keep in touch. When our group meets, some writers use their electronic devices but I usually print my stories out on good old white A4 paper. It’s smaller, lighter, no recharge, and I can quickly jot notes in the margin or write down the prompt for the next week.

I have been voted the next Convenor for Term Two. I will be introducing some of my quick writing exercises to stimulate our spontaneity – this is currently under wraps. It will also be informative to talk about why we write, writing organisations, writing competitions, reviewing, flash fiction, publishers, submitting a manuscript to a publisher, attending author talks and writers festivals and generally immersing ourselves in the literary world. For end-of-term we will discuss books and our favourite authors and have our regular lunch together in the nearby café. Consider starting your own Writers Collective and get those words written down!

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