Your Time Brisbane February 2018

Your Time Your You ur pr premier remie er 5 55+ 5+ magazine magazine

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WAIT FOR PAY DAY GETTING THE PENSION CAN BE HARD WORK

MATCHMAKER CREATIVITY ONE STICK AT A TIME

MANGLISH MANIPULATING THE LANGUAGE

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BRISBANE EDITION 35, FEBRUARY 2018 01.indd 1

BOOKS TRAVEL PUZZLES

24/01/2018 12:42:57 PM

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02.indd 2

23/01/2018 11:55:29 AM

Editor’s note

M

any signs of advancing age are starting to turn up, most obvious among them the old body starting to show signs of wear – aching knees, swollen fingers, snoring, chin hairs ... it’s a long list.

The years unaccountably fly by and the offspring of old friends have become parents themselves.

Another pointer is the newspaper classifieds, or the matched, hatched and despatched as we used to call it.

There was a time when we read the engagement notices, then the wedding notices and the birth notices.

Dad would always read the funeral notices and now I know why.

These days, polite inquiry has changed from asking about the boyfriend/spouse/kids, to “have you retired yet?”.

Brisbane

03.indd 3

Contents Although social media has largely taken away the simple pleasure of reading the columns to see who is doing what with whom and when, if there were still matched, hatched and despatched columns, I would suggest adding a new one under the headline Recently Retired, to be known as unlatched or perhaps scratched.

Although it is still a few years away, alas not many, for me it seems most of the folk of my acquaintance have already had their names qualify for such a column.

Phil McEwart, a recently retired colleague, found to his dismay that reclaiming the hard-earned he had been handing over throughout his working life, was neither easy nor matching expectation.

Driven by his personal experience, he has extensively researched the system and examined the issues to write this month’s special investigation on the challenges of claiming what many believe to be our due, the age pension.

Basically the best reward for a lifetime’s work is not having to do it any more. Make the most of it.

Dorothy Whittington, Editor

4

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

8

LETTERS

10

LANGUAGE WATCH

12

TIME WARP

15

BEAUTY

16

OUR PEOPLE

18

HISTORY

19

TECHNOLOGY

20

MOTORING

22

FINANCE

23

DECLUTTERING

24

CARE AFFAIRS

25

HEALTH

26

BOOK REVIEW

27

RETIREMENT LIVING

28

WHAT’S ON

30

TRAVEL

37

TRIVIA

38

PUZZLES

20

16

18

30

12

PUBLISHER Michelle Austin 5493 1368. EDITOR Dorothy Whittington editor@yourtimemagazine.com.au ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES 0438 717 210. sales@yourtimemagazine.com.au.

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February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 3

24/01/2018 11:21:05 AM

COVER STORY

Waiting for pay day

A Your Time special investigation

For decades, the Baby Boomers imagined that when it was their turn to retire, they would simply sign on and receive the old age pension they believed they had been paying for since starting their first job five decades earlier. Alas, reports PHIL McEWART, it’s just not that simple.

A

ge pension applicants are waiting up to six months for their claims to be processed as the number of Australians reaching retirement age surges and government looks for savings across the budget.

Frustrated applicants say inefficiencies in the system, including inactive claims going undetected for weeks, oversights in the handling of documents, and a workforce under pressure from the sheer volume of claims, are contributing to the delays.

They also feel they are being put under the microscope as part of the Federal Government’s attempt to cut welfare spending, which, for age pensioners, will amount to $45.4 billion this financial year and balloon to $52.3 billion in four years.

The soaring cost to the national purse is being driven by almost 200,000 age pension claims each year as the baby boomer generation – born between 1946 and 1964, and making up one in five Australians – reaches retirement age.

Demographers and social policy experts warn that this shift by boomers from work (and tax contribution) to the pension (and a drain on the national purse) will have profound implications for the national accounts.

They also say a sceptical younger generation may resent supporting retirees into old age.

The Department of Human Services did not specifically comment on the six-month processing times, but front-line staff make no secret of the fact when

PENSION STATS 2016-17

174,000

25%

claims finalised during year, up from 156,000 the previous year

of claims rejected

60%

36

of rejected claims due to applicants not responding to request for further information

average number of days to finalise a claim

24%

of rejected claims due to applicants exceeding income and assets test threshold

Source: DSS and Department of Human Services

pension applicants complain about the delay.

A spokesman for the department said processing times varied depending on the complexity of an individual case, and how many claims the department was handling at any one time.

In 2016-17, the median number of days to finalise an age pension claim was 36 days.

He said the department was committed to processing claims in the shortest possible time, and that there were now fewer age pension claims on hand than at any time in the past three years.

But with the Department of Social Services (DSS) expecting the number of age pension recipients in Australia to grow by 265,000 over the next four years – from 2.502 million in June 2017 to 2.765 million in June 2021, a growth rate of 10.5 per cent – it’s unlikely the workload, or processing times, will reduce.

Your Time spoke to many pensioners and claimants still going through the process to gauge their experiences and observations, to get an understanding of the situation.

Our investigation found the elderly were sympathetic to the huge logistical challenge faced by department staff, and praised the attitude of front-line staff in particular, who they described as caring and quick to enquire if claimants were facing imminent financial difficulties.

Others are suspicious and don’t like the long wait, even though pensions are back paid to the time a claim is lodged, fearing there is another agenda aimed at depriving them of their entitlements.

Calls for welfare reforms by politicians over recent years have not been missed by

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Baby Boomers. In answering questions, a DSS spokesman referred to the 2015 Intergenerational Report.

It stated that if no changes were made to the current system, age and service pension payments would increase from 2.9 per cent of GDP in 2014-15 to 3.6 per cent by 2054-55.

He said reforms were essential to ensure Australia had a sustainable welfare system for future generations.

Pensioners revealed a number of problem areas they had encountered in processing their applications.

Being assured over the helpline that a claim was progressing was no guarantee everything done up to that point was in order and satisfactory, said one disgruntled pensioner whose claim took almost six months to approve.

“About three months in, the girl on the helpline discovered my claim was inactive, it was just sitting there going nowhere,” he said.

“She couldn’t tell me why that might be the case but she did say it was unusual. She was apologetic and kickstarted it again, but about a month later it went inactive again.

“Much later I learned the sticking point was a piece of paper I should have given them at the outset months earlier.

“But nothing had been said all the way through; the counter bloke didn’t spot the oversight, and subsequent front-line staff were none the wiser either. The cogs of the machine weren’t all in synch.”

A woman described how she had received a one-sentence letter stating her claim had been rejected because she hadn’t responded to an earlier letter from the department.

“I was really puzzled because I hadn’t

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COVER STORY

WHERE THE PROBLEMS CREEP IN

GROWING PENSIONER POPULATION

From first-hand accounts, Your Time has learned problem areas in the processing system can include:

2.502 million 2.765 million 10.5% number of age pension recipients at June 2017

expected number of recipients by June 2021

growth in recipients between June 2017 and June 2021

Source: DSS and Department of Human Services

had any previous mail from the department,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I rang in a bit of a panic and asked â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;what letter, I havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t received any letterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The problem was eventually traced to my very first contact with them two months earlier, when I gave them my documents.

One piece of paper was missing, a fact not picked up by the man on the front desk. It was an error on my part, but also his too.â&#x20AC;?

Pension applicants admit front-line staff are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of applications. â&#x20AC;&#x153;How many staff do you need to handle 200,000 pension applications a year,â&#x20AC;? asked a retired Brisbane electrician. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Even if you had 5000 staff working

flat out it would be a hell of a job. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to expect human error, fatigue, and, dare I say, boredom to creep in.â&#x20AC;?

AUTHORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NOTE People in my bracket havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really had a lifetimeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work contributing to super because, at the outset, the contributions from both sides were modest, and only relatively recently did salary sacrifice allow us laggards to ramp up contributions.

My son has more super than me, a situation that is probably experienced by many Boomers. The next generation will be in a much better position to care for themselves in retirement.

The Centrelink crew, by the way, are doing a great job against overwhelming odds.

I heard no criticism of them.

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES â&#x20AC;˘ The number of Age Pension recipients at June 2017 was 2.502 million and is projected to increase by approximately 10.5 per cent to 2.765 million by June 2021. â&#x20AC;˘ In 2017â&#x20AC;&#x201C;18, the projected expenditure for Age Pension is $45.382 billion and is projected to increase to $52.311 billion in 2020-21. â&#x20AC;˘ According to the 2015 Intergenerational

Peace of mind at a great price

Report, if the Australian Government made no changes, it was estimated that payments made through the age and service pensions would increase from 2.9 per cent of Gross Domestic Product in 2014-15 to 3.6 per cent by 2054-55. â&#x20AC;˘ Reform is essential to ensure Australia has a welfare system that remains financially sustainable for future generations.

â&#x20AC;˘ Front-line staff donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always spot inadequate or missing documentation in the early stages of the process, leading to long delays, sometimes months later, when the issue is discovered by senior department staff. â&#x20AC;˘ Applications can fall into a black hole where they remain inactive; claims are supposed to either progress through the system or be rejected. â&#x20AC;˘ Postal services donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always operate efficiently. In one case, a rejection letter took more than three weeks to be delivered to a Caboolture applicant. â&#x20AC;˘ Applicants not being fully aware of the processing procedure. If the department requires additional information it will ask for it within a fixed time; if, for instance, the applicant is off visiting relatives and misses the deadline, their claim will be rejected.

â&#x20AC;˘ Applicants not entirely comfortable with technology can struggle applying through the online system. â&#x20AC;˘ Different helpline staff sometimes give conflicting advice.

The investigation also revealed that having few, or modest, assets does not mean your application will progress any faster. It all hangs on providing the right documentation within a set time.

THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES SAYS: The Government is streamlining the Age Pension claim process, making it quicker and easier for older Australians, and improving the user experience for those who claim Age Pension online.

Applying through the new online claiming channel is faster and more efficient for claimants as it ensures all necessary information is submitted when lodging a claim.

Age Pension claims generally take longer to process than other claims, as the department has to assess often complex income and asset information and frequently go back to claimants to request additional information.

We strongly encourage people claiming Age Pension to make sure they have provided all the supporting paperwork required for their claim upfront, to avoid any delays in processing their claim.

The department routinely adjusts staffing arrangements to meet changing demand and government priorities, and the number of staff allocated to Age Pension processing generally increases during periods of peak demand, such as the end of financial year.

Improvements to technology and department systems are also speeding up the claims process.

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February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 5

24/01/2018 9:54:05 AM

COVER STORY

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, CALL YOUR FEDERAL MP Beverley Johnston was 66 and had handed in her notice at her workplace that she would retire at the end of March 2016.

This is her story: “I knew there was a lot of paperwork involved to obtain a pension, so three weeks before I was due to finish, I went online and downloaded the forms. Also knowing that phone systems were difficult, I attended in person at my local Centrelink office to file it.

“I did the usual waiting around and finally saw somebody who copied all my paperwork and advised me that it was all in order, and they would be in contact.

“I really thought everything would be in place so that when I finished work I would get the pension straight away. That was my optimistic hope, at least.

“I was advised in a phone call from Centrelink that because I hadn’t physically left work and received a separation certificate, my application had been rejected, even though I was well over 65.

“I finished work and went through it all again. Back into the Centrelink office and more waiting only to be told it couldn’t be dealt with there and I would have to post the paperwork with my separation certificate. They assured me that within a week or two, someone would let me know how it was all going.

“I waited a moth and then called - and

6 YOUR TIME MAGAZINE / February 2018

06.indd 2

remember every time you phone it takes at least an hour, sometimes longer to get someone.

“I was on hold for over an hour and was then referred on – and on, and on.

“For five months, I called periodically and every time they would say that it was another department, it was being assessed, it wasn’t filed properly, it wasn’t progressing, you have to wait your turn, they would let me know … there was always an excuse.

“Basically, this stalling process went on for months. Because I still had a bit in super, which was below the assets test, I was told that until I had actually run out of money completely they couldn’t put me on a hardship list.

“They want you to spend every cent you have before you go on a hardship list and speed things up.

“I went through five months of these calls, collapsing in tears, enduring the to-ing and fro-ing, and being put off. I had to spend every cent I had, so there goes the medical emergency funds.

“They were also asking for my latest bank statements and super statements, so I was still regularly filing paperwork and still nothing would happen.

“In the end, after 75 minutes on a call, I rang my local federal member. The women in the office were very helpful and said they had a contact in the

department. Within two days they had called me back and said it was moving.

“Within a week I had my pension plus I was backpaid.

“I met all the criteria. I was a year over the age requirement and well within the assets threshold.

“I can’t understand the stalling if they are going to backpay me anyway. It’s not like they saved anything.

“I have worked and paid taxes all my life and expected equal efficiency in getting my pension as I experienced in paying my taxes.

“Basically, it doesn’t pay to think ahead or expect it to run smoothly. It doesn’t work to go into one of their offices, you just end up waiting there or using the phone there.

“I think they want you to die first, so they don’t have to pay it out.”

BACKGROUND About 174,000 Age Pension claims were finalised in the 2016-17 financial year, compared to 156,000 claims in the previous financial year.

In 2016-17, the department rejected about a quarter of Age Pension claims processed.

• more than 60 per cent were because the applicant did not respond to the department’s request for further information, and • almost a quarter (24 per cent) were because the applicant exceeded the income and assets test threshold.

Processing times can vary depending on the complexity of the individual case, and how many claims the department has at any one time. In 2016-17, the median number of days to finalise an Age Pension claim was 36 days.

GROWING BILL

$45.4

billion

Projected expenditure on age pensioners in 2017-18

52.3

billion

Projected expenditure in 2020-21

Source: DSS and Department of Human Services

Brisbane

24/01/2018 9:54:32 AM

COVER STORY

A total of 174,000 age pension claims were finalised in 2016-17. That’s equivalent to processing 3346 claims a week. Some workload. But that’s just for the age pension.

Add to it all the other types of

Tell us what you think Your Time would like to hear from readers about their experiences in accessing the age pension. Was it quick or slow? Efficient or problematic? We would also like to know if you have had any unusual experiences along the way. Your input will be used for a straw poll on the process. Email editor@yourtimemagazine.com.au telling us your experiences, plus what year you received the pension and how many days processing took.

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A MOUNTAIN OF CLAIMS

pension and support claims provided by the Federal Government and the figure for annual transactions is in the hundreds of millions, according to the new Social Services Minister Dan Tehan.

The Department of Human Services’ first piece of advice to age pension applicants is to make sure they have provided all the supporting paperwork required for their claim upfront, to avoid any delays in processing their claim.

The Government is streamlining the claim process.

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24/01/2018 9:56:36 AM

Letters

Have your say. Send letters to Editor, Your Time Magazine, PO Box 717, Spring Hill 4004 or email editor@yourtimemagazine.com.au

I would like to say how much I enjoyed the article on John McSweeney in December’s Your Time. It is wonderful to think how many people he has helped and whose lives his music has touched.

My Mum had a stroke 23 years ago and was left catatonic, but when she was wheeled down to a concert at the nursing home she would still be able to tap her feet along with the music.

Keep up the good work, John.

Jenny Quill “The Greatest Gift of All” by Dot Whittington (YT Dec) tells how John McSweeney’s sing-a-long music blesses those whose memories are fading and who have limited recall of long-term memories when something triggers their brain, “returning life to tired minds”!

What a wonderful gift for those who can no longer remember how they have contributed to our wonderful country.

Music is the universal language. My own mother suffered from dementia in her later years, but could sing along with songs deeply etched upon her memory.

She would suddenly come alive when the familiar sounds switched on. It was something permanently embedded in her brain.

Surprisingly, she sang along, even when conversation was limited.

Having also lived at Woody Point in my early childhood, I remember how my older brother went to Humpybong school along with Barry Gibb, in the same era as John Sweeney.

It was time when Australia had caught the music fever, with our own artists making their original music heard.

My own mother enjoyed the radio playing the current songs of the day, singing along with pop songs which are now part of our music history.

I’m sure the lyrics also helped with our literacy skills. The radio music was our only significant entertainment and connected us to the outside.

The music of our past will forever have a place in our hearts.

When our minds forget who we are, we’ll remember the joy the notes and words brought to our lives.

E. Rowe

Thank you for the gracious, wellresearched article in the January edition about our Aussie Men’s Shed movement and the articley.

The Men’s Shed movement owes a debt of gratitude for the example set since 1922 of the Country Women’s Association which has blessed Australia and deserves acknowledgement and national appreciation. Also to be praised are the supportive community of faith, service clubs and veterans groups.

Like the old co-operative movement, our voluntary men’s shed take no religious or political test for membership.

There is a sense of universal shared values of goodwill, mutual aid and cooperation that together we can do more than any one of us alone, like that good carpenter tradesman of long ago and his fishermen mates.

I am glad the Men’s Sheds are a safe, cheerful and decent society for mutual aid and shared opportunity.

Jay Streeter Yes, well, it serves me right! I knew when I’d proofed it that some readers would get up a head of steam. To court controversy over a tradition that for many people is sacred was bound to stir the possum.

I am amazed at how many letters to editors have appeared this year in various newspapers, not just in Australia,

over the actual date of Christ’s birth.

So, my thanks to Bryan Hughes, Alan Weatherilt and Peter M Brown for correcting my several inaccuracies (all right, my mistakes). It just goes to show that there are a lot of very educated and erudite readers of Your Time, who will pick up on any boo-boos by contributors.

What I was trying to suggest was that, in our frenzy of Christmas shopping, we seem to have forgotten what Christ’s Mass is all about; and how much of what we do to celebrate our religion is in fact imported commercial marketing, much of it from Germany.

Cards, trees, candles and presents for the family – and not for Jesus.

Readers will know from the New Year edition that I do not use Google or Wiki-nonsense. Or any other Internet thingy. I am not online.

My research comes from my school books (History, Year 8-12); from the many reference books and encyclopaedia in my extensive library at home; and from three years at university, burning the midnight oil to obtain my Honours degree in English Language and Literature. So, to quote Prospero at the end of The Tempest: “As you from crimes would pardon’d be, let your indulgence set me free.”

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Brisbane

24/01/2018 9:57:31 AM

It has some correct facts in it, but is riddled with errors.

Here are a few: Christianity was adopted as official religion of Roman Empire was in 380AD

by Theodosius, and Augustus certainly did not promulgate it.

David says “Augustus tried again in AD 49” but the earlier paragraph had Augustus dying in AD14. Perhaps David meant Julius Caesar. The dates of the Holy Roman Empire were 800–1806 AD according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, not starting just after Caesar Augustus.

It is more likely that Christianity hijacked the pagan festivals and cultural practices, which you said earlier.

And most of the customs are now practiced in western Christianity are from pagan or ancient customs, for example, Germany (trees) England (use of holly) etc. On the date David is probably correct, most unlikely to have been December 25 in winter, more likely in August or September for Jesus’s birth.

Correct information might get people to hear his final important points.

Thank you for the magazine. The articles are mostly quite informative and readable.

Martin Waterworth Diana Hacker’s interesting article “The hard life of a sailor’s wife” (YT Jan) is historically inaccurate in relation to

James Cook’s Royal Navy service.

He did not join the Royal Navy at the age of 13 but volunteered in 1755 aged 26.

James Cook was born October 27, 172.

He attended the local school and helped his father at work in the fields or ditching and hedging until he turned 16 when he was apprenticed to William Sanderson, a shopkeeper at Staithes, North Yorkshire.

In 1746, at the age of 18, he was apprenticed to John Walker, a shipowner and Master Mariner in Whitby, North Yorkshire. His “cats” were involved in the North Sea coal trade. By 1750, Cook had completed his seaman apprenticeship and in 1752, had passed all his examinations to be a Mate.

In early 1755, at the age of 26, Walker offered him a ship of his own. To his surprise and disappointment, Cook turned down the offer. He had a greater ambition and a growing curiosity to see more distant shores. On June 17, 1755, Cook signed on as an Able Seaman on HMS Eagle. I appreciate that the article is essentially about Elizabeth Batts and the life she endured but these are the salient facts about her husband.

Victor Tumath I have just heard an ABC commentator refer to a government initiative being “impactful”. Are we making up words or is it simply total disregard for the language?

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February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 9

24/01/2018 9:59:19 AM

WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE

Mangling the English Language There is nothing as user-friendly as a book, writes DAVID PARMITER who has just finished reading a book not on a screen, but in his hands.

L

ost for Words is a book about mangling and manipulating the English language – and it is wonderful.

The dedication at the front of the book reads: “To my grandchildren, struggling to learn to speak, in the hope that English will be as important to them as it has been to me.”

For obvious reasons (copyright) I cannot share much of it but as a reviewer I am allowed to quote a few bits. The author’s prime source of irritation appears to be grammar. As is mine.

Regular readers will know that I keep banging on (colloquial) about the inappropriate use of prepositions.

Winston Churchill instructed his press and secretarial staff about the placement of the preposition “with”.

“A preposition at the end of a sentence is something up with which I will not put,” he expostulated (look that one up).

John Humphrys, the author of the book to which I refer (note word order) fulminates against newspaper journalists, radio broadcasters (of which he was one) and television presenters. I shall quote just two sentences.

“Vocabulary is a tricky area – but not as tricky as grammar. I may not worry

too much about prepositions but I loathe split infinitives.”

And so say all of us when we read a newspaper, most of which have deleted their sub-editors and proof readers.

Check an issue with your red highlighter.

I shall give you one more quote, this time not from Mr Humphrys but his quote from the famous author Kingsley Amis, so I feel that I am allowed to “on-quote”. It’s about “berks” and “wankers”.

“Berks are careless, coarse, crass, gross and of what anybody would agree is a lower social class than one’s own; wankers are prissy, fussy, priggish, prim and of what they would probably misrepresent as a higher social class than one’s own.”

Now was Kingsley Amis a berk ... or a wanker? And does it matter? We meet both of them every day down at the pub.

Maybe I am one of them. Mr Humphrys then goes on to give a serve to radio broadcasters and television presenters.

“The best advice when you’re on the radio or television is to “keep it simple stupid.” KISS. That’s not because your audience is stupid, it’s because you have to keep it live and linear.

Your audience cannot backspace, as

you can on your computer, so think before you speak.

When teaching radio, television and film production at universities I had constantly to remind students (not to split the infinitive!) that their job was to be the audience/viewers before writing the script.

In radio, it is best to stick to the rule of subject-verb-object. Forget putting a subordinate clause before the main one.

In television, the rule is “do not describe what is on the screen”.

“Here we see a ...” If we can see it, don’t tell us. Tell us what we can’t see, which is the reason why we are looking.

It’s basic television training, but so often unknown to the cub reporter who is looking so good with outfit and manner! And the reporter usually fumbles delivery because he/she has not been trained in live, on-air speaking to camera. That is a very special skill.

“The Premier will today announce ....”

No, she won’t. She will not split her verbs and we had the press release yesterday.

And even worse, “later today she will announce ... “ Well, she is not going to announce it earlier today or yesterday, is she? Think, before you speak.

It’s the same with the police media.

“Asked to comment, a police spokesperson (person? Whatever happened to man and woman?) said: the two vehicles have come into collision and one person has become deceased, while two others have been transported to hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Our investigations are ongoing”.

Please, police media people, tell your officers to forget ‘has’ and ‘have’. Use the active voice, not the passive voice when talking to the media.

In English, the officer should have said “there was a crash between two cars, one man died and another two have been taken to hospital”. End of story.

And do we really need to know this?

“So, we journalists are no better and no worse than everyone else who uses the common language. We mangle with the best of them. But we have a particular responsibility and we should not be allowed to get away with it. There should be a permanent row about usage.”

Thank you, John Humphrys; and I have been trying to make a permanent row for the last two years. The result, sadly, is who cares?

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Brisbane

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24/01/2018 9:46:54 AM

TIME WARP

When times were simpler and more gracious Some things are too good not to share so KATE CALLAHAN is stepping aside in favour of a reader, Diane Amos, who wrote a long and interesting letter filled with recollections, musings and nostalgia.

At 86 years of age, I find very little that is completely satisfying in this fast-paced, self-absorbed technological age of emails, smart phones and text messages. I miss old fashioned conversations, eyeball to eyeball, where words and facial expressions were meaningful.

People have changed so much. They demand more from life and are pressured by the cult of consumerism to reach standards of living that are often unobtainable.

Reality and lifestyle shows set the standard for living, and cooking shows turn each meal into an art form. But one need never cook again, if the budget allows. Meals can be delivered to the door.

In the war years, life was simpler and less competitive and centred around the home. The milkman came by horse and cart in the early morning and filled the enamel container left out for him.

The butcher, in his horse and cart, called by each day. Having no refrigerator or ice-chest at the time, meat for the evening meal was bought daily and put in the meat safe, a fine mesh cage hung under the house in the cool.

12 YOUR TIME MAGAZINE / February 2018

12.indd 2

Jane Powell ruled the screen.

As kids, we loved the day the weekly groceries were delivered as the box always included a small bag of boiled

lollies. We cooked our own simple but tasty meals of meat and three veg, followed by dessert, always.

We sat at the table together, mother and father at either end. It was a special time when we all joined in conversations as a family.

We drank tea made from leaves in a teapot and used only cups and saucers.

People today will pay $50 for a “high tea”, but that was the way my mother served afternoon tea every day, using the beautiful cloths she had embroidered herself and a fine bone china tea set.

We always had some delicious cake that mother had made or simply pikelets and gem scones with her homemade jam. Afternoon tea was always accompanied by relaxed and happy family conversation.

My mother was a talented dressmaker and dress designer, well ahead of her time. In the ’40s, we would go to the local picture theatre to see the latest Jane Powell movie.

In the dark, mother would sketch Jane Powell’s frocks and later make them for me. People often said I resembled Jane Powell.

We certainly dressed alike!

In those days, clothes were always handed on to friends or relations who had a daughter ready to step into them.

The clothes my mother made for me were in great demand and highly treasured.

We lived in Brisbane so when my mother needed fabric or sewing thread, my brother and I, dressed in our best clothes, would catch the tram with her into the city.

After visiting Penney’s, we would walk up Adelaide St to Edwards and Lamb and then catch the lift to the material department, where mother spent what seemed like hours caressing fabrics, absorbed in her creative dreams.

Meanwhile, I sat on a high stool by the counter, expecting to die at any moment from boredom.

My brother was always satisfied just watching the “flying fox” being sent with cash and docket from the counter way up high to an office – and then soon after the change and receipt being shot back to the counter.

Yes, these were good times, gracious times. The pace of life was slower and there was lots of time for gentle conversation.

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BEAUTY

Skincare an easy routine It’s never too late to reap the benefits of a skincare routine, writes MIMI GYERGYAK, and it doesn’t have to be a daily chore.

T

here are just a few essentials to observe for a daily skincare routine and after that, it’s up to you if you wish to take it to the next level.

If, for example, you are feeling too lazy at night to wash off your makeup or the day’s grit which you may not even see, then be aware that it is not going to be good for your skin.

It rejuvenates while you are sleeping and if it is not clean, that is not going to happen.

From my experience, the biggest problem for those who are unhappy with their skin is that it is very easy to become confused by all the different stories you read everywhere. It gets to a point you don’t know what to believe.

In this sense, the beauty industry needs to better educate clients on how to improve their skin without it becoming a chore.

Now that the kids are grown up and you have a bit more time

!

at night, a facial skincare routine can become something you look forward to, something you do for yourself that makes you feel wonderful and ultimately, look wonderful too.

So, allow yourself five minutes of me-time for these four basic steps before you go to bed: 1. CLEANSE: If you could put your skin under a microscope at the end of the day, you would get a shock to see just how much rubbish is there. Your skin has to recover while you sleep so it is so important to have clean skin that can breathe. Wash off the makeup, dust, dirt and daily grime.

2. BALANCE: This used to be called toning but if you call it balancing you can get a much clearer picture in your mind of what it is about and why it is so important. Many people thought toning meant it would

close the pores but it is much simpler than that. Toning balances the pH level of the skin and brings it back to a neutral, 5.5 to 6, which then allows the skin to absorb the following product. If the pH is unbalanced, the acid or alkali will be fighting with the hydration to follow and it can’t do its job. Getting the balance is very important.

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If you see the simple point of each step of this routine, it makes it a breeze to want to do it regularly. You will then also see how easy it is to create beautiful skin.

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15.indd 3

February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 15

24/01/2018 10:01:46 AM

OUR PEOPLE

Meet the matchmaker Don Willsher is an architect, engineer, cabinetmaker and artist, and, writes DOT WHITTINGTON, it has all been one match at a time

T

here is a church, shops, town hall, playground, cars and kids in Donnsville, and at Christmas, a little group of carollers turned up to sing under a lamp post.

Its city blocks run to little more than the size of an average coffee table and the seesaw in its playground is smaller than, well, a matchstick.

The town, named for its founder, 81-year-old Don Willsher, is a testament to the infinite patience of its maker and literally thousands of Redheads.

A volunteer with various historical groups, Don is also a member of an increasingly rare group of woodworkers who work only with matchsticks.

It’s a hobby that he took up in his youth and that has lasted a lifetime.

“I was laid up in 1961 and bored stiff,” he says. “My mother had died when I was very young so my father employed a housekeeper whose husband was making things out of matches. I decided to give it a try myself.”

When he was well again, he continued to potter with it, mainly making occasional tables with simple patterns on top which have long since found their way to the homes of family

Don with the tools of his trade. and friends around the world.

Each table would take between 20 and 40 hours depending on the complexity of the pattern and since then, many organisations have benefited

from his work. “I’ve donated them to kindergartens and bowls clubs to raffle but often they choose to keep them for their own use,” he says.

It was a hobby that required few tools and that he could take with him anywhere.

During the 1960s and ’70s he worked as a salesman and spent a lot of time on the road and it gave him something useful to do during the long, lonely nights he spent in western Queensland motels.

“There was no TV at the time, so there was not much to do and I would work on my match creations,” he says. “It was definitely more popular in the days before television when you could sit and do it while listening to the radio. There were far fewer options for entertainment in those days.”

Fast forward to 2002, dozens of occasional tables and thousands of matchsticks later, and Don, by now a retired association secretary, and his late wife Justine set off on the grey nomad adventure around Australia, although he says they were SKINS not nomads “Spending the Kids’ Inheritance Now”.

For the next 14.5 years, they

The Winter Wolf was a step into art. travelled the country and Don found his matchwork could easily continue in the limited space of a caravan.

“I then got into 3D after I made a little upright piano for my granddaughter and this inspired me to build my own village,” he says.

Like an engineer and an architect, he just had to work out how to do the construction.

“I started with a church and it went from there over the next couple of years.

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Brisbane

24/01/2018 10:02:24 AM

OUR PEOPLE

Equisite detail in a grand piano.

I would make the little buildings while we were travelling and then put them into storage at home.

“Eventually I had enough and while we were based at the Bribie Island caravan park I put them all together and added the streets, cars, people and streetlights.”

There is amazing attention to minute detail, with tiny pews, chairs and people inside his houses of sticks, a playground with a moving swing and seesaw and lighting.

The streets have been named for his family, such as Terri Terrace, Adam Avenue and Lachlan Lane. It remains a work in progress, along with his futuristic Donnsville 2030 village created entirely from his imagination.

“It’s something that doesn’t need a

workshop or a lot of heavy tools,” he says. “The basic tool is a razor blade and the good thing is you can walk away from it at any time. If you want a break, it will wait.”

For Don, half the fun is working out how to do it and capturing the effect he envisions.

“Putting the matches into place is just mechanics after that,” he says. “It’s about the only thing I have patience with.”

In 2012, his daughter gave him an American woodcraft book which had a picture of a winter wolf made from timbers.

The streets of Donnsville.

Don decided he could do it in matches – and 8000 matchsticks and at least 80 hours later, he had his first artwork, the wolf’s nose appearing almost 3D. He sent a photo to the American magazine and was then himself featured on their pages. More framed artworks followed and now clocks.

Homebrand matches, which are made from Indonesian hardwood and are naturally darker, along with the lighter Redheads pine matches which

“His matchwork could easily continue in the limited space of a caravan” come from Sweden, achieve the effects for his art, as well as woodstain and occasionally, the brightly coloured “kiddy matchsticks”.

That’s a lot of matches in the lifetime hobby of an octogenarian.

“I strike one and stick it into the box and they all go up together and then they go out,” he says.

“I don’t want them to burn too much as they get pointy. I do 10 boxes at a time and while some require cutting off the head, I also use the burnt tip to effect.”

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In the beginning, he was a smoker and that kept his supply of matches up, but now he has a lifetime supply from the Redheads Matches company itself.

After exhibiting at “Working with Wood” in Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra in 2014-15, he sought some assistance from Redhead and they delivered him two cartons of matches – each containing 54,000 matches.

“I haven’t had to buy any for a long time, so it’s a sponsorship of sorts,” he says.

“I never really saw myself as an artist but this is a different dimension to working with wood. I’m not a woodworker but a matchworker”.

Don’s latest clock.

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Brisbane

17.indd 3

February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 17

24/01/2018 10:03:39 AM

HISTORY

Hell for leather becomes a home Destiny leads a humble shoemaker from the industrial city of Sheffield – transported as a convict – to a future in the colonies, writes DIANA HACKER.

I

t is 200 years this year since Peter Hallam and his sister Elizabeth were baptized in Sheffield Cathedral.

The city of Sheffield, known as the city of silver and steel, is located on seven hills in Hallamshire, South Yorkshire. One can only assume that Peter Hallam’s family had very early roots in the area.

Not long after the baptism, it appears that their mother Mary Ann nee Platz died and their father, Peter, a gunsmith moved the family to Birmingham, which has been known for the manufacture of small arms.

As a very young man, Peter moved to Stafford and took up the trade of boot and shoe making. Before the invention of machinery which sewed leather, shoes were hand-made and the work outsourced.

Leather, cut to size and style, was passed to the worker who took the material home, fashioned the footwear, returned the completed item to the factory owner, and paid for his work.

Payment was small and Peter took the gamble that he could sell the boots

which he had made, thereby making more money.

He was successful in selling, but the owner of the leather made a complaint and Peter was prosecuted and incarcerated in Stafford jail for three months.

Undaunted, some months later Peter tried again with two pairs of boots.

Again, he was unsuccessful and this time his sentence was transportation for seven years.

In the 1830s, when Peter departed Stafford it was a robust city with coaches bringing travellers to the rail head where trains ran to London daily.

Peter was transported to London and placed on a hulk in the Thames until the convict transport Lord Lyndoch was readied to sail for New South Wales.

It was the vessel’s fourth voyage and on this sailing, the master was William Stead and the surgeon Obediah Pineo.

There were 330 male convicts on board and east of the Cape of Good Hope, scurvy broke out. On arrival on August 8, 1838, 113 of the 114 men suffering from the disease were immediately

placed in the hospital. Only 89 men escaped the disease.

We don’t know if Peter was one of those who had suffered as his records are fragmented, but imagine his shock when he stepped ashore and into a settlement which was just 50 years old.

There were rough tracks for streets, no public transport or street lighting and simple residences.

Peter appears to have been a model prisoner as he next appears in the Moreton Bay settlement as a ticket-ofleave man.

Family fable has it that he had travelled overland with the Leslie Brothers who settled on the Darling Downs. There may be some truth in this, as he easily could have accompanied one of the several early pioneers to this area.

In 1844, Peter married 15-year-old Fanny Willis who has aged arrived in New South Wales with her mother five or six years earlier.

Peter and Fanny returned to the Downs for a short time and then settled in the Rosewood/ Jebropilly area where they established a farm called Paradise

Farm. Here they raised their eight sons and one daughter who survived infancy.

As adults, their children moved further afield into western Queensland and established themselves either on the land or in business.

Three sons did not marry but the other children raised large families and their descendants have become most numerous, spreading to other states of Australia and the USA. In the past, three family reunions have been held – two in Eidsvold and one in Brisbane.

Two volumes of the family history have been prepared and distributed.

Another gathering will be held in Brisbane at the end of April, and it is anticipated that members of the family will travel from interstate and the United States to attend.

If you think you have a connection to this family don’t hesitate to contact barb@barbwelch.com. Diana Hacker is archivist for the Queensland Women’s Historical Association based at Miegunyah in Bowen Hills. Tours are available. Visit miegunyah.org

NONAGENARIAN BONNIE STIRS UP MEMORIES Partners in life and business, Samantha Shellard and Moe Akgun, fell in love with a 1928 green Chrysler a few years ago.

They named her Bonnie.

She was put to work and is now appearing at, among many other places, aged care and retirement homes where she is stirring up precious memories.

“We see a lot of people who have a living memory of the car – they say, ‘oh my father had one’, or ‘my uncle loved this car’, or they have memories of hiding under a blanket on the back seat while they went over the Harbour Bridge,” Samantha says.

A visit from Bonnie is also special for dementia patients.

“The nurses tell us they keep the images of the car up on the boards for them. They really light up when they see the car and it’s something they can keep talking about for weeks afterwards,” she says.

Samantha and Moe have always had an appreciation for the glamour of the 1920s, from The Great Gatsby to Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and for Samantha, who works as a conservator at GOMA, the 1920s era has also been integral to her career.

For Moe, the chauffeur, it’s all about the car. Keeping Bonnie in tip-top condition is a fulltime job.

“We love glamorous, gangster feel of

Bonnie,” he says. “Bonnie could easily be in a museum, but she’s portable, usable history and it’s appropriate that that sort of heritage is accessible. She’s meant to drive.”

He said the Chrysler was built so well and was so reliable that it stayed in circulation longer than other cars of the era.

“But there’s constant maintenance.

We’re currently rebuilding an engine

– we try not to use replica parts – and I would say it’s 99 per cent original. It’s as genuine as possible although we have had to add safety features, like indicator lights.”

With Bonnie’s 90th birthday coming up this year, Samantha and Moe plan to celebrate the Roaring ’20s.

Suttons Pavilion at Redcliffe was built between 1927 and 1928 and they are also digging into local automotive history with the Sandgate Historic Museum. It was also the period when the Inchcolm Hotel and the Walrus Club at the Regatta Hotel were established.

“There is a revival of that era, a trend that started in LA with the hipster movement – there’s a lot of speakeasy places opening up in Brisbane,” Moe says.

“It’s about celebrating a bygone era when things were well-made, enjoying quality, not quantity.”

Visit roaringtwenties.net.au

The next session will list online resources to assist with historical land research, including open data, QImagery, QTopo, Queensland Globe and GSQ publications that can help with historical land research.

Details will be provided about the different types of maps, the types of information they can hold, and how to locate them.

The third session is historical land

research in action when Kaye will give examples that capture the whole researching land ownership in Queensland process.

The seminar is on Saturday, March 3, 9am-12.30 pm at the Queensland Baptists Conference Centre, 53 Prospect Rd, Gaythorne.

Cost is $20 members and $30 nonmembers and includes morning tea.

Visit qfhs.org.au

LEARN ABOUT LAND RESEARCH The Queensland Family History Society has a seminar coming up which will focus on researching Queensland land records.

Presenter will be Kaye Nadella, who has worked part-time as an archivist with the John Oxley Library and part-time with the Department of Natural Resources and Mines.

She took up a full-time position with the department in 2004 and was appointed senior curator of the Museum 18 YOUR TIME MAGAZINE / February 2018

18.indd 2

of Lands, Mapping, and Surveying in 2007.

A session on understanding land ownership in Queensland will cover key components of land ownership, including administrative areas, property description and tenure.

Kaye will provide guidance on where to look for information on land ownership including maps, survey plans, and land records.

Brisbane

24/01/2018 10:04:10 AM

TECHNOLOGY

KEEP UP WITH THE TECH HOUSEKEEPING

TRASH THE JUNK EMAIL

We all seem to have the standard new year resolutions such as eating better and exercising more, but, writes NATHAN WELLINGTON, what about tweaking technology?

I’m talking about computers PHOTOS: cloud backup for your phone or that need updating, If you have a smart phone then tablet so at least if something smartphones full of photos, the you probably take more photos happens you haven’t lost it all. wireless printer not working then you need and possibly You’ll thank yourself one day! and so on. never look at them. If you have LEARN MORE: Isn’t it time you did a little some downtime, then get into Join a local computer club or housekeeping to clean the those 2000+ photos you need to enrol in a course. Do your best digital slate ready for the year sort out on your computer. to learn more about the devices ahead? Here are a few Yes, it may be daunting but you use. They are becoming resolutions to help: every year you hide from this more intrinsic in how we EMAIL: job, the more they are adding to navigate the world and I have clients who just can’t the pile. I suggest you go communicate, from online press the delete button. It’s just through and just delete all the shopping to keeping in touch like hoarding but in this case, terrible ones first. Keep the with family and friends. Don’t it’s digital hoarding, and just ones you like and delete the 22 be afraid of tech, pace yourself because you can’t see the mess others you took at the same and learn a little more than you like you can in that backroom time. This can reduce your knew last year. or garage, it still clutters up photos without even sorting Lastly, make it a routine to your computer and can make them into any order. get your local tech to give your life that little bit more difficult.

BACK UP: computer or tablet a service.

At the start of every year I I am still amazed how many Prevention is better than delete/ archive all emails from people have all their precious cure, so it’s better to spend $100 the year prior. So, this year I am memories or documents on one or so on a six-monthly service deleting emails from 2016 back. device and no back up! All it and have your computer I then unsubscribe from all takes is for you to drive off with running efficiently so it lasts those subscriptions I joined and your smart phone on your roof longer than to neglect it and no longer read. This routine or for your cup of tea to spill watch it die an early death and keeps my emails under control over your laptop and you can be up for $1000 and upward for and believe me, with 12 email kiss all your photos and a replacement. addresses receiving upwards of documents goodbye!

200 emails a day I need to keep Get an external hard drive Call 1300 682 817 or email on top of them! for your computer or set up a nathan@hometechassist.com.au

Want to reduce your junk email? Stop Unsubscribing says the iPad Man COLIN DUNKERLEY from Coles. The danger here is Junk email (or spam) has been a twofold. One, you might follow problem that has been plaguing the link and fall victim to the computer users for more than scammer by giving them three decades and personal information like bank unfortunately, often seniors are details or two, you decide to making it worse. “unsubscribe”.

The problem is we associate What’s wrong with the “junk email” we receive in unsubscribing? Surely that will our inbox as being the same as stop the email coming back. the “junk mail” we receive in No, if you unsubscribe from the letterbox, but there is a something you never substantial difference. subscribed to in the first place While you may perceive then you have confirmed to the the email as junk, the question scammer you are a real person you need to ask yourself is “Did and you can expect to receive I subscribe to this newsletter or even more spam emails. is this unsolicited email?”

Currently there is no As an example, you may solution that will eliminate all have joined Fly Buys and in the junk email. There are a lot of terms and conditions ticked a big companies doing their best box allowing Coles to send you to filter out as much as they can the weekly specials. but our actions often confuse This is not junk email as the filters trying to protect us. you “opted in” to the newsletter If you are unsure just delete by accepting their terms. If you the email. It might be a pain to want these emails to stop you have to delete them each time should unsubscribe. but it sure beats being The counter side of this inundated with more junk. problem is that if you receive an email that says you’ve won a For more tips to help control $100 gift voucher with Coles junk email. Watch this video: the chances are it’s not really ipadlessons.com.au/junk-email/

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19.indd 3

February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 19

24/01/2018 10:04:34 AM

MOTORING

Smart addition to the SUV market SUZUKI make great small cars, city cars in the main, with a sprinkle of quite confident SUV types through the years, writes BRUCE McMAHON

T

he Swift and the four-wheel drive Jimny are perhaps the best-known examples of the Japanese company’s skill in designing, and building, light and compact machines of some ability and reliability.

So, to the Suzuki S Cross, an SUV for the city and surrounds.

It’s maybe not the first choice for a long, long distance haul with a family but a commodious and comfortable vehicle for city, suburbs, weekend outings to the country and Sunday runs to the beach.

This is the second version of the S-Cross.

The first was a decent-enough machine but failed to find much traction in the Australian market.

This time around there’s a touch more oomph to the package to attract some extra custom, plus a swag more agro to a chromed grille, some extra equipment and a dearer price tag.

Without that toothy front, the latest S-Cross is mainly plain vanilla in style, certainly not as handsome as Suzuki’s Vitara wagon (albeit around the same body dimensions) and certainly quite modest for a vehicle tagged as a Sports Utility Vehicle.

out smartly if belting the S-Cross around the streets.

Now, this is not Swift Sport, or even a basic Swift. The S-Cross will handle good roads and bad with more aplomb than some conventional, and lower-riding, hatchbacks and such, yet it is not quite as sharp as SUV rivals like the Honda HR-V in the handling stakes.

This conventional approach is aimed at the more conservative buyers, of all ages, who may not be taken with the Vitara’s more rugged looks.

And the S-Cross interior is also, pleasingly, straight up and down. All the gear is here but there are no unnecessary swoops and curves to dashboard or doors, no disco lighting.

There is however a fair amount of cabin space for this class of wagon.

To shift the five-door S-Cross these

days there’s a 1.4 litre, turbocharged petrol motor pushing out 103kW and 220Nm of torque through a six-speed automatic transmission to the front wheels.

It has far more go than before and, with handy paddle shifters for the transmission, it’s easier to keep the package on the boil.

Suzuki reckons this engine and driveline should be good for 5.9 litres per 100 kilometres but that figure will blow

“This conventional approach is aimed at the more conservative buyers of all ages” It is, however, a safe and wellmannered machine at all times.

Suzuki’s S-Cross is also well-built and well-equipped with a comfortable and commodious cabin.

It is also, now with a price tag from around $22,990 and up, facing tough competition from any number of SUV rivals yet remains a sensible option for more traditional customers.

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20.indd 2

Brisbane

24/01/2018 10:04:56 AM

Halcyon Glades C A BOOLT UR E

21.indd 3

23/01/2018 12:10:03 PM

FINANCE

Plan for choice An often talked about issue in the political and financial world in Australia is the sustainability of our Age Pension system, so BRIAN MOONEY recommends acting now and doing the things that will allow choices other than poverty.

I

could quote statistic after statistic and show one too many graphs, but I will keep it to just a few, although my views have developed from knowledge of many of the reports and studies into this topic as well as first-hand experience in working with retirees over the past 27-plus years.

Currently, about one in four people in Australia are over age 55 and in about seven years (2025), that is expected to be one in three.

It is not just a predicament faced by Australia alone, but by many western countries and some eastern. This quandary isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t characterised by political and financial issues, but also encompasses, moral, health, housing and that of an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self-worth.

There is no doubt the Baby Boomer generation is the one most affected by recent government policy to restrict

access to the Age Pension and in the amount that is provided.

Many in this group spent a considerable period of their working life prior to the introduction of compulsory superannuation in the late â&#x20AC;&#x2122;80s and â&#x20AC;&#x2122;90s.

Many of them have not built sufficient assets to enjoy a comfortable retirement and the Age Pension provides only a meagre existence.

An OECD report a few years ago claimed that one in three Australian pensioners lived below the poverty line.

The exceptions in the generation are those who worked for government or large companies which provided generous superannuation benefits well before it became compulsory. Also, some in the group have benefited from inheritances.

What accentuates the problem the government faces in this arena is that there is a

lack of long-term vision and both sides tinker and take a piecemeal approach rather than develop a comprehensive retirement income policy that both sides agree on, even if they may not like some aspects.

I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see this changing any time soon.

In recent years, the Coalition has been prepared to reduce Age Pension accessibility and Labor has said it is prepared to address to tackle the superannuation concessions provided.

The financial cost the Age Pension and the tax breaks provided for superannuation benefits is close to $100 billion.

I am often asked the crystal ball question â&#x20AC;&#x153;when will the Age Pension run out or cease?â&#x20AC;?

Most likely it will never cease, but it will become harder to qualify and the amount received may well be less in real terms than what pensioners receive now.

Anyone cruising through life thinking the government will look after them when they are old is deluding themself, or at least that is the best way to approach it.

Because the over 55s are large in number they subsequently have political clout. This was evident at the last federal election when the Liberal government was punished at the polls partly because of its reduction in allowable super balances in retirement and the amount we can contribute to get us there.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve heard many from that side of politics say that issue didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hurt them, but I can assure you it did.

I could spend considerable time now on all of the deficiencies in the Pension and Superannuation systems, but that would be a waste of an opportunity because it wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any impact.

The next few lines will

hopefully have impact and create better outcomes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for each of us individually.

Firstly, plan to not be part of the Age Pension system, of course assuming you have the time and resources to do so.

Talk to a financial planner as early as possible and if you have children in their 20s, 30s or 40s tell them to do it too.

Studies have shown that people who get advice have better financial outcomes.

Yes, better outcomes and sometimes significantly better outcomes.

I say to my sons â&#x20AC;&#x153;make sure you do the things that ensure you have choices in lifeâ&#x20AC;?, and that is what good financial planning provides â&#x20AC;&#x201C; choices not poverty.

Brian Mooney is a Certified Financial Planner and authorised representative of Logiro.

Email: brianm@logiro.com

QUEST TO DEFINE ELDER ABUSE Abuse of older people is a complex and sometimes hidden problem in Australia.

To help build on the growing body of knowledge on the issue, the Elder Abuse National Research Project is currently underway, led by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS). â&#x20AC;&#x153;As older people make up an increasing proportion of the Australian population the potential reach of the abuse of older people may grow,â&#x20AC;? AIFS Family Law and Family Violence Team manager Rachel Carson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To protect older people from abuse, we must first be able to identify and

Peace of mind at a great price

measure the extent of the problem.â&#x20AC;?

THE ELDER ABUSE NATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECT CONSISTS OF THREE COMPONENTS: â&#x20AC;˘ Develop an Australian definition of â&#x20AC;&#x153;elder abuseâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;˘ Test data collection tools against the definition, to see if it will work for the Australian context â&#x20AC;˘ Analyse the data to help answer key questions about the abuse of older people. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re keen to make sure that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re measuring the right things in the future,â&#x20AC;?

Dr Carson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been speaking with a range of interested people, including community advocates, policy makers and service providers to help inform our research focusing on the definition of elder abuse.â&#x20AC;?

Anyone who would like to contribute their views about what defines abuse of older people should contact the project team email: eanr@aifs.gov.au.

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22.indd 2

Brisbane

24/01/2018 10:10:07 AM

DECLUTTERING

FIND LIFE IN DEATH CLEANING Decluttering, spring cleaning, downsizing, to call it what you will – a Swedish author has come up with a new guide to clearing years of accumulated “stuff” from around the house.

And while it might sound somewhat gloomy, the catchphrase is “death cleaning”.

It’s not as bad as it sounds, but simply a new method for decluttering that is aimed at the 55+ group who are generally hardest hit when they start to notice the clutter of the years that fills every available cupboard and wardrobe space.

The idea is to clear it out now so that the kids don’t have to deal with it when you’re gone, and let’s face it, much of the “stuff” simply won’t be missed.

Swedish author and artist Margareta Magnusson admits only to being aged between “80 and 100”. She had to downsize when her husband died.

The experience led her to recognise the power of “death cleaning” and inspired her to write the book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: how to free yourself and your family from a lifetime of clutter.

From clothes and books to stuff you just can’t get rid of, stuff that only matters to you, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning offers advice on questions inevitably faced when sorting through a lifetime of objects.

Brisbane

23.indd 3

How do you deal with your secrets?

Tackle photographs and letters? Avoid heirs fighting over belongings?

Done well, she says, it not only makes things easier for family later, but allows you to revisit the lifetime of memories accumulated with your things.

Magnusson suggests which possessions you can easily get rid of such as clothes, unwanted presents, and cracked crockery, and which you might want to keep such as photos, letters, children’s school projects. For example, books can be gifted, treasures passed to grandchildren, and items given to those who want or need them.

The book, based on personal experience and anecdotes, is aimed at making the process uplifting rather than overwhelming and despite the title, focuses on the importance of living.

Magnusson introduces an element of fun to a potentially daunting task and makes her readers more comfortable with the idea of letting go: Death cleaning isn’t about throwing away all of your stuff but streamlining your life so you hold on to only what brings you joy.

“It makes your everyday life run more smoothly and the experience should have you thinking about your memorial service, your will, and your legacy,” Magnusson says. “It should be a lifestyle, not a one-off purge.”

AND HERE’S WHERE IT CAN GO So, you’ve survived the decluttering project and now have to decide what is to be done with the mountain of stuff.

If unwanted items are in good condition, the Queensland-based online charity GIVIT will gladly find them a new worthy home.

GIVIT works with more than 1800 charities around Australia, ranging from The Salvation Army and Australian Red Cross to smaller community groups and neighbourhood centres, to support the most vulnerable members of our community.

Charities register a client’s specific needs on givit.org.au and then it’s a case of matching that person in genuine need with someone who can give.

The most requested items include beds, furniture, whitegoods, TVs, household goods, computers and smart phones. It may be a mother who has fled a violent situation with her children and is now trying to set up a new home, or a refugee family looking for a new start.

GIVIT’s founder and CEO Juliette Wright said older Queenslanders were among the charity’s most generous supporters.

“I am so touched by their generosity.

One day we were seeking a lawn mower for a previously homeless man who had managed to secure housing but as part of his lease had to keep the yard tidy,” she said. “In no time a gentleman, who was downsizing and moving into a small unit, had offered his perfectly good mower.”

Visit givit.org.au to see what is currently needed.

If there is not a specific request for your goods, then register them on the site. If required by charities in your local area, your contact details will be exchanged for collection or drop-off to be arranged.

All goods donated go directly to the person in need. Now you can feel happy that your decluttering efforts will help someone who needs it and walk easier into the next lighter chapter of your life.

TURNING CLUTTER INTO CASH One person’s trash is another’s treasure, and Sally Salvati suggests turning clutter into cash. Her book Sell Online the Easy Way - The Aussie Guide to Turning your Clutter into Cash is a step-by-step guide.

As a successful clutter recycler, Sally shares the tips and tricks she has learned

from selling online for the past decade.

Online sites such as eBay, Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace are great to list unwanted items and the key is time.

“The more time you put in to creating a good listing, the more likely you will sell your item for the maximum price.”

February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 23

24/01/2018 10:28:18 AM

CARE AFFAIRS

Take control not a tumble

HOME SWEET HOME

“It won’t happen to me” are the brave words of many but KENDALL MORTON warns not be too sure you won’t trip over or take a tumble.

E

very day, 133 older Queenslanders have a fall that leads to medical attention. And about 30 per cent of falls result in broken bones, including hip fractures, head injuries or forearm fractures.

Thankfully, there are steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of taking a tumble.

REVIEW YOUR MEDICATION Some medication can affect your sense of balance. Other drugs can cause swelling in the feet, rounding out the soles which can reduce your stability. Read the side-effects and have a full review of your medication. Some interact and increase the risks of dizziness and confusion. The more drugs being taken, the greater the chance of negative interactions. If you have concerns, see your doctor.

KEEP UP REGULAR VISION CHECKS Visit the optometrist once a year. Some progressive lenses can affect depth perception. A pair of single lens glasses for walking may be a safe addition.

VITAMIN D – ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH? Vitamin D improves muscle strength. It is used in delivering calcium to the cells, which is needed for muscle contraction.

Research shows that older individuals

Physical strength improves balance. with low vitamin D levels have a poor gait, are not as strong as their peers and have reduced balance.

According to the Cancer Council Queensland, you get enough Vitamin D with just five or six minutes of outdoor activity a day. Hanging out the clothes, walking to a bus stop or getting the mail will all contribute. If you are not getting some sun exposure, speak to your doctor about alternative sources. Studies reviewed by Today’s Geriatric Medicine, show those who take 700-1000 IU of vitamin D daily have about 20 per cent fewer falls.

FIND AN EXERCISE YOU LOVE Staying physically strong will improve

Don’t miss out on the important sounds in life

your balance and reduce the risk and impact of falls. Look for an activity that challenges you and that you love – a dance class, swimming group, walking club – there are so many options. The key is getting started. Find an exercise buddy.

If you make a commitment to a friend to exercise together, you are more likely to stick to your plan and enjoy some social time as well.

BEWARE OF THONGS Thongs are unstable footwear. They make you grip with your toes and offer no support to the arch or the ankle.

Podiatrists hate them. They are a hazard in the home and the garden. Throw them in a cupboard and enjoy the benefits – fewer falls, fewer sprains and less tired feet.

Here’s an exercise for balance. Try it for a week every time you boil the kettle.

WALKING HEEL TO TOE: 1. Put the heel of one foot just in front of the toes of the other foot. The heel and toes should touch or almost touch.

2. Find a spot ahead of you and focus on it.

3. Take 20 steps, putting the heel just in front of the other toe. That’s it!

Kendall Morton is Director of Home Care Assistance. Email kmorton@homecareassistance.com

Home is where the heart is. It’s where we feel we belong, we feel safe and where memories are made.

According to the Productivity Commission, most older Australians would strongly prefer to “age in place” by staying in their own homes, rather than moving into a retirement or aged care facility.

The Commission reports 76 per cent of over 60s want to see out their retirement in their own home.

“When my mum’s dementia was advancing and my dad was struggling on his own, a service provider gave us all life-saving support,” Just Better Care director Tony Sandy says.

“It wasn’t just about having practical care. It was a few precious hours when we could take a big breath out knowing we had some back up.”

So how to get more care from a home care package?

“Have a closer look at what you are being charged by your current service provider,” Tony says.

“Most service providers are charging way too much like administration fees, management fees, exit fees and basic daily fees, leaving the customer with little to spend on their care.”

To learn how to get more care from your current package call Tony 5353 5111.

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HEALTH

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SIMPLY AVOID A STROKE

Hearing loss is an invisible health issue many tend to ignore at their peril, writes GRANT COLLINS.

“I

’m always trying to figure out what’s really going on. Always having to fill in the gaps, but never getting all the details. It’s like trying to do a jigsaw when I don’t even know what the picture is, and I’m missing one of the vital middle pieces.”

The above quote is from Melbourne author Chrissie Perry’s book Whisper and while not written about hearing loss, it captures the distress many patients feel when they suffer hearing loss.

We usually get checked and prodded for visible disorders quickly. Your sight’s not as good as it used to be, go to the optometrist; that blemish looks slightly different, off to the skin clinic; pain in your lower back, off to the physio.

Hearing we tend to ignore usually until family intervenes and insist we get it checked. But what have we missed in the meantime and what could we have done to prevent it getting worse?

In adults, hearing loss can lead to social isolation, depression and there’s potentially a link to dementia as well.

As hearing diminishes people tend to start to withdraw from conversations and social activity as it becomes too difficult to keep pace with conversations.

And it’s not just the health effects.

The financial costs affect individuals and communities. The World Health Organisation has found that people with untreated hearing loss earn, on average, less than people with normal hearing.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you may have a hearing loss, and a hearing evaluation with a qualified audiologist is recommended: • Difficulty hearing in background noise • Difficulty understanding women’s and children’s voices • “I hear fine, but it sounds like people mumble!”

• Speech sounds are muffled • Turning up the TV or radio • Asking people to repeat; saying “huh” or “what” often • Tinnitus or ringing in the ears • Ears feel stopped up If you are diagnosed with hearing loss, there are now many options in treatment and hearing devices.

There is a range of devices from invisible, extended wear Lyric hearing aids to cochlear implants for the profoundly deaf.

If you suspect hearing loss, don’t delay talking to someone about your options.

Grant Collins is principal audiologist at Clarity Hearing Solutions

HELP AT HAND FOR RESPIRATORY DISEASE If you have a chronic respiratory disease, then you should be aware of the Queensland Health Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program.

“I have recently completed this program and have gained a better understanding of my lung condition and improved my quality of life,” says Robyn Hayward.

“Unfortunately many GPs are unaware of it and I want everyone to know about this wonderful program.”

It is a free eight-week exercise training and information program held twice weekly. It is run by friendly and caring staff (physio and nurses) as well as

various health care professionals, and teaches how to control breathing, conserve energy and more. Staff design an exercise program which is specific to needs and capabilities and is revised weekly. You work at your own pace and have rests between each exercise.

A doctor’s referral is needed.

The Lung Foundation has a list of contacts for the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program in each State. Their motto is “If you can’t breathe nothing else matters.”

Call 1800 654 301 or visit lungfoundation.com.au. On the north side of Brisbane, your GP can find a referral form via metronorth.health.qld.gov.au

Stroke Foundation Clinical Council Chairman BRUCE CAMPBELL is urging you to do one simple thing for your health in 2018 which could save your life: Have your blood pressure checked.

High blood pressure is a key risk factor for stroke and one that can be managed.

Stroke is a devastating disease that will impact one in six of us. There is one stroke every nine minutes in Australia.

Stroke attacks the human control centre – the brain – it happens in an instant and changes lives forever.

In 2018, it’s estimated there will be more than 56,000 strokes across the country. Stroke will kill more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer.

But the good news is that it does not need to be this way. Up to 80 per cent of strokes are preventable, and research has shown the number of strokes would be almost cut in half (48 per cent) if high blood pressure alone was eliminated.

About 4.1 million of us have high blood pressure and many of us don’t realise it.

Unfortunately, high blood pressure has no

symptoms. The only way to know if it is a health issue for you is by having it checked by your doctor or local pharmacist.

Make having regular blood pressure checks a priority for 2018. Include a blood pressure check in your next GP visit or trip to the shops.

Be aware of your stroke risk and take steps to manage it. Do it for yourself and do it for your family.

If you think you are too young to suffer a stroke, think again. One in three people who has a stroke is of working age.

Health and fitness is big business. But before you fork out big bucks on a personal trainer or diet plan this year, do something simple and have your blood pressure checked.

It will only take five minutes, it’s non-invasive and it could save your life.

FOODS THAT ASSIST WEIGHT LOSS While exercise is important for a healthy body and mind, if you’re trying to lose weight it’s important to be aware that weight loss is 75 per cent dependent on diet and only 25 per cent on exercise.

Although calorie counting can help, not all calories are equal when correlated to the health benefits these deliver and positive effects on the metabolism. To help achieve your ideal weight here’s a range of foods that assist weight loss: Eggs: High in protein and packed full of healthy fats, eggs are a smart addition to your diet if you’re wanting to lose weight. Low in calories and nutrient dense, eggs will make you feel full for several hours.

Leafy Greens: Fibre rich and low in calories, leafy greens provide essential vitamins and minerals within your diet.

Great for increasing your meal volume without the calories and carbohydrates of many other food varieties, leafy greens offer numerous weight loss benefits.

They include: spinach, kale, arugula, swiss chards and collards.

Chicken breast: High in protein and low in fat, chicken breast is a weight-loss friendly food that helps burn more calories.

Beans and Legumes: Protein and fibre rich, beans and legumes such as chickpeas, lentils and kidney beans will satisfy your hunger while being low in calories. Beneficial for weight loss, beans and legumes can be added to soups, curries, salads and many other dishes.

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Email: sales@alternatemobility.com.au www.alternatemobility.com.au February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 25

24/01/2018 10:29:17 AM

BOOK REVIEW

ELIZABETH PASCOE

First published in 1982, this version was written to make the centenary of World War I. The reader experiences this catastrophic event through the horse, Joey, a magnificent bay red that joins the cavalry with his beloved owner, Albert, a farm lad from Devon.

This interpretation of the charge horses falling and men dying is vividly told and the mud and slush goes on and on. This is not a pleasant read and nor should it be. Millions of men and horses from both sides were killed and the sketch of the horse set among the red poppies of Flanders says it all.

TONY HARRINGTON

This is a small book but it is an emotional, powerful and beautifully written big novel. The theme is the stupidity and tragedy of war resulting in the death of 10 million men and 10 million horses during World War I. Joey, a Devon farm horse, tells us of the love and cruelty shown to him and his equine companions during this tragic period of our history. Some of my favourite novels are anthropomorphic animal books.

Anthropologists tell us that horses are people too. They are sentient beings. They see, they hear, feel, remember and show great affection to their human friends even under the most atrocious conditions. Men and horses gave their tomorrows for our todays so we should always honour them and forever be grateful. I am visiting the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux on Anzac Day to pay tribute.

BOOK review A war story told from the perspective of one of the horses that went into battle, this is a powerful story of humanity and friendship.

It is 1914, and Joey, a bay-red foal, is sold to the army and thrust into the carnage of the First World War on the Western Front.

With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. Even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey’s courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope.

But, like the soldiers, he misses home and he longs to see his true master, Albert the farmer’s son, again.

JOHN KLEINSCHMIDT This is a short story directed at older children and teenagers and wonderfully narrated by Joey, a magnificent British horse. Joey’s discerning character assessments of the people that use and care for him as a farm horse in England and France and as a war horse in France provide the basis for everything you could want in a book – love, friendship, adventure, drama and a very good storyline. The author portrays the horrors of war through Joey’s experiences, making this very well written book ideal for the intended audience and entertaining for anyone who cares to open the cover.

SUZI HIRST

WAR HORSE

By Michael Morpurgo

What a book. I love Michael Morpurgo and although this was written in 1982 as a childrens’ book, it is a book for everybody. The story of a bond between a farm boy Albert and his horse Joey, the Great War and the madness, huge loss of life and insanity of war.

The book is beautifully written and a very easy read. Joey lives many lives after he is taken from the farm and in each life you feel his pain and suffering, his longing to be back with Albert and his battle for survival to that end. Having read the book, seen the movie and the play, all I can say is if you haven’t, then you must!

JO BOURKE

MARY BARBER This is a fine tale, simply told. We follow Joey’s story from farm life in the English countryside to being a beast of burden in France in World War I. It’s told from Joey’s point of view. We see the world though his big trusting eyes and the horror and stupidity of war stands out.

This is primarily a children’s book so it’s not too dark. It’s very readable, with well-drawn characters. Morpurgo has written other books about friendship between an animal and a young person. If you enjoy this one, I can certainly recommend Toro! Toro! about a boy and a bull around the time of the Spanish Civil War.

In October 2017, I watched the centennial re-enactment of the Charge of the Fourth Light Horse Brigade at Beersheba and also documentaries describing the fate of the horses. I delayed reading this book as I expected a sad ending.

Instead I found War Horse a captivating read, albeit with sad losses and vivid depictions of the cruelty and futility of war.

My experience of horses has been to admire these beautiful animals from afar. I found it strange to have Joey, the horse, as the narrator. My horse-loving friends assured me that bonds depicted between Joey and Albert definitely occur. Apparently horses not only remember people who have treated them well, but they also understand words better than expected.

Is it a true story? It could be – but most of all it is an opportunity to dwell on the sacrifices made by men and animals in all wars. It has appeal for all ages and an ideal book for high school students.

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RETIREMENT LIVING

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2017 UK study details found that leisure centre facilities in Britain contributed more $5.4 billion to society and the findings are reflected in Australian studies.

Leisure facilities providing a broad range of social benefits to communities such as more socially connected neighbourhoods, healthier communities, lower healthcare costs and more productive workplaces This is great news for residents at over 50s lifestyle community Nature’s Edge Buderim, where a $3.5 million 5-star leisure centre is nearing completion.

It will be the social hub of the community and provide state-of-the-art facilities, including 20m heated swimming pool and spa, library/lounge, arts and crafts centre, cinema, bar activities, semi-commercial kitchen, tennis court, bowls green, gym and sauna, alfresco entertainment precincts and teppanyaki barbecue and a massage and beauty therapy room.

The 5-star Leisure Centre nears completion Nature’s Edge Buderim has spacious architect-designed homes within a secure gated community in the Buderim foothills. There are no exit fees and every home owner keeps all the capital gain if they decide to leave.

There are currently two stunning display homes available for viewing, with a third to be completed late this month.

They showcase the affordable luxury lifestyle.

Call 1800 218 898; email info@ naturesedgebuderim.com.au or visit naturesedgebuderim.com.au

PRACTICAL HOUSING OFFERS AFFORDABILITY A housing affordability option for seniors is proving a win-win for both investors and seniors.

Carseldine Gardens, a 143 unit residential village of one and twobedroom villas 12.5 kms from Brisbane CBD, is affordable, convenient and has a community lifestyle for seniors downsizing, whether still working or not.

Seniors can buy villas, starting from $272,500, in the same way they would if buying into a residential townhouse or unit development.

The purchaser pays stamp duty and has freehold title and there are modest ongoing body corporate fees.

“We are seeing families pool resources to provide long-term secure tenure for low income, modest asset retiree parents who might otherwise find themselves in inappropriate accommodation or moving into residential aged care long before they need to,” Liberty Senior Living sales manager Sarah Sinclair said.

“Some SMSF trustees may also see this

option as an ideal property investment with the goal of moving into a villa once the trustees have reached retirement age.

“In fact anyone with sufficient superannuation or savings close to retirement age could consider this the first step to securing their retirement.

“Everyone is talking about the need for more affordable housing, particularly for seniors, but there are few practical, flexible solutions on the table.”

Liberty Senior Living is the management company for Carseldine Gardens, a residential village owned by Alceon, a specialist advisory, investment and capital solutions partnership.

RETIRE TO A CARING COMMUNITY CRUISING INTO A PERFECT WAY OF LIFE

FOR cruise fanatics Moyna Morrison and Garth Thompson, the Halcyon Glades over 50s community at Caboolture is the place they live between their very regular adventures on the high seas.

The footloose couple began cruising in 1995 and have clocked up at least 1200 days at sea on more than 80 cruises.

With up to six cruises a year, Moyna and Garth decided to downsize from their home at Bracken Ridge and moved to Halcyon Glades in June 2015.

“We absolutely love it – we can go away with the feeling that our house is safe and secure,” Moyna says. “That’s what we always used to worry about, but

we downsized and we feel so much safer.

We are able to cruise even more now.”

Moyna says the plethora of activities and socialising at Halcyon Glades is wonderful to come home to.

They are so happy with their Glades lifestyle that they occasionally wear their Halcyon Bowls shirts on cruises to spread the word, leading at least one fellow passenger to buy a home in one of Halcyon’s Sunshine Coast communities.

The couple’s cruise diary includes voyages of anything between three and 49 days to almost every corner of the world. Their cruising pedigree has inspired other home owners at Halcyon Glades to embark on holidays afloat, many turning to the couple for advice, tricks and tips.

“There are actually nine couples from Glades going on a Sea Princess cruise in a few weeks’ time,” Moyna says.

Garth and Moyna already have two Asian cruises booked for 2018.

Visit lifebeginsathalcyon.com.au

SOUTHERN Cross Retirement Village on 4ha at Edens Landing has one, two and two plus study homes with single garages or carport. All offer privacy, security and the reassurance of a 24-hour emergency.

“The village features established grounds free of fences,” manager Jeff Nutter says. “It has beautiful gardens and is specifically designed for hassle free living.”

Mr Nutter said there was a strong sense of community.

“Residents embrace and enjoy their retirement lifestyle which is encouraged throughout Southern Cross Care estates,” he said. “Our busy schedule of social activities and organised outings provide plenty of opportunities for residents.”

For those needing help to live independently, Southern Cross Care Direct offers in-home support services.

Resident Daph Harris said she had the benefits of a close-knit retirement community while enjoying a little extra support from Southern Cross Care Direct.

“Every fortnight the wonderful staff

help me with housecleaning. They are always polite and helpful and ask if there’s anything else they can do,” Daph said. “They have time to talk, I don’t ever feel rushed.”

Mr Nutter said Southern Cross Care Direct had an onsite office that coordinated care for eligible residents and those living in their homes.

“For added peace of mind, residential aged care is co-located onsite at the village if the need for additional support ever arises,” he said.

Stores including a chemist, doctor, corner store and bakery are all nearby while the village bus heads off on weekly shopping trips and other outings.

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27.indd 3

Call Margaret today for a Free, no obligaঞon consultaঞon on:

0448 201 884 February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 27

24/01/2018 10:31:56 AM

WHAT’S ON

SECRETS OF THE MUMMIES REVEALED

TIMELESS TENORS BRING FAVOURITES Three versatile tenors and a three-piece band will provide a ‘Timeless’ night to remember at the Redland Performing Arts Centre this month.

David Kidd, Andrew Pryor and Craig Atkinson will perform favourites from opera, musical theatre and swing in their show Timeless.

After their 2016 sell-out performance at RPAC, Tenori return once more to share fresh versions of favourite songs.

These highly versatile artists will be joined by a three-piece band to bring their unique sense of fun and sophistication to classics.

These include I Still Call Australia Home, Nessun Dorma, O Sole Mio, New

York New York and You Raise Me Up. Arguably Australia’s most soughtafter vocal group, Tenori sings like a band of brothers, with the camaraderie and precision that more than a decade of harmonising together brings.

Providing a night full of stylish and often hilarious takes on songs from the world of opera, musical theatre, jazz and everything in between, Tenori’s Timeless will not disappoint.

Redland Performing Arts Centre, Saturday, February 24, 7.30pm.

Tickets $38-$45. For bookings and further information visit rpac.com.au or call the box office 3829 8131.

Save yourself a trip to London or Egypt when the Queensland Museum opens its major exhibition, Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives next month.

The exhibition of six mummies, almost 200 other objects and the 3D scans from the British Museum’s world-famous Egyptian collections, opens on March 16.

Queensland Museum’s acting CEO Jim Thompson said it would reveal the human stories of six mummies who lived and died in Egypt between 900BC and AD180.

He said cutting edge technology had been used to virtually explore mummification techniques and reveal intriguing facts about the lives of these six very different individuals, all without disturbing their bandages.

Using 3D CT scans, researchers and curators have discovered each mummy’s sex, health history, approximate age when they died and the mummification methods used to preserve their bodies.

Scanned images will appear alongside

Model of a funerary boat found in Egypt.

Image courtesy of the British Museum. almost 200 objects that tell stories of funerary practices and daily life, selected from the British Museum’s world-famous Egyptian collections Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives was developed by the British Museum and will be on display at Queensland Museum from March 16 to August 26.

Tickets $21; concessions $18. Visit mummies.qm.qld.gov.au.

ENJOY FREE MUSIC AT GREEN JAM Free Friday music sessions return to the Melbourne Street Green this month.

This year, Green Jam will showcase popular local musicians and rising stars, alongside the series’ first international act in BrisAsia Sounds on February 23.

Pull up a chair or take a blanket.

There will be different talent each Friday

and QPAC will again feature musicians from Queensland Conservatorium – Griffith University, Jazz Music Institute, JMC Academy and more.

Every Friday, 5.30-7.30pm, excluding Good Friday March 30. Melbourne Street Green, QPAC, Cultural Precinct, South Bank. Visit qpac.com.au

FEBRUARY PROMOTIONS Sunday 18th February 1.15pm-2.50pm. Members Giveaway Draws 13 x $300 Trebles, 1 x $1,000 Full House, 2 x $1,500 Trebles + Bonus $5,000 in Calls.

Friday Night 23rd February 7.30pm-9.00pm-10.30pm 13 x $1,000 Trebles, 1 x $2,000 Treble, 1 x $2,000 Full House, 1 x $7,000 Treble + Night Owl.

Info Line: 3340 3961 www.southsidesport.com.au 76 Mt. Gravatt Capalaba Rd Upper Mount Gravatt Phone: 3340 3960 28 YOUR TIME MAGAZINE / February 2018

28.indd 2

Brisbane

24/01/2018 11:12:18 AM

WHAT’S ON Redland Performing Arts Centre presents

STEAM TRAIN ADVENTURES

Relive the glory days of Hollywood when the he classic film Gone with the Wind screens at Metro Arts in the city this month.

The story of a manipulative woman and a roguish man conducting a turbulent romance during and after the American Civil War stars Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable.

The winner of many Academy Awards, it regularly tops the list of the greatest movies of all time.

Screening time is four hours, including a 15 minute interval, on February 10, from 1pm. Metro Arts is at 109 Edward St, Brisbane. Tickets $14 at kristianfletcher.com or limited tickets available door. able at the door

Set aside the date, the Sandgate Film Gala is coming up at the Sandgate Town Hall on March 24. There will be three sessions – a family session with animations and family-friendly short films screened at Heart of Gold film festival; a historical film session based on Brisbane; and an evening gala, including a Q&A with local filmmakers as well as the best of Heart of Gold movies.

Brisbane

29.indd 3

The Australian Railway Historical Society will be taking steam train BB18¼ better known as Bety from Brisbane’s Roma St station to Palmwoods on March 3.

The train departs at 8:40am, stopping to pick up passengers at Northgate, Lawnton and Caboolture stations.

On arrival, travellers can: • Join a coach to visit Wildlife HQ at Woombye. Walk around, see the animals and have lunch.

• Take a coach to Mapleton for lunch and a visit to Mapleton Falls.

• Lunch at one of the several eateries in Palmwoods.

• Continue to Yandina for additional cost.

Bety leaves Palmwoods Station at 2:25pm for the return journey, with stops at Caboolture, Northgate, Lawnton to arrive at Roma St at about 5pm.

Coming up on May 12, is a Rail and Sail tour, departing Roma St on board the steam train to Sandgate.

From there, board a coach to Redcliffe for lunch at one of the many beachfront cafes near the jetty, then join the MV Lady Brisbane from Redcliffe Jetty up the Brisbane River to South Bank.

This trip can be done in reverse and there is a train-only option.

Book early to avoid disappointment.

Call 3252 1759 Tuesday to Thursday, 10am-3pm email: arhsqld@bigpond.com or visit arhs-qld.org.au

TENORI Timeless

Good things come in threes … three versatile tenors, a powerful three-piece band, plus opera, musical theatre and swing music TENORI bring their unique sense of fun and sophistication to classics like You Raise Me Up, I Still Call Australia Home, Nessun Dorma, O Sole Mio and New York, New York.

SAT 24 FEBRUARY, 7.30PM REDLAND PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE – CONCERT HALL

TICKETS: $38 - $45 BOOKINGS: 3829 8131 or www.rpac.com.au* *Booking fees: $4.10 by phone & $5 online per transaction Supported by Major Media Partner: Redland City Bulletin

February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 29

24/01/2018 11:12:53 AM

The WORLD in Your Hands

Travel in Your Time

First to the frozen continent

IMAGES: JOHN MADDOCKS

As Baby Boomers spread their wings wider in search of something completely different, heads turn south to Antarctica and JOHN MADDOCKS reports, it’s a mind-blowing experience.

A group of intrepid modern-day explorers set out hiking in the wilds of Antarctica.

I

’m early and I’m excited. It’s the start of the spring expedition cruise season to Antarctica, and I’m on the first ship leaving Ushuaia in Argentina, the most southerly city in the world. At this time of year, we’ll experience the Antarctic in all its ice-covered grandeur.

It’s an exhilarating prospect.

After all, ice is what this pristine, other-worldly wilderness is all about. Of Antarctica’s 14 million sq km, 99 per cent is covered in ice, some of it 4km thick.

Sea ice can double the size of the continent in winter, and much of it will still be there when we arrive.

There are, of course, many other exciting aspects of this trip.

On the way we visit the Falkland and South Georgia Islands, renowned for their incredible history and wildlife.

The first Zodiac landings get us up close to Magellanic, rockhopper and gentoo penguins, upland geese, fur seals and hundreds of black-browed albatrosses nesting side by side in tall

tussock grass on cliff edges.

We find friendly locals in the Falklands’ capital Port Stanley, keen to welcome us to their remote outpost.

This colourful town of 3000 residents boasts a government house and cathedral, but the most interesting attraction is the excellent, quirky museum. It houses fascinating collections that bring the islands’ social and natural history to life.

While at sea on our way to South Georgia Island, accompanied by circling albatrosses and giant petrels, we attend engaging lectures by a naturalist, ornithologist, photographer and historian.

Legendary Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton is buried on the island and we learn of his exploits before visiting his grave next day at Grytviken, a former whaling station.

After his ship was trapped in ice and sank in 1915, Shackleton and five others sailed a 6m lifeboat 1500km across the

Enjoy a naturally refreshing escape

treacherous Southern Ocean from Elephant Island to South Georgia.

This feat is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest small boat voyages of all time.

South Georgia is home to spectacular nature experiences.

Standing on Salisbury Plain with over 100,000 king penguins as well as elephant and fur seals is the closest I’ve ever been to wildlife. The experience is heightened because these creatures have no apparent fear of humans.

At gorgeous Gold Harbour we witness elephant seals mating, one of the most dramatic and confronting events in nature.

The massive males, which can be 6m long and weigh up to 4 tons, fight each other for the right to mate with about 50 females.

At one point we have to quickly move out of the way of a huge male as he confronts another contender and then mates with a female. Other females and

young seals nearby scatter to avoid being crushed.

Our naturalist tells us that the mating season is brief, so we wouldn’t have seen this exceptional event if we’d arrived several weeks later.

After our memorable wildlife encounters on South Georgia, we head to the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula.

When they come into sight several days later, my ice dreams become reality.

Incredible, jagged, snow covered mountains dominate the horizon, flanked by massive glaciers. Brash ice covers much of the water’s surface and huge icebergs appear.

Our first landings exceed every expectation.

The sheer scale and beauty of the place is staggering. We are overawed, insignificant in the ice. We have made it to the end of the world, and now we know why we’ve come.

We wanted to stand in a place like no continued page 32>

King penguins and elephant seals at Gold Harbour.

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23/01/2018 12:17:21 PM

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Rockhopper penguins nest in the Falklands. days of smooth sailing. This provides a great opportunity to reflect on the highlights of the voyage. There’s a presentation of the best photos taken during the journey, many of which are superb. Ultimately, however, it’s a trip that no photos can adequately capture.

We’ve visited places in less than three weeks that took explorers such as Scott and Shackleton three years to reach.

With its remote frozen landscapes, incredible wildlife encounters and a constant sense of adventure, it’s not to be missed.

The writer travelled courtesy of One Ocean Expeditions.

Feature supplied by wtfmedia.com.au

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other, a place that can bring you to your knees with its majesty.

The colours in Antarctica are surprising. Masses of all-encompassing white snow and ice are offset by blue, grey and even black ice. Occasionally an exposed rock will feature orange lichen beneath a bright blue sky.

Each landing, at places with names such as Wilhelmina Bay, Yankee Harbour and Half Moon Island, is different. We see Antarctica’s largest gentoo penguin rookery and a massive chinstrap penguin colony.

There is even some excitement as we’re forced to abandon a landing and return to the ship when the wind rises unexpectedly and blows large chunks of brash ice into our landing site.

After four days, we leave Antarctica for our last adventure: crossing the notorious Drake Passage to Argentina.

It’s reputedly the roughest piece of ocean in the world and I’ve heard that its moods range from “Drake shake” to “Drake lake”. I’m rather relieved when it turns out to be the latter, as we enjoy two

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Girls On Tour

A king penguin feeds its baby on South Georgia Island.

Air New Zealand flies to Buenos Aires via Auckland and codeshares with Aerolineas Argentinas for flights from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia.

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6 PLACES LEFT CROATIA AND TREASURES OF THE BALKANS #2 25 days departing 15th June 2018

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*twin share, ex Brisbane. Other capital city departures available on application.

32 YOUR TIME MAGAZINE / February 2018

32.indd 2

TAJ MAHAL, SOUTHERN INDIA & SRI LANKA 25 Days departing 19th October 2018

Facebook @girlsontouraustralia Brisbane

24/01/2018 10:48:21 AM

TRAVEL

THE SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA

Q

ueensland’s Outback isn’t as far away as you might think.

A two-hour flight from Brisbane or a leisurely two-week driving holiday is all it takes to reach the Longreach region and our pioneer heartland.

Most people know of the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach, but few realise there are many other fascinating destinations in the region.

Whether soaking in an outdoor bathtub under a sunset sky, cruising the lazy Thomson River, a stockman’s campfire dinner, visiting a historic working station, or discovering tales of early aviators at the Qantas Founders Museum, it’s a visit that stirs the Australian pioneering spirit.

Outback Pioneers, a family tourism company that started in 2006, when the Kinnon family needed to diversify from their grazing business to survive the

TOURS THAT HIT A HIGH NOTE frequent outback droughts, is introducing Queenslanders from the southeast to the many attractions of the Outback.

The family has overcome the odds to build an enterprise that welcomes more than 25,000 guests each year.

Their experiences, including the signature Cobb & Co stagecoach ride, and accommodation, celebrate heritage and outback lifestyle and won the Gold Award for Cultural Tourism at the Queensland Tourism Awards in 2016 and 2017.

Rounding off the Outback experience is a visit to the award-winning Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum in Winton, plus the new Waltzing Matilda Centre, which opens in April.

It all seems a million miles from the coast and city, but it’s only a couple of days’ drive on good roads – the sort of trip every Aussie needs to make at least once in a lifetime.

Imagine standing in Pavarotti’s kitchen, where the great tenor once merrily boiled his pasta. Or touring Downton Abbey. Or seeing the opera at La Scala, Covent Garden.

Soprano Jennifer Parish and baritone Stewart Cameron have combined their passion for singing with their love of travel to create a special travel company made just for music lovers.

They established the boutique arts company Operatif! in 1994 and create every tour themselves.

Every tour is built from the ground up to perfectly combine their knowledge and aspirations and make musical dreams come true.

Whether it is opera on Sydney Harbour under the lights of the bridge, a visit to the Opera House itself, a steam train through green Welsh countryside or a show in London’s West End, there is plenty of variety coming up in a music lover’s tour.

Jennifer and Stewart have taken groups to favourite spots in Europe – Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest and much of Italy – and chartered small ships to cruise New Zealand’s Bay of Islands and Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River, to the tune of on-board concerts.

At home, is the popular Opera on the Harbour each year, as well as other Australian music events.

BEYOND THE BEACHES

Jennifer and Stew in Venice.

They say the success of Music Lover’s Tours boils down to four basic ingredients – sparkling itineraries, excellent value, meticulous organisation and a warm, personal approach.

Tours always sell out and they enjoy a high percentage of repeat clients.

If you love music and have your own wish list to see – and hear – the world, Jennifer and Stewart are happy to have a chat with fellow music-loving travellers.

“We don’t hound people,” Jennifer says. “We haven’t time, even if we wanted to.”

Call 1300 308 385, email operatif@ operatif.com.au or visit operatif.com.au

JEWELS OF THE CARIBBEAN SEA Voyage 1822 aboard Silver Cloud. Departing 3 October 2018, 12 Days. Cruise and airfares from AU$7,830pp.* La Habana Punta Frances

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• Admire tropical fish and colourful corals underwater • Enjoy the luxuriant tropical landscape of San Blas Islands (currently known as Guna Yala) • Relax on the powdery white beaches of spectacular Punta Frances • Be driven in a vintage car to a cigar factory in Havana • Enjoy a traditional Cuban Tropicana Evening Show • Visit Santiago de Cuba’s San Pedro de la Roca Castle, Old Havana and the town of Trinidad – UNESCO World Heritage Sites • Be on the lookout for toucans, tanagers, hummingbirds, kiskadees • Visit Cartagena’s fortified old quarters – a UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Fare advertised is cruise and airfare only, in Australian dollars, per guest, based on lead-in category in a double occupancy suite and includes 10% Early booking bonus. Air offer only valid to guests from Australia and is subject to availability, valid until 28 February 2018. An AU$1,500 non-use air credit is available, valid to the 1st and 2nd guests. Due to flight schedules some voyages may require an overnight hotel stay and transfer pre or post-cruise at the guests own expense. All highlights listed are possible experiences and cannot be guaranteed. 10% Early booking bonus available on voyages departing 1 July 2018 and onwards if booked and paid in full by 28 February 2018. All information herein is correct at time of printing, subject to availability and change without notice. Additional restrictions may apply. For full terms and conditions visit Silversea.com.

Brisbane

33.indd 3

February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 33

24/01/2018 11:05:57 AM

TRAVEL

Lap up slow food in Sicily After some intense research eating his way around Sicily, MATTEO CARRI has mapped out the ultimate foodie adventure that goes to the heart of his heritage.

Splendid view from Hotel L’Ariana on Salina Island off the coast of Sicily.

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’ve been living in Brisbane for two years now. I was born in a little town called Sieci, just over 10km upstream from Florence on the river Arno.

Good food has always been in my blood – my Irish mum studied at an international cooking school in the UK before moving to Tuscany 40 years ago.

This is where my brother, Marco and I were raised in a country farmhouse.

If we weren’t eating from the farm’s peach, cherry and fig trees, or picking wild asparagus for Mum’s prized risotto, we were helping her out in the kitchen with her catering business (although mum might not have said it was helping).

It was a great grounding so that when I

finished high school, I went straight into restaurant work in Dublin and London, before moving into travel. And now I can combine my two loves.

I’ve previously had the pleasure of designing a Cooking in Tuscany Tour and now I’ve discovered the slow food movement. No, it’s not about eating slowly but pressing pause on our fast lives to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures, and celebrate the preparation of good food. I returned to Italy to put together this tour so it’s not only scenic, but mouth-watering.

I’ve tried all the dishes, just to be sure.

Join Matt in October. Visit: backtrackadventures.com.au

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UNIQUELY AUSTRALIAN * UNFORGETTABLE! INSPIRING * EDUCATIONAL * QUIRKY 34 YOUR TIME MAGAZINE / February 2018

34.indd 2

OUTBACKPIONEERS.COM.AU

Pack up the pooch for a pet-friendly caravan or camping holiday.

With more than eight million households owning a pet, holiday destinations are now catering for pet-friendly holidays.

Caravan Parks Association of Queensland general manager Michelle Weston says camping and caravanning is a perfect option for pet owners.

“Many Queensland caravan parks are going the extra mile to let your pet have a holiday with you,” she said. “Whether it’s pet-friendly camping sites, dog off-leash areas, agility courses or pet wash

facilities, caravanning and camping is going barking mad for pet-friendly holidaymakers.”

Goondiwindi Holiday Park welcomes pets, furry or feathered. There’s no additional cost and there’s plenty to do.

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Wallace Caravan Park in Maryborough has a range of pet friendly accommodation options including cabins, as well as a large off-leash area.

Brisbane

24/01/2018 11:07:07 AM

TRAVEL

Cruise the Caribbean to Cuba

T

he 15th century explorer Christopher Columbus described Cuba as “the most beautiful land that eyes have ever seen” but for much of the late 20th century until 2014, it was protected from a huge tourism onslaught by its accessibility.

It remains a relatively raw destination that gives a sense that much is about to change within the next decade so now is the time to see it in its original splendor.

Join Silversea Expeditions on a journey of indefinable magic, departing Nassau in the Bahamas on October 3, for a spectacular 12-day expedition to Cuba on the luxurious Silver Cloud.

Sailing to Colon in Panama, this ocean adventure will include Cuba and Colombia and their World Heritage sites as well as Jamaica.

Sample Cuban and Caribbean food and cocktails, relax on sandy, white beaches and admire a dazzling array of tropical fish and colourful coral on this expedition beyond the beaches.

A highlight of the voyage is a two-day stopover in Havana, La Habana - the largest city in Cuba - where a guided tour will cover the sights of metropolitan and modern Havana, Revolution Square and the historical centre of Old Havana.

From the spectacular Havana

Brisbane

35.indd 3

Tropicana Show head to the cigar factory in one of the famous vintage American cars, to learn about the history of Cuban cigars and how they are hand-rolled.

Onboard and ashore, up to 22 expedition team members conduct immersive destination experiences, with the help of the fleet of 16 Zodiacs and 10 kayaks – all of which are part of the package.

The enchanting island of Punta Frances provides an opportunity to join a marine biologist for a snorkel tour to see a variety of tropical fish and turtles, while a Zodiac tour will transport guests to one of the 365 uninhabited islands of Guna Yala.

World Heritage sites to be explored on this voyage include the city of Trinidad de Cuba with its cobblestone streets; Morro Castle, a fortress guarding the entrance to

Havana bay; and Cartegena de Indias, one of the most important ports of Spanish South America.

Silver Cloud provides a sanctuary at sea with spacious accommodation, most suites with a private veranda, along with luxury touches that include a choice of European bath amenities, butler service for all guests, sumptuous Pratesi bedding and a nineoption pillow menu.

Broad sweeping decks with multiple open spaces and a swimming pool complete the most distinctive expedition ship sailing today.

By limiting the number of guests, Silver Cloud has the highest space-to-guest and crew-to-guest ratio in expedition cruising.

Silversea Expeditions all-inclusive lifestyle includes all excursions and activities and the ultimate in personalised service and fine dining, with a choice of five options.

All-inclusive cruise/air package fares including economy return flights from select Australian gateways start at $7830 a person in a Vista Suite, based on double occupancy and includes early booking bonus savings if paying in full before February 28.

Contact the Cruise Centre, 1800 428 105 or email cruise@thecruisecentre.com.au

February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 35

24/01/2018 11:07:28 AM

TRAVEL

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36 YOUR TIME MAGAZINE / February 2018

36.indd 2

On her 64th birthday, Claude Tranchant set off alone to walk the famous Camino de Santiago, the pilgrim’s trail through France and Spain – a distance of 2500km over 100 days.

A true pilgrim, she did it with a 14kg pack on her back and with little training or even any real grasp of the enormity of her undertaking until she was there, walking the St James Way, from northern France over the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain.

And now, for her 72nd birthday, she’s going to do part of it again with a television documentary team and five others of similar vintage, who have also walked parts of it before. Claude, the only Queenslander, is the oldest of the group.

“Six different personalities from six cities will walk as one to defy the odds at their age and physical ability to achieve something that many a 20-year-old would not be able to complete,” the documentary-maker Fergus Grady says.

“They say it’s easy to do something the first time, but once you reflect on your achievement, preparing to repeat it is even harder. These pilgrims know how arduous their previous journeys were.”

They will cover more than 800km in 36 days, an average of more than 20km a day.

Claude turns 72 on April 4, and will

Claude with her backpack begins her first ascent of the Pyrenees. start walking a week later from the base of the Pyrenees.

“We will start 200m above sea level and within 8km will be at 800m up,” she says. “This time it will be in company and will only be the Spanish section of the pilgrim’s way, but for my 75th birthday, a decade after my first long walk, I plan to do the whole journey again.”

Brisbane

24/01/2018 11:08:32 AM

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS

5 3 6 7 9 8 2 1 4

3 2 4 5 1 6 8 7 9

8 6 9 3 7 4 5 2 1

7 5 1 2 8 9 4 6 3

9 4 2 6 3 1 5 8 7

3 1 7 4 5 8 9 6 2

5 6 8 2 9 7 4 3 1

6 5 9 3 1 4 2 7 8

CODEWORD Z U X L C I F H A NMO T 15

14

2

1

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

7 3 1 8 2 5 6 4 9

2 8 4 7 6 9 1 5 3

4 7 5 9 8 2 3 1 6

8 2 3 1 4 6 7 9 5

1 9 6 5 7 3 8 2 4

WORDFIND Winner

26

V E J R B Y G S P D QWK 3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

9-LETTER WORD

WORD STEP LIMBO, LIMBS, LAMBS, LAMPS, RAMPS, RASPS

ceorl, cicero, cider, circle, circled, cleric, clod, code, coil, coiled, cold, colder, cole, colic, cooed, cool, cooled, cooler, coolie, cord, core, cored, credo, cried, CROCODILE, deco, decor, dice, dicer, docile, iced, lice, loci, loco, locoed, oleic, recoil, relic, rice

1. A stick or club; 2. Congo; 3. Aoili; 4. The hatchet; 5. Swiss; 6. Bowen; 7. Corbett and Barker; 8. Colombo; 9. Water buffalo; 10. Yellow; 11. Banjo Paterson; 12. Barack Obama; 13. Presto; 14. Dial; 15. White; 16. Tonsils; 17. 2015; 18. Tom; 19. San Francisco; 20. Eight.

Complete Comfort SPLIT BEDS

SUDOKU (EASY)

2 9 8 4 3 1 7 5 6

SUDOKU (MEDIUM)

1 4 7 6 5 2 3 9 8

1. In Ireland, what is a shillelagh?

2. What is the only major river that crosses the Equator twice?

3. What food dressing of five letters has four vowels in its spelling?

4. Colloquially, to make peace is to bury what?

5. What nationality was folk hero William Tell?

6. What Queensland town gives its name to a popular mango variety?

7. What were the family names of the Two Ronnies?

8. What is the capital city of Sri Lanka?

9. Lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and what other animal makes up Africa’s “Big Five”?

10. What colour Wiggle is Emma Watkins?

11. Who wrote “The Man From Snowy River”?

12. Which US President had the middle name Hussein?

13. Complete the magician’s traditional catch phrase: “hey ……”

14. What part of an analogue clock is an anagram of “laid”?

15. Is the wine pinot grigio classed as red or white?

16. What part of the body is removed in a tonsillectomy?

17. In what year did jockey Michelle Payne win the Melbourne Cup? 18. In the Tom and Jerry cartoons, who was the cat?

19. The major airport of which city has the IATA code SFO? 20. How many great grandparents does a person have?

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

4 7 2 1 6 3 9 8 5

QUICK CROSSWORD

6 8 5 9 4 7 1 3 2

With Quizmaster Allan Blackburn

9 1 3 8 2 5 6 4 7

TRIVIA

There may be other correct answers

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37.indd 3

February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 37

24/01/2018 11:08:56 AM

PUZZLES

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

DOWN

1

1

6 8 9 10 11 13 14 15

Such a highly successful mannequin is, unfortunately, seldom pure (10) A terribly hot reef was created out of that source (7) Being a little bit neurotic about having money overseas (4) A sort of mineral used in the production of my vehicle, by the sound of it (4) Examine in detail how to endow one portal (11) Swimmers realise airless performances (4) A suitor who could be attached to gold (4) Grazes in just the right spaces, perhaps (7) It would be wearisome to let this unruly mob curse me this way (10)

No. 2534

The spineless European leader suffered somnolence (10) 2 The guy who bought it on spec hoped to include an acoustic feature (4) 3 It’s the world of business where they mercilessly trample cake and the like (11) 4 The date of original manufacture initially predicted a terrible outcome (4) 5 When there is not enough equine data about (10) 6 One goes from place to place to find TV laser technology (7) 7 Big endings from the frothy head in beers (7) 12 Those worthless people! There were a hundred in total (4) 13 Flutters the best way he can (4)

CODEWORD

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

WORDFIND

Copyright © Reuben’s Puzzles www.reubenspuzzles.com.au.

Refer to the website for a cryptic solving guide.

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Cruise today

Welcome aboard the MV Lady Brisbane for p one of our regular scheduled cruises, or special event celebration cruises.

Cruises we offer: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cruise Corporate Function Cruises Moreton Bay Cruise Brisbane River lunch or dinner cruises Bribie Island Day OR Lunch Cruise Birthday, Wedding, special Celebration Cruises

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Call us on 07 3630 2666 Online bookings available www.brisbanecruises.com.au 38 YOUR TIME MAGAZINE / February 2018

38.indd 2

No. 006

O T

The leftover letters will spell out a secret message No. 007

ace (twice) ball ball boy clay coach court drop shot fault fifteen forty lawn Lendl lobbing love net

WORK IT OUT!

open pro racquet rally return serve set smash thirty Venus volley

SUDOKU Level: Medium

No. 794

3 1 6

8

8

9 1 2 3 7 9

6 3

6

7 4

5 2

9 2 6 1 7 1 9 5

7 3

Deal Directly With The Crematorium No Middle Man Mark Up Or Delay Best Price Guarantee Contact us today for more information

Ph: 1300 137 988 www.adirectcremationcom.au Brisbane

24/01/2018 11:50:23 AM

PUZZLES

QUICK CROSSWORD

No. 3635

9-LETTER WORD

No. 007

Today’s Aim:

E I O

29 words: Very good

L O

39 words: Excellent

D R

Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or more can you list? The centre letter must be included and each letter may only be used once.

No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes or plural words ending in “s”.

WORD STEP

ACROSS 1 5 9 10 11 12 15 16 18 20 21 23 25 26 27 28

Tweeted (7) Capital of Libya (7) Push gently (5) – the Great, Prussian king (1712-1786) (9) Mobile phone sound (8) Kidnap payment (6) Wild ox (5) Exercise machine (9) Change (9) English soccer team, – Villa (5) Aspirations (6) Emblem (8) Key expert (9) Test (5) Equilibrium (7) Associate (7)

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 13 14 17 19 20

Donated (11) Country with capital Jakarta (9) Suburb of Melbourne (7) Meaning (10) Adolescent (4) Island in the North Atlantic (7) Leaves out (5) Annoy (3) Fruit scooping tool (5,6) Skill of writing by hand (10) Purpose (9) Name of desert in Central Australia (7) Pilot (7)

22 Shine (5) 24 Conceal (4) 25 High tennis shot (3)

Level: Easy

19 words: Good

C

C

SUDOKU

No. 007

1 8 3

No. 793

2 5 4 9 7

2 6 5 7 2 9 4 5 1 7 2 8 6

4

8 7 5

3 2 1 8 4 2 6

WORK IT OUT!

Complete the list by changing one letter at a time to create a new word at each step. One possible answer shown below.

LIMBO

_____ _____ _____ _____ RASPS February 2018

Brisbane

39.indd 3

February 2018 / YOUR TIME MAGAZINE 39

24/01/2018 11:24:39 AM

40.indd 2

23/01/2018 12:17:52 PM