with this useful guide

Summer food health

There’s nothing worse than a bout of food poisoning in the sticky summer heat.

When you’re entertaining, the last thing you want is to discover your guests were bedridden for the next week (let alone yourself or your household).

Fortunately, there’s some simple rules-of-thumb to follow that will ensure nobody gets food poisoning.

SEPARATE, SEPARATE, SEPARATE It’s tempting to just rinse the chopping board you used for meat and keep using it for vegies, but it’s really not worth the risk.

A separate board should be used for raw meat, vegetables and

fruit, and cooked meat; the same goes for packing food for a picnic – keep raw foods together and cooked foods together.

Keep raw meat on the bottom shelf of the fridge (so the juices have nowhere to drip down to).

Also, ensure they’re seperated from fruit and vegies.

KEEP THE TIME LIMIT It’s natural during warmer weather to have meals outside, or even just having a cheese and dip platter out during entertaining.

This is fine, as long as food isn’t out too long and gets thrown away once it reaches that time span.

The Australian Institute of Food Safety recommends two hours as the upper limit, but if the day is extremely hot, this time should be reduced.

BETTER STORAGE It’s also recommended not to leave hot food to cool completely before you put it in the fridge.

The food should be placed in the fridge or freezer as soon as steam stops rising from it, to avoid the growth of harmful bacteria. It’s also important to not overfill your fridge, as this will reduce its cooling capacity.

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An unconventional trip around Australia

Travelling around Australia takes a significant amount of planning and time, but Melissa Dean and her partner Jerry Paii didn’t do either. In June last year, they rented their house out to some friends who also fostered their dog, purchased a caravan and set off on the trip of a life time.

“I had to pack our whole life into a tiny caravan. “Trying to make sure we had what we needed for day-to-day activities as well as the necessities was a challenge,” says Melissa. It didn’t take long for things to go south, and the couple’s caravan broke down shortly after departure.

Returning to Toowoomba, Melissa and Jerry purchased a new caravan and by October they had returned to the vast open road and re-commenced their journey.

Their trip isn’t as normal as you might think, with Jerry employed in a fly in/fly out (FIFO) position Melissa finds herself going solo often.

“We technically don’t have to be based in one place for him to get to work, we just need to make sure he is close to an airport for the start of his hitch,” she said.

This also meant that Melissa found herself alone when the devastating New South Wales fires hit last year.

“The first time Jerry left me to go back to work, I was parked up at Halliday’s Point, this is where the New South Wales fires affected just recently.

“I had to hook the van up and move three times to get away from fire dangers.

“It was scary, and I had never hooked and unhooked the van before by myself or driven it without him coaching me in the passenger seat, but I had no choice,” she said.

“I have always been okay with Jerry working away, but him leaving me in an unfamiliar place has been the biggest change for me but I’m getting used to it.”

The expense of a caravan park hasn’t been too much of a burden on the duo either.

While Jerry returns to work, Melissa organises a World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) for two weeks.

“When Jerry leaves me, I will try and arrange a WWOOFer host and pull up on their property for the two weeks he’s away.

“Essentially, saving a lot of money on caravan park fees and they also include food, so saving money on food is awesome too,” Melissa says.

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Melissa says she likes to be organised and make plans, but has had to put down the organiser because they kept straying from their itinerary too frequently.

“I’ve already learnt you’re never going to stick to it (an itinerary),” she said

“We wake up and decide if we are moving on or staying.” Melissa and Jerry have already made quite a mark on the map and travelled up north to Darwin and Edith Falls and down the east coast to Kangaroo Valley.

“Darwin and Edith Falls was so beautiful, Peaceful, serene and a great cool down on a hot day.

“In Kangaroo Valley, we were up close and personal with wombats, they were pretty cool to be around in the wild,” Melissa says.

“Our usual day to day activities always seem to end in us finding something awesome, we love exploring rock pools where you find some unusual sea life and weird rock formations.

“Bushwalks and finding the unexpected waterholes that you have all to yourselves, we love just getting lost in nature and finding the more undiscovered areas.”

Melissa says that they want to try to see every corner of

Australia, devoting a whole year to Western Australia and the Northern Territory and then wherever the road takes them.

The two are excited to see where their travels will take them, but the rest of world isn’t off the table.

“I would love to do South America, explore the culture and their rural areas,” she said.

Asked if she ever regretted the decision to travel Australia Melissa’s answer was quite the opposite.

“My only regret is not doing it sooner.”

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Diver safety: how to avoid the bends

For those who are fascinated with life below the waves, it rarely gets better than a scuba diving trip. From the relaxation of a shallow reef dive to the thrill of wreck diving and the wonder of getting close to marine life, few water activities compare to going under.

Although scuba diving is a safe sport and an activity almost anyone can do, there are some things you should never do immediately after completing a dive, all of which relate to altitude and blood flow.

The reason for this is that gases (mainly nitrogen) dissolve into your muscles during a dive (due to the increased pressure as you descend) and need time to slowly decompress again as you finish your dive.

Failing to safely decompress may lead to divers getting “the bends’’, or decompression sickness (DCS).

If divers resurface too quickly, all the built-up nitrogen rapidly escapes as bubbles – exactly like the bubbles that form when you open a bottle of carbonated water.

These bubbles can block blood flow and tear or stretch blood vessels and nerves.

Not a fun experience when all you wanted was a diving holiday.

Most commonly, symptoms of the bends include pain in and around major joints and excessive fatigue (more than you would expect from diving), but can also include more severe neurological and lymphatic issues.

Assuming you’ve done your safety stops and reached dry ground without incident, there are further safety steps that divers have to take. For best post-diving results, avoid: • Flying – at a minimum, you should not fly within 12 hours after scuba diving, but this surface interval increases with each dive you complete (most divers err on the side of caution and plan a 24-hour surface exploration).

• Mountains – ascending a mountain has the same effect as flying in an airplane, so limit your exploring to sea level.

• Hot tubs – as the heat from the water improves your circulation, the risk of bubble formation also increases.

• Deep-tissue massages – as with hot tubs, the issue here is increased blood flow.

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Reduce packing stress

No-one likes leaving the house feeling like they’ve forgotten to pack something before a big holiday, so here are some tips for a relaxed experience

There’s little worse than getting to your destination and discovering you’ve left something behind.

While if you’re in a country you’re comfortable with, it’s simple enough to get to a store and replace the item, but if not it can be daunting.

Here are some tips for making your big holiday less stressful, so you can relish all the excitement and sights.

MAKE A LIST. It seems obvious, and you probably do it already, but a list can make all the difference. Starting a few weeks out rather than a few days is essential, as you’ll have more time to think and you’ll feel less rushed – meaning there’s less chance of forgetting something.

GET SOMEONE TO BE A MUM. Whether they be a friend, family member, or your actual mother,

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DON’T EVER THROW OUT THE LIST. It’s tempting once you’ve gotten on the plane, but you’ll need your list so you don’t leave anything behind when packing to come home.

Alternative gifts for guests to give on your special day

There are many options for gift giving nowadays, so you can choose the right one for you

Traditionally, as a way to pass on their best wishes to the bride and groom, guests give a gift to the couple at the reception. Letting guests chose a gift themselves adds a more intimate touch that many couples enjoy, but there is that risk of doubling up on items. A gift registry can alleviate this issue, but if you don’t want the hassle of transporting gifts then a wishing well is a great idea.

Get creative in making the “well’’ and ask guests to place their wedding cards with cash inside it.

There are many registry services available through department stores, services such as Amazon Wish List and more.

No matter what you decide, just make sure it is clear on your invitation. Trending items in gift registries include:

CHARITABLE DONATIONS These days, many couples have already set up their home by the time they tie the knot.

More and more couples are asking guests to donate to charity rather than buy gifts.

EXPERIENCES Couples are placing more value on experiences than on products, so ask guests to buy a memory, like bungee jumping or cage diving.

HONEYMOON FUNDS From Airbnb vouchers to money in the bank, you can ask guests to help you pay for the honeymoon instead of buying you a slow cooker.

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