Manning-Great Lakes Focus i86

Feature Story MANNING-GREAT LAKES

April 2014 // issue 86

Fiona Wilks

focus editor.

editor.

from the

Welcome to the April edition of Manning-Great Lakes FOCUS.

he middle month of autumn – not long now until we start digging out the winter woollies and organising

T

firewood!

With ANZAC Day and Easter both falling in the same month – actually, the same week – we’ll probably experience an influx of visitors to the area.

There’s certainly no shortage of things to do this month if you have house guests to entertain. Get out and about – we’ll all need to work off the extra chocolate calories somehow!

The Taree Easter Powerboat Classic will provide plenty of action from April 18 - 20, the Taree Collectors Fair is on April 26 and 27, and there are many art exhibitions also being held around the area this month.

In the midst of catching up with family and friends and enjoying the best the Manning-Great Lakes has to offer, spare some time to remember the important messages behind our

contacts.

Got a story idea? Looking to advertise in Focus? Contact us for more information.

public holidays this month ... for me personally, both Easter and ANZAC Day are opportunities to express my thanks for the selfless actions of others.

Why not go to an Easter service at one of our many beautiful local churches, or perhaps show your gratitude for those who’ve served our country by attending an ANZAC Day service.

ON THE COVER Our front cover features locally born Tanya Saad (centre) with her sisters Paula Grace (left) and Vivian SaadIbrahim (right). Tanya’s story is an inspiring one – and you can read all about her determination and courage in the face of adversity in this issue.

Many thanks to Julie Crespel for our beautiful cover image.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE We also feature interviews with: artist Lee McConnell, who was raised in Forster and now works for iconic company Mambo; Fiona Wilks, who is a world champion whipcracker and

artist in her own right with her ability to create stunning leatherwork; and Brooke Goodall, who shows us it’s truly possible to find a balance between juggling family, a child with special needs, and a hugely successful business enterprise – a very timely story, with World Autism Awareness Day falling on April 2.

EDITOR’S PHOTO This beautiful sunrise photo was captured by Matthew Hardyman.

Thanks Matt!

Don’t forget to send your images to jo@focusmag.com.au FINAL SAY “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” – Melody Beattie.

Jo Atkins – Editor jo@focusmag.com.au

ADDRESS: Suite 2 / 42 Wharf Street, Forster 2428 PHONE: (02) 6555 3381 FAX: (02) 6555 7338

EMAIL: mglinfo@focusmag.com.au WEB: www.focusmag.com.au TV: www.focustv.com.au

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PHOTOGRAPHER: Linda Bryant Photography by Linda 02 6551 2353 Mob: 0416 073 902 www.photographybylinda.com.au

F O C U S I S P R O U D T O S U P P O R T T H E S E G R E AT C O M M U N I T Y E V E N T S A N D P R O G R A M S .

Essential Energy

Comments and opinions of our contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinion or view of the Publishers or Editor. All reasonable efforts have been made to trace copyright holders. Information appearing in Focus is believed to be correct at the time of going to press however no liability will be held for inaccurate information approved or supplied by advertisers or contributors. While all care is taken it is recommended that readers confirm dates, times, prices and any other material including advice with individual businesses and industry professionals. Manning-Great Lakes Focus is produced and published by Creative House Publications PTY LTD ABN: 621 287 8600 5 Material in Focus is Copyright © Creative House Publications PTY LTD and may not be reproduced whole or in part, in any form, without permission of the Publisher. All rights reserved.

manning-great lakes focus 3

focusinterview.focusinterview.

FIONA W I L K S

Fiona has multiple world, national and state whipcracking titles to her name and is also well known for her quality leather goods. Heading off to the Australian Titles again this year, Fiona is hoping to win her tenth Ladies Title in a row …

Y

ou probably get asked this a lot – but how did you become interested in whipcracking?

My Pop had a property out the back of Wingham; he had over 100 acres. Jim, my father, brought a stock whip home one day, as we needed it to help bring the cattle into the yards when we mustered them. I asked Dad if I could have a go, and it took me three days just to learn how to do the normal stockman’s crack, like the Man from Snowy River style.

Once I mastered that routine, I wanted to learn more. Our local horse breaker and Farrier, Steve Brady, came to shoe our horses, and I asked him if he knew any other routines, which he then proceeded to do with a few others. I watched him and then started practicing the routines once he left; I had them down pat before long.

Then at the time I was around 9 or 10 years old, the local saddler in Wingham was Roy Prentice. He started a local whipcracking competition where the bottom pub used to be. I competed for the first time and won. I was then invited to compete at the first ever Australian Whipcracking Titles held at the Sydney Royal Show at Moore Park in 1993.

I went down with my parents, and I didn't even have a pair of whips that were the same length or close in weight. That year I got third, which I was stoked about. I went again in 1994 with the same whips and got dead last; a lady with stitches in her fingers beat me. I said to Dad that this wasn’t right; it went on who they knew and not your ability … and from then on I dedicated myself to be the best! I knew I had to invent new routines, so they had no option but to give me first place!

That same day I met a man called Bob Green.

He came up to me and we spoke about different things, and then he told me I had the best style 4

manning-great lakes focus.

of whipcracking he'd ever seen. Bob wanted to years? start up a whipcracking club - which he did at QLD Ladies Whipcracking Champion and NSW Glen Innes.

Ladies Whipcracking Champion.

Mum and Dad and I travelled 4 hours every I have won 14 Ladies Australian Titles - 9 in 6 weeks to be a part of the Northern NSW a row – and I’m going for my tenth this year. I Whipcracking Club. have won 9 Open Australian Bullock Whip Titles I got new whips, and I would practice against the men. every lunch break. I would also practice every I have won three World Open Whipcracking afternoon and on weekends, as well as travelling Titles held in Las Vegas, Nevada against United to Glen Innes. I did this for a whole year and States, England, Germany, Czech Republic, went back to the Australian Titles in 1995 and Japan, New Zealand, Canada and also against won my very first Australian Ladies Whipcracking another Australian male in 2000.

Title.

Eighteen times northern NSW Who are THE WHIPAROOS ...

Whipcracking Championships; and what are they most 6 times overall well known for? champion highest We are well THE WHIPAROOS are point scorer Northern known for our me and my father, Jim. Championships; , demonstrations We came up with this 3 times ACT which we have name, as we needed a Open Bullock Whip e id w performed in a performance name when Champion; es ac variety of pl we went to the United 4 times ACT in Australia and States for the World Titles.

Ladies Whipcracking .” lly na io at intern We are well known for Champion; plus many our demonstrations, which other titles. we have performed in a wide Since winning the ladies, I variety of places in Australia and have been undefeated, and I’m internationally. the first person to win back to back We do a 25 minute performance involving World Titles and to have won three World 10 routines: a bullock whip routine; followed Titles overall. If you were to break it down into by accuracy using straws held in different each World Title section, it would be 9 World positions; a cigarette and match, where Dad Titles – I have won all 3 awards 3 times: holds the match and match box and I strike the – The John and Vi Brady Whipcracker of the match using my whip, then I put the match Year award x 3 out and take the cigarette out of Dad’s mouth; – The Don Nevile-Smith One Whip Style and and a disc, which I crack off Dad's tongue. We Technique award x3 then do some rope spinning and whipcracking – The Don Nevile-Smith Two Handed Style and at the same time, a ribbon act where Dad spins Technique award x3, all held in Las Vegas at the the ribbon around and I try to crack it into Wild West Arts Club. little pieces until it is all gone, and juggling and You’re competing at the Royal Easter Show whipcracking. this year. What are you hoping to achieve?

What titles have you claimed over the I hope to win my tenth Ladies Title in a row

“

and fifteenth overall.

I have invented a new routine which I haven't got a name for as yet, so this will improve my chances of winning, as I have won the ladies by over 100 points in the past.

What are your future plans?

I’ve had the privilege of judging numerous whipcracking events, even judging the men and other sections at the Aussie Titles numerous times. I have now been judging and setting courses for Stockmen’s challenges at the Snowy River Muster Festival at Jindabyne, as well as performing.

I would love to get more involved in this area and travel judging these types of events around Australia.

You’re also well known for crafting leather goods. What items do you make?

I have a general leatherwork/whip making business which I have been doing for quite a number of years, and I sell my handmade leather items all over the world.

I make a wide variety of items, from kangaroo two tone plaited whips with fancy patterns or names plaited in them, latigo work whips, bridles, reins, assorted belts with kangaroo lacing or hand embossed belts, kangaroo plaited belts, bull whips, all sorts of items and repair work and some saddlery repairs as well.

Depending on what type of whip you’re after, it can take a day to one week to make a whip – especially with names and fancy patterns, plaiting two colours together to plait the name or pattern and ranging from 8,12,16 strands or more.

How can people find out more about you?

If anyone is interested in my leatherwork, whipcracking lessons or THE WHIPAROOS, they can contact me via my website: whips. ontheinternet.com.au or my mobile: 0409 536 188.

Thanks Fiona.

inside this

Issue 86 - April 2014

Don Schmitzer.

12.

Don Schmitzer and his partner, Kate, have established their very own private museum, with an extensive collection of the most eclectic memorabilia. Don is our Collectors Corner guest this month … and a very timely guest too, in the leadup to the Taree Collectors Fair this month ...

Tanya Saad.

Many locals will know Tanya, as the Saad family are iconic in the local business community – but Tanya is also now a published author and spokesperson for carriers of the BRCA 1 gene …

14.

Lee McConnell.

36.

Lee McConnell was your typical kid growing up in the Great lakes area … enjoying time with his mates, getting up to a few high jinx … but, an early love for both art and surfing culture and his own drive, determination and talent has seen Lee land his dream job creating artwork for iconic company Mambo …

usual suspects.

the

8. What’s On for April 16. eat featuring local restaurants 34. Star Guide with Terri 44. Tourism Update with Donna Hudson

No matter where you are in the world, read Focus for free online every month @

www.focusmag.com.au follow us on www.facebook.com/mgl.focus w www.twitter.com/focusmag www.focusmag.com.au/eat

manning-great lakes focus 5

focusinterview.

CANTIK Swimwear Catherine Heenan's Story ...

hat's your background, Catherine? Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Old Bar, spending my time surfing before and after school and adventuring with my friends all weekend. I was very grateful for such a humble upbringing in a lovely close-knit community, where we lived and played so close to nature and the ocean.

My friends and I rarely wore shoes or much more than a bikini. Needless to say, I spent all the money I earned working casually at the local Café Martine’s, on swimwear.

How did your interest in swimwear progress

from these early beginnings?

As I got a bit older, I wanted swimwear that wasn't from generic surf brands, and ones that fit well and flattered the female form, but I truly struggled to find styles I liked.

When I was sixteen I moved to Hawaii for six months to live with the family of a professional surfer. I felt right at home, because all the girls were wearing Brazilian cut swimwear, which I’d just started to wear in Australia; however, it was turning a lot of heads. After school we would surf, go cliff diving into the ocean or swimming in waterfalls. Here my fascination with Brazilian swimwear really solidified; however, the prints and designs available weren’t great.

After finishing high school back in Australia,

I enrolled at university, where I am currently finishing my degree in Development and Environmental Humanities at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. I always wanted a career that would allow me to travel, and I am also passionate about global issues. It was at the start of my second year at university shortly after a trip to Mexico where I began daydreaming in lectures of creating the perfect bikini. I also realised I wanted to do something that allowed for more creative expression. Living in Bondi and being constantly surrounded by beautiful and inspiring people, I got a lot more interested in fashion. This is where the idea of Cantik Swimwear was born.

So, how did you get the concept of Cantik Swimwear off the ground?

I spent months researching and teaching myself everything there was to know about design and running a business – from technical drawings, fabric compositions, import/export taxes and website coding. I did this at night after I completed my uni work and also while trying to work around a job. y I launched m I then pitched the idea to in e or online st my parents, who were both ch su d ha d D ecember an . incredibly supportive of the se on sp re g in an amaz ld out plan, as they have been for Several styles so placed I so , any venture I have wanted ks ee w in with avelled to take on throughout my a re-order and tr third the life. My mother, Di, is a back to Bali for collect to ar ye at th successful Interior Designer who time runs Artemis Interiors; she has all the stock. ” been my biggest inspiration all my life. She is incredibly creative, as well as a strong businesswoman. I knew I wanted to

“

6 manning-great lakes focus.

be like her one day.

Both of my parents have very strong work ethics and have really instilled that in me. I always knew that I would end up working for myself as both of my parents do, and starting a business young has been an added bonus, as I know I have so much more to learn but I have the rest of my life to do so.

My father agreed to provide me with a business loan, and my mum was there to give me advice on design and textiles. With all my designs compiled, I left for Bali and based myself in Seminyak for a month during uni break, where I started the manufacturing process. I sat down with pattern makers and had the initial samples done up before setting out to find a larger manufacturer who could both handle large orders but also have suitable factory conditions.

I spent at least a week riding all around Kuta and Denpasar attending meetings, and at times it was a little disheartening and stressful to do completely alone. I finally found a fantastic manufacturer who has many international labels on their books, and they were very open to working with me. I did four different sample runs, as I wanted the fit and cuts to be perfect and seamless. This was a time consuming process but I loved spending the time in Bali, where I have visited regularly since I was a child. Equally important to the perfect fit was good quality fabric; I did a lot of research on Lycra and realised I wasn’t going to get the level of quality I wanted in Indonesia, so I sourced it all from Italy and then had it imported via Australia and then on to Bali. I worked with a graphic artist on the Bougainvillea print and then did the Palm print completely

focusinterview.

myself; interestingly enough, this one turned out Bahasa Indonesian during my trips to Bali over to be the best seller. the years – just enough to get me through typical Describe Cantik Swimwear's debut campaign daily conversation, but I plan on studying it more ... was it successful? seriously while I am next in Bali; that way I will be Once the final samples were completed, able to better enunciate my requirements with I returned to Indonesia to shoot the debut my manufacturer. Funnily enough, the owner of campaign in the Gili Islands of Lombok. I was very the factory I use is Hawaiian; however, when she lucky to be able to book a professional model, isn’t there I have to converse with her General a Russian expat, Anna, who was living in Bali at Manager in broken English and Indonesian. I the time. Together with a renowned European find there is some controversy that comes with photographer, my vision came together before manufacturing offshore. But, despite common my very eyes. It was the most exciting few days of belief, Bali is one of the best places in the world my life to date. for manufacturing, as they offer attention to I launched my online store in December and detail and boutique-style production that is had such an amazing response. Several styles hard to come by in Australia – especially at a sold out within weeks, so I placed a re-order price that is viable for a start-up business. As and travelled back to Bali for the third I have a strong interest in humanitarian time that year to collect all the work in addition to design, I stock. I had so many pre-orders needed my manufacturer to to fulfil, I didn't want to lose be transparent with me on time waiting for the stock how much she pays her ns ea Cantik m to be shipped. workers and that they in ul beautif , an I then hired a get the necessary time si ne do Bahasa In it t, ou Public Relations and s off for their many rn tu it and as rfect pe e Marketing company, religious ceremonies. th en be s ha the upon industry advice.

Bali often gets name to sum up ths of However, it didn't take a bad rap from the last twelve mon long before I realised that media as being a my life.”

I had created a product dangerous and corrupt that was really speaking for place, and although I have itself; I was forging my way in most certainly experienced the industry without the help of a aspects of the corruption over rather expensive third party. there as well as being robbed, the I am now back to being a one-woman team, good far outweighs the bad. I love the Hindu running Cantik Swimwear and its PR solo. I have traditions and how a religious ceremony can been so blown away and humbled by how well take over a busy main street and force everyone my debut collection has gone, with the United to stop and pray. It is one of the most beautiful States being our second biggest customer after things you could experience.

Australia. I am also getting orders from all across In ten years I hope to be still designing Europe, The UK, Canada, The Middle East and swimwear and splitting my time between Sydney South America. I have been approached by and Bali; I may even try another degree just for stockists who want to carry my line, but I want to more general knowledge. I love learning, and the keep my debut collection exclusive to my online process of starting a business and learning as I go store while I complete uni and until I can afford to has been so valuable in my own personal growth. hire a team of people to help me.

I am very blessed to have had this opportunity What are your future plans? come up in my life, and I couldn't have done I will be finishing my degree in June this it without the amazing support of my family year, and then I plan to spend a lot of time in and friends. Cantik means beautiful in Bahasa Indonesia working on future collections and Indonesian (pronounced chun-tick) and as it turns playing a much bigger role in overseeing the out, it has been the perfect name to sum up the manufacturing process. I’ve learned little bits of last twelve months of my life.

“

manning-great lakes focus 7

AROUND THE REGION //APRIL 2014

The Bazaar Art Market T

22

Th is the second market, the first being on 11 January this year, which was a great This su success. Painters, quilters, jewellers, crafters of all kinds, all local and all handmade.

Taree Collectors Fair

Great Lakes Art Society Open Exhibition Over 200 new paintings from local and interstate artists with $5,100 in prize money awarded to the best works in oils, acrylics, drawing and pastels. Exciting contemporary paintings alongside traditional landscapes and still life studies are a great way to enjoy art at your local gallery. All works are for sale at a wide range of artists' prices.

When Open every day, April 13 to April 27; 10am - 4pm.

Where Lake Street Gallery, 34 Lake St, Forster.

Cost Free entry; all welcome.

Contact Vicki Bullard 6554 5855 or vickibullard@hotmail.com

Many and varied antiques and collectable stalls and goods for sale. Taree Collectors Club members will have items of interest on display. Free afternoon sessions for appraisal of items – 2 items per entry. Refreshments available.

When APRIL - 26 & 27; Sat (9 - 4 PM) - Sun (9 - 3 PM).

Where TAREE PCYC, 95 Commerce, Taree.

Cost ENTRY - $4. Under 12s, accompanied by an adult, FREE. Contact Don – 6551 4902 or Rex: 6553 1086.

AT MANNING MALL THIS EASTER Get creative at Manning Mall this school holidays at our Magic Easter Candy Workshop! Make your very own magic string balloon filled with chocolate eggs to take home to keep!

Date: Monday 14th to Thursday 17th April Time: 10am–2pm daily Where: Outside Coles Bookings not required however spaces are limited. Activity for ages 5–12 years only.

19

Car Boot Sale

Proudly supporting the PCYC Breakfast Program and M.R.D. Palliative Care Unit.

Make your own Magic Easter Candy!

8 manning-great lakes focus.

When Saturday 19 April, from 9am to 3pm.

W Where The Tuncurry Memorial Hall, Point Rd, Tuncurry.

W Cost Entry is by gold coin donation.

C Contact Nyaree Donnelly C email: nyaree@theartbazaar.net Phone 0404 279 710.

13

Camp Quality Manning Valley Support Group will be holding a Boot Sale. There will be a variety of goods for sale, including crafts, plants, home-made cakes and slices as well as Devonshire teas and a sausage sizzle.

Stallholders welcome.

Where Mondrook Hall.

When Sunday 13 April.

Contact For more information, contact Margaret Ezzy on 6553 1264.

manning-great lakes focus 9

SteveAttkins.

from Great Lakes Winery

1,003,000 Number of visitors to the Great Lakes each year.

$374,000,000 Total spend by visitors to the Great Lakes each year, equating to an astounding

steve attkins

$1,027,473 per day.

2,283,000

BY THE

NUMBERS

Number of nights visitors spent in the Great Lakes.

Source: Destination NSW 2013 LGA Visitor Profile - Great Lakes. Photo supplied by Great Lakes Tourism - shot by Linda Bryant.

Your nose knows!

IT IS SURPRISING TO MANY THAT THE SENSE OF SMELL TELLS YOU MORE ABOUT WINE THAN YOUR TASTE BUDS DO. YOU CAN LEARN A LOT ABOUT WINE BY SMELLING IT - A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN BY LOOKING AT IT AND SIPPING IT, IN FACT!

O

ne of the skills of a good winemaker is his or her sense of smell. If you have a good 'nose', it goes a long way to assisting in the production of good wine. Your sense of smell is capable of identifying a series of aromas in the wine and with education and experience, it is amazing what can be detected by simply smelling the wine in the glass, twirling the glass and taking another smell. What is noticeable is that not very often does the wine actually smell of grapes.

So what can be detected, and how do you identify the aromas? I often find in the cellar door people do pick up a range of smells but find it hard to identify what the smell reminds them of. By practicing (tough job!) you will find the words to describe what you are smelling.

Here are some of the types of aromas you may identify when smelling your wine: fresh fruit - specific fruits may be prevalent, such as lychee, raspberry or maybe fruit salad; dried fruit - raisins or prunes; floral - roses; vegetables; mineral - flint, wet stones; animal - leather, game; buttery; spicy - pepper; nutty; oaky - vanilla, toast; honey.

It is by no means limited to this list, but helps to give a starting point of what you might pick up. The reason wines are characterised by these aromas is due to grapes sharing many of the same chemical compounds as these things.

So why bother identifying the different aromas of wines? Well, it gets more interesting, because the aromas come from three main stages. The primary aroma is from the grape itself, indicating the grape variety.

Secondly, there are aromas resulting from specific wine-making processes. For example, a buttery or creamy aroma in a white wine is

10 manning-great lakes focus.

a result of malolactic fermentation, which is a process to soften the acidity of the wine.

Or, there may be aromas such as vanilla or toast, reflecting the use of oak. The final layer of aromas are a little more difficult to identify and are typically found in wine that has aged. After the wine has matured, the young, fresh aromas are replaced with aromas that are mellow, deeply layered, yet still clean. Bottle aged white wine may smell of honey or toast. Red wine becomes gentler, and you may pick up dried fruit or savoury gamey smells.

Finally, think about the intensity of what you are smelling. Is it strong, muted, restrained or almost non-existent? Again, there is a multitude of possible reasons for the intensity. For example, a muted aroma from a quality wine may indicate it isn't ready for drinking and simply needs more time in the bottle. If you cover the glass and give it a shake, you can awaken the wine and release a more vibrant aroma. Put those bottles away for a few months and try again later - you may be pleasantly surprised!

Image of the month.

About: Shot at 1 Mile Beach. Photo by: Shane Chalker.

Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark III in an Aquatech Water Housing. Lens: Sigma 12-24mm f/12 mm.

Taken a great photo of our local area? Like to see it published in FOCUS for the world to see? Just email jo@focusmag.com.au

Finally, trust your nose - if you identify an aroma that no-one else does, it doesn't mean you are wrong ... there is no right or wrong; just have a go!

LOCAL

READ

Oh, and don't forget to come to Music in the Back Paddock, Sunday 13 April from 12pm to 4pm with Caravãna Sun.

Title.

From the Feet Up

by Tanya Saad

Caravãna Sun is a frenetic fusion of gypsy fuelled surf rock presenting an energy packed, personality filled show. Harmonising natural soulful lyrics with bouncing 'gypsy ska' grooves, they’ve introduced even the most conservative crowds to the dance floor.

The personal memoir of local Tanya Saad, who, at the age of 30, discovered she carried the BRCA1 Gene, dramatically increasing her risk of contracting breast or ovarian cancer.

Tickets: prepurchased $17/gate $20 (Buy tickets from the Winery OR Great Lakes Visitors Centre).

This highly personal, moving, yet uplifting read details the challenges Tanya had to face and some of the difficult decisions she had to make coming to terms with her diagnosis.

Available at all good bookstores nationally. RRP:$29.99

Matters. [ w ith Alan Tickle ]

Holiday Coast Credit Union Over the past 12 months Holiday Coast credit

influence their lifestyle choices and behaviour.

Union has continued its focus on delivering the

Holiday Coast Credit Union is a strong advocate of

'Holiday Coast' difference through engagement

community engagement and the ability to support

with and support of the community in which its

various programs in all of the following areas –

members live, work and play by giving back to

namely, welfare, environment, social, education,

their community.

sport and culture and the arts – is a key part of our

Our Community Partnership Grants Program has

overall social responsibility.

between 2005 and 2013 returned to our local community a total of $1,046,075, plus goods in kind and volunteer support to more than 300 community groups each playing a role in the bettering of our community.

This support includes the largest single grant which continues the support for Life Education on the Mid North Coast – a support that started in 2002 that has provided in excess of $250,000 to the valuable primary schools program. This has been a major sponsorship and support for the education of our primary aged children in both government and private primary schools, and the grant assists students to acquire age appropriate knowledge

We see the engagement of our staff within their communities as being a pivotal foundation for our carriage of the responsibilities of the credit union in the expression of our mutual benefit.

Our interpretation of mutuality is aligned to the notion that anything we do must be in the interest of the member, or the member will not be a member for the long term, must be in the interest of the credit union, or the credit union will not be able to continue to deliver benefits to members and most importantly, our community engagement must be of benefit to and in the interest of the community, in which our members live and work.

to support informed health choices, develop and

Knowing that you're a member of a credit union

practice skills and strategies to act on those decisions

that really cares truly makes every day a great day -

and recognise the values and attitudes which may

Neville Parsons, CEO of Holiday Coast Credit Union.

Dear Alan, I am 70 years young and I am employed by my own company, which my son now runs.

I think it is about time that I applied for the pension. How might I be affected with the pension bonus scheme for delaying my pension claim? RW Dear RW, The Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS) will take into account the Age Pension that you will be entitled to at time of application, with an adjustment made up to 13 weeks of applying if the pension assessed becomes higher during that period.

However, RW needs to have registered for the scheme. The deadline for registration is 30 June 2014, as the Pension Bonus Scheme is being abolished.

The bonus will be a lump sum based on the amount of pension RW is assessed as being entitled at the time of claiming the pension.

fortnight, without it being counted.

Discrimination: My view is that the system discriminates against the pensioner who wants to do some odd jobs, because self employed income is not exempted in the same way as $250 from salary and wages.

I do think that there needs to be some pressure brought to bear on our Federal Government to re-examine why a pensioner can't take on casual work on a self employed basis, and declare it without penalty in the same way as they could if salaried.

To form a company so that wages can be drawn may not be cost effective, so I really think this one needs a re-think by our Federal Government.

What is it really worth to keep working?

A simple calculation I use to explain this, involves multiplying the fortnightly income received by 26 (to give an annual income) and divide that figure by the interest rates on offer at that time.

Eligibility: The Pension Bonus Scheme rewards those who delay the commencement of the age pension. Men must have been born before 20 September 1944 to qualify. Women must have been born before 1 January 1946.

If $6,500 is earned per annum over and above the age pension, at 3.8% interest, that is the equivalent of having an extra $171,000 invested.

Pension Bonus can only be paid to people who are registered in the scheme and have not received an income support payment (excluding Carer Payment) since qualifying for Age Pension. Income support payments include Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Special Benefit, Austudy, Bereavement Allowance, Widow Allowance, and Veterans’ Affairs service pensions.

It is even better than that, because if that equivalent amount was invested, it is taken into account when working out the pension entitlement, unlike employment income under that scheme.

Only one bonus is ever payable. You must claim your Pension Bonus at the same time you claim Age Pension. If you cannot get Age Pension, you cannot get a bonus.

Work Bonus Scheme: The work bonus scheme has replaced the PBS, and this is a fantastic opportunity for pensioners to earn income from employment but not have $6,500 pa counted when determining the amount of age pension.

For a couple, that comes to $13,000 pa.

In the case of RW, because he is employed by his company, he is effectively on salary and wages, which means that Dad can annoy his son who has taken over the business, and get paid $250 per

That means that your own physical labour is worth $171,000 in retirement capital or superannuation.

We are living longer, so earning a bit extra while a person is physically able, takes the pressure off the retirement capital and in many cases, it also keeps the mind and body active.

Changes in the wind for Account Based Pensions: Changes are being considered which will have account based pensions (income streams or allocated pensions) assessed the same way as money in the bank from 1 July 2015.

It may also mean that unless there is a reversionary beneficiary attached to the pension, on the death of the superannuate, the beneficiary might not enjoy the favourable assessment currently applying.

Discussions on that one are continuing and there is a bit of time to move, but stay tuned for that one.

This information and advice is of a general nature only and no reliance should be placed on the information before seeking individual advice from a Financial Planner and Taxation Adviser to ensure the appropriateness to individual circumstances. Alan Tickle and Your Heritage Financial Planning are both authorised representatives of Securitor Financial Group AFSL 240687 ABN 48009189495.

manning-great lakes focus 11

focusinterview.

R NE COR

Don S ch m it z e r Don Schmitzer and his partner, partner Kate Kate, have established their very own private museum, with an extensive collection of the most eclectic memorabilia. Don is our Collectors Corner guest this month … and a very timely guest too, as he’s also a member of the Taree Collectors Club, which is holding its annual Collectors Fair at the Taree PCYC on April 26 and 27. Don will be at the fair in person, so be sure to introduce yourself! ow long have you lived in the Manning area, Don? All my life – 75 years, which is a fair while.

How did you become interested in collecting in the first place?

I don’t really know! I’ve had a few things for a number of years, and then started to collect even more about 12 years ago. Both Kate and I are interested in collecting … and it grew from there.

Typically, what kinds of items do you like to collect?

We sort of collect everything – we don’t draw a line at one type of item. We have a pretty broad spectrum in our collection and collect everything from clothing, to traps, to bells. We have a lot of historical items.

You have so many items, in fact, that you have your own private museum.

Describe this for us … why did you decide to put your items on display, and are you open to the public?

The Taree Private Museum is open to the public for groups on a booking only basis.

There is no charge for entry. It is run so people can enjoy a trip down memory lane.

We enjoy the stories and information the older generation tell us about the past.

A lot of collectable items are still being thrown out at the dump and disappear forever. We are happy to buy good items for our museum and save the loss of our history.

The items in the museum are pretty broad – Kate collects items to do with sewing, clothing, hat boxes … and there are Armed Forces uniforms, a good collection of milking gear, including milk cans and other items to do with the milk trade, we have a 12 manning-great lakes focus.

baker’s cart, lots of animal traps, interesting tram, ship and school bells, shaving items, blacksmith’s gear and anvils … these are all a part of history.

We learn a lot from the older generation.

There a lot of people, who as they get on in years, collect things that have been in the family – and they just don’t know what to do with them.

I guess one of the issues here, is that people are often unaware of the value of items – and I don’t just mean monetary value, but the actual historical significance …

That is quite an interesting point, because that’s exactly what happens. Even older people don’t know whether some items are significant in one way or another – and with the younger generation, some are interested in this and some aren’t – and quite often this is why items may get thrown out.

What are some of the favourite pieces in your collection?

One of the things that is my favourite – and I did get it quite by chance – is the workings for the town clock in Taree. The clock used to be on the corner of Victoria and Manning Streets, and it was moved in early 1960. The workings were actually sent to be scrapped at Haydon’s Foundry … but they didn’t melt it down, and it surfaced again.

But that’s a huge part of collecting; if it wasn’t for collectors, a lot of these things would be scrapped. It stuns you what can come out of the woodwork, but we come across items like this quite often.

We have a RAAF flying suit owned by Pillip E. Lucock of Wingham, Federal Member of Parliament from about the 1960s. This is

a winter flying suit (no air-conditioning in those days) used in the 1939-45 war, with kit bag and goggle and helmet.

There’s the telephone exchange from the Burrell CK post office, Buckets Way, Taree. It was worked by the Martin family. Calls were timed to 3 minutes, then the operator would ask if you were extending.

We’re training a new worker for the telephone exchange … he is 100 years old, and a bit deaf, but Doug always does his best!

Ryan’s shipyard was situated on Browns Creek at Taree. They built fishing trawlers, milk boats, also boats for the American Navy.

The bigger boats were normally launched on the king tides around Christmas time. The photo shows scale models of boats and also some of the tools used in building them.

The lifebuoy is from the ‘Sunrise’ – a milk boat owned by the lower Manning factory.

It was used to pick up milk from the dairies on the river.

We purchased the life buoy from Ivan Geary, a former milk boat driver who is a source of information about the Manning River.

We have theatre seats from the Boomerang Theatre, Taree, which became The Savoy, then when The Savoy closed, the seats went to the Tinonee Theatre, which also closed a couple of years ago.

Where do you source your items?

We travel all over Australia – we have travelled overseas and brought back a few items too.

We go to a lot of markets and swap meets, and we’re always looking to source different items.

How long have you been a member of

the Taree Collectors Club?

About 7 years now.

How valuable have you found being a member of the club in terms of your collecting?

The club has been very valuable – there are about 60 members, and there is a lot of knowledge in the club.

The other interesting thing about this is, at the Collectors Club you get to learn a lot about different items.

It’s often very difficult to know what an item’s worth, because unless you see an item sold, it can be very hard to come up with a figure.

And the club will host the annual Collector’s Fair this month, which you’re also planning to attend?

Yes, the Taree Local Collectors Club is staging its annual fair at Taree’s PCYC in Commerce Street on 26 and 27 April.

There’ll be lots of interesting displays, and also many sales tables of antiques and collectables. The hours are 9am to 4pm Saturday, and 9am to 2pm Sunday.

Where can people contact you if they’re interested in booking a visit to your museum?

They can call me on: 6551 4902.

Thanks Don. For all enquiries regarding the Taree Collectors Fair, contact Don – 6551 4902 or Rex: 6553 1086.

are you a collector?

We want to know about you! Let us know what you collect, and you might just be our next Collectors Corner guest! e. jo@focusmag.com.au

Sunrise NEW VILLAGE MANAGER

A word from Terry McDermott, the new village manager at Sunrise ... he Sunrise model had to be are provided. Should you not want to cook, something special to get my we have a chef on staff and a lovely dining wife Sally and I out of semiroom in our community centre. We have retirement to become the new one and two bedroom units available management team. And when we for immediate occupation. And we looked into it, we were sold. welcome small pets.

The Sunrise model is very Family and friends can stay for n ca s simple. Residents can a visit. There is no means nt de si Re purchase and live in their testing and no aged care purchase and own villa unit, where (ACAT) assessment needed. live in their own personal choice, dignity, And don’t forget the villa unit, where , privacy and individuality village bus trip outings. personal choice d an dignity, privacy are enjoyed. Sunrise The most common thing e individuality ar Supported Living is not we hear from our residents ” enjo ye d. a traditional Aged Care is, “We should have made institution, and it isn’t your this decision years ago”. So usual retirement village either. why not call and arrange a no You are free to do your own thing. obligation tour of the village? You And the best thing is, if you ever need won’t be disappointed. Phone 6554 8424 for support, it’s there, 24 hours a day, 7 days a an appointment or make a note in your diary week. All our units are fully self-contained, to come to our OPEN DAY on 12 APRIL from and all appliances, including air-conditioning 10am to 3pm.

T

“

• ART IN THE VALE • After the successful re-launch of the Art in the Vale exhibition last Easter, Art in the Vale will be held again this year as a fundraising initiative for the Hannam Vale Hall.

T

he exhibition is being organised by a group of local artists in collaboration with the Hannam Vale Hall committee.

The main aim is to not only raise money for a local organisation, but also to provide an accessible venue and the opportunity for local artists to display their work and to give artists of all levels of experience the chance to exhibit. Prizes for viewers’ choice awards will be offered, and all works are for sale. This is an opportunity for artists and their communities to come together to celebrate their creative endeavours.

The exhibition will be opened by Kevin Williams, the Executive Officer/Regional

Arts Development Officer of Arts Mid North Coast on Friday 18 April at 6 pm. Entry for the opening is $5, and all are welcome. The exhibition will run for two days over the Easter Weekend, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 April from 10am to 4pm in the Hannam Vale Hall; entry is a gold coin donation.

Anyone interested in attending the opening night or entering the exhibition can call Julienne Richardson on 0413 007 765 or email jri23708@bigpond.net.au for further details.

Entries close April 11. Entry forms will be available from selected venues such as the Manning Regional Gallery, and the Taree and Port Macquarie visitor information centres.

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manning-great lakes focus 13

focusinterview.

TANYA SAAD

Tanya Saad is one of those amazing women who’s had to make some very tough life decisions - but has ultimately come out of this whole process as a positive, strong, inspirational individual. Many locals will know Tanya, as the Saad family are iconic in the local business community – but Tanya is also now a published author and spokesperson for carriers of the

Photos courtesy of Christopher Samuel

BRCA 1 gene …

14 manning-great lakes focus.

focusinterview. training with the Australia Water polo Squad focused on making the Australian Team for the 2000 Olympic Games. Unfortunately, a training accident put an end to my Olympics dreams and my best friend, my grandmother, was diagnosed with terminal ovarian and bowel cancer. So I guess I learned an important lesson early on what we want and what we get in life are two different things.

Once I received adulthood, the next biggest challenge was coming out to my parents and telling them I was gay. The combination of my parents’ own heritage and culture, the conservative environment they lived in and being from a generation that didn’t socialise, recognise and embrace homosexuals made it hard for them to initially accept my sexuality. But over time they have come to embrace it, so much so that my mum has developed quite the gaydar and is on the prowl for a future partner for me, which is very cool and a little embarrassing. More recently though, my family has had to contend with a more life threatening predicament.

How did these conflicts help shape the person you are today?

Thanks to a common thread of life experiences starting from a very young age, I have learned the profound moments in our life aren’t about getting what you want; they are about discovering who you are. I think it’s hard to make sense of the world and how we fit into it. Over the years, I found an inner strength and confidence to develop my own beliefs, make my own decisions and accept them, even if they aren’t in line with mainstream society or family expectations.

I’ve always found older people in our community to have incredible resilience and acceptance for the natural order 2 Male BRCA 1 or rs of their life. Although my heritage, ie gene fault carr sexual orientation and faulty genetd have an increase tate os ics are all things I couldn’t control, pr risk of breast , er nc ca ic they impacted on every aspect at and pancre d an e, ag er of my life. Managing the BRCA av e than th escribe your early life ve ha rs ie rr ca journey has helped me learn to e al fem growing up in the good y rl la cu ta ec navigate my life a little better and sp a Manning Valley? g breast accept the things that are and aren’t chance of gettin er at a Growing up in a and ovarian canc meant for me. country town like Taree in young age. ” I also think these experiences have the centre of the Manning Valley was an even influenced my working career and adventure. My sisters and I grew up with the the positions I have held. I worked in the best of both worlds. Our house wasn’t far from world of politics for a decade – and not many the hustle and bustle of the main street, and we had a people like politicians or public servants. beautiful lush farm as our backyard. The farm was full of steers You mentioned when you were 30, you tested posimight I add, that chose to surround us or chase us every time tive for the BRCA1 gene and not only that, but one of we ventured through the farm gate. your younger sisters had the same result. Tell us more about My fondest memories from my childhood are of simple things – the potential consequences of carrying this gene? from sitting on top of the farm gate in the middle of our paddocks Male BRCA 1 or 2 gene fault carriers have an increased risk watching the sun disappear over the valley, to serving customers of breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer than the average and in the Saad family shoe stores. My grandparents lived next door female carriers have a spectacularly good chance of getting breast and my grandmother was my best friend, so anytime I spent with and ovarian cancer at a young age. Regardless of whether you are her felt special. The old Taree Olympic Pool by the Manning River a male or female carrier, there is a 50% chance that each of your was a second home to my sisters and I, given we spent a lot of our children will inherit the faulty gene. childhood swimming up and down the black line.

Female BRCA 1 gene fault carriers like myself start out with Whereabouts do you call home these days? an 80 percent lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and up Oh, that’s a hard question to answer. I call Taree and Canberra to 60% for ovarian cancer. The risk increases further with each home, but I’m based in Sydney at the moment. I was born and family relative affected by breast (male or female) or/and invasive grew up in Taree. I went to university and college in Sydney, before ovarian cancer. Other key factors include young age at diagnosis of moving to Canberra in 2000. I lived in Canberra for 12 years, a associated cancer in relatives and if there is any Ashkenazi Jewish period long enough to call anywhere home, really! ancestry.

Your life hasn’t necessarily been the easiest. What are some The other consequence for female carriers is that their chance of of the struggles or conflicts you had to face as you grew up living to 70 years of age decreases to 53%, compared with 84% and embraced adulthood? for the general population.

The truth is it doesn’t matter how old you are, life isn’t easy.

What impact has this knowledge had on your life, physically, Early in my childhood I had to work out how to move against the emotionally, financially? grain. From day one of primary school I was bullied by boys and Discovering I had the gene fault, something I'd had since congirls because of my heritage and our family’s standing in the comception but wasn't visible or tangible, stopped me in my tracks. munity. It didn’t stop until I reached my teens, and by that time And as much as I’d like to say it’s all over the next day, it isn’t.

I had gained a better understanding of my heritage, thanks to a And so began my BRCA journey. The knowledge that I carried the family trip to Lebanon in 1991. gene fault was relevant to my future health, and naturally it had I also immersed myself in sports, particularly swimming and the effect of questioning where I was up to in my life and what I water polo, and by the time I was 18 I was among a select few wanted, particularly in the next five to ten years.

“

D

And yet because the gene fault wasn’t tangible or visible, you could easily forget about it and get on with day-to-day life until the next screening came around, and I felt an increased urgency and level of anxiousness around my health and the game of chance I was playing.

For BRCA gene fault carriers, the only way to effectively eliminate your risk is to remove your ovaries and fallopian tubes and both breasts – which is kind of everything that makes us a woman. So, it really has a huge impact on females both physically and emotionally. But the truth is, you probably won’t understand what level of femininity your breasts bestow upon you until they are gone.

Picking the right moment to undertake the preventative measures is the hardest decision, mostly because you don’t know much time you have and no one can tell you how long to wait.

When I discovered I carried the gene fault I wasn’t considering having children, because I hadn’t met ‘the one’ yet, and breastfeeding and menopause were givens but not for now. Obviously, both preventative surgical measures would change all that; however, there were consequences to consider, like the risk of osteoporosis and coronary heart disease from early onset of menopause.

There are so many other factors that come into play as well, like the latest research, the current status of your breasts and your finances. The cost of my bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction through the private health system was almost $20,000 (out of pocket expenses). The whole process takes 17 weeks, provided everything goes well, so telling your closest friends and family about your situation early in the BRCA journey will prove beneficial, as you’ll need their support. There is a lot to explain and consider too, given the BRCA gene fault and associated risks of ovarian and breast cancer isn't public knowledge yet.

You’ve written a book, From the Feet Up, which details your personal journey. What was the impetus for you to write this book – what were you hoping to convey to readers?

As a teenager I dreamt of writing today’s classic women’s novel, just like Jo March in Little Women by Louise May Alcott. Mind you, when we are teenagers we dream of being many things! It wasn’t until I reached the age of thirty five I found the story I wanted to tell and share. I especially wanted to share my BRCA journey and the life changing decisions I had to make amid my wonderful and entertaining family dynamic, for other women and families out there facing the same or similar challenges. It’s a way for me to do my bit to raise awareness about the BRCA 1 gene fault in the general community.

I hope that by sharing my story it will provide some usefulness and goodness to other people’s lives, whether it be generating discussion on the taboo subject of homosexuality within the Australian Arab community or providing coping mechanisms for youths who are bullies or being bullied today.

We are all ordinary extraordinary people with a story to tell. My book is an easy read that will hopefully encourage other aspiring authors to fulfil their dream.

From the Feet Up will be launched in April. Where and when will the launch take place – and where can we purchase the book?

My memoir, From the Feet Up, will be launched in Sydney on 30 March and in Canberra on Thursday 3 April. The book will be available at all book stores around Australia and New Zealand from 1 April and available in e-book around the globe from major online booksellers.

Locally, I’m doing a book signing in Taree at Manning Valley Books on Friday 11 April from noon ‘til 1pm. I’ll also be the guest speaker at a Quota Luncheon as part of the Manning Winter Festival on 20 June.

If there’s one key message you could share with our readers about your life experiences so far, what would it be?

Remember the decisions you make in your life, you have to live with. No one else. This is your journey.

The earlier you learn to be perceptive to the natural order of your life - accept what isn’t meant for you and embrace what is, the happier you will be.

Thanks Tanya. manning-great lakes focus 15

Manning-Great Lakes

Pesto Prawn Penne - Pasta Night Special from Little Street Kitchen.

eat. Dining Guide is available for iPhone & Android mobiles. www.focusmag.com.au/eat 16 manning-great lakes focus.

eat.

Live Music every Friday from 6.30pm & Sunday from 12.30pm

FLOW Espresso Bar

Blowfish Street Food

For Love Of Water!

New B’fast Menu Sample; Plus Lots More!

BlowFish Street Food - not your everyday takeaway! Menu sample plus lots more!

• Flow Baked Beans; House Made Middle Eastern Baked Beans, Free Range Poached Eggs on Local Rye Sourdough - 14.8

Whiting and Chips: Crumbed Whiting fillets w’ French Fries, Blowfish Tartare and Lemon - 9

• Sautéed Sumac Mushroom Rye Bruschetta w’ House Made Hazelnut & Chilli Dukkah, Poached Free Range Eggs and Baby Spinach - 16.5

Chicken Taco: Grilled Chicken Breast served inside a Soft Tortilla Shell w’ Crisp Cabbage, Pico De Gallo and Minted Yoghurt - 6

• Fresh Steamed Porridge w’ Banana, Toasted Almonds & Brown Sugar or w’ Strawberry and Rhubarb Compote & Pistachios - 12.8

Blowfish Falafel Wrap: House Made and Seasoned Falafels served in a soft tortilla shell w’ crisp cabbage, Pico De Gallo and a cucumber and mint yoghurt - 8

• Big Breakfast w’ Bacon, Eggs, Middle Eastern Beans, Roast Tomato, Hash Browns and Sourdough - 19.5

Salt and Pepper Squid: Fried Squid in a secret Blowfish Spiced Coating served w’ Pico De Gallo and Blowfish Tartare - 8

Come visit to experience our new chef designed lunch and dinner menus.

Salt and Pepper Prawns: Fried King Prawns dusted in Blowfish’s Spicy S and P coating served w’ Pico De Gallo and Blowfish Tartare - $2

31 David St, Old Bar t 6557 4224 f www.facebook.com/flowcafe

Beachfront Car Park, Old Bar Beach t 0409 118 083

open 8am - 3pm, Thurs to Sun and dinner 6pm Thurs to Sat nights.

Please see facebook.com/flowcafe for weekly live music and menus.

open 11.30am - 7.30pm, Wed to Sun. Please see facebook.com/blowfisholdbar for daily specials

Beach Bums This is the time of year when the water is at its best. Enrich your mornings and treat your body with fresh air, salt water and breakfast on the beach with friends.

Try our new zucchini and corn fritters with mascarpone, rocket and roasted tomatoes. Add poached eggs, salmon or bacon to suit your tastes.

Keep an eye on the cake cabinet for Easter themed sweet treats and plenty of gluten free options.

For menu specials and the latest happenings on and around Forster Main Beach, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Open 7 days 6.30am - 5pm (weather permitting).

Roadies Café Premium fuel for foodies!

Drop into Roadies Café for a bite to eat on the go, or stop and relax for a while with us.

With a great range or meals to suit everyone’s tastes, from sandwiches to panko crumbed chicken schnitzel, Szechwan prawn pasta and our famous Roadies’ beef burger, you will be sure to find something that will delight you.

Owners Kate and Darrin.

North & Beach St, Forster Main Beach. t 6555 2840 w beachbumscafe.com.au open 6:30am-5pm. (weather permitting).

Why not try our mouth watering wood fired pizzas - available Thursday, Friday, Saturday night.

Owners Will & Erin Lute.

77 church St, Gloucester t 6558 2772 e yum@roadiescafe.com.au fb ‘roadies cafe’ open Sunday - Wednesday 7.30am - 3.30pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday 7.30am - Late manning-great lakes focus 17

eat.

Duck egg cream caramel with macadamia nut biscotti.

Bent on Food

Club Taree

Bent on Food - not just a café but a destination

Club Taree offering all day dining.

Winner of 2013 Northern Region Restaurant and Catering Awards – Best Café Restaurant and Best Breakfast Restaurant.

Enjoy a meal at the Iron Bark Restaurant, with a selection of options to enjoy. Choose from the range of dishes featured in our à la carte, or try one of chef’s tempting weekly specials. The kids are also catered for, with a selection of meals under $10.

High tea every Saturday at 3pm Fully licensed, with a great value wine list.

On and offsite catering, cooking classes, cheese making workshops, barista training.

Events: • Saturday 5 April – The Travelling Teardrops • Saturday 12 April – Grace and Jai

Head Chef Nick Samaras

95 Isabella St, Wingham t 6557 0727 w www.bentonfood.com.au open 7 days. Breakfast, lunch and tasty treats.

Friday and Saturday nights for dinner (bookings recommended).

The Lilly Pilly Café, also open daily, features a tempting variety of light meal options, along with hot and cold beverages, and tempting cakes, desserts and slices.

Relax in comfort indoors or take advantage of the warmer weather, enjoying a meal on the verandah whilst enjoying the surrounds of our beautiful golf course.

Chef Kevin Williams.

121 Wingham Rd, Taree t 6539 4000 w www.clubtaree.com.au open from 10am daily.

The ‘Supreme Burger’.

Dorsal Hotel

Bowlo Bistro

Overlooking Main Beach, Forster, and boasting the most stunning views of any restaurant in town is The Dorsal Hotel.

Taree West Bowling Club Come down on Tuesday Nights for the new ‘Members Draw’ with a minimum $500 Jackpot each week up for grabs, and enjoy a homemade chicken schnitzel from just $8.

Tuesday nights we have our homemade fish & chips for just $8, and on Thursday night it’s the ‘Our Club Members Draw’, plus a free raffle, free kids’ drinks and meals.

Friday nights we have the community fundraising raffles and the Treasure Chest Jackpot on offer.

On Sundays we have our great roast pork with crackling for only $10 for lunch or dinner.

We look forward to seeing you at the club.

À La Carte dining at its finest, you can either enjoy the understated luxury of your surrounds inside the restaurant at Forster’s only 4.5 star hotel, or sit outside and listen to the waves lapping on the beach. The Dorsal offers an extensive menu, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

Fully licensed, with an extensive bar offering local and imported wine and beer, The Dorsal also has a beautiful function room catering for up to 30 people for your next formal or informal gathering.

1 West Street, Forster t 6555 0116 open 7 days. Breakfast from 7.30am, lunch from 12noon and dinner from 6pm.

18 manning-great lakes focus.

116 Edinburgh Drive, Taree t 6552 2094 open 6 days. Closed Monday. Lunch: noon ‘til 2pm.

Dinner: 5.30pm ‘til 8pm.

Head Chef James Nossiter.

eat.

STREET FOOD

focusinterview.

BLOWF SH

Raw Sugar Café Our food is prepared by our qualified chefs, using only the freshest local ingredients and served by experienced and friendly staff. Our specials board changes weekly!

Don’t forget our fantastic fresh fruit smoothies, frappes and fresh juices.

Come in and enjoy the five star experience today.

Open for breakfast at 7.30am, lunch from 11.30am and afternoon tea until 4pm.

Freshest local ingredients.

Meet Steveo, veo, Stu, Kim and Julie, who have branched out from Flow Espresso Bar to open Beach, bringing a healthy pen up Blowfish Street Food at Old Bar Beach and delicious alternative to your run of the mill takeaway shop. lowfish Street Food at Old Bar Beach Gallo and Blowfish Tartare - 8 • Salt and is not your everyday takeaway. With Pepper Prawns: Fried King Prawns dusted in meals such as Salt & Pepper Tiger Blowfish’s Spicy S and P coating served w’ Pico Prawns & Squid, Freshly Battered De Gallo and Blowfish Tartare - $2 Flathead & Chips, Grilled Chicken Soft Where is Blowfish? Located on the Shell Tacos, Hand Made Falafel Wraps with beachfront at Old Bar, Blowfish is set up Pico De Gallo, and Traditional Premium Mince within the reserve, with a kids play area, local Brioche Cheeseburgers on the menu (to name skate park, timber benches and of course, the a few) the new business is looking to bring a beach. healthy and delicious alternative to your run of What inspired you to set up a takeaway? the mill takeaway shop.

Having travelled extensively, working on Who is involved? Myself (Steveo), Super Yachts around the world, I was Stu and Julie have branched introduced to a multitude of out from Flow Espresso Bar international cuisine. Locals to pursue a long time who used fresh, simple ady goal to share ‘street’ produce were so eager to Street food is ‘re style food recipes impress their customers to eat’ food that and is from around the with their combination is cooked fresh e to the world. of herbs and spices. I generally relativ it is re local region whe beach What is street was always inquisitive e sold. Being on th ds our food? Street food and learnt a lot of skills war we lean more to iders, is ‘ready to eat’ from these experiences. ov local seafoo d pr elves food that is cooked Do you have a rs ou but don’t limit fresh and is generally favourite ingredient to ” to just this. relative to the local work with? The base of region where it is sold. our wraps and tacos is Pico Being on the beach, we lean De Gallo, which is a Mexican more towards our local seafood type fresh salsa made up of tomatoes, providers, but don’t limit ourselves to just this. coriander, red onion, lime juice and mild What are some of the items on your chillies. We also have a secret seasoning salt menu? BlowFish Street Food - not your acquired from Julie’s Canadian grandmother everyday takeaway! Menu sample plus lots that adds another dimension to the chips. more! • Whiting and Chips: Crumbed Whiting What other services do you offer? We are fillets w’ French Fries, Blowfish Tartare and finding that schools and retirement villages Lemon - 9 • Chicken Taco: Grilled Chicken etc. are starting to hear about us. Feel free to Breast served inside a Soft Tortilla Shell w’ contact us - call 0409 118 083 if you have a Crisp Cabbage, Pico De Gallo and Minted group larger than 8 and wish to try us out.

Yoghurt - 6 • Blowfish Falafel Wrap: House With the covered eating areas in Blowfish Made and Seasoned Falafels served in a soft and in the park, it’s perfect in all weather tortilla shell w’ crisp cabbage, Pico De Gallo conditions. and a cucumber and mint yoghurt - 8 • Salt Visit www.facebook.com/blowfisholdbar and Pepper Squid: Fried Squid in a secret and like the page for menus and regular Blowfish Spiced Coating served w’ Pico De updates.

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214 Victoria Street, Taree t 6550 0137 open 7.30am to 4pm.

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Little Street Kitchen We specialise in using a range of Kilcoy’s finest meats for our succulent steak burgers, New York and scotch fillet steaks.

Overlooking Wallis Lake, we have on offer the freshest oysters from the very lake you’re looking at as you enjoy your meal. We have a great range on meals, from our burgers to our 300 g steak or our delicious seafood variety. Dont forget to keep an eye out for the new exciting menu we will have to offer in the coming weeks.

Daily black board specials $12 lunch specials Tuesday – Sunday.

Lakes & Ocean Hotel, 10 Little St, Forster. t 6554 6005 open Tuesday - Saturday from 12 and dinner from 6.

Sunday lunch from 12.

Head Chefs Matt & Jack

manning-great lakes focus 19

focusinterview.

Buddy Holly in Concert Australia's #1 DJ NINO BROWN is set to bring the house down on Easter Saturday, 19 April, in the Galaxy Room! Supported by guest DJ CANDICE and DJ GOLD CLASS, this will be a night of pure R & B, Hip Hop and much more!

75 years on Buddy Holly In Concert! - Friday 16 May. One of the most exciting shows to hit the Australian cabaret and theatre circuit in years.

75 years on Buddy Holly ay In Concert! - Frid of ne 16 May. O g the most excitin e th t hi to s show ret Australian caba uit rc ci e tr and thea s.” in year

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During this dynamic two hour production, internationally renowned Scot Robin, who played the lead role in the smash hit musical Buddy (original cast), together with his Crickets will perform more than 30 Buddy Holly hits, including: That’ll Be The Day, Heartbeat, Think It Over, Peggy Sue, Raining In My Heart, Rave On, Maybe Baby, True Love Ways, and of course, Oh Boy! This internationally acclaimed production mesmerises and excites audiences both visually and musically with its high energy performance, brilliant costumes and fantastic musicianship.

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Scot Robin has been receiving rave reviews and standing ovations worldwide for his superb portrayal of the legend that is Buddy Holly.

Kings of Country Sunday 18 May Direct from the USA after sellout shows in North America, Abstract Entertainment presents this unforgettable tribute to the biggest names in Country Music. Phillip Bauer as Johnny Cash, Marion Deaton as the outlaw Willie Nelson and Marty Edward as Kenny Rogers (endorsed by the man himself) have been recreating the sound and the look of these three music legends, leaving audiences spellbound as they recreate all the songs that made them the Kings of Country!

Looking for a great long weekend away or something more extended to do during the school holidays?

And that something to be hot and spicy, yet family friendly so there’s something for everyone?

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oolgoolga’s signature festival, Curryfest, may be just what you need! Curryfest features curries from all over the world, ethnic foods, Punjabi music, dancing and other cultural displays and activities … a feast for the eyes, ears and for the stomach that attracts some 10,000 visitors each year. There’s a kids' zone, and lots of things to tempt every member of the family.

Festival entry is only $3 per adult or $5 per couple or family (i.e. the kids are free).

Why a curry festival? The town of Woolgoolga is home to the biggest Australian Punjabi Sikh population outside of capital cities. Woolgoolga’s population is only 5,000, but the town boasts two Sikh temples and hundreds of citizens for whom Punjabi is their first language. On 26 April the whole town celebrates its unique heritage with 'Curryfest', a food and cultural festival that has grown into a flagship event for the Coffs Coast and is now in its ninth year.

And for those planning for the school holidays, there are other lead up events throughout April to entertain visitors, not to mention those gorgeous beaches and all that the Coffs Coast has to offer within striking distance.

This year the fun begins with the 'Tastes of Woolgoolga' restaurant experiences, starting with an Indonesia night on 26 March, followed by a Moroccan night on 2 April and the Indian Dhoom Dhmaal Dinner Dance on 19 April to round things out (contact Jane on 0402 757 464 to book tickets). The Dhoom Dhmaal Dinner Dance will feature a nationally acclaimed Indian DJ, music, drumming and dancing displays, with lots of locally prepared traditional Indian food by Woolgoolga’s favourite Indian chef.

Woolgoolga Art Gallery has the Spice It Up exhibition on with a special opening night at the gallery on Friday 11 April (complete with Indian food and a wine tasting from local winery Two Tails Wines). The gallery is open 10am to 4pm daily, and the exhibition runs right through until early May. On Saturday 12 April the colourful Vaisahki parade wends its way through town to and from the two Gurdwaras (temples). Vaisakhi is

a harvest festival celebrated by Sikhs all over the world. It is all about renewal and spreading goodwill. In Woolgoolga, people line the streets to see the colourful floats, admire the costumes and watch dancers and sword displays as the parade passes by.

On the big day, Saturday 26 April, the festival begins at 9.30; entry is only $3 per adult or $5 per couple or family (in other words, the kids are free). There are over 100 stalls, two stages with lots of cultural and traditional entertainment, cooking demonstrations, mindfulness and meditation workshops, kids’ activities, henna tattoos, market stalls and lots of opportunities to try and buy curries and spice products for you to take away and experiment with in your own kitchen. There’s also lots of other ethnic food for those whose tastes lie elsewhere.

Buy a curryfest raffle ticket and you might win a return flight to India compliments of Air India or a 3 night stay at Darlington Beach Holiday Park in a Lagoon Spa Villa for a family of up to five people.

At 4.30, adjourn to nearby Centennial oval for a demonstration Kabaddi match (a traditional Indian wrestling/tackling game full of action) and if you are still in partying mode head for the after party at nearby Seaview Tavern where the entertainment continues or enjoy some relaxed dining at one of Woolgoolga’s fantastic restaurants.

If you need to chill out the next day, the kids can attend a junior cricket camp, the Milo T20 Blast presented by NSW Cricket in the morning and the annual 'Curry Cup' – India V the Rest of the World cricket match is on in the afternoon.

With a drive time of just over 2 and a half hours, locals could make a day trip to Woolgoolga, but this year Curryfest is the Saturday after the ANZAC Day holiday, so why not make a long weekend of it and enjoy the wonderful beaches of the Coffs Coast. It’s still school holidays, and don’t forget the festival has a kids' zone plus all the usual Coffs Coast kids’ attractions – the Big Banana, the Porpoise Petting Pool – are only minutes away. Head to www.curryfest.com.au for accommodation and further festival information.

Curryfest 2014 is going to be hot, hot … HOT!

YOUR CULTURAL A L L

AdvenTure

S I N G I N G

•

Great family entertaining A L L

D A N C I N G

2014 EventS

11th April

Spice It Up Art Exhibition Opening

12th April

Vaisahki Parade

19th April

Dhoom Dhmaal Dinner Dance

26th April

Festival & Kabaddi Exhibition Match

26th April

Seaview Tavern Official After Party

27th April

Cricket NSW Curry Cup

Curryfest is a CelebRatioN of culture and cuisine!

Come and join us and enjoy… traditional and modern food from Australia and all over the world, a massive market with 100+ stalls and things to see, do and try, amazing local and travelling entertainment, drummers, DJs, dancers, bands as well as a community open mic stage, a massive kids entertainment zone, yoga and meditation workshops, cooking demonstrations and classes, the Vaisahki Parade, turban tying demonstrations and much MUCH more…

A big thank you to our sponsors platinum

GOLD

SILVER

bronze

manning-great lakes focus 21

s o c i a l s c e n e with Donna Carrier from Bent on Food.

Below. Girls at The Bum Book fundraiser

Above right. Joel Salatin alatin Left. Sophie and Jim

Social/scene.

Left. and top left. Kai Time

Above. Caravana Sun - Prickly Pears

Not sure about you, but I feel that this year is all over the shop; it seems like Easter has fallen in March for a few years now, and it has been a while since ANZAC Day and Easter will fall so close.

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.his has made March feel like a very different month, though it seems the supermarkets haven’t realised this, with Easter eggs still managing to make their way on to the shelves early. With March almost over, we are a quarter of the way through the year and I have just begun to feel a little more organised and in control.

I have had a little help from a life coach and there is a lot more work to do, but things are looking clearer.

Bring on April and the second quarter of the year.

Anyway, enough about me! First up I would like to congratulate the lovely Anna, Andrew and family from Honeycomb Valley in Nabiac for the awesome result at the 2013 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards held in February 2014, where the farmstay won a silver award.

I have the utmost respect for all that this family does – true to their word, and well deserved. Congratulations, guys.

Speaking of awesome families, I was extremely fortunate to attend 'Fields of Farmers' held at the Manning Entertainment Centre. Joel Salatin and his family are amazing people: successful, entrepreneurial and they care for our planet. Not only that, they are incredibly motivating speakers. The audience was mainly made up of farmers, some who travelled a great distance to hear Joel speak. We learnt a lot about succession planning, and it was interesting to apply it to business and personal relationships. We were one of the sponsors of the event, so we were excited when the Salatin family visited the café and walked around our beautiful garden. They loved their visit and also held a field day at Les and Annette Mulder’s property at Wherrol Flat, which was organised by another sponsor, Landcare Wingham.

A week or so after their visit we had a New Zealand

22 manning-great lakes focus.

film crew at the café, who filmed a segment for Kai February 15 at Restaurant 26 in Forster. It is a great Time, which is the longest running cooking show in achievement to celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary; New Zealand. The crew filmed at the local venison farm congratulations Eleanor and James. on Murray Road and then did a shoot with us; this was On 22 March we held The Bum Book fundraiser a lot of fun, and we look forward to seeing the finished for the lovely Sophie Bird, she has organised the bum result on NITV soon. photographs and now we are sharing the bum love to The talented boys from Caravana Sun help her raise funds to publish the book. The aim played at The Harrington Hotel of The Bum Book is to promote healthy on February 23 to celebrate body image and brave women of all the release of ‘their second ages, shapes and sizes have had ost independent album, AYA. their photos taken by the lovely With March alm ter ar over, we are a qu ar These guys have amazing Felicity, all ready to be published. ugh the ye of the way thro energy and enjoy a large The day was a huge success, begun to feel and I have just d an following in the region. d with donations from local nise a little more orga d a little ha The band has been touring businesses including Leaha's ve ha I l. ro nt in co coach and nationally throughout Hair Studio, Tahlara's Skin Care help from a life e work to the fiesta season and & Beauty, Bent on Food, The there is a lot mor looking e do, but things ar pril and has just finished the last Bird Tree, Flexion Fitness, Old A on g in clearer. Br e th gig of the tour. AYA was Bar Pharmacy, Ebony Goodear, of r te the second quar recorded in an old water Rebecca Bird, Moku Swim, Ashlea year.” tank come studio nestled in the Road Boutique, Dress Up, Precise Ink Gold Coast hinterland by Govinda Tattoo Studio Taree, Julie Ann Booth, Doyle and took just over a month to Wingham Autocare, Rachel Martin, Flexion complete. The recording process steered Fitness and Nicola Morton. We raised $700 well clear of post-production effects, instead just from the door takings, and the raffles were relying on the natural space and dynamics of the extremely successful, and I hear there were a few other rooms. This theme was continued right through donations. Sophie’s talented brother, Jim Bird, played to the mastering by Grammy Award winning William some tunes, and we all had a really enjoyable afternoon Bowen (Gotye). The guys from Caravana Sun have with lots of love. Sophie is working so hard to achieve been a regular act at Wingham Akoostik Festival and this goal, and any further donations would be gratefully Harrington Breakwall Festival for a few years running, accepted! Thanks Sophie, for being amazing. and they once played a gig at the back of Bent on Food.

I would love to hear from you if you have any social We hope to see them back at Akoostik Festival this year. events, weddings, parties anything!

Eleanor Cairns-Cowan and her husband James CairnsSend pics and info to donna.carrier@bigpond.com Cowan celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Cheers, Donna.

“

focusinterview.

BLISS N ESO ARE CONTINUING ON FROM THEIR MASSIVE YEAR THAT WAS 2013 AND KICKING OFF 2014 WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THEIR CURRENT SINGLE ‘MY LIFE’ (FEAT. CEEKAY JONES) HAS NOW REACHED GOLD SALES STATUS IN AUSTRALIA, JUST WEEKS AFTER BEING ADDED TO RADIO ...

CIRCUS UNDER THE STARS TOUR

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y Life is currently at its highest position on the ARIA Singles Chart and is taken from their #1 album Circus in the Sky, ... which was the 8th best-selling Australian album of 2013 and still sits comfortably inside the ARIA Top 50 Album Chart.

And the excitement doesn’t stop there.

Illusive and Frontier Touring are thrilled to announce that Bliss N Eso will hit the road for a colossal outdoor tour this April/May, their biggest headline tour to date! The Circus Under The Stars outdoor concert series will cover 16 dates, and see Bliss N Eso joined by two of the country’s biggest hip-hop acts, Seth Sentry and Horrorshow.

Sydney powerhouse Horrorshow have established themselves an enormous following through their thrilling, progressive brand of hip-hop, and the human ball of charisma Seth Sentry continues to win over hordes of fans with each passing month. This dream team brings together some of the country’s biggest acts each in their own right, and together they create one of the biggest hip-hop line-ups the country has ever seen!

Bliss n Eso

The Circus Under the Stars tour will see Bliss N Eso setting up massive customised outdoor stages with state-of-the-art production in each region, taking their explosive live shows outdoors for the first time on a headline tour. This will be a totally new concert experience for each of the 12 regional areas and something that most capital cities will not have seen outside of a festival setting. It’s definitely set to be one to remember!

And in yet another special addition, Bliss N Eso will be bringing out cult US

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FOLLOWING FROM JUNE’S SOLD-OUT ‘HOUSE OF DREAMS’ TOUR AND THEIR CURRENT BIG DAY OUT JAUNT, THIS TOUR WILL PRESENT THE FIRST CHANCE FOR FANS TO HEAR MANY OF THE CIRCUS IN THE SKY SONGS LIVE.”

singer-songwriter Ceekay Jones, who features on current hit single ‘My Life’, to join them on stage at every show.

If all of that is not enough to wrap your ears around, Bliss N Eso are also excited to announce a new initiative which will see them offering the opening

slot on each show of the 16-date tour to a local unsigned artist. For a band that built their following from grass-roots support, they said it was important to give back to the communities that helped get them to where they are.

The competition kicked off last week with them opening the doors for submissions nationwide, with hundreds already received. Submissions will close on this Friday 14 March, after which the band will bunker down to dig through each and every track, finally deciding on a shortlist of three highlights in each city.

They will then give control back to their near half a million social media fans to decide the eventual winner in each town.

With dates in regions across the country, massive outdoor stages in every city and the biggest headline bill the genre has ever seen, this is shaping up to be one tour that will be talked about for years to come. Do not miss out! Tickets on sale now, visit www.frontiertouring. com/blissneso for details.

WHERE AND WHEN Saturday 19 April Coffs Harbour | Showground, NSW (All ages) www.moshtix.com.au Ph: 1800 GET TIX

• the Ultimate VIP experience •

BLISS N ESO CIRCUS UNDER THE STARS OUTDOOR TOUR WITH HORRORSHOW & SETH SENTRY SATURDAY 19 APRIL 2014 Let us know your favourite line from a Bliss N Eso song and what it means to you for your chance to win an Ultimate VIP experience. 4 lucky winners will attend the exclusive sound check and see all the behind the scenes action at the upcoming Circus Under The Stars Tour including your chance to meet and hang out with Bliss, Eso & DJ Izm. Please send answers to comp@blissneso.com with subject line: Coffs Coast FOCUS Bliss N Eso competition.

Competition closes Monday 14 April 2014.

manning-great lakes focus 23

GobbleGutz

Meet the WILDLIFE

Great Lakes Seafood

GobbleGutz Espresso Bar & Gourmet Food Store

Wow! What an incredible 12 months its been at Billabong

Hard to find and unusual foodie bits and bites ... oils, spices, salts, sauces, preserves, cordials, beverages, coconut products, delicious treats, gelato, foodie gifts, kitchenware, hampers, urban plants ... and so much more to ignite your senses. Come on in and have a fabulous freshly roasted Crave Coffee or a tea from our specialty tea selection, a bite to eat and browse the foodies store.

Zoo! Shrek the monster croc has made himself quite at home

FANCY A TASTE OF BYRON BAY, WITHOUT THE HIGHWAY IN BETWEEN?

The aroma of amazing coffee made by our experienced baristas will entice you to step inside and discover GobbleGutz.

turns to act as the sentry and of course, munching down on as

GobbleGutz boasts a huge range of products from here and abroad, perfect for our custom made hampers, gifts and entertaining.

pythons, koalas, snow leopards, penguins, meerkats and red pandas.

Balsamics, dressings, marinades, spices, curry pastes, gluten free products, cooking flours, coconut products, single origin chocolate and handmade delights, nuts, pasta and so much more.

grab a bite yourself from the zoo café; our new chefs are sure to

Our stock is constantly changing, and new products are arriving frequently.

shop and remember, Billabong Zoo is the place for you! Enquire

At GobbleGutz our espresso bar menu changes daily and is fresh and exciting.

parties. Visit our website www.billabongkoala.com.au and like us on

24 manning-great lakes focus.

and has been thrilling crowds with his feeding shows at 12.30 daily. Our gorgeous 'Happy Feet' Little Penguins star in their own daily feeding routine at 10am, and not to be missed are our beautiful red panda sisters, Rato and Tito, who enjoy their dinner at 2.30pm daily. The latest arrivals are our two mischievous meerkats, Bido and Pongo, who are on the go nearly all day, digging, taking many bugs and worms as possible. Our special animal encounters are a great way to get even closer than you think and feature our Prices, times and experiences vary, and bookings are essential. If watching the animals eat is making you feel hungry, why not have something to tempt the tastebuds, with fresh ground coffee, homemade scones and biscuits, burgers, wraps and sandwiches made to order. Take home a special memento from our huge gift about our catering for group functions and children’s birthday Facebook for the up to the moment goings on around the zoo.

Our trained baristas are creating your Byron Bay experience right here on Wharf Street, with the famous Byron Bay coffee beans with the perfect amount of froth.

Come try it for yourself. Dream the morning away overlooking the beautiful bridge and come back to us with the smell of fresh, locally caught fish on the grill.

Or, if you’re after something more modest, choose from our daily variety of fresh salads.

Not even the kiddies will disturb your daydream, with a variety of ready to scoop ice cream at their fingertips.

Come on down to our new outlet store in Forster and tantalise your taste buds with our expanding menu. We’ve been local for as long as you have, so we know how you like your food ... LOCAL. It doesn’t get any fresher than the Wallis Lake, cooked by our ‘Grill Master’, and ready to serve next to an award winning coffee.

Mention FOCUS on your next visit to Great Lakes Seafood, and our chefs will let you in on their daily special for our dedicated readers.

focus fashion Jan from one hair and beauty and Cara from coffee grind model hair and makeup by one hair and beauty, wearing styles from PIVOT on location at coffee grind.

manning-great lakes focus 25

ASTER TA R E E E

POWERBOAT CLASSIC

Hosted by the Taree Aquatic Powerboat Club Inc, the Taree Easter Powerboat Classic will see some thrilling action on the water this month. ommittee members Commodore Mr Peter Cole, Vice Commodore - Mr Graeme Guile, Treasurer - Mr Steve Pascoe, and Secretary - Mr Murray Carl give us a few details about the event, which will provide lots of noise, colour and action over the Easter weekend …

What originally led to the club starting in Taree … how long has it been established?

Taree powerboat racing has been an attraction since about 1950 that has had several incarnations along the way, with the current club being established in 1997.

Taree Aquatic Powerboat Club Inc. is one of the largest powerboat racing clubs' in NSW. The Easter Powerboat Classic is our major race meeting each year.

What’s the history behind the Taree Powerboat Classic? It’s a high profile event that we’re very fortunate to host in a regional area ... so how did this come about?

The Easter date came about after conducting the Australian Championships for several years.

The Australian PowerBoat Association decided to move the Championships, so the Taree club decided to run 'The Easter Classic' When will the Classic be held this year and what time does the event kick off each day?

The Easter Powerboat Classic will be held this year on the 18,19 and 20 April - the Friday being set aside for qualifying and scrutineering.

Saturday racing begins at 10am, with approximately 30 races on the programme. A similar format is conducted on Sunday.

What will happen over the course of the weekend ... how many/what types of races will there be and what classes of boats will be competing?

From juniors through to pro stock,5 & 6 litres, blown alcohol displacement and unlimited Hydroplanes.

Major races held over the weekend include:

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The Geoff Stevenson, The Liberty Cup, The Eastway Shield , The Bradley Pratt & Alan Smyth Memorial races. Many of these races will be contested by World and Australian Champions, with the King Of The River invitation on Sunday afternoon being the 'blue ribbon' event of the meeting.

What will be the best vantage points for spectators to catch all the action over the weekend?

The best vantage points for optimum viewing will be the Corporate Sponsorship area at the Rowing Club, whilst you will also have spectacular viewing at Endeavour Park, which runs right through to The Aquatic Club (Sailos).

To become a corporate member all that is required is a sponsorship of $1,000, which then entitles you to a weekend of totally catered for food and beverages for four people with action packed powerboat racing.

What facilities will be available for

Bricks & Pieces School Holiday Workshop AT TAREE CENTRAL! Join us at Taree Central this school holidays for some awesome fun at our Bricks and Pieces Workshop! Build a masterpiece for your chance to win some great prizes!

When:

Tuesday 22 –Thursday 24 April Session times every 20 minutes (Maximum 12 per session)

Where: Centre Court Time:

10am – 2pm daily

Bookings not required. Activity for ages 5–12 years only.

60 Manning Street, Taree 26 manning-great lakes focus.

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tareecentral.com.au

spectators – are there public amenities, and will there be refreshments available?

Refreshments, carnival rides, amusements and public amenities will be in abundance.

Where can people go to find put more info about either the club or the Classic?

To find out more information, visit our website at www.tareepowerboatclub.org.au or like us on Facebook!

Final words …

2015 will be the 65th anniversary of racing on the Manning River. TAPBC have applied for the 'Mary & Ernie Nunn Grand Prix Hydroplane Championship'.

Along with this race we have also applied for the 'Marjorie Watson Trophy'. These are two of the most prestigious races in Australasia!

New members are always welcome at TAPBC club meetings, held on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at VJ Sailing Club.

Thanks everyone.

focus_health.

with Renae Taylor - Clinical Psychologist

MIND MATTERS

A NEW EAP SERVICE CPS is very excited to launch an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) arm to ourr psychology practice.

Renae Taylor hat is an EAP, I hear you ask?

An EAP service is a support service where an employer provides brief completely confidential counselling for employees. Issues addressed can include work or non-work related issues.

Why has CPS chosen to provide EAP services?

For many years CPS has quietly provided EAP services for many local businesses, either directly or indirectly, with terrific outcomes.

Local businesses have frequently asked us to provide a direct comprehensive EAP service.

Employers and employees have told us they prefer to work with us directly because they know us. We understand local issues, and we can respond quickly as we are on the ground working in the Manning and Great Lakes area. Employers have also complained about the inflated price and retainer costs they face for using one of the larger out of area EAP companies. We have listened and decided we can do a better job.

What are the advantages of an EAP? The great thing about an EAP service is that it has advantages for both employees and

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employers. Some of the advantages include: • An EAP can positively affect workplace morale.

• A healthy employee means a more enjoyable and productive workplace.

• Implementing an EAP demonstrates that an organisation is concerned about the well-being of employees and helps to ensure employee health.

• An EAP allows management to focus on business issues, as employee problems are addressed externally by professionals.

• Early intervention with an EAP is designed to decrease costs associated with absenteeism, conflict at work, unproductively, stress claims and so on.

What services are we providing?

• Individual Counselling • Group Wellness Programs • Mediation Services • Manager Assist and Management Training Services, and • Critical Incident Response Services Importantly, at this stage we are flexible about what EAP services we provide to service local needs. We are very interested in hearing from local businesses and employees about

what services they believe would be helpful. board providing her expertise in the areas of What are some of the issues that can be mediation and training services. addressed by an EAP? How do I access an EAP service?

• Coping with critical incidents Your Human Resource person is always a • Managing conflict in the good person to ask about an existing workplace EAP program. If you would like • Substance abuse your employer to consider an • Coping with work EAP service, ask them to is An EAP service pressure/stress read this article, or they e a support servic management can ring me at CPS and er where an employ • Coping with I can send out some provides brief organisational information about a l tia en id completely conf change potential service. There r counselling fo • Emotional is no pressure or hard es su Is employees. e ud cl and relationship sell and the service in n ca d addresse k or difficulties is based on a fee for w nno or work .” es • Trauma service model, meaning su is d te la re management there are no hidden costs • Mild anxiety or to retain the service for depressive issues employers.

• Achieving a work/life balance This is an exciting service that has Who is providing the service? been many years in the planning. It is a We have a team of 14 Psychologists, natural extension to our mental health service. with a wide range of expertise, who We hope it helps to meet local needs and to provide EAP services in Taree and Forster. support individuals and businesses alike. Our We are also very pleased to have Megan passion is to promote good emotional health Lewis, from The Resolution Network, on outcomes!

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manning-great lakes focus 27

REHABILITATION On the road to recovery after injury, surgery or illness After having a cardiac arrest complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome and severe pneumonia, Kathleen*, a 64 year-old lady, was given little chance of survival. She spent a long time in intensive care and developed a condition called ‘critical illness myopathy’ which left her muscles so weak she was unable to move without a lot of assistance.

She was referred to rehabilitation. On admission to rehab she required three people to help her to move in bed, and a mechanical hoist to transfer her. She was too weak to sit up by herself, let alone walk.

She was assessed by the rehab team and her rehab program began in earnest.

Day by day Kathleen showed improvement.

She began practising with transfers and sitting,

28 manning-great lakes focus.

and therapists provided massage and range of motion exercises. Eventually she was able to stand by herself and began attending hydrotherapy sessions in the pool, which further strengthened her muscles and increased her endurance. Her ability to self-care was assessed, and equipment provided to assist with her functioning.

Towards the end of her hospital stay, a home visit was arranged to make sure she would be safe at home. All the while, doctors and nursing staff looked after her from a medical perspective. When she was discharged from inpatient rehab she was walking independently with a walking stick. She returned for day rehab sessions a few times a week, where

she further worked on her walking and strengthening. She was walking without any aid by the end of her day rehab program, and she has just recently been on her first holiday in a long while. (*name changed for privacy considerations)

What is rehabilitation?

Rehab medicine is a medical speciality that diagnoses, evaluates and treats people who have limited function as a result of disease, injury, impairment and/or disability. Rehab’s focus is on people and how they function at home and in the community. Each person’s medical condition is looked at in terms of their mobility, self care, psychological wellbeing, and the work and social consequences associated with loss of function.

Mayo Private Hospital’s Physiotherapy Network says “Day rehab programs provide the next phase of rehabilitation for people who’ve had a recent inpatient admission to hospital. Doctors may also refer people to rehab if they have chronic conditions, or Department of Veterans’ Affairs clients or WorkCover clients requiring rehabilitation.”

“The whole purpose of rehabilitation is to optimise a person’s function, minimise a person’s disability and get people home,” says Dr Lee Laycock, Chair of the NSW/ACT Branch of the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. “That process is often more difficult to achieve in rural and regional areas and consideration has to be given to people who have to travel a long way to access rehab services.”

The rehab team is made up of rehab specialists, nurses, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists and social workers who guide and assist people through the rehab program. Family and carers can also be involved in that process.

Rehab aims to help people of any age – children to the elderly – improve and maintain quality of life to live as independently as they can for as long as they possibly can.

Rehab isn’t just for those who’ve had a sudden illness, accident or surgery. It can be beneficial for people who’ve experienced a gradual loss of function due to a chronic disease, or when age, disability or frailty creeps up on them.

There are rehab programs for inpatients during their hospital stay as well as programs for people living in the community who may attend day-rehab programs a couple of times each week. Physiotherapist Shaun Zaslona from

What does rehab involve?

According to the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, rehab specialists’ areas of clinical practice include: • Neurological disorders (such as stroke, cerebral palsy, spinal injury, brain injury, spasticity, multiple sclerosis) • Orthopaedic and musculoskeletal conditions (such as fractures, joint replacements, arthritis, osteoporosis and sporting injuries) • Acute and chronic pain (including back, neck and nerve pain) • Amputations, occupational injuries, cardiorespiratory disorders, complex and chronic conditions such as cancer and burns.

The rehab specialist’s aim, with the support of the team, is to develop a comprehensive program to put the pieces of the person’s life back together after injury, disease or surgery.

“Rehab treats the whole person, not just one problem area,” says Dr Anthony Suen, a consultant physician in rehabilitation medicine.

“A skilled medical assessment is made and a rehab program is designed to restore the person to the optimal physical, mental, social and vocational functioning of which they are capable.”

Some people think rehabilitation is only about being pushed to work hard in the gym, but rehab programs involve so much more than exercise. “People may feel uncomfortable with the thought of increased physical activity if they were quite sedentary before,” says Dr Suen.

“The first thing we do for people is undertake a skilled assessment of them before tailoring a rehab program specifically for their needs and ability; they would never be forced beyond their limits.”

Dr Suen says exercising in the gym or hydrotherapy pool is only a part of the entire scope of rehabilitation. “Other aspects of rehab include treatment of the patient’s medical condition, improving the ability to self-care and how they function at home, in the community, and at work; improving their psychological wellbeing; and treating difficulties with speech, swallowing or diet if required.”

The management of pain is another component of rehabilitation medicine. According to the Faculty of Pain Medicine, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, there are three main types of pain: • Acute pain (after surgery, trauma, injury) • Cancer pain (due to tumour invasion, cancer treatment, cancer-related surgery) • Persistent/chronic pain (such as nerve pain, back pain, phantom limb pain after amputations).

Research led by Dr Malcolm Hogg, President of the Australian Pain Society, shows that persistent or chronic pain affects 20% of the Australian population and is estimated to cost the Australian economy $32 billion each year.

The research shows chronic pain has a significant effect on a person’s physical and psychological wellbeing and can result in poor fitness, high rates of psychological distress (including suicidality) impaired work performance and high use of healthcare services.

Dr Hogg’s research, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, found that for adults, the average waiting time from referral to first clinical assessment at a publicly-funded outpatient pain management service was 150 days, compared with 38.5 days for a privately funded service. The level of service provision for rural patients was notably lower than that reported for urban patients.

While chronic pain is one of the costliest health problems in Australia in terms of health dollars, it is also costly in terms of reduced quality of life and productivity. “People who experience chronic pain are twice as likely to suffer from depression and anxiety as those without pain,” says Dr Maher Michel, an anaesthetist with an interest in pain management.

Pain management takes into consideration the whole person, to help ease suffering, increase functional capacity and attain optimal quality of life. “As with rehab, pain management involves a team approach,” says Dr Michel.

“In addition to doctors, the team may include physiotherapists, psychologists, exercise physiologists and occupational therapists.

Pain management involves helping people to better understand pain, to improve coping techniques, reduce the anxiety and emotional distress caused by pain, monitor reliance on medication, and help people find satisfying ways to engage in meaningful activities and return to work if appropriate.”

Tools to fight pain: • Exercise and stretching can help alleviate pain • Medications can be effective for short-term relief • Targeted injections under x-ray guidance may be used as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool • Meditation, relaxation, group therapy • Education at an early stage plays an important part in the diagnosis and treatment of pain.

Left to right: Dr Anthony Suen | Rehabilitation Physician | Ph: 02 6539 3600 Dr Rajen Ragavan | Rehabilitation Physician | Ph: 02 6551 0722 Dr Maher Michel | Anaesthetist | Ph: 02 6551 0722 Note: The information in this article is general in nature and not to be substituted for the advice of your doctor.

2 Potoroo Drive, Taree NSW | General hospital enquiries: 02 6539 3600 | Website: www.mayoprivate.com.au manning-great lakes focus 29

The Multiple Uses of Botox The botulinum toxin ( known as Botox or Dysport ), produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria is a “neurotoxin”, ie it is a “ poison “ to nerve endings. he toxin attaches itself to the

T

neuromuscular endplate (the connecting point of the nerve fibre to muscle fibre) and

paralyzes the muscle by not leaving space for Acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter from nerve fibres, to attach itself to the endplate, which is how normal muscle contraction occurs.

Even in small doses, this toxin is a killer, but in extremely small doses, partial muscle paralysis is achieved, thus weakening the action of the muscle.

This beneficial effect was first made use of to reduce severe eyelid spasm (blepharospasm) and squinting (strabismus).

Botox is also used to reduce spasm or muscle over activity in a number of other areas, including in the neck, the limbs, the bladder, the prostate and in sweat glands in the armpits, palms and the sole of foot.

30 manning-great lakes focus.

The major use of Botox nowadays is for its cosmetic effects on the face.

now established a very effective, near

Migraine headaches affect a large number of people each year, causing great distress to those affected and at great cost due to time lost from normal activities including work.

Vaginismus is a condition in which a

It used to be thought that it was a vascular headache, due to spasm of our arteries in the affected areas.

intercourse.

The pioneering work of Prof Bahaman Guyuron of the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland has shed new light on this.

to severe.

From observations made on patients having Botox for cosmetic reasons, he worked out that migraine was caused by muscle spasm squeezing nerves, which then released chemicals which caused migraine. While Botox gives significant relief to migraine sufferers, Prof Gayuron has gone further, identifying the muscles and nerves causing migraine and has

that the use of Botox injections under

permanent surgical cure for migraine. woman is unable to tolerate vaginal penetration of any sort, including the insertion of tampons, vaginal examination and penetration, including While the causes are unclear, the effect is due to vaginal spasm, ranging from mild Pioneering work done by Dr Peter Pacik, a Plastic Surgeon in Manchester, New Haven, has shown anaesthesia to break the spasm cycle and followed immediately by vaginal dilatation permits the patient to continue with regular post-operative dilatations at home, leads to a permanent cure to the problem in most women, restoring normalcy including the ability to have a normal sex life.

Focus on Health with Simon Holliday

Over-diagnosis and over-treatment.

"First, do no harm" comes from the doctor's Hippocratic Oath. Why did the Ancient Greeks have to stress this principle?

A doctor's business used to mainly be treating people with diseases. These modern days we focus on treating risk factors aiming to prevent disease. But could such noble goals be in fact a wolf in sheep's clothing?

Could we be causing harm?

The head of the Australian Medical Association and the consumer organisation Choice have targeted the most recent scam.

Here a company visits towns and offers a range of tests to the over 50s. Those with the money and anxiety will probably find at least one positive test. Tests generate more tests, procedures and pills. The chief medical officer of an American hospital once pointed out that his hospital made around $5,000 from each free prostate cancer screening, thanks to the ensuing biopsies, treatments and followup care.

Why should we screen blokes for prostate cancer? Surely the only proper reason would be if we could decrease the overall number of men dying of prostate cancer. Well, there have been some massive studies looking at outcomes over 10 and 20 years and the figures show little, if any, reduction in death for prostate cancer. Certainly many chaps are diagnosed earlier with disease before it has spread. Tests lead to more tests including the pleasure of a prostate biopsy (please don't ask) and surgery or radiotherapy. This leads to trouble in holding their urine or having an erection for 1 in 100 of those originally well men.

Another recent craze involved cancer screening with whole-body CT scanning. A

visit down to Sydney for the scan revealed cancer in this patient. Unfortunately it took his life within that year, and I suspect the early diagnosis and surgery meant he had wasted much of his last months and money in hospital.

Looking to another field: the diagnosis of mental health problems, we often rely on the United States. The American Psychiatric Association regularly updates the Diagnostic Standards Manual, most recently to DSM-5.

Great concern has been raised at the number of experts writing this material who are on the payroll of pharmaceutical companies.

All they have to do is shift the goal posts by relaxing the rules for diagnosing a disease and, bingo, more people suddenly have a disease. How convenient then that their drug company has a pill ready to sell for it. Cynics call this, "disease-mongering".

"Indication creep" is a term used to describe how a therapy proven useful in one disease is then assumed to be useful in another. Strong pain-killers have proven benefit in patients with short-term or terminal cancer pain. The single most prescribed drug in the USA is now an opioid, but not for the evidence-based reasons. About 97% is for non-cancer long-term pain, where we lack evidence for benefit outside a couple of months. Now, more Americans are now killed by overdose from them than are killed in motor vehicle accidents.

Often the best ways to prevent illness involve simple lifestyle change. This usually does not come in a pill or need a test. Stop smoking, don't drink over two standard drinks, exercise 他 hour per day, carry a condom for a friend, keep active, and laugh and cry with your friends.

manning-great lakes focus 31

focusinterview.

BROOKE G o o d a l l April is World Autism Awareness Month, which aims to highlight the need for greater education and public awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Brooke Goodall is one local mum who’s experienced the ups and downs of having a child on the Spectrum … but this overwhelmingly positive, upbeat lady has also not only managed to start up her own extraordinarily successful business, but is also an advocate for those with Autism and their families …

W

hat brought you to the Great Lakes area?

I’ve been here my whole life. My family moved here when I was a baby, so being 38 years of age, I think I classify myself as a local by now.

Please share your family’s Autism journey with us, and introduce us to your son, Hudson …

Hudson is nearly eight years of age. He was two and a half when we discovered he was Autistic. We’ve been through a rough journey with him, but also a very rewarding journey; he was diagnosed with Kanner’s Classical Autism, mid to low functioning on the Spectrum, and he now attends Tuncurry Primary School with the help of an aide. He’s come along in leaps and bounds.

What have been some of the biggest issues you’ve had to face with Autism?

Huddy showed a lot of typical behaviours with his Autism when he was young … our most challenging behaviours were the melt-downs.

He would melt-down for hours every day, just from simple things - from transitioning from home, to going out in the car. Even putting him in the bath could cause a melt-down that could last anywhere from one to two hours.

And what are some of the rewarding experiences you’ve shared?

I think you just learn to celebrate the small milestones with a child that has come so far. He was echolalic [repeated words and phrases that are heard] when he was younger, so he didn’t comprehend speech very well. When these children start communicating better and you start to see them come ahead, it’s always a big celebration.

What led you to become involved with The Body Shop At Home business?

I’ve always loved The Body Shop products, so I’m a bit of a product junkie. I owned my own 32 manning-great lakes focus.

hairdressing salon for 8 years before I found to fulfil their goals with the business. out that The Body Shop At Home was doing What have been some of the biggest party plan. I was very excited about this and just rewards you’ve achieved professionally decided to join and give it a go. I’ve been with in terms of working with The Body Shop the company for 11 years now. team?

How have you managed to juggle doing I’ve just got back from Paris, so that was The Body Shop At Home with being a pardefinitely a big reward for me - that was my ent? fourteenth international trip with The Body Shop It’s been a very big challenge, especially with At Home. I’ve been to Paris before, that and I’ve a special needs child. I’m very lucky that it is also been to New York, LA, Las Vegas, Rome, one of those businesses that’s quite flexible, so London, and a lot of the Asian countries. And I could attend all of Hudson’s therapies. it’s financially rewarding as well; I make And when my hubby would walk an income that is more than I ever in the door, I’d tend to walk would have been able to when out. We juggled a lot that I was hairdressing. way, so a lot of my work In terms of managing ry I work ve can be based around the workload, who ith w y closel o; my husband’s work. have you had to turn to ny pa the com , er ad le n It’s been a juggle but to for support? gu p to I’m a t9 ou ab e ar definitely very rewardWork-wise, my e er th so est ing, because I’m in an mother and my husto 10 of their high on k industry that is flexible band are definitely my leaders who wor ith w y el os cl l ne a pa and does allow me to biggest support when aff.” the corporate st work around my son. it comes to looking after You’ve obviously now my children. I now have a progressed a long way 17 month old as well … so through the business ranks I’m very grateful that I do have from when you first started? that support from hubby and my I certainly have. I’m now an Executive mother as well.

Leader with the company. I have a team I’m very big on working with the whole of 160 consultants that I manage and we Autism community, working with other parents spread pretty far and wide through NSW; we’ve who are dealing with the same issues that we even got consultants in Victoria and Queensland are and supporting one another. as well in the team. My business turns over apAre you a member of any of the local Auprox. one million dollars a year, with my team’s tism groups? highest turnover being 1.2 million.

I’m sort of a silent member, because work I work very closely with the company too; does keep me so busy and I’ve had a baby for I’m a top gun leader, so there are about 9 to 10 the past 17 months, so I haven’t been attendof their highest leaders who work on a panel ing meetings … but I play a very big part on closely with the corporate staff. They really do Facebook. back us with everything that we do with our I also did a ‘My Story’ at a National Conferbusiness, so I facilitate a lot of courses when we ence three years ago in front of 100 consultants, have our conferences, and I present workshops, and I had a lot of consultants approach me after as well as managing my team and helping them that for advice, because they too have children

“

on the Spectrum ... so, I’ve been helping people with things like early diagnosis and trying to juggle being a working mum and having special needs kids as well.

So, you see yourself as being somewhat of an advocate in terms of spreading the word about being a mum of a child with special needs, and yet still managing to have a successful career?

Absolutely. I’m passionate about, yes, putting my son first, but also realising that it doesn’t have to be a means to an end for you … you can go on and have a great career; you can go on and have a great life as well if you do have a special needs child. I’m very much a positive person. One of my lines from the conference was I refuse to use my son as an excuse to fail in anything; he’s my reason to succeed.

I have to ask … what is your favourite Body Shop product?

To narrow it down to one product is quite difficult, but I have to say it’s got to be the Vitamin C Skin Boost. It’s dynamic; I call it my liquid velvet. You wear it underneath your makeup, and it is just divine. If I could only use one product from the catalogue ever again, it would be that one!

If there was one really solid piece of advice you could give parents who may just be in a similar situation at the moment, what would you say?

There’s light at the end of the tunnel, definitely - and talk to as many people as they can about moving forward and getting the help they need - whether that’s for themselves or for their child. A lot of the time we focus on our children when they have special needs, and parents need a bit of help too - so do not be frightened to talk.

Thanks Brooke.

Family portrait credit: Shane Chalker.

Portrait features Brooke, husband Daniel, Hudson (7 years) and Boston (17 months).

manning-great lakes focus 33

APRIL 2014

WITH TERRI

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Our staff in reception is Michelle, Robyn and Erin in Sales. Also in the office you'll find Gilbert in our accounts department.On the grounds you will find James working very hard.

Holiday Ownership Why buy a holiday apartment when you can share in ours! Just some of the reasons you should consider holiday ownership at Seashells Beachfront Resort include: • You could enjoy unlimited holidays each year from as little as $99 per week – a fraction of the price of a traditional holiday home.

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• Ownership starts from as little as $2,000 ‘once only’ payment including legals and stamp duty PLUS membership in RCI and DAE. With over 4 million members fine out more about RCI and DAE here.

• Just 3 ½ hours from Sydney, and with a beachfront location Seashells Beachfront Resort can be used anytime you want; or you can even put your time into the rental pool with RCI or DAE, for future use.

Contact Erin on 0488 592 779

AQUARIUS.

GEMINI.

LIBRA.

January 21 - February 19

May 22 - June 22

September 24 - October 23

With none of the planets aligning with Gemini this month, you could be vulnerable in feeling neglected or unappreciated. Avoid entertaining thoughts of what you believe others may be thinking of you as this could make matters worse. Instead relish in your individuality, and only entertain loving thoughts of yourself.

Ruby shatters negativity and leaves us feeling safe and comfortable in our reality.

Avoid being unkind to yourself with critical thoughts, especially insulting self-degradation.

With Mars in Libra, life’s challenges could arouse irritation; coupled with your North Node’s influence deciding what your life’s purpose is all about can easily leave you feeling stuck or frustrated if you are treading water at present.

Simply have a plan.

Amethyst is great for connecting to our higher qualities and life’s purpose.

PISCES.

CANCER.

SCORPIO.

February 20 - March 20

June 23 - July 23 Ju

Avoid making any life changing decisions regarding matters of the heart until the 6th, as you will be vulnerable at wanting to run if everything is not perfect. These feelings should calm until the 23rd, and from then until the 25th, you can anticipate a need for romance and acknowledgement. Even if it comes from positive thoughts, you will feel validated.

Garnet will enhance your passion for living and self-worth.

You will benefit by not expecting others to live up to your expectations where love and matters of the heart are concerned. Try to have no expectations from friends either, as you could set yourself up for some big disappointments this month. Instead look at how beautiful and soft your emotional nature is and how blessed you are to be a Piscean.

Citrine shatters negative energy; wear some whilst entertaining.

October 24 - November 22

Listen to your inner voice, especially with regard to achieving the things in life that will make you feel good and happy. It’s the magic of living that will grant the most satisfaction this month, as Saturn’s influence may easily lead you to fearing the unknown and inhibit the joys of the unknown. Connect to your inner child and help them to feel excited by the mysteries of life.

Clear quartz enhances our positive energy carry some.

ARIES.

LEO.

SAGITTARIUS.

March 21 - April 20

July 24 - August 23

November 23 - December 21

Relationships are likely to be a major influence this month. With Venus entering Pisces on the 6th, the need to be feeling wanted and in love may torment you if it’s not happening. All is not lost, as this is a good time to reflect and look inward to identify any recurring patterns that may have inhibited your previous success in matters of the heart, so the future can be different.

Rose Quartz is a powerful self-loving crystal; it will assist you loving yourself more.

From the 9th until the 11th, you may experience heightened emotions and then a feeling of relaxation and an easygoing attitude should persist until the 20th. Set some long term goals or play with your talents, as this will satisfy the need to fulfill your destiny or life’s purpose, which will be strong towards the end of the month.

Turquoise is great for self-confidence and personal power.

TAURUS.

VIRGO.

April 21 - May 21

August 24 - September 23 A

You can expect a cruisy month until the 24th, when you may be feeling a little vulnerable with Venus entering Taurus. Avoid being stubborn with relationships around this time, as this could interfere with your relaxed and carefree attitude and feelings of low esteem could arise.

Clear Quartz amplifies a happy mood; hold some to set fresh goals.

34 manning-great lakes focus.

With Jupiter’s influence in Cancer, your thoughts could easily torment you with matters of the bigger picture in life, leaving you feeling trapped or stuck in the present. Be kind to yourself by setting some goals so the future has a plan, and live in the moment to reconnect with the simple joys at hand.

Citrine attracts abundance and shatters negativity carry some.

This month would prove a favourable time for journeying. You are not likely to be faced with any situations that leave you feeling overwhelmed. Plan lots of social events on your calendar and enjoy light-hearted fun and laughter.

New friends will be drawn to you this month, as your inner thoughts will be reflected.

Clear Quartz will help maintain strong positive thoughts.

Heightened emotions can be something to look forward to from the 18th until the 21st, and the rest of the month may feel carefree and easygoing. You will benefit from setting some fresh goals and playing creatively with gifts or talents between social interactions. Avoid becoming too serious or working too hard, as this could easily make you feel a bit dull.

Turquoise assists in recognition of one’s higher purposes.

CAPRICORN. December 22 - January 20

Until the 15th you may be heavily influenced by your morals and ethics but for the rest of the month, your challenge may lie in wanting to re-establish new ones. Stay grounded by participating in physical activities and have practical solutions on hand to combat any challenges.

Matters of the heart and family will offer solace.

Clear Quartz keeps us focused on positive outcomes; carry some.

focusinterview.

Way s t o k e e p

kids healthy as we enter the cooler months Fend off the winter sniffles with these immune boosting food ideas for kids.

It's around this time of year that the 'school cold' re-emerges. You know the one: it's that coarse wheeze that rides around the back of your child's throat and nose and seems embedded from May to September.

W

hile a certain amount of sickness is inevitable, your children's health can be assisted with some special attention to their diet throughout the winter months. Here's are some tips to keep kids strong and the wheeze at bay as we head into the chilly season.

Healthy lunchbox treats Luckily winter is orange season. So fill kids' lunchboxes with freshly cut orange pieces, a rich source of vitamin C, and a well known flufighting essential. Mandarins are in season now too and they are a less-messy lunchbox option.

Also pop in some kiwi fruit and some raw snow peas and celery sticks too.

Include extra veggies at dinner time.

Over cooking vegetables zaps their essential nutrients and vitamin C. So cook them as quickly as possible. Cheese sauce works wonders here too, drizzle it over cooked veggies and the kids will gobble it up.

Make them soup Soups are a great way to give kids a winter health boost. Flu-fighting antioxidants such as beta-carotene (found in carrots) and lycopene (in tomatoes and red capsicum) actually increase with cooking. Blitzing these and other vegetables into wintery soups can encourage kids to eat ingredients they would normally steer clear of. Even unpopular choices like chickpeas can be added to soups. If you're nervous your children won't eat soup, try serving it with crunchy croutons. The kids will head straight for the croutons. And before you know it the bowl will be empty.

One-pot wonders

Winter stews and casseroles are a fantastic way to add a wide variety of veggies to kids' meals. Also, top their meals with fresh garnishes including diced tomatoes, avocado, cheese and crushed-up corn chips (for a treat). They are a magic wand that make entire dinners disappear.

Why is my Child Snoring?

It may be hard to believe, but your sleeping, angelic toddler is capable of big, raucous snores.

Find out why it's happening and what you can do about it.

Snoring happens when there is a blockage of airflow through your toddler’s nose and throat.

The sound you hear is the vibration of certain structures in the mouth and throat rubbing against one another as your child breathes.

If your toddler’s nightly concertos are rattling windows (along with your nerves), here’s what may be behind all that noise — and what you can do to make it stop: Colds, the flu, and allergies. Upper-respiratory infections are the culprits behind most bouts of occasional snoring in kids. It happens when your child’s nose gets stuffed up and mucus blocks their airway, creating turbulence in the airflow as it passes through the throat. Since allergies can cause congestion, too, they also may be to blame for your child snoring.

Enlarged adenoids or tonsils. The adenoids are lumpy lymph tissue located where the nose meets the throat, and the tonsils are two lumps of lymph tissue located at the back of the throat.

Both adenoids and tonsils guard your child from infections by trapping inhaled viruses and bacteria. In the process, though, they sometimes become infected and swollen. Enlarged adenoids and tonsils can get in the way of airflow and cause snoring.

Obstructive sleep apnea. If the loud snoring

is interrupted by pauses in breathing, your little one may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a serious condition in which air can’t get through to the lungs. The pauses in breathing can last for ten seconds or more, and they can happen many times throughout the night. This can be dangerous, and it can break up your toddler’s sleep, causing them to be grumpy, experience extreme fatigue, difficulty concentrating, headaches, and growth problems. Most cases of OSA in kids are caused by enlarged adenoids or tonsils, but being overweight or having certain facial features (like a receding chin or a cleft palate) can also block the airway and lead to OSA. It usually takes an overnight stay in a sleep lab to determine whether your child truly has this condition.

Solutions for snoring If your child is snoring the nights away, it’s a good idea to have them checked by your doctor, especially if the snoring is coupled with breathing problems.

ENT Services expand in partnership with Forster Private Hospital The Forster ENT Group in partnership with Forster Private Hospital, is dedicated to providing a permanent Ear Nose and Throat Surgery Services to the people of the Great Lakes and beyond.

Forster ENT specialists come to you from Sydney, so you have access to world-class care right here on the mid north coast.

The Surgery takes place at Forster Private Hospital, meaning you can stay close to family and friends during your hospital admission. Our dedicated team of healthcare professionals stand ready to make your hospital experience as easy as possible. From the person who first greets you as you enter the consulting rooms, to the doctors and nurses who care for you, to the staff that deliver your meals, your multidisciplinary team works together to make sure that all of your needs are met.

Forster ENT Group's services now include (but are not limited to): • Adults and Children • Ear surgery + Hearing implantation • Nose and sinus surgery • Tonsil, adenoid, and grommet surgery • Larynx (voicebox) surgery • Thyroid and salivary gland surgery Our mission is to provide patients with up-to-date, comprehensive, professional, and compassionate specialised care in Ear Nose and Throat disorders, and to help Family Medical Practitioners provide the best care for patients in the Great Lakes Region and beyond.

For further information regarding our services or to make a booking, please contact Forster Private Hospital on (02) 6555 1586 or Forster ENT Group on (02) 5513 9000.

Always remember to ask your local doctor if you can have your treatment at Forster Private Hospital.

manning-great lakes focus 35

focusinterview.

LEE McCONNELL mambo

LEE McCONNELL WAS YOUR TYPICAL KID GROWING UP IN THE GREAT LAKES AREA … ENJOYING TIME WITH HIS MATES, GETTING UP TO A FEW HIGH JINX … BUT, AN EARLY LOVE FOR BOTH ART AND SURFING CULTURE AND HIS OWN DRIVE, DETERMINATION AND TALENT HAS SEEN LEE LAND HIS DREAM JOB CREATING ARTWORK FOR ICONIC COMPANY MAMBO …

hat was it like for you growing up in the Great Lakes?

Yeah, it was great - couldn't have wished to grow up in a better place - so many good people in the area to grow up around. I jumped into Year 2 at Tuncurry Public in ‘95 after my family moved up from Sydney. I cried my eyes out on the first day, I was a bit of a mummy's boy, but settled in and made some good mates who are still my best mates today.

My first teacher there, Mr Collins, was really into art - which was perfect. He caught on that I liked to draw and paint and really encouraged it. I swear our class did an art class every day it was pretty rad.

So yeah, I hooned round exploring with my friends making cubbies in the bush - knocking down cubbies that weren't ours. It was pretty territorial out there ha ha! Jumped off the bridge, mucked round at the tanks … all the stuff you get up to as a kid in Forster.

High school was good too; again, made a lot of good friends. A lot of fun was had during those years, with a lot of stories to hold onto to … all very funny; they make me smile.

You mention on your website that some of your earliest influences were “red coloured cordials and Mambo artist Reg Mom-

36 manning-great lakes focus.

bassa”. Do we assume you were a pretty hyper kid? How much of that energy do you feel has helped get you to where you are today with your career?

Umm, I guess I was … or wasn't; I never liked red cordial. I did, however, get the Persian cat that mows my lawn every second Monday to write my bio - I think he likes red cordial, and I think he likes Reg too. I think he is Reg's cat, come to think of it …

I guess I was energetic as a kid; I don't think that had too much to do with where I am now.

I did go through a lazy period after I finished school for a while. But I have always had a drive to achieve things, so I guess that sparked up and carried me. I always want to do new things though; I guess that is why I am always busy along my day job. I do a lot of personal work and art - something is always happening, I'm always busy.

And what of Reg Mombassa? What is it about his work you like?

Well, Reg is legend. He inspired me from an early age. It was one my Dad's records that I first saw his art on. I think it was the Mental as Anything cover for 'Mr. Natural'; it had a humanoid bike-like creation where the front and back legs held the wheels. The eyes shot out as the handle bars and the penis was a pedal.

It was interesting. I thought it was pretty out there - obviously being young, thinking it was

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full on but fu funny. I liked his humour and quirky style of art. And as I became older, I could understand it more. He sees his humour. A genius! I am stoked to have met him too and see him from time to time. Such a nice dude and a bag of laughs.

How did you actually end up in Sydney working for, of all places, Mambo?

I took the leap and moved Sydney in 2011 after a pretty tough start to the year. I would never usually do things I felt uncomfortable with, so the move to Sydney was a 'what do you have to lose kinda thing', so I did it. I started painting houses with a friend for a bit.

I was always keen on acting too, so I did some short courses, which were fun.

One day my little bro, Cade, sent me a text, while house painting, saying Mambo was looking for an intern and said I should do it. I thought, “Wow, that's sick - my brother has gone out of his way to send me something and kinda push me towards something I would love”. Cade and I and my other bro, Shannon, always loved Mambo and its artists growing up, so it was kind of a dream thing to go for.

I did have a good portfolio from doing a year and a half study of graphic design, as well as some other bits and pieces I had lying around, so I sent it in to them. I got a call for an interview that seemed to go well, and then I got the internship. I was stoked! I worked my butt off for 3 months for free, produced some good things that impressed, and they gave me a job.

It’s a lot of fun here, and things are good now.

So, what exactly does a “Co-Senior Progenitor Of Pictorial Embellishments” your self-penned description of your job - involve?

I think a giant arm came out of the clouds holding a pencil to write this one. I must have slid down and straight to the drawing table.

No one ever writes their own bio ha ha!

Basically, my day at Mambo involves mainly producing graphics for Men’s and Youth Boys’

clothing ranges - placement prints for tees moving. and jumpers and yardages for boardies, shirts, What was the 2013 Tiger Beer Translate thongs etc. I also do most of the marketing event you were involved with recently? design too, which consists of events posters, It was an art battle kinda thing put on by magazine ads, and online stuff. One thing I do Tiger Beer. They put them on worldwide in like is getting the chance to paint surfboards, conjunction with their Street Football compethat are then donated to charity. titions. This one started at Name This Bar in What do you use to create your amazing Sydney with 6 heats. I lost the first heat, but art? still got a chance in the semis.

I have mainly used acrylic paint, coloured Each stage had a theme that you had to pencils and black ink lately. I use brushes. I use paint to and you had 90 mins to do it using pencils. It really just depends on what I am creany medium. It was pretty crazy; there were ating. I have used posca fine artists and street pens in the past when artists producing drawing on surfboards, hectic detailed but I mainly use brush I ALSO DO scenes in 90 mins.

MOST OF THE and paint now. Pretty The theme for the MARKETING DESIGN much all my paintings in semis was 'concrete TOO, WHICH CONSISTS my past few shows have jungle'. I painted a OF EVENTS POSTERS, just been the acrylic, fish taco cart that MAGAZINE ADS, AND pencil, ink combo, but I was popped in the ONLINE STUFF. ONE want to move on from heart of a city; it THING I DO LIKE that this year a little and was titled 'rubble in IS GETTING THE get back into sculpting the jungle'. It got CHANCE TO PAINT as well. I haven’t made me through to the SURFBOARDS, THAT a sculpture since school, finals, where I was ARE THEN DONATED TO CHARITY.” so I think I will throw a up against 3 other few different mediums awesome artists. The into my next exhibition. prize was to win a What keeps you trip to Vietnam to inspired these days? paint alongside and Everything around me keeps me inspired. hold workshops with The sun and the ocean are two powerful other artists who won the other events held things that instantly make me feel good. I round the world. So, the theme was Vietnam am one to think happiness produces the best related. My piece was called Is it just a pipe thoughts, so being surrounded by good people dream - a character smoking a pipe that had and a good environment, ideas are sure to smoke clouds shooting out into a dream that come. I’ve never felt like I’ve been out of ideas; held a typical Vietnam scene.

I feel like I have too many ideas, so the hard I was pretty happy with my concepts part is to pin one down and work on that. I am throughout, but I didn't feel that my art technialways looking at other art too … I mean, you cally was anywhere near that of some of the have to. Looking at other art is so inspiring; fine artists. They announced the winner before even if you don't like the style of the artist, it the final of the Street Football, and it was me. is good - it opens your eyes and keeps thing I was pretty shocked but super stoked; I had

“

never won anything like that before. I was so happy … and happy to sink a few at the Tiger Bar as well ha ha!

What other projects have you been involved with lately?

I had two exhibitions last year under the name Goon Island with a good friend of mine, Biffy Brentano; they were really fun. I was involved in a few group shows also in Sydney among the likes of Ben Brown, Alex Lehours, Mulga and many other rad artists.

I’m working on a few cool things with Mambo for later this year; being their 30 year anniversary, they are pretty big exciting things actually. I also of late have been doing some work for Matt Biolos or 'Mayhem', who is a legend shaper in the surfing world. He also started the brand ... Lost, where he is Art Director as well. I have been doing some art for their clothing range. It has been a lot of fun, and he is a great dude to work for. I am also planning to have my first solo show later this year, as well as jump into a few more group exhibitions.

What’s the ‘pie in the sky’ for you artistically?

I want to keep producing art and keep moving forward; I still feel like I have a lot to achieve. One day it would be great to live in Mexico or a deserted island somewhere and live off coconuts and fish, having a super dooper time with the people I love while creating works to sell to the passing fishermen, so we can buy the odd rum. Yo ho ho!

Where can people go to see samples of your work?

My website is a good place. I have a lot of work on there, as well as a blog that I update regularly with stuff I've done and things I might be about to do. There is also a store where you can buy some fun things too.

Website - www.leemcconnell.com.au Instagram - @leemcconnell Thanks Lee. manning-great lakes focus 37

Destination: NSW State Forests

aKucha 20x20 PechInterview with Linda Dade Looking for a fun and informative way to communicate … but with a difference?

Linda introduces the concept of PechaKucha 20x20 to the Great Lakes area, with the first meeting set to showcase the creativity of some visionary locals …

L

inda, what exactly is the PechaKucha concept, and where did it originate?

PechaKucha 20x20 is a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The presentation format was devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham architecture.

The first PechaKucha Night was held in Tokyo in February 2003, and they are now held in over 700 cities around the world! Informal and fun gatherings where creative people get together and share their ideas, works, thoughts, holiday snaps - just about anything, really - in the PechaKucha 20x20 format. It is for creativity and not for profit and is described as a ‘real’ social network.

What made you decide to bring the idea to Forster?

I am interested in so many things and love the sharing of knowledge. The PK will celebrate the artists in this region, not only getting their message out, but inspiring others. I want it to be an open door and serve as a connector between many groups within the town. Not sport, health, religious, fundraising etc. just a joyful sharing of story/art whilst adding Forster to the global PechaKucha community.

When and where are you planning to hold the first PechaKucha night?

Wednesday 16 April, 7 - 9pm at The Laneway (above The Aztec in Little Street). Part of the agreement specifies that we must commit to holding 4 events each year, so it is definitely not a one off. Any creatives interested in participating in these nights, please contact me.

Who are the guest presenters?

A stunning lineup!

Jim Frazier is an icon in global photography.

He is an inventor, scientist and artist and has revolutionised the world of still photography and film making. His list of achievements is endless. After his recent successful Lepidoptera exhibition, we are excited he is presenting his ‘crystal’ photos.

H. Fish, Internationally acclaimed artist and social commentator is driven by life experiences 38 manning-great lakes focus.

and social awareness to create a colourful commentary on the social environment as he sees it. You may have caught his recent ‘Visions’ exhibition at Manning Regional Gallery.

Merryl Kemp, a local photographer capturing everyday moments and special events. She has been at home behind the lens since she was a teenager. She sees inspiration in everything and loves to work with all types of photography.

Kristie Banham is a homegrown indie artist who works mainly in mixed media, aimed at woman. Her art almost always encompasses inspiring and encouraging words.

Kadek Wijaya is a popular local artist who moved from Ubud to start a new life in Australia.

He loves colour and works mostly with ocean themes, fish and underwater animals.

Andrew O’Sullivan is a master at repurposing second hand plants, materials and furnishings.

Collecting from the plethora the world has to offer with an environmentally conscious mind set and a professional work ethic, Andrew designs and constructs unique, inspiring landscapes and dwellings with a seamless connection between the two.

Organisers have been asked to seek out urban innovators who are doing something fantastic to improve their city for their April PechaKucha Night. Andrew is our urban innovator, and his presentation will be shared around the world.

What costs will be involved for those wishing to attend?

Tickets $10 - available at Forster Visitors Centre or Banks and Dade Chiropractic, 54 The Lakes Way. It will be popular, so preregistering is advised.

The kitchen and bar will be open at The Laneway for a guaranteed fun evening.

How do people get more info?

Go to http://www.pechakucha.org/users/lindadade, click on contact us, find us on Facebook or phone 0402 031 500.

Thanks Linda.

Photo, clockwise left to right: Kristie Banham, Andrew O'Sullivan, Jim Frazier, Kadek Wijaya, H.Fish, and Linda Dade.

NSW State Forests cover 2 million hectares of forest across NSW, offering the visitor a range of experiences that no others can match. There are roomy campsites, shaded picnic areas, tree-lined walking tracks and spectacular lookouts. You can swim in a creek, hike up a mountain, chat around a campfire or simply listen to the sounds of nature. You can pitch a tent anywhere you like, explore forest tracks on trail bike or mountain bike, ride a horse cross-country, 4WD and bring your dog too!

Your local State Forest is an unmissable stop on your next self-drive outing, whether it’s for a few hours, a picnic or an overnight stay. An extensive network of roads and trails provide easy entry to State Forests, whilst walking tracks allow visitors to experience special places and nature at its best.

NSW State Forests are absolutely free and represent one of the most cost-effective holiday escapes you will find; good news for families! State-wide there are 125+ visitor sites with a mix of picnic tables, BBQs, fireplaces, shelters, rainwater tanks, toilets and carparks, all within the forest environment which is a star in its own right.

There is a range of information available to

State Forest: free, fun and you can bring your dog.

ensure your next trip is a memorable one.

You can pick up a regional Forest Map at your local Visitor Information Centre, or contact us online to purchase your copy. We encourage visitors to share their experience via facebook, twitter and instagram – we love to hear from you and are happy to share your holiday snaps!

With great places to explore, rest, learn, play or just get away from it all, come and experience a forest playground.

For more information: www.forestrycorporation.com.au www.facebook.com/forestplayground Twitter: @visitnswforests Instagram: #visitnswforests

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NSW State Forests offer a wide variety of desirable and sustainably managed nature-based and ecotourism experiences and destinations, where visitors can appreciate and enjoy the forest environment. Some of State Forest’s newest attractions are just waiting for you to visit, and best of all, they’re free.

Experience a Forest Playground ...

SW State Forests are the place to go for diverse nature-based tourism experiences. Entry to State Forests and use of the visitor facilities is free-ofcharge, making State forests your first and best choice for a low-cost, self-drive adventure in the great outdoors. Currently, many of State Forest’s tourist destinations are being improved, thanks to feedback from visitors via our regular surveys. Read on to learn more about some of our popular sites and newest destinations.

BIG AND BEAUTIFUL The latest addition to NSW State Forest’s visitor attractions is affectionately known as the Old Bottlebutt. The Old Bottlebutt is a grand and ancient Red Bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera) tree, located in Burrawan State Forest on the NSW Mid-North Coast. Old Bottlebutt is unique in its shape – its large flared “butt” having a massive girth of more than 16 metres just above its base.

OLD BOTTLEBUTT, BURRAWAN STATE FOREST Old Bottlebutt is the main feature on a beautiful 600m loop walking track, beginning and ending at the Burrawan State Forest picnic area. The walk features remnant rainforest, an oasis hidden under a canopy of lush green foliage with overhanging Bangalay Palms and ancient rainforest species, and winds its way over foot-bridges along this peaceful and easy-grade track. The walking track and Old Bottlebutt exist within a ‘working’ forest, an area harvested sustainably for native and plantation timber resources. This forest is resilient and the environment dynamic: you might notice forest regrowth in formerly harvested areas visible along parts of the Old Bottlebutt walking track.

Old Bottlebutt is a special place, a place to stay and enjoy the sounds of nature. A new

viewing deck will enable visitors to rest awhile of the Hunter Valley, Sugarloaf Range and the and gently experience the forest environment surrounding Watagan Range can also be seen - protecting the tree and its root system at the from these unique vantage points. same time. Interpretive signage will further VIEW FROM HEATON LOOKOUT, HEATON enhance the visitor experience.

STATE FOREST CONCEPT DESIGN – OLD BOTTLEBUTT Heaton State Forest is in the Watagan VIEWING PLATFORM BY STEVE GORRELL Mountains near the NSW Central Coast. The Watagans are easily accessed from the Pacific (ARCHITECT).

Highway: via Martinsville Road, Cooranbong Old Bottlebutt in Burrawan State Forest is or via Mount Faulk Road near Freeman’s located near Wauchope and Port Macquarie, Waterhole, and are open 24 hours/day, 7 days/ NSW. From Wauchope travel south on the week.

Bago Road 10km, then turn left onto KORORA AND SEALY Internal Break Road and follow LOOKOUTS the signs. It is open 24 For visitors travelling hours/day, 7 days/week the Pacific Highway on including public the NSW North Coast, holidays.

The walking Korora and Sealy MAKE SURE YOU track and Old within t is ex tt Lookouts are a mustLOOKOUT bu le tt Bo st, see. Both lookouts With over 2 a ‘working’ fore d are located in Bruxner million hectares an area harveste tive na sustainably for Park Flora Reserve in of State Forest timber and plantation Orara East State Forest, in NSW, it’s not resources.”

310 metres above Coffs surprising that Harbour and in rich forest some of the most overlooking the coast. spectacular lookouts Heading north on the Pacific in the state are located in Highway, visitors should turn left State Forest. If you’re looking onto Bruxner Park Road and enjoy for somewhere to take in the best a scenic hillside climb through banana views in town, here’s some of what your plantations before reaching the Scenic Drive forests have to offer. turn-off. A small shelter and parking area HEATON, HUNTER AND MCLEAN’S here provides visitors with a taste of things to LOOKOUTS come, and offers handy information on the Located in Heaton State Forest in the area.

Watagan Mountains, these 3 lookouts offer As travellers continue driving up and into breath-taking views over the Hunter and Lake the forest they will catch glimpses of sparkling Macquarie region. Heaton Lookout provides ocean views between tall forest timbers. First picnic facilities from which to experience stop is the Korora Lookout carpark. A short magnificent coastal and mountain views, walk through forest reveals the destination and is a great place to watch the sunrise over – the amazing Korora Lookout. The viewing the coast. Hunter and McLean’s Lookouts deck allows visitors to make the most of the offer spectacular views of the Hunter Valley, northerly aspect and vast expanse of coastline Pokolbin Range and the mountain ranges of the Lower Barrington area. Small mining towns and ocean views. Alternatively, conveniently

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located “church pew” seating provides a shady stop under a majestic gumtree, for those wanting to commune with nature and take in a more relaxed perspective.

KORORA LOOKOUT, ORARA EAST STATE FOREST Visitors can then continue travelling along the drive to the Sealy Lookout carpark. Within metres of the carpark is the spectacular Forest Sky Pier, extending 21 metres out over the forest canopy and 15 metres above the forest floor. The Forest Sky Pier is safe and accessible to everyone – children on foot, in strollers and visitors in wheelchairs. Cantilevered off a natural cliff, the viewing platform sways everso-gently as visitors walk along it. This grand architectural creation is constructed from native North Coast hardwood beams, with turpentine decking and blue gum handrails, supported by stainless steel cable and twin steel columns.

Korora and Sealy Lookouts are located within Bruxner Park Reserve in Orara East State Forest. Travel north on the Pacific Highway from Coffs Harbour. Approximately 5km from Coffs, turn left onto Bruxner Park Road.

Follow the winding hillside until reaching the visitor information area and Scenic Drive turn off. Follow Scenic Drive to the Korora Lookout carpark and the start of the short walk to Korora Lookout. Further along Scenic Drive is Sealy Lookout carpark and the Forest Sky Pier, with visitor information, seating, toilets and a picnic area. Bruxner Park Road and Scenic Drive are both sealed roads. Korora Lookout is open 24 hours/day, 7 days a week. Sealy Lookout and the Forest Sky Pier are opening during daylight hours only, 7 days/week.

For more information on these and other amazing State Forest destinations, visit: www.forestrycorporation.com.au www.facebook.com/forestplayground Twitter: @visitnswforests Instagram: #visitnswforests

manning-great lakes focus 39

The response to the first ’12 week p’ business bootcam e Th has been huge! as ing challenge is runn is m we speak; the tea ek we now in their 4th g!” and going stron

“

12 week business bootcamp The response to the first ’12 week business bootcamp’ has been huge! The challenge is running as we speak; the team is now in their 4th week and going strong! I’ve been so excited that the group has taken on the challenges and opened their minds to new ways of thinking that are already opening up new opportunities that they hadn’t even noticed before.

Mid Coast Connect Now in its eighth year, Mid Coast Connect is preparing to launch the 2014 Cows Create Careers program in May. Part of the success of Cows Create Careers is the way it fosters a productive relationship between farming communities and their schools.

A local example is how student teacher Emma Polson came to work with the students at Taree Christian College. Emma grew up on a dairy farm at Oxley Island and is currently vice president of the Manning Valley sub-branch of Holstein Australia and active in the Manning Valley Dairy Youth Group.

Through these avenues, Emma heard about Cows Create Careers and was put in contact with Wayne Green, who was undertaking the program with his Year 9 and 10 students.

The program promotes careers in the dairy industry through guest speakers and practical activities, including the rearing of calves on loan to the school from local farmers.

The College, having participated in the program for the past three years, welcomed Emma’s interest. Emma visited the school and explained breeding and calf care as well as shed management, production and transport to the students.

Wayne was impressed. “She had good practical knowledge and encouraged them to go further - the kids were rapt with her”.

The school’s hard work paid off, with them coming third out of 32 teams with a 3D model on calf rearing. Wayne is in no doubt that, without local and industry support, the school could not run the program as successfully as it has done.

“As a teacher, it’s fantastic. We have Brett Smoothy and Michelle Blakeney providing the calves. We’re supplied milk powder and pellets. We’ve had guest speakers and all sorts of sponsors help out.”

The school has already registered to participate again this year, and Emma will be returning to help out. ‘’It’s good to know there’s someone like Emma nearby, eager to pitch in,’’ said Wayne.

Cows Create Careers, one of Mid Coast Connect’s partnerships, is open to all high schools in the region. Further information is available by contacting Jenny Fraser on 6583 5910.

40 manning-great lakes focus.

Plus Great People The cost of putting the wrong employee in your business can be huge. On the other hand, the right person can be worth their weight in gold.

It is easy to assess experience and skills by reading a resume, but it's a lot harder to work out if the personality will suit your business. That's why the employment services network provides quality advice and candidate screening for recruitment of great people. This includes mums returning to work, people who have undertaken retraining and great people with a disability. Industry experience and skills are matched to the job, and there are flexible employment scenarios to suit your needs.

Finding that great person for your business is a plus but with the employment services network, the pluses keep on coming. Wage subsidies, ongoing training, tickets and licences, uniforms, tools, online job vacancy listings, mentors and more – all at no cost to you.

For more information or to attend the Mid North Coast Jobs Drive Campaign Launch, phone 1300 05 67 69.

During this bootcamp we look at what has to take place within the leader of the business, for true success to happen. If we as the leaders of our businesses aren’t clear on exactly where we are heading and know WHY we have chosen that path, the business just can’t flourish.

During the 12 weeks we have a mix of both practical skills like marketing, systems and social media, as well as the mindset of success. You’ll learn some key strategies to making decisions, busting fear, and how your internal dialogue shapes your experiences. This bootcamp is for any business owner or leader, man or woman, who is ready to step up and take responsibility for both success in business and in life. Because a strong business must have a strong person leading it.

Here’s some of the feedback from the current group of bootcampers …

“Thank you Linda - it's been amazing so far! Loving the challenges and personal growth it inspires - I would recommend this highly to anyone considering a fresh approach to coaching, training and being inspired by like minded people! Thank you.”

“I'm so inspired by what I have learnt. Already I have put some great strategies in place in all areas of my life. Really think this course could help anyone, regardless if you're business owner or not. The personal growth is awesome.”

So come and join the challenge!

Mid North Coast Jobs Drive Great Pluses Great People, G When he was made redundant from his job at the age of 50, Garry Stephen capitalised on the pluses.

He started his own domestic and commercial cleaning company in 2012. In just two years, Aussie Green Klean has grown to include seven great employees.

What made you use the employment services network to recruit great people for your business?

Wesley Employment and Training show a real

I was impressed by the service offered by

put in the effort to make both the process and

Wesley Employment and Training. They asked

the outcome great. Even after recruitment and

me what I wanted in a staff member and put

training, there are so many great pluses.

together a group of people who suited me

Businesses who jump aboard the Mid North

and then trained them. The next step was to

Coast Jobs Drive will discover the great pluses

observe each person in a work environment,

of employing great people. Recruitment, online

to see if they were what I was looking for. That

job advertisements, training, uniforms and

gave me the opportunity to find great people

equipment plus more are all subsidised when

who suited my business.

What’s great about the services the

you use the employment services network.

employment services network provides?

support is offered for your new employee. It’s

Employment services network members like

simple; phone 1300 05 67 69.

commitment to their employer and employee communities on the Mid North Coast. They

Artist Profile

LINDACHUDY Linda Chudy is one of the talented local artists who’ll have her work on display at the Art in the Vale Exhibition from 18 – 20 April. The exhibition aims to raise funds for the Hannam Vale Hall, but also promises a fantastic display of colour, texture and creativity!

Wage subsidies are available, and ongoing

JOEL SEGUNA Background: I left school after Year 10 looking for construction work after completing my Cert. II in Construction. Due to lack of work experience, I kept being rejected for many positions. So it has been difficult to find good employment in Taree.

My skills and experience includes: I have completed many certificates at TAFE to become more employable, including: Horticulture II and III, Apply Chemicals, OHS White Cord, Construction and Concreting Cert II. I am starting training at Masters next week.

My goals in life are: At the moment my short term goal is to gain reliable employment and improve my work skills for better employment.

My personal interests include: All sports, particularly League, also camping, fishing, anything outdoors, learning new things.

M E L I N D A WA L L A C E Background: I have recently completed Year 12 at Chatham High School and am now seeking employment in the local and surrounding areas.

My skills and experience includes: While completing Year 12, I also attended Taree TAFE to complete my AIN (Assistant in Nursing).

My goals in life are: My goal is to become a Midwife and eventually travel to the Northern Territory to help the Indigenous community.

My personal interests include: Meeting new people and learning new things. I love spending time with my family and friends.

CHRISTINE GRANIERI Background: I was born in Taree and travelled around when I was a child, living in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland and have now settled in Taree.

My skills and experience includes: I have had recent experience in retail and customer service and have completed a Cert II in Retail, Cert II in Warehousing and a Cert II in Digital and IT services, and would love to find employment in any of those areas. I am an enthusiastic, outgoing and reliable person and I enjoy spending time in the outdoors.

My goals in life are: To be happy and healthy!

i Linda. Please tell us a bit about yourself and where you call home in the beautiful ManningGreat lakes area ...

I grew up in the area and have lived all around the Manning-Great Lakes, from Cape Hawke to the mountains, but at the moment I am living in Taree, in suburbia.

What led you to develop an interest in art; were you talented as a youngster?

I have always had an interest in art. I used to draw horses and trees as a child and have enjoyed playing with different media ever since, mainly painting and drawing. I find I need to be doing something creative.

Describe your style – what media do you like to work with, and what are some of your favourite subjects?

I don’t have a particular style – much of my work is abstracted and expressive. I have been heavily influenced by Surrealism. I like to do experimental works that evolve as they progress, but I also like to paint flowers, landscapes and portraits. Colour and mood are very important elements in my work.

My favourite media is probably oil, but I also love charcoal and printmaking.

Why do you choose to work with these particular mediums; what is it about them that you like?

I like to build texture through layering and glazing, which is something that I have only really found with oils with the transparency of the media. And I particularly love the luminous intensity of colour that can be achieved with oils.

What do you feel has been your best artistic achievement to date?

I tend not to look at my work in terms of achievement, as I am still in the process of

developing my style and reaching a point where I am ready to present my work. But perhaps what I find my best achievement has been working with others to promote art in the local area – working with the Brushes with Life program, the Art in the Vale exhibition and organising exhibitions by other local artists in the Café Mediterrano.

How have you honed your craft? What training (formal or otherwise) have you had?

I studied art for many years at the Great Lakes TAFE and have just finished my BA in Fine Arts.

You’ll have work in the Art in the Vale exhibition in Hannam Vale over the Easter long weekend. Tell us a bit about exhibition – when and where will it be held, and what is its aim?

Art in the Vale is a fundraiser for the Hannam Vale Hall, but it is also an exhibition that aims to give artists of all levels of experience and confidence an accessible venue to display their work.

It will be held in the Hannam Vale Hall over the Easter Long weekend, with the opening held on Friday 18 April. Entry will be $5, and it begins at 6pm. The exhibition will be open from 10 am to 4 pm on the 19th and 20th.

Describe the pieces you’ll have on display in this exhibition …

I actually don’t know what I will be exhibiting at Art in the Vale; I suspect it will be a last minute decision.

Where else do you currently have your art on display?

I am having a solo exhibition at the Bean Bar, which will run through into mid-April, and I am getting work ready for a Black and White exhibition which will be held at Café Mediterrano, with friends.

Thanks Linda. manning-great lakes focus 41

focusinterview.

with Linda Bryant from Photography by Linda

STEVEATTKINS

Steve Attkins, owner of Great Lakes Winery with Robyn byn and orward their daughters, Lucy and Jemma, is an active and forward thinking guy, who is passionate about seeing growth in our lopment area. Steve also wears the hat of the Economic Development ea to Manager and works hard to bring industry to the area support business and the community.

Business

H

ow do you see business changing in the region this year?

Our motto is the business has to be 'continuously evolving'.

To have a sustainable business today, owners and managers need to be aware of the constant changing needs and wants of their customers. The Manning and Great Lakes region is maturing as a destination, and we are experiencing visitors to the winery from across the state, interstate and a growing number of international visitors.

The expected influx of sub-continent and Asian visitors to Australia over the next few years is expected to be 6 million visitors for 2014-15. The numbers will swell to nearly 10 million over the next 5 years, so we need to be prepared for these emerging markets.

Tourists from these markets have different expectations than other travellers, and we need to be prepared to fulfil (and exceed) those expectations.

Another group is the 'wanderers' market - experienced seekers travelling the highway.

As the highway improves, so do numbers of visitors from further afield, including day trippers. For example, Central Coast and Newcastle residents coming up for a day trip on the weekend is now very common for us in the cellar door.

What have you done at Great Lakes Winery to keep people coming back?

Great Lakes Winery has been operating for over 25 years, and much has changed in our time as owners. The quality of the wine has vastly improved since the early days, and the experience of a visit to the winery has evolved

42 manning-great lakes focus.

into a gourmet experience including tastings free delivery Fridays for wine and produce of regional produce, cheeses and wine (and orders, which many lovers of our wine take we are also known to enjoy a good chat). advantage of. In our 14 years of owning the We are always on the hunt for new and winery, we have grown every year. By making delicious produce from our abundant region. quality wines that are easy drinking and low Many visitors make a day of it and enjoy the in preservatives, we have a loyal customer tranquility of the beautiful surrounds following. We also pride ourselves of the 'back paddock', have on fresh, lively, clean and crisp a picnic, play a game of wine styles. Easy drinking, bocce or cricket, or bring food friendly wines has friends and families for been a hallmark of our D on't forget to celebrations. winemaking since bring the family We believe when taking over in 1999. our and say hello at Back our customers take What do you e next "Music in th ay 13 the time to come think are some nd Su Paddock" on n!

Su na va down our road of the keys ra Ca April with r ou on is to visit the winery to running fo in All the book ce Fa d they deserve a great an a successful te si web experience with business? page . ” exceptional service, Business today is and it's our goal to make very much about being sure they get it! Even kids constant in refreshing get special treatment and are and revitalising your business, offered a special cordial tasting while whether that is new products, mum and dad are busy sampling wine and painting your shop or other visual cheese. Being family friendly is important aesthetics. Constant change in business to us, and we love to see kids running works for everyone, including the owner, the around the 'back paddock', especially on our staff and customers. Having a vision and a music days. plan to match is a must for the owner and Do you sell wine mostly locally or further the staff to see and aspire to - even when the afield? plan changes - the vision and goals provide Well, our wine sales are about 60% through guidance and direction. Business is often fluid the cellar door, with additional online and and requires amendments to the plan as a wine club sales at about 20%, and the balance result of opportunities, threats and weaknesses is through some select local restaurants. We that pop up. I also strongly feel that time often have customers dropping in to buy wine away from and out of your business helps on their way home after enjoying a bottle to sharpen your focus and often results in at a local restaurant - that is very satisfying returning with renewed inspiration and ideas. for us. For Taree and Forster locals we offer But you can't get away from the core pillar

“

to success in business, which is providing the best service possible at all times - not always easy to deliver day in day out - but returns to a business are high. Our small boutique winery has a very well established name regionally and further afield due to our service and the passion for wine, people and the occasional good laugh. You really have to like what you do!

Any new plans for Great Lakes Winery in the coming years?

Great Lakes Winery has some ideas for expansion and growth already underway, with a new vineyard already being established that will offer new varietals to the range and deal with the changed growing conditions. We are also working on some other projects for later in the year that we feel will enhance our business and also regional and local tourism, which I believe is a sleeping giant for our local economy. We have some of the most pristine environments on the east coast of Australia, like the wonderful waterways of the Great Lakes and the many natural beauties of the Manning Valley, all of which are easy drives from Sydney and many regional centres. There is much we can do to create more tourism regionally, and some of our plans just might add a little to that natural magic.

Oh ... and don't forget to bring the family and say hello at our next 'Music in the Back Paddock' on Sunday 13 April with Caravana Sun! All the info is on our website and Facebook page.

Cheers!

Thanks Steve. You’re a great support to the community and in particular the business community of the Manning Valley.

CASTLE PERSONNEL E M P L O Y M E N T

S E R V I C E S

It has been 12 months since the Manning and Great Lakes welcomed Castle Personnel Services to the region, and they are moving forward in leaps and bounds.

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astle Personnel has successfully provided employment services to people with disabilities for over 20 years, and their services cover the Lower Hunter, Hunter, Manning and North Sydney and Central Coast. The offices in Pulteney St, Taree and Manning St, Tuncurry have recently expanded, with the introduction of two additional programmes to Disability Services and Transition to Work.

The office in Pulteney St, Taree has now expanded across the other side of the Pulteney St arcade, with an additional 100 clients to the current caseload, and Manning Street, Tuncurry has moved down the street (old Medicare building) to accommodate an extra 75 participants.

Suzanne DiFrancesco - Regional Manager for

both sites, states that: "We provide assistance to people with a disability, injury or health condition to job search, find employment and assist our participants to sustain employment in the local area.

"We offer a free job match service so we can fit the right person to the right employer."

She goes on to say that she has "a fantastic team of 9 staff, with dedicated marketers and trainers to service our participants' needs and look after the wellbeing of our clients".

"The staff at Taree and Tuncurry will job search, reverse market, may provide transportation, financial assistance for training options, education, and interview clothing if required. We can also offer wage subsidy incentives to potential employers for up to 26 weeks. Furthermore, we can provide on the job

training and post placement support not only All participants will undergo an initial to the participant, but also to the assessment to determine what their short employer, to ensure a smooth term and long term goals are, transition into employment and we will work with each while they are learning participant to reach these aff at Taree st e Th their new roles." goals. and Tuncurry Castle Personnel Suzanne said, "I love the e rs ve re will job search , is currently e opportunity of working id ov pr market, may al ci an fin servicing over 300 with such a diverse range n, tio ta transpor ng ni ai tr r fo participants across of people.

If we can ce an assist ion, and at uc ed , the Manning and achieve one outcome and ns tio op ng if Great Lakes. Most change a person's life, it is interview clothi required.� of the referrals come worth it!" from the Department of If there are any employers Human Services; however, who are keen to find out more we encourage participants to information about the services Castle visit our premises and register directly if Personnel can offer, please contact the Taree they are interested in finding paid employment. office on 6592 8600 or Tuncurry on 6539 7600.

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manning-great lakes focus 43

focusbusiness. with Sharon Fowle from Manning Valley Business Chamber

focusTourism. Donna Hudson - Manning Valley Tourism

sharonfowle

Tourism

The 'Gateway 4 Growth' Conference and Exhibition last month was a great success and was well attended by the region's businesses and residents. The catalyst for the event was about business to business and networking, but it was also a golden opportunity for the region.

Donna Hudson I love this time of year! Autumn brings misty mornings that unfold into beautiful days with clear skies. Did you know the water is also warmer as the season changes? was reminded of this recently on an early morning when we had horses loaded up and we were headed for some horse riding. Seeing the mist travelling around the mountains following the creek and dew on the paddocks, there was a sense of calm and anticipation about the day ahead. Once we came to the Manning River, it was stunning.

The sun was rising and reflecting off the glassy water. Only rowers were quietly and rhythmically breaking the surface. It made me think how lucky we are to have such a beautiful asset here in our valley.

The newly upgraded foreshore is the perfect place to take in the Manning River and enjoy all it has to offer. Grab yourself a coffee and snack from one of the cafés, bring a picnic, or your pushbikes. Set up under one of the huge trees and relax and unwind.

The foreshore is also a popular venue for events. Coming up at Easter is the Powerboat Spectacular, a formula 1 powerboat event which is sure to be a crowd pleaser for the school holidays.

Another holiday favourite in the Manning Valley is Old Bar and Saltwater National Park.

As the closest seaside community to Taree and Wingham, Old Bar/Saltwater is a top choice for family holiday fun.

For us, after putting the horses in a friend's paddock for a few hours, we set off with our swimmers and hiking boots to explore Saltwater National Park and to do the five islands walk and search for dolphins.

Saltwater Beach is a much-loved surfing area, also great for swimming and sunbathing.

The large, well-equipped Saltwater picnic area, adjacent to the beach, makes a perfect spot to relax between swims. Or, you can paddle a canoe, kayak, or fish amongst the mangroves along Khappinghat Creek.

The five island walk was amazing! We had the opportunity to see examples of the fish

I

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traps the local Aboriginal people used to catch fish. There are also beautiful carvings in some of the Coolabah trees.

However, the girls were very insistent we do the Headland walk, as one of the things they really wanted to see were the Bottlenose Dolphins famous in the area for surfing the waves. So, off we set. The views from Headland walking track were spectacular. We spoke with some lovely people who advised us as well as seeing dolphins - it's a great place to spot Humpback Whales on their annual migration, and suggested we keep our eyes open for sea eagles swooping into the sea to catch their prey, and brush turkeys wandering along the tracks in search of food. We didn’t see any dolphins, whales, sea eagles or brush turkeys, but what a wonderful reason to come back over the coming months.

Our final activity was back to friends for the afternoon, tack up the horses and head to the beach at Mitchell’s Island. This is always a favourite of ours (not that we get to do it very often) and the horses love it too. An afternoon on the beach, in and out of the water and running on the sand with huge smiles on our faces, and the water temperature was just right.

What a full and complete day!

Coming home happy and fulfilled, the setting sun was peeping through the trees, giving an orange glow to the leaves. The paddocks were shining and looked like they had grown an inch during the day. I think a good day was had by all!

A range of helpful information is available from the Manning Valley Visitors Information Centre along Manning River Drive, by visiting www.manningvalley.info or calling 1800 182 733. Don’t forget to like us on facebook.

Search for Visit Manning Valley. We would love to hear your stories and experiences.

Enjoy the month ahead in the Manning Valley.

o underpin the economy going huge market. forward, we do need infrastructure The report that we have commissioned and which will bring investment. We are funded is a benchmark at a point in time. no different to any other regional We have many challenges for our region, but economy, other than it appears we don’t have we are constantly amazed by the diversity a lot to hang our hat on. We are vulnerable to and ingenuity of many of our local firms and the high dependency on social services, health businesses to survive. Taree has been bypassed care and the retail trade. We have opportunity for many years and this, coupled with the with our farming and agricultural land to manufacturing downturn, has presented become more intensive in our farming and food this community and particularly the business production for the future. community with a number of challenges.

By having a freight hub or distribution point The Northern Gateway project is not the on the national highway within striking distance silver bullet, but it certainly has the of Sydney that fits within the national capacity to generate economic activity trucking guidelines and fatigue via construction, investment and management laws, we are well employment. The Manning placed to offer that facility Valley Business Chamber and service to freight have been contacted on and other companies a number of occasions We have just requiring distribution already by investment a introduced r to and from Sydney companies seeking be em member to m ch hi w e m and Brisbane. It to invest in our m ra og reward pr nt ca ifi gn si is not an unreal region. This a e id can prov ly on t no to expectation or illustrates that n tio attrac ss ne si bu vision to be a nationally people se ea cr in to keep gateway to western are looking to turnover, but also” NSW. Much of inland invest and support services in town. freight travels north or good projects and south and misses a direct communities in regional route to the coast.

Australia.

We have an opportunity with We have been successful our natural beauty and attractions to on the national stage for creating a be a far more popular tourism destination than regionally significant piece of infrastructure we currently are. Having naturally beautiful as a project and had 10M dollars committed surrounds is not a meal ticket to financial by the Federal Government, which we should stability or activity. Thanks to the previous be taking advantage of. The Greater Taree local Federal Member, we are at the front of City Council's project was assessed by an the pack for NBN, regardless of what it might independent panel of experts in regional look like in the future, but for us we need to and infrastructure growth. The project capitalise on that competitive advantage. has its challenges, but none of these are We should present ourselves as a true insurmountable and there are many benefits to lifestyle and remote work based location. this project.

Metropolitan Sydney and the wider Sydney I would like to take this opportunity to thank basin are choked, and seemingly the problem our sponsors and especially ANZ and Saxby’s. A is not getting better. Like many major capital big thanks also to our exhibitors and speakers cities around the globe, Sydney is becoming a for their contribution to this worthwhile event. place of work, with many exiting on weekends Copies of the economic report are available and for short breaks. There is also a need on to Chamber members. For information the lower and the Mid North Coast, for a on monthly business events, please visit regional convention centre. Other than some www.manningvalleychamber.com.au of our fine clubs, we don’t have specifically or send your email address to admin@ designed conference facilities, which is still a manningvalleychamber.com.au

T

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SWEET PEA animal hospital The people, the journey and the destination.

For Robert McMahon and Samantha Blake, Sweet Pea Animal Hospital represents the NEW cornerstone of their undertaking to fulfil their combined passion to provide genuine care for animals both here and around the world.

It does not take long to see Rob and Sam’s real commitment to the welfare of animals.

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he People Rob has been a practising veterinarian for over 18 years, fulfilling his childhood dream. He has worked here in Forster for 13 years and feels privileged to have been a part of the entire lives of many of his patients – from their first vaccinations to their precious final days. He has become a trusted family friend of many of his loyal clients over that time.

Sam began veterinary nursing in 2009 but has been committed to the welfare of animals since she was in her teens, lobbying for voiceless animals on behalf of many welfare organisations. Sam loves her job and couldn’t ask for anything more than to spend her days caring for animals.

48 manning-great lakes focus.

Both Rob and Sam are genuinely committed to caring for animals, whether they have an owner or not. They have been actively involved in the care and welfare of local wildlife, which is done on a voluntary basis and are both carers for the local branch of Animal Welfare League, caring for and assisting in the rehoming of dozens of loveable cats and dogs.

The Journey The welfare work that they do doesn’t stop there – both Rob and Sam have been involved in a number of volunteer expeditions to other parts of the world.

These missions often involve the de-sexing and treatment of companion animals, as well as the treatment and care of exotic

wildlife such as Sun Bears, Slow Loris, Macaques, Moon Bears, and European Brown Bears. Their journeys have included destinations such as Cambodia, Borneo, Java, Bali, China, Romania and most recently the Pilbara, in Western Australia, working with organisations such as Free the Bears, International Animal Rescue, Animals Asia, and AMRRIC (Animal Management in Remote and rural Indigenous Communities).

The Destination Rob and Sam opened Sweet Pea Animal Hospital earlier this year. The hospital is located just on the outskirts of Forster on a picturesque bushland acreage and has been the topic of much speculation during the months of renovation.

Rob and Sam plan to open a rescue centre and sanctuary for both wildlife and companion animals to provide a safe haven for sick, injured and homeless animals in the area. Through this centre they hope to care for, rehome and release back to the wild as many animals as possible.

Their future plans also include an education centre, where their knowledge and skills can be shared with others to further assist in the welfare of animals. The education centre could host school children, adult education, and overseas guests involved in animal care in other parts of the world.

Their mission is to improve the quality of life for animals of all shapes and sizes in all parts of the world.

STEM CELL THERAPY The Manning Vet and Midcoast Animal Hospital are proud to announce the introduction of stem cell therapy to dogs suffering from degenerative joint disease.

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Jackson and Sarah are the first recipients in this area

he most common cause of lameness in the hind quarter of dogs is cruciate disease.

A cruciate deficient dog, in essence, suffers from an unstable knee.

This is a very debilitating disease, which especially in larger dogs will lead to arthritic changes in the joint, resulting in high levels of discomfort and pain.

Traditionally we employed a surgical technique involving placing a band implant around the knee to help stabilise it. This is a method of repair which is performed by most veterinarians in general practice, with generally good results. However, this technique does have its drawbacks; for example, the implant removes the ability of the knee to rotate and can stifle natural movement.

There are more preferred surgical techniques, which were in the past limited to specialist orthopaedic surgeons.

Dr Geert Lampen has, three years ago, completed a course in this advanced surgical procedure, as he

felt that there must be a better way to fix a broken knee. He has successfully performed this surgery in close to thirty cases with a great success rate, to return his patients to a normal pain free quality of life.

The surgical procedure is called a tibeal tuberosity advancement (or TTA), and to his knowledge the Manning and Midcoast Animal Hospital are the only veterinary hospitals offering this solution to patients in the ManningGreat Lakes area.

Dr Lampen stresses that he is not a specialist, but has a special interest in orthopaedics in small animals. He has invested a great deal into know how and equipment to do this and after three years feels confident that he has the technical skills to perform a TTA with good results.

As the latest introduction to this he is now offering stem cell therapy to these or any patient suffering from osteoarthritis. In his research to optimise his surgical cases, he came across the Australian Veterinary Stem Cell Company operating from the

Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratory of the Monash University, who are able to deliver donor stem cells.

"This is cutting edge medicine," said Dr Lampen. There is good reason to believe that this therapy offers great benefit to the patients in terms of comfort levels in affected joints. They have very powerful anti-inflammatory properties and from a study and clinical trials conducted at Monash University, it was concluded that over half the treated animals showed significant improvement as ascertained by veterinarians and owners.

The therapy now does away with the very complicated stem cell therapy which was traditionally available to select few animals and was also limited to veterinarians who had to undergo training and certification to offer this.

"I feel that we have again set the bar, and I'm proud to announce that three of my patients had this therapy as an adjunct to a TTA knee reconstruction."

Both the owners and Dr Lampen are very happy with the results so far.

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AUSMULCH LANDSCAPE SUPPLIES

MANNING-GREAT LAKES

property guide

Ausmulch is a local business run by locals. Husband and wife team, Rodney and Michelle Thompson, started Ausmulch a little over four years ago and have built a reputation for excellence in not just landscape supplies and products, but also in tree removal, stump grinding, earthmoving and excavator works, heavy haulage, civil works and equipment hire.

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hrissy Jones had the pleasure of meeting the friendly team and finding out just what is on offer for all from the Whitbread Street Yard in Taree Industrial Area, from owner Rodney Thompson.

About the business ... Ausmulch.

Ausmulch was formed in 2009. My wife, Michelle, and I are keen gardeners and were frustrated with nothing being open over the weekends, which is when most people are able to do their gardening.

We had also been frustrated with the quality of service and the high price of such things as tree work. Michelle and I enjoy working in the yard, so we felt we had a great desire and experience to develop a busin business second to none for the residents and businesses of the Manning and Great Lakes area.

The business is a family run concern, with our daughters involv involved in working in the yard and our son helps with tthe monthly specials. Both Michelle and I are availab available each weekend, as this is the time that the majorit majority of our home gardeners are out and about and w we get to have a talk with them all.

Our family is a product of the Manning Valley, w wi tth hM ichelle g ic with Michelle growing up in Taree and attending

50 5 0 man manning-great m an a nn nin ing in g--g g-g grea rea re eat llakes ake ak a kes ffo focus. foc ocus oc us.

the Taree West Public School, which we recently supported on their working bee day.

Our 7 children have all been raised in Taree, with 5 being born at the Manning Base Hospital. We are proud to say we love the Manning Valley and the Great Lakes.

Tell us about your parent company – Ausorg ...

The Ausorg Group encompasses: Ausmining, Auscivil as well as Ausmulch. As a group, the business employs over 60 staff currently, and we have big plans to increase this number towards 200 over the next 12-18 months, with some exciting new expansion plans. We are not multinationals; whilst we work in every state in Australia, the money stays in the Manning Valley and Great Lakes. As a company we try to support local business by shopping local as much as possible.

Sometimes though, we are forced to buy outside the area due to either availability or for commercial reasons, which I am sure everyone can understand.

The Ausmining division of the company has been operational for 10 years this month - something we are very proud of. We have survived the GFC, as well as the downturn in the mining industry.

Ausmulch has gone against the trend, with our local business growing whilst others have

AUSMULCH LANDSCAPE SUPPLIES

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Ausmulch consolidated and in some cases shut their operations down. Through the strength of our relationships with our major equipment suppliers such as Hitachi Construction Machinery, Mavin Hino and Mavin Truck Centre, Ausmulch has experienced substantial growth over the past 12 months. This growth stems from the quality of their trucks and equipment supplied, the back up service provided and being able to turn around both in a short timeframe, which has been essential to the expansion of our business. If you take a drive past the Whitbread Street yard you can see the amount of action that takes place here on a daily basis. Our trucks, utes and

Our family is a product of the with Manning Valley, up g in ow Michelle gr ing nd te at d an e inTare ic bl Pu the Taree West ntly ce re e w School, which r ei th on d supporte y.” working bee da

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equipment are all sign written by Signs Made Simple in Wingham, and I can assure you that you won’t miss them on the road.

The senior management team are all long term locals, with all of them growing up in the Manning Valley and Great Lakes area. Some are second or third generation in the area and have young families of their own.

Our employees live right across the

Manning Valley and Great Lakes areas such as Harrington, Lansdowne, Taree, Wingham, Old Bar, Wallabi Point, Nabiac, Tuncurry, Forster and Pacific Palms. I believe this provides all of us with the focus to make the business a success and provide future employment opportunities for our children and other local youth.

What do you offer on site at 61 Whitbread Street, Taree?

The business provides a wide range of services that are all based around a one stop shop for both the home gardener and professional landscaper. Ausmulch can provide for tree removal, excavation works, landscape works, equipment hire, retaining wall systems and landscape supplies. We have specialist equipment in house that is unique to our business. An example of this is the bark blower: a machine designed to blow mulch or soil from the truck direct to the garden, saving on the mess and back breaking work of moving these products by wheel barrow.

Similarly, we have a straw blower and a hydro-seeder as well.

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Tiger Turf has ns, many applicatio a to ns ee gr from putting e th r fo ea ar hopscotch yard . kids in the back n ca Ausmulch staff ly pp su or supply only for rf Tu r ge Ti l and instal any on e your convenienc project.�

“ Our Whitbread Street facility has a wide range of landscaping products, from soils, sands, gravels, decorative gravels, garden mulch, soil conditioners, river stone, treated pine, fire wood, bush rocks, water features, garden art, plants, turf, and the list goes on.

Ausmulch caters for both retail and wholesale customers, offering a friendly and efficient service including free delivery in the local area.

You have some new products in the yard; tell us about those ...

The staff have sourced new products due to

requests and enquiries from customers. These include Cement Australia products, Oz Logs, Tiger Turf, treated pine products and chook manure.

The restricted availability in the area of a variety of cement products and paving sand has seen us introduce a range of these products at Ausmulch. We now have GP Cement, Off White Cement, Concrete Mix, Rapid Set, Concrete, Clay and Paving Gap Sand.

Local turf supplier Waterwise Turf have also joined the list of Ausmulch suppliers, and we are now their local exclusive distributor.

They have several types of turfing solutions, and we have a couple on display in the yard for customers to touch and feel.

Oz Logs is a fantastic new product we have just introduced, being a concrete retaining wall and stepping stone that allows you to have a

wood look, but with the durability of concrete - certainly something worth coming to the yard to check out.

Ausmulch is proud to also announce that we are now the local distributor for Tiger Turf, which is an artificial turf product. Our customers can find more info on this product at www.tigerturf.com.au - we supply a variety of their products, including landscape grasses and sports surfaces. Tiger Turf has many applications, from putting greens to a hopscotch area for the kids in the backyard.

Ausmulch staff can supply only or supply and install Tiger Turf for your convenience on any

O PERUTST NA FO AN TIO RM DI NA AN NG TR L BUFCE IN IAL FA S LO

ph. 6550 5808 m. 0427 011 713

Premium Soft Leaf Buffalo

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info@waterwiseturf.com.au www.waterwiseturf.com.au

AUSMULCH LANDSCAPE SUPPLIES

project.

Our range of treated pine products includes sleepers and construction timbers. Grant, our resident 'Treated Pine Specialist' is happy to answer any questions and offer suggestions to assist. If we don't have what you want in stock, we are happy to order it in.

Ausmulch is always open to suggestions; if there is something you would love to see us stock, let us know and we will do our best to source the product and offer it at the yard.

How many staff does Ausmulch have?

We employ 13 people directly out of the yard, with a number of others driving trucks delivering product to the yard. You cannot

miss our people. Ausmulch have a company uniform with the red and black shirts and mandatory smile.

They are the most important thing we have. Our friendly, helpful staff are more than willing to assist our customers in any way they can. We are not suggesting our staff know everything, but we will try and assist our customers no matter what the challenge might be. We have a wide range of skills in our workforce, including builders, an arborist and also a horticulturist.

How do you help the community?

Ausmulch is focused on supporting the local community, and we do this in a variety

of ways. Our employeess all contribute with their own time if required, which we feel is the best form of support, but we also support many sporting organisations, schools and kindergarden centres with financial contributions. We recently supported the local Tidy Up Taree Day and are keen to support similar future activities.

You may have noticed our signs up at the Taree Golf Club. Ausmulch and Auscivil have proudly donated and supplied the materials and labour for the construction of a beautiful rock retaining wall for the 13th tee. The wall was hand built with rocks selected and chosen to fit around each other - a very time

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consuming but necessary process to achieve the look we were after. Our management team attended the unveiling of the new look 13th Tee on March 8, and we are proud to be ongoing supporters of Club Taree and its patrons.

Ausmulch is also proud to be associated with and have sponsored locally the Taree Motorcycle Club at their Troy Bayliss Classic event and continuing through the year, the Manning Valley BMX Club Inc, one of the Taree Women’s Basketball teams, a Taree Women’s Indoor netball team, C.J’s Netball Club and most recently, CanAssist.

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AUSMULCH LANDSCAPE SUPPLIES

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Ausmulch t Our managemen team attended the new the unveiling of March on look 13th Tee d to ou pr e 8, and we ar ters or pp su g in be ongo its d of Club Taree an patron s.”

“ The Ausmulch team has just committed to sponsorship of a local sporting World Champion: who is the lucky person?

Ausmulch are very proud to be a personal sponsor of Taree's World Champion motorbike rider Alex Cudlin (QMMF Kawasaki). Alex will be commencing his World Endurance Superstock Cup assault at the Bol D’Or 24 Hour at Magny-Cours in France on the 26 April.

Like us, Alex strives for perfection and growth in his profession, and we believe he will be a fantastic ambassador for our brand both locally here in the Troy Bayliss Classic next January and throughout the year internationally competing in the World Endurance Championships.

Alex will be able to promote our business on his website and whilst at the track with branding.

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Ausmulch and Auscivil are very community minded, and our companies are proud to participate and support local people and events in the Manning Valley.

Alex, along with other local talented athletes and professionals, help put Taree and the Manning Valley on the map, which is fantastic for our region and we are glad to be a part of making that process happen.

What are your hours of operation?

We are open every day except Christmas Day each year. Our normal trading hours are 7am to 5pm week days and 8am to 4pm on weekends, but you will find people here from 6am to

6pm each day, and we also have a 24 hour service. So if you think you need something urgently the next day, call us and our friendly manager will assist you.

What is your future vision for the business?

Ausmulch is a progressive business and we are always on the lookout for new products.

We are currently building a retail shop that will supply synthetic plants and allow us to display and carry a variety of garden supplies including tools and equipment.

I am excited to see the Ausmulch business expanding and being able to offer a great

range of products at a great price. The business growth allows us to employ new people and add to our list of community groups that we support.

Our customers are the reason the business continues to grow; we encourage their involvement and suggestions - even criticisms are welcomed to help us to offer the best possible products and services we can.

How can people find out if you have a product or service to suit their home gardening or landscape needs?

Phone our friendly staff on 6552 5607, email us via ausmulch@ausorg.net or call into the yard at 61 Whitbread Street, in the Taree Industrial Estate to see for themselves; our range is extensive.

Thanks Rodney.

focusinterview.

k iChoonz k

James Byrne and Michael Eyb from iChoonz describe themselves as “human jukeboxes”, promising high-energy live gigs full of excitement, fantastic music and mind blowing performances. You can see iChoonz at weddings, functions and other gigs locally … check them out!

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ho are the various members of iChoonz, and what instruments do you all play?

JAMES BYRNE (Jim) - vocals, keyboards, percussion, acoustic guitar, sequencing and lighting.

LEE MURRAY - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, percussion.

MICHAEL EYB (Mick) - drums, vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar, business.

Where and when did you guys all meet? iChoonz the band is relatively new; however, the three of us have been great mates since the dawn of time. We all grew up playing music in other bands - in the ‘90s Jim was singing in Raw Material, Mick was drumming in Circle Of Fate and Lee was in the Triple J Unearthed winning band Plug - but it wasn’t until about 1998 that we formed a band called Meester Steenky. This was different to other bands at the time, because we used a lot of electronic gadgetry to give us a huge live sound.

Meester Steenky ended in 2001, and we all ‘got a haircut and a real job’. But in 2011 Mick and Jim felt the itch again, so we formed a band named Mumford Disben. In 2013 Lee finished up his awesome local band Mum Says Rock, and after a bit of a rest he jumped onboard - iChoonz was born!

What types of music do you most like to play as a band ... and how much does this differ to what you’d listen to if you were alone listening to your iPod or MP3 player?

As the name iChoonz suggests, we are a human jukebox of songs from every party friendly genre imaginable. We’re a loud and

proud covers band that works hard to ensure feet are stomping, arms are waving and voices are chanting for the whole gig.

Just like the old days of Meester Steenky, we still use lots of musical technology to make our sound really big and impressive! The difference now is that the technology is so good, which allows us to achieve things we only dreamt of 15 years ago. So even though we’re a covers band, we can use this technology to give it the signature iChoonz sound and blow the audiences’ minds with terrific sound and lighting. Put on top of that our silly antics on stage, and we’re in seventh heaven!

Chances are, if we needed a bit of a personal ‘pick-me-up’, we’d listen to the songs we play, because they are so damn fun - so our MP3 songs would mirror our live set.

What do you feel the best thing is about getting up on stage and performing?

Sharing the stage with each other and getting lost in the music. Many performers rely on the energy given by the crowd to fuel their performance. iChoonz works the other way by looking towards each other to create that initial spark of excitement and then projecting that energy back at the crowd, dragging them along for the ride. So they’re really being invited to be part of our world for the night, and sometimes we take the show to them - it’s pretty common to see Jim grab a drum and a handful of drumsticks and launch onto the dance floor so the crowd can jam with us. It’s crazy!

Where is your home base these days? Did you all grow up there, or move to the area?

We grew up in the local area and like lots of people went searching for bigger things on our own separate paths in locations as far away as

Sydney, Canberra, Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, compare with other corporate bands from Darwin and Brisbane. Despite this restlessness the big smoke. This way you can hire an in our 20s and 30s, we came back home to entire experience for your wedding reception, settle and have families, and we now currently engagement party or corporate event that will reside in Nabiac, Taree and Bonny Hills. leave everyone wanting more!

If an audience member was going to We’re including special lighting placed all describe your band in 5 words after a around the auditorium that will make the show, what do you think they’d say? whole room become part of the show, and Most of our audience members are rendered we’re also incorporating projectors with video incapable of speech after a gig, to complement the live show. We’re because we’ve blown their also offering other services like minds clean away! But a professional Emcee and contained somewhere slideshows to complement iChoonz works within their mumbling the formal part of the by the other way would most likely be event. It’s all very ch ea looking towards the words: “Now I can exciting, and something al iti in at th te other to crea d die happy”! that has never been an t en m te ci spark of ex Of all the songs attempted by a band at th g tin ec oj then pr crowd, e in your repertoire, th around this area before. at ck ba gy ener ong for al what is the one you What gigs do you em th ng gi ag dr most like to perform – have coming up? the ri de .” and why?

Because of our new There are too many to direction, there are fewer choose! Maybe you should opportunities to see us these come to a gig and tell us what your days (unless you’re getting married!) favourite one is!

However, we're playing at the Manning We hear that you’re starting to focus Hotel on May 24. a lot of energy into the wedding and Where can people download your music or corporate entertainment scenes. Tell us find out more info about the band? some more about that.

Our new website has all the info on our live Yes, we sure are. We’ve played a heap of gigs, as well as what we can do to make your wedding receptions and business house parties wedding or corporate function the best one and realised that we could really make these ever - go to www.ichoonz.net to get all the extra special through the use of better staging, guff. Alternatively, you could contact the local sound and lighting. So we’ve embarked on a area’s premier booking agents via www.live2u. mission to reinvent our live show with better com.au - You can also search for ‘iChoonz’ on sound, music and effects lighting. This is Facebook, YouTube and SoundCloud if you just massive, because our entire show is already can’t wait until the live gigs to see or hear us! automated, including the lighting. So we are Thanks guys. expanding the wow factor of our show to Photos left and centre by Live2U.

“

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Our business/products/services: Truss designs for all types of roof applications; manufacturing of quality frames and trusses using Boral Pinegard Blue; stockist of H3 treated pine in all section sizes and lengths; hardware shop supplying all the trades needs, as well as T & G flooring, decking, doors and mouldings.

Our own Knauf Plastamasta Centre, carrying wall and ceiling boards in all sizes, and all accessories for plasterers.

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Specialising in structural steel construction, they also work closely with builders, engineers and architects to ensure quality results with a professional finish. The team also provides a welding service for machinery repairs and general fabrication of jobs both small and large.

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WorkWise have grown from supplying workwear only, to now also supplying corporate wear, workboots, schoolwear, casual polos, chefs' wear and our new range of luxurious bamboo items, including socks, singlets, tees, blouses, shirts undies and towels, washers and more.

We have an in house embroidery service. Almost any logo can be embroidered, with minimal set up costs involved. We can embroider on workwear, sports clothing, towels, caps, bags and lots more.

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SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION WINNER TO PERFORM IN TAREE

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oung Canadian piano sensation Avan Yu, winner of the 2012 Sydney International Piano Competition, will give a recital in Taree on Friday, April 4, as part of a nationwide tour organised for the First Prize winner by the Competition Committee.

Avan will be presenting a selection of masterpieces by Beethoven, Debussy and Born in Hong Kong, Avan moved at the age of Chopin to be performed on the nine to Vancouver with his family.

Manning Entertainment He studied with Kenneth Centre’s Yamaha Concert Broadway and Ralph Grand.

Markham in Vancouver, Hailed as a stic force ni ia “p before moving to Berlin One of Canada’s astonishing an ith w to study with Klaus most exciting nd nsitivity far beyo se Hellwig at the Berlin young pianists, his years”, Avan University of the Arts.

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Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Salle Cortot in Paris, and the Nacional Auditorio de Música in Madrid. He is an avid chamber musician and has collaborated with celebrated musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Cuarteto Casals, Armida Quartett, Johannes Moser, and Geoff Nuttall.

international Avan won the Gold as soloist with d an as tr recognition when Medal at the Canadian es ch or nd he triumphed at the conductors arou Chopin Competition the world ...”

Sydney International at the age of seventeen, Piano Competition in and the Silver Medal and 2012, winning First Prize People's Choice Award at along with nine special awards. the Santander International Piano Hailed as a “pianistic force with an Competition in 2008. His performances astonishing sensitivity far beyond his have been broadcast on WQXR Radio in years”, Avan Yu has appeared as soloist New York, Bayerischer Rundfunk, the CBC, with orchestras and conductors around the the Australian Broadcasting Network, China world, including Rafael Fruehbeck de Burgos Central Television and Radio, Radiotelevisión and the Dresden Philharmonic, Pinchas Española, Radio Nacional de España, the NDR Zukerman and the National Arts Centre Kultur Hamburg and the Südwestrundfunk.

Orchestra in Ottawa, and Christian Arming He has just recorded a CD of Liszt/Schubert and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In Transcriptions for NAXOS which will be addition, he has performed with the Sydney released later this year.

Symphony Orchestra, Morocco Philharmonic, Tickets for the recital are available from Real Filharmonica de Galicia, Slovak Radio Movies, Games & More in Taree or from the Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, Windsor Entertainment Centre website.

Symphony, and Nova Scotia Symphony FURTHER INFORMATION: Orchestra.

Ian Carr, Ph (02) 6552 1662 In recital, Avan has performed at the or mob 0432 572 445.

focusrealestate.

with Amanda Tate - L.J Hooker

Just closed a deal on a residential development property for over market expectation, which allows me to reflect on the 'boom' in 2003.

It is hard not to see the similar signs in the Manning Valley of when the Manning Valley market took off back then and real estate prices nearly doubled. 2003 was definitely a great year for all who were in the property market. So, are we seeing another boom?

O

ur market is definitely moving very quickly, and properties under $200,000 are becoming scarce. Sydney buyers are keen to buy multiple investment properties, as our rental returns are still high in comparison to other areas while vacancy rates remain low.

As quality properties become scarce, it is inevitable that our prices will finally rise again.

As we all know, capital growth in our area is well overdue.

We are in the ideal market, with low interest rates, affordable housing prices and high rent yields creating the perfect environment for future capital growth. There is an urgency back in our market that hasn’t been here for over ten years, as buyers are racing to exchange to prevent losing the deal as another buyer is usually right behind them waiting to step in.

This also assists in getting good offers on properties and quick exchanges. It is great to feel the positive vibe in our community again, with the hot market allowing people to move on with their lives.

M A R C H Q UA R T E R What sections of the market are moving? Nearly all of it. Whilst the lower end has been moving well for the past twelve months, new homes at the high end are also selling and proving very popular for sea/ tree changes. Units and villas that have been sitting on It is great the market for lengthy to feel the r ou periods are being positive vi be in in , a g snapped up by astute indication that serious they are listed at the right price. The Wingham community a arket m t investors getting their o investors are once again residential market under the $270,000 is in with the h ple to foot into our market confident to buy in our strong demand, with prices increasing by allowing peo their before prices rise. The area. move on with around 10% in some areas.

Forster and Old Bar Larger rural acres are lives .�

So where does that leave our locals? market is red hot, with currently in demand by Be thankful we live in such a great area and some properties being sold investors from Sydney, with have confidence to invest in where we live. prior to auction due to offers interest also from the Chinese Now is definitely the time to buy, although it well over price expectations. market. There have been a couple of is getting harder to source those bargains that Commercial is slowly reactivating; however, sales over the million dollar price tag, which have been right under our nose for years. yield expectations are still high at around 9.5% is promising. Rural specialist, Tim Bale, And to all who own property in our area, to 10% which is an opportune time for buyers quoted that they are getting good enquiry enjoy the capital growth you are about to in this market. The recent sale of the Rivers on all rural properties, with the $400,000 to building in Victoria Street, Taree is a good experience and use that equity wisely. $600,000 properties selling quickly provided

M RKET REVIEW

“

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60M i d - N o r t h

Coast Focus Magazine

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