Seniors Toowoomba February 2020

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FEBRUARY, 2020//

INDEX 04 16 20 21 28 32 35 39

Cover Story - Reg Richardson Drama in Toowoomba Steam train gains new life Wanderlust Wellbeing Living Finance Puzzles

16 Toowoomba Rep Theatre begins its 90th year.

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Ready for a new ride?

Gail Forrer Seniors Group Editor GREETINGS friends.

If you are looking for some good news this month, then look no further, you have found it.

Seniors News journalists Tracey Johnstone and Alison Houston have gone to town to locate and write some uplifting and interesting stories.

For instance, our cover personality Reg Richardson. This is not a name that usually makes the headlines, but here he is sharing the fruits of his own success with those in need and successfully encouraging his friends to do the same.

He has certainly made big things happen and Australia is a better place for it.

This month our doublepage spread features war brides. Tracey Johnstone spoke to 96-year-old Jackie McLaughlin, who was one of the 70,000 women who left Britain in the 1940s bound for

Canada or Australia.

Today, Jackie is looking for any of the women left or their families, to chat about their life journey.

We also give you a heads-up with a story on the changing nature of public transport.

A new company is stepping into Australia with a transport system that intends to offer a flexible and practical alternative to our traditional type of transport, such as the big council buses that run only at certain times and certain places, regardless of passenger numbers.

After the introduction of Uber, Lime scooters and electric bikes, we’re getting used to additional forms of transport, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this latest enterprise works for us.

Enjoy the read.

SENIORS

CONTACT US General Manager Geoff Crockett – 07 5430 1006 geoff.crockett@news.com.au Editor Gail Forrer – 07 5435 3203 gail.forrer@seniorsnewspaper.com.au Media Sales Executive Mark Smith – 07 3327 3327 mark.smith@newsregionalmedia.com.au Online Get your news online at www.seniorsnews.com.au Advertising, editorial and distribution enquiries Phone: 1300 880 265 or (07) 5435 3200 Email: advertising@seniorsnewspaper.com.au or editor@seniorsnewspaper.com.au Location: 2 Newspaper Place, Maroochydore 4558 Website: www.seniorsnews.com.au Subscriptions Only $39.90 for one year (12 editions) including GST and postage anywhere in Australia. Please call our circulations services on 1300 361604 and quote “Brisbane Seniors Newspaper”.

The Seniors Newspaper is published monthly and distributed free in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales.

The Seniors newspaper stable includes Toowoomba, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Northern NSW, Coffs and Clarence and Central Coast publications.

Published by News Corp Australia.

Printed by News Corp Australia, Yandina. Opinions expressed by contributors to Seniors Newspapers are not necessarily those of the editor or the owner/publisher and publication of advertisements implies no endorsement by the owner/ publisher.

Responsibility for election material in this paper is taken by Gail Forrer, cnr Mayne Road & Campbell Street, Bowen Hills, QLD 4006.

The Pride of Toowoomba will be restored,.

Quilters go all art in aid of musos’ tour to Europe TOOWOOMBA quilters have created a special one-off quilt to support a European journey by the Camerata touring group.

Camerata was founded in 1987 by acclaimed string educator Elizabeth Morgan (AM) as an idealistic ensemble of emerging artists, which she then formed into a professional chamber orchestra in 2005.

As a Queensland ensemble, Camerata provides career and

performance opportunities for string players who wish to build a professional, international career from Brisbane, and as a point of attraction for those returning from overseas.

The constantly evolving group undertakes a major concert season annually in both Brisbane and Toowoomba.

This month, sixteen-yearold violinist Aylish Ryan from Toowoomba Strings – Camerata group came to

Toowoomba Quilters Club to receive a quilt that will be raffled to raise funds for a trip to Europe to perform their music in major venues in Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna and Prague.

The 17-strong Camerata touring group will be performing in Toowoomba to help raise more funds before their European trip in September.

Aylish graciously thanked Toowoomba Quilters for their generous gift of the

lovely quilt, which will contribute to their fundraising goal.

“It will be an amazing experience playing (instrumental music) in cathedrals and schools and working with philharmonic groups in Europe,” Aylish said.

RIGHT: Angela and Aylish Ryan with Lee Hicks and Lyn Lloyd (obscured) from Toowoomba Quilters Club. Picture: Contributed

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Medical marvel honoured Leader in obstetrics named as Senior Australian of the Year for work in curbing pre-term births MINISTER for Aged Care and Senior Australians Richard Colbeck has paid tribute to the 2020 Senior Australian of the Year.

Professor John Newnham (AM), of Western Australia, was honoured by Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a ceremony at the National Arboretum in Canberra.

The award is presented to an Australian over 65 years of age who continues to achieve and contribute to the community.

Prof Newnham is recognised as a world authority in preventing preterm birth.

He has been described as “an intellectual leader of modern obstetrics who has changed the practice of medicine and the lives of women and infants”.

“Prof Newnham’s ongoing achievements serve as an

example to all Australians,” Mr Colbeck said.

“Senior Australians have an incredible amount to offer the rest of the community – their intellect, their capacity for hard work and their experience.

“I would like to pay tribute to Prof Newnham and to the thousands of senior Australians who play crucial roles across the nation in professional, volunteer and community roles.

“This award is a reflection of our national appreciation, admiration and thanks for your efforts.”

The Australian Government has been a proud sponsor of the Senior Australian of the Year Award for more than 10 years.

Mr Colbeck also congratulated each of the state and territory finalists for their endeavours across a

range of sectors in our community.

“Celebrating the accomplishments of our seniors is important not only to thank them for their work but to remind all Australians that age is just a number, not an indicator of ability,” he said.

Other Senior Australian of the Year finalists this year included: • New South Wales – founder of OzGREEN, Sue Lennox from NSW, teaches people to become “citizen scientists’’ and to take action to improve the health of the waterways.

• South Australia – 90year-old Sylvia McMillan has been an unstoppable community volunteer for more than 50 years after becoming treasurer of her local Legacy club in the late 1960s.

• Queensland – Peter

RECOGNITION: Prime Minister Scott Morrison with 2020 Senior Australian of the Year, Professor John Newnham.

Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Dornan (AM) helps men with prostate cancer share experiences and seek support. He designed a program to treat

incontinence after prostate cancer treatment.

• Victoria – Dr Raymond Sheuy (APM), a former Victorian police officer and

assistant commissioner for traffic and operations, is a consultant on road safety and operational safety in Australia and worldwide.

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COVER STORY

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SENIORS

Pockets as deep as Reg’s big heart TRACEY JOHNSTONE

WHEN it comes to choosing a philanthropic project, Reg Richardson (AM) looks to his “emotional quotient” to gauge what is the right one to support.

It’s that instinct for what will and what won’t work that has led the 80-year-old to drive the establishment of outstanding organisations across a wide spectrum from indigenous health and melanoma research to the arts.

Putting his hand in his pocket is his inclination. It’s been an approach he’s taken since his early business days.

He was reared in what he describes as modest circumstances, growing up in Sydney’s Darlinghurst with his

Coaxing millions from the nation’s wealthy to benefit our most in need grandmother. “I have seen social issues as a pretty personal thing,” he said. “If you are competent enough to do something about it, I believe you should, and do in my case.”

His business background was centred on service industries where “you deliver a service, whatever it happens to be, efficiently, on time and at the lowest cost possible”.

Since retiring, Reg has turned his hand to finding financial answers to vexing projects, coaxing millions of dollars from rich Australians.

“I am good at asking people for money, particularly if they

are wealthy,” he said. “As you go through life you do happen to know people who surprisingly have made a fair bit of money and unsurprisingly are quite willing to give some away.”

I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT WHATEVER I DO. Take, for example, Greg and Kay Poche. All right, there is the exception here: Greg is Reg’s oldest and closest friend. Greg sold Star Track Express for $750 million.

“I asked him what he was going to do with all that,” Reg

said. “He said he was going to give a lot of it away. He also replied, ‘I have seen what you have done over the years, so I am going to get you to do it’.”

With Greg suffering several stokes that inhibited his walking and talking, the task of finding suitable projects was handed over to Reg. A casual introduction by a mate to melanoma surgeon Associate Professor John Stretch, who was eagerly seeking funding for melanoma research, led Reg to ask Greg for $10 million.

“He just said ‘Yep’ like that, so I thought, ‘I can get more out of him’,” Reg said. Three

PASSION PROJECTS: Reg Richardson at home with his art and rugby colours.

months later he went back to Greg with a proposal for $30 million to build a centre for melanoma specialists.

“Greg provided the dough, I provided the energy to get it all going because that’s who I am, and John provided the

medical advice,” Reg said.

The result: 10 years down the track and $40 million later, Reg has retired as board chairman for Melanoma Institute of Australia and the Mater Hospital owns the asset, used for critical world-

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IT’S THERE FOREVER AND ONE DAY THERE WILL BE A CURE FOR MELANOMA.

recognised melanoma research and treatment.

“It’s there forever and one day there will be a cure for melanoma,” he said.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Reg went back to Greg and suggested they

have a “crack at indigenous health”.

“I said (to Greg), ‘If we were Aboriginal, we’d be dead’.” Greg agreed that was a compelling reason.

Through Reg, five major universities each received

$10 million, which led to the establishment of the Poche Indigenous Health Network.

Its focus is on closing the gap in life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders through healthy teeth, hearts and children.

“I told each university the money had to be invested at a rate of 9 per cent (the rates were 15 per cent at the time) in perpetuity and the capital to remain untouched for them to invest wisely so that they increased the $10 million to a higher figure.

“In most cases it’s sitting at around 12 and they live on the $900,000 (interest) annually, then go out to get more dough.”

His passion runs deep Reg’s attachment to the arts started when he was 28.

An artist friend, who ultimately became an art critic for a Sydney newspaper, opened Reg’s eyes to this world. Reg attended many art openings and read all his friend had to write.

Reg Richardson and Shaun Ewen pictured at Reg's home in Mosman.

“I then started to buy my own works, including eight of my friend’s,” Reg said.

From there his collection grew and hasn’t stopped growing.

“One was Tracey Moffatt, an Aboriginal photographer. I have the most of any person in the world, I am told.”

By the time Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art opened, Reg was recognised as an art collector and was asked to be the president of its fundraising foundation.

“I don’t do the openings now,” he said. “I see every show but go privately.”

Healthy mind and body Keeping up with his philanthropic responsibilities means also keeping fit. The trim Reg walks every day as fast he can, but on the flat.

The hills around his Mosman home are just too hard.

He says playing golf is definitely out, but spending his free time advising the local Mosman Art Gallery is in.

“I would like to do smaller things that make a bigger impact,” he said.

The rewards for Reg are difficult to articulate. The straight-talking, switched-on man with a raucous laugh

Pictures: Attila Szilvasi

draws breath when asked what continues to drive him.

Like Greg, the big-hearted man is quietly modest about his contributions.

Red and green forever Reg might not have sporting talent, but that hasn’t stopped him from following the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Red-and-green glasses, rabbits on the side table, a red-and-green miniature scarf around the neck of a favourite sculpture. He wears his passion on his sleeve.

“I am passionate about whatever I do,” Reg said.

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SENIORS

Rockers to roll back years Red Hot Summer Tour set to hit Queens Park for first time Alison Houston THINGS are about to heat up in Toowoomba for Baby Boomers and Gen Xers wanting to relive their youth, with the Red Hot Summer Tour on its 10th anniversary coming to Queens Park for the first time.

1980s favourites Hunters and Collectors, fronted by Mark Seymour, are headlining the all-Australian show in Toowoomba on Sunday, February 23, as part of a four-month tour.

Also performing are the voice of Australian Crawl James Reyne, The Living End, 1970s and ’80s rock legends The Angels, Baby Animals, Killing Heidi and Boom Crash Opera.

Performances by Hunters & Collectors are rare since they disbanded more than

20 years ago, best known for hits such as When the River Runs Dry, Say Goodbye, Do You See What I See and Throw Your Arms Around Me. “The lads are very excited to be getting out into all the regional towns that made them welcome when they were touring at their peak throughout Australia,” Mark Seymour said.

“This tour is going to be huge.”

Promoter Duane McDonald started as a pub owner booking bands in regional Victoria and launched the Red Hot Summer Tour in 2011 with a line-up of three artists and six shows at Jimmy Barnes’ suggestion off the back of his single Red Hot. The aim was to reach regional and holiday audiences who wanted to party over summer.

FOREVER YOUNG: Angels frontman Dave Gleeson plays up to the crowd at a Red Hot Summer concert.

“The past 10 years have gone so fast and we have been so proud to see the Red Hot Summer Tour continue to grow each year,” Mr McDonald said.

“The support we have received from audiences has been phenomenal.”

The main audience is “an older crowd”, the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, and Mr McDonald said he loved the fact he had tapped into a different demographic who “just want to relive their youth”.

He’s also happy to see so

many people wanting to support Aussie talent – the singers and bands we used to see when live music was arguably at its peak in the 1980s and ’90s, before many venues closed down.

It’s a real revival for allAustralian outdoor concerts

Picture: Contributed

for older ages, with Red Hot Summer selling 181,000 tickets last year and some events selling out in less than 10 minutes.

Tickets are still available from Ticketmaster for the Toowoomba concert. Visit redhotsummer.com.au.

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NEWS

FEBRUARY, 2020//

SENIORS

Pascal’s head is still in the clouds AT AGE of 78, former astronaut tracker and Cold War defender Pascal Lunsford is still looking skywards.

In the 1960s, he radartracked astronauts on the Mercury and Gemini missions that led to the moon landing, and he serviced weapons control systems on aircraft waiting to intercept Russian bombers that might fly over Canada to invade the US. His dream of becoming a pilot was put on hold for another half a century, until recently, when his son began flight lessons.

Pascal not only followed his son into the cockpit to gain his recreational pilot’s licence.

He has also enrolled in CQUniversity’s Bachelor of Aviation (Flight Operations) – based at Bundaberg Campus – with a goal to become a commercial pilot.

Currently, he is completing the second year of his degree and admits

that time might catch up with him, but he’s determined to stay healthy and perhaps spend a few years flying freight aircraft.

“I’ve had a dream of flying since I was a kid – I could draw just about every aircraft there was – but my family did not have the money for me to pursue it,” Pascal said.

Instead, he joined the US Air Force to specialise in radar and weapons systems, from bases including Washington State and Hawaii.

At one point, he worked on an F106 Delta Dart, the fastest plane in the world at the time.

Then came a stint with a private contractor, maintaining heavy ground radar for the navy in Hawaii.

In the 1970s, Pascal formed an affinity with Australia, married an Aussie woman and moved Down Under for a new phase of his life.

He spent two decades as

a dialysis machine technician, working across NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory, before taking a contract in the same field in Guam.

“When I retired, I was determined not to get bored, and to keep my brain working, so the CQUniversity course has been fantastic, especially since I’ve been helping to promote the course to schoolkids,” Pascal said.

“Instead of talking to people in an old people’s home, I’m out talking to young people who have a lot of get up and go and they kind of drag you along with them.

Current Aviation students are lucky to have access to courses like this. I would have loved to have this opportunity to study earlier in my life.”

Pascal is now looking forward to boosting his flying hours as he gets deeper into his CQUniversity program next year.

LIFELONG LEARNER: Former astronaut tracker and Cold War defender Pascal Lunsford is studying for a Bachelor of Aviation (Flight Operations) degree.

Picture: Contributed

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FEBRUARY, 2020//

SUMMER TUNES

What’s on

Summer Tunes is back with free, live music at popular parks around the region on weekends through February and March thanks to Toowoomba Regional Council. There’s a variety of music genres, so pick your concert and grab a picnic and a blanket to sit on.

You’ll find the full venue listing at http://www.tr.qld.gov.au/our-region/ whats-on/events/.

COUNTRY MUSIC AT GOWRIE Glen Jones and Anita Ree are bringing their country music to Gowrie Little Plain Hall on Saturday, February 8, from 7.30-11pm. Entry is $20 at the door and includes lucky door ticket and homemade supper. Raffles will raise hall funds. Phone 07 4630 4384 or 0402 220 799.

WORDS OUT WEST

CRUSHING IT: Stanthorpe's Apple and Grape Festival is one of the state's oldest celebrations, showcasing the region's harvest. The carnival can be a whole lot of fun – and mess – for all.

Picture: Contributed

Words Out West features five distinct programs for readers and writers from the Western Downs and beyond from February 14-16. In conjunction with the Queensland Writers Centre, Christine Wells will lead a writer’s retreat on the 14th, with the main festival at Dalby’s cultural precinct MyALL 107 over the weekend. It features keynote presentations, panels, workshops and lightning talks, with other satellite events around Dalby. Paralympian Kurt Fearnley (AO) is guest speaker at Saturday’s gala dinner, and other speakers over the weekend include John Marsden, Isobelle Carmody and journalist Paula Doneman. Go to

www.westerndownslibraries.com/ wordsoutwest/.

MS SWIMATHON They call it Toowoomba’s biggest pool party. The MS Swimathon is on Saturday, February 15, from 6am-6pm and involves teams of at least six participating in a 12-hour relay. It doesn’t matter what style you swim – it’s all about fun and fundraising for services including physiotherapy and counselling to help people with MS stay mobile and confident. Whether you sign up your group ($30 each) to swim or support others who swim, it’s at Highfields Fitness and Recreation Centre. Go to msswimathon.com.au or phone 3840 0812.

GINA JEFFREYS CONCERT After a 12-year break from recording and touring, Toowoomba-born Gina Jeffreys is coming home on Saturday, February 15, with her new album Beautiful Tangle. The songs are all cowritten by Gina, covering the pages of her life. She is joined by partner Rod McCormack and Max Jackson. Tickets are $59 at the Empire Theatre. Go to www.empiretheatre.com.au or phone 1300 655 299.

FLICKERFEST The International Short Film Festival, showing the best and most innovative short films from Australia and the world, is at the Armitage Centre, Empire Theatre, from 6pm on Saturday, February 15. Tickets are $15.

SENIORS

If you have an Empire Card, you get one free ticket. For more details see www.empire theatre.com.au or phone 1300 655 299.

APPLE AND GRAPE FEST From Friday, February 28, to Sunday, March 8, discover Stanthorpe’s Apple and Grape Festival. It’s one of the state’s oldest festivals, running since 1966 and celebrating the region’s harvest. For an area that’s not had a whole lot to celebrate recently, this will be a great pick-me-up, and because it only happens every two years you shouldn’t miss out. Discover local food and wine, see the grand parade, cheer on the Celebrity Grape Crushing Championship, or just enjoy the busking championship, Italian banquet, carnival and markets. Find out more at https://appleandgrape.org/ or phone 4681 4111 on Tuesdays.

INTERSPORT PEAK2PARK The annual Peak2Park fun run/walk started in 2006, organised by HALT (Healthy Active Lifestyles Toowoomba Incorporated), looking to encourage residents to exercise and raise funds for local charities. Making the best of the region’s parks and gardens, it starts at Picnic Point and finishes at Lake Annand. It’s on Sunday, March 1, starting from 6.15am, and you can choose between 10km (for the serious runner) or, for a slightly later start and easier going, 4km (from Heller St). Go to www.peak2park.org.au or phone 4638 3777.

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11

SENIORSNEWS.COM.AU MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2020

You need a hearing test!

But I’ve already got a hairy chest!

Community notes

Excessive ear wax

LIVELY LESSON: All ages can explore and learn at Science on the Move. Entry is free when you visit the Cobb & Co Museum in Toowoomba.

Picture: Contributed

may be causing more than hearing problems!

Symptoms of excessive ear wax Common symptoms you may experience can include the following:

î Toowoomba PLEASE note that there has been a change of venue: Toowoomba Bowls Club, Lindsay Street, opposite Botanic Gardens and down from Cobb & Co. Our first morning tea for 2020 is on Thursday, February 6, starting at 9.30am.

This is our annual donation to Adopt a Room at the hospice and we will be entertained by Ron Fraser with a sing-a-long.

For more information, phone Desma on 07 4613 6750 and if attending please ring by Tuesday fourth for catering purposes.

TOOWOOMBA HOSPICE WE INVITE you to a night of laughter courtesy of Toowoomba Repertory Theatre Society. Four short romantic comedies will be presented as part of The Things We Do For Love – “an hilarious, hopeful and compassionate expose of love”.

The plays are: Blind Date

by Peter Quilter; The Holiday

by Peter Quilter; Bride to Be

by Peter Quilter; and Post-Its (Notes on a Marriage) by Paul Dooley and Winnie Holsman. They will be directed by Beth Geoghegan on Wednesday, February 26.

Doors open at 7pm. Patrons to be seated by 7.25.

Tickets are only $22. A light supper will be served and there will be lucky door prizes to be won. Tickets can be purchased online at toowoombatickets.com.au.

DAY BUS TRIP THE bus leaves Toowoomba V2 - SETE01Z01MA

for Dolphins Leagues Club, Redcliffe, on the third Tuesday of the month. Cost $30. Phone 07 4634 3751 or 0418 878 867 for further details.

QCWA î Kingsthorpe COME along and join members of the QCWA Kingsthorpe branch for our Fun March Morning. To be held on Thursday, March 19, from 9.30am-noon at the Kingsthorpe and District Memorial Hall in Gowrie St, Kingsthorpe. The $10 entry includes entertainment and morning tea.

There will also be various produce and craft market stalls and a multi-draw raffle at $2 a ticket for 20 draws.

Bookings are preferred for catering purposes. Phone Del on 0408 989 614 or Betty on 07 4637 0229. We look forward to spending the morning with you.

CENT SALE THE Missionary Sisters of St Peter Claver is holding a cent sale – the first fundraiser of the year. It will be held at All Seasons function hall, corner of North and Tor streets, Toowoomba, on Saturday, February 8. Doors will open at 12.30pm for a 1.30 start.

Prizes are of a high quality and a multidraw raffle includes a meat tray, fruit tray and other excellent prizes. Entry fee of $5 includes a free sheet of tickets, a lucky door ticket and a buffet afternoon Tea. All proceeds go to charity.

The sisters can be contacted on 07 4632 1818.

GARDEN CITY COUNTRY MUSIC

GUEST artist is Sarah Hamze. The afternoon show will be held at St John’s Lutheran Hall, 431 Bridge Street, Wilsonton, on Sunday, February 9, from 12.30-4.30. Admission is $8, which includes a lucky door prizes and afternoon tea.

Raffles on sale. No walk-ups.

For further information, phone Dell on 07 4635 6429 (a/h).

COBB & CO MUSEUM SCIENCE on the Move – free with entry. Enjoy, discover and explore principles of light, music and sound, human biology and health, force and motion, ecology and the environment, electricity and magnetism, human population and genetics. Science on the Move’s intriguing exhibit investigations will engage your mind and body. Turn yourself into a battery, crank up a tornado in a bottle, escape from handcuffs, predict the outcome of chaos, build a food chain, measure your fitness and much, much more. At 27 Lindsay Street, Toowoomba.

Phone 07 4659 4914 or go to cobbandco.qm.qld.gov.au.

SEND US YOUR COMMUNITY NEWS WE would welcome the chance to publicise your group’s news, views and pictures.

If you would like to let more people know about your event and your organisation, then do not hesitate to contact us for publication.

Please email your submission to: Editor@ seniorsnews papers.com.au.

• hearing loss • pain • itching • ear pressure or fullness

• dizziness • tinnitus (ringing in the ears) • persistent cough

The concerns around traditional ear wax removal What about Irrigation / Syringing?

The technique of directing water under pressure down the ear canal to flush out ear wax. The pressure needs to be strong enough to shift the wax, however if the pressure is excessive, there is potential to cause damage to the ear drum.

What about Cotton Buds?

While you can remove some ear wax with a cotton bud, in many cases it pushes a greater amount of wax further down the ear canal. This can then lead to the opposite desired effect, wax impaction. In addition, there is a greater risk to the delicate skin of the ear canal, ear drum, and of causing secondary ear infection.

What about Ear Candles?

In spite of their popularity, ear candles are not only ineffective, they are also associated with a number of complications or injuries such as facial burns, burns to the ear canal or ear drum, ear canal blockages, ear drum perforations, ear infections, and hearing loss. The slight vacuum caused by the heat of the candle is grossly insufficient to shift ear wax.

Have your ear wax safely removed using the latest Microsuction technology Hear better by having your ear wax safely and comfortably removed at Toowoomba’s Specialist Microsuction Service — the gold standard in ear wax removal.

Call now to book your appointment.

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12

FEATURE

War bride reaches out to others

FEBRUARY, 2020//

SENIORS

LOOKING BACK: Jackie McLaughlin was a war bride who came to Australia from England in 1946.

Picture: Tracey Johnstone

TRACEY JOHNSTONE JACKIE McLaughlin wonders if there are still women like her who came to Australia by ship at the end of World War II. They were the war brides.

About 70,000 of these women left Britain in the 1940s bound for Canada or America.

Some of them came to Australia.

“I never kept in contact with any of them,” Jackie says sadly.

But now, at age 96, and as she peruses the regular Veteran Affairs magazine, Jackie has started to wonder if there are any of those women left, or their family members, who she can chat with about their life journey.

The spritely Englishwoman lives in the forest just west of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

She’s buried her husband of 64 years and her only child, but Jack- Jackie McLaughlin when she entered the air force at age 18. ie still has the company of her secPicture: Contributed ond husband, 80-year-old Colin.

The memories of her time during World War so glad I did.” Her mother threw he hands aisle for Jackie with her first husband, Doug, II and how she came to live in Australia are still up in horror, but her father said, ‘You really an Australian air force navigator and bombvivid and heart-wrenching. want to do this, don’t you?’. I said, ‘Yes I aimer. She was 20 and he was 21.

It was a sheet wiped clean, Jackie declares, do’,” Jackie says. “He then said, ‘This will Soon after the war ended, Doug returned when she landed in Australia with no idea nor be the making you, my girl’. to Australia while Jackie stayed in England worry of what the future held.

“I didn’t live up to the ladylike name of until May 1946.

Christened Daphne, she ran away from her Daphne at all.”

She then joined 360 English women and country home in Surrey and travelled solo to After the first week in training camp, children on board the former hospital ship AtLondon to sign up for the air force at age 17 her fellow trainees decided they needed to lantis. and a half. The war had started two years befind a less ladylike name for the tomboy.

Some of the women had been visiting Enfore.

“They came up with Jackie, and it gland when the war broke out, others had She had listened to her brother talk about stuck.” married Australian personnel. his “exciting” time in the air force as the bored Unfortunately, Jackie says, she spent “One or two of them were going for the trip young lady reflected on her future. most of the war working in an office. only and they weren’t going to stay here, even “It was either go into one of the forces or It took five months from first setting though they were married to an Australian,” the land army or be called up for a munitions eyes on each other after an “inane” meetJackie recalls. factory, and I wasn’t an indoor girl. ing outside the local pub at Bridlington in The ship first stopped in Fremantle before “That’s the sole reason I signed up and I am Yorkshire in 1944 to walking down the docking in Melbourne on June 29.

From there she travelled by train to Sydney and on to Brisbane, where Doug was waiting to start their life together in the city.

Jackie remembers on the voyage meeting Una and her two-year-old son.

Una hadn’t heard from her husband for quite some time. When they got to Sydney, Jackie accompanied Una to the army office where she was informed the address the husband had provided to the army was a vacant block.

Una and her son, left with nothing to live on in Sydney, soon stowed away in a lifeboat on a ship heading for England.

They were discovered after only a few days and after she shared her story, the passengers gathered enough money to pay their fare.

Jackie’s other poignant memory of the voyage to Australia is of a very young boy who became sick

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and died during the voyage.

“We were two or three days out from Fremantle and the funeral came,” Jackie says.

“They stopped the boat and we all stood on the deck.”

As the swaddled body was lowered over the side, his mother was in shock.

“She was torn to pieces and said as soon as she hit land she would go straight back to Australia as her husband will say she had killed her little boy.

“They got in touch with her husband (in Sydney) and they flew him to Perth and he was on the dock at Fremantle.

“He came on board. She was shell-shocked, not knowing what to say or do. He just walked up and put his arms around her.”

She looks back now with some sadness, but

also a lot of joy of the life she came to live in Australia.

Before she left England, Jackie bumped into an old school friend who was to marry an Australian from Goondiwindi. The fare was being paid for by the Australian government as long as she was married within three months. Both were excited they would be living near each other. “Just imagine, in England you walk from this place to that,” Jackie says.

The two girls looked at a map of Queensland and got the tape measure out to work out the distance between Brisbane and Goondiwindi.

“We thought, ‘That’s not that far away, we can have afternoon tea together’,” Jackie adds with peals of laughter.

Jackie’s not been back to England: “It’s too cold,” she says.

Heart

Jackie McLaughlin with Cathy Meyer from Caloundra Family History Group and (above) an image of the ship Atlantis on which Jackie travelled to Australia.

Picture: Tracey Johnstone

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14

NEWS

FEBRUARY, 2020//

SENIORS

‘‘

My greatest pleasure is to be able to open other people up to these wonderful things I’ve seen

MEMORABLE MOMENT: A reef walk at sunset on Heron Island during Cathy Finch’s recent photography tour.

Picture: Cathy Finch

Snapper focuses on a full life Alison Houston SHE’S an award-winning photojournalist who runs photography courses which can take you from zero to hero in a day, and who at 52 is heading off for her first Army Reserves training.

It’s true to say Cathy Finch embraces life.

“Photography is a love affair with life,” she said.

“When you have a camera in your hand, it makes you stop and enjoy the light, be so much more intent on what you are seeing … the little details … just be in the moment.” Cathy’s career has included newspapers, freelance travel journalism

including publication in Australian Geographic and Lonely Planet, and a Walkley award for her coverage of the 2011 floods.

She can’t remember life without a camera, with photographic evidence including a picture of her in pigtails at four years old, sitting in a rocking chair with a camera beside her.

Although she says a digital SLR camera allows you to do far more and be more creative, she does not dismiss the photographic possibilities smartphones have opened up.

“Every single one of us is a photographer now,” she said. Or at least we have the potential to be if we learn

Cathy Finch wants to give back to the people she has seen through her lens.

the rules of composition, which she says are the cornerstone of photography.

“You can have the fanciest camera in the world, but if you don’t have the composition skills, you won’t hold the viewer’s attention,” she said. Cathy runs threehour mobile phone photography classes but it’s her beginner DSLR classes and photography day trips and tours where she really sees people’s confidence bloom. “So many people just take a photo and hope it turns out okay,” she said.

“Most DSLRs are set on automatic, and it’s only using the tiniest fraction of the abilities of a camera you’ve paid so much for,”

she said.

Her one-day course gets you off auto and puts you in control so you, not the camera, decides what you are focussing on.

You learn about shutter speeds, composition and the rule of thirds, how to capture speed, to slow movement like running water and how to use a tripod. Cathy’s five-day December trip to Heron Island included nine ladies aged from their 20s to 60s, photographing the turtles coming to lay their eggs each night, some of the thousands of sea birds, rays and other sea life, and trying astrophotography.

“My greatest pleasure is

A group of Cathy Finch's beginner photography students takes to the field.

to be able to open other people up to these wonderful things I’ve seen – to expand their thinking and help them step out of the box and see their progress,” she said. But for her, turning 50 and with her girls grown up, means following a longheld dream of wanting to be a military photographer, to be able to help in disaster situations and give back to the communities she has seen through her camera lens.

“It’s going to be mentally and physically tough,” she acknowledged of the fourweek training, which involves working 6am-10pm seven days a week for four weeks, including fitness,

marching, weapons and technical training.

“Everybody thinks I’m mad, but I know I’ve had a very privileged life … I’ve travelled all over and, I know it sounds clichéd, but I really do want to give back a bit.”

Cathy’s next beginner courses ($185 including refreshments) are March 28, May 9 and July 18, with mobile photography March 30, a follow-up DSLR course on May 30, night lights on May 27 (all $90), and more courses or individual training on demand. You can book through studiofiftythree.com.au , or for more details go to cathyfinchphotography.com or phone 0428 661 253.

Cathy’s tour group photographing turtles on Heron Island as they wait for the tide to swim back over the reef.

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16

NEWS

FEBRUARY, 2020//

HEARTFELT ROLE: Rehearsals for Post-Its, part of The Things We Do for Love, from February 15-29, which starts Toowoomba Repertory Theatre's 90th year.

SENIORS

Picture: Contributed

Time for TRTS to take a bow Alison Houston TOOWOOMBA Repertory Theatre Society has something special lined up for Valentine’s Day as it opens its 90th year of productions.

The Things We Do for Love, from Saturday, February 15, to February 29, comprises three short comedies and a tear-jerker, all about “l’amour”.

It’s fitting from a group that has well and truly shown its heart to survive through the Great Depression, a world war, the societal throws of Flower Power and the Vietnam War and the coming of the

technology age. Formed at a public meeting in August 1930, its first president was Sir Littleton Groom and by November that year TRTS was ready for a two-night run of AA Milne’s The Drover’s Road on the town hall stage.

They didn’t call their current Margaret St venue home until 1964, transforming a private residence to officially open the new theatre on August 1 for the production Watch It, Sailor.

“We’re not professional but we work professionally,” said administrative vicepresident Cathy Nash, explaining TRTS’s longevity.

A member since the

1980s, she said, “I just think it’s a wonderful group of people who love the theatre, love performing and presenting good theatre and to hear the audience having a good time – that’s a real kick.”

She paid tribute to former artistic director Gwen Hart, with TRTS since 1974, as pivotal to the group’s more recent history, including overcoming financial hiccups in the ’80s and introducing the successful concept of group charity nights.

Instead of just four or five nights, each production now runs for 13 nights, 10 of which are fundraisers for charities including Rotary and Toowoomba Hospice,

with three public nights.

The charities, some of which have been booking for more than a decade, just pay a hire fee of $600 for exclusive use of the theatre on the night and keep the profits of ticket sales.

Like many, Cathy has done pretty much every job in the theatre, from acting, directing, prompting, general backstage work and sound and lighting to front of house.

Outgoing president Liz Phythian does not act but said she joined TRTS for backstage roles in 2004 “because I wanted to see my husband”, theatre enthusiast Mark, who is about to take over

presidency. She said the 13night run was “a big ask from performers”, who also rehearsed three times a week for about two months.

Perhaps that’s why there are a number of couples and family members involved.

Most of TRTS’s 30-35 regular performers, she said, were over-55s and were always looking for more members of all ages for roles on and off-stage.

Comedies sell extremely well, while TRTS’s production of Mousetrap was so popular it “could have sold out for a year”.

But the trick, if there is one, is always having something new, with at least 10 years between any

repetition of a play. This year’s other productions are The Love List (May 9-24), The Murder Room (August 1-15) and One Slight Hitch (October 31-November 14).

As for 90th anniversary celebrations, there’s nothing planned yet, but Cathy reckons they will keep a major celebration for their 100th, after all, “it’s not that far away!”.

Tickets for The Things We Do for Love (including preshow drink and light supper) are available at www.try booking.com/BHISM, or the box office opens 11am-3pm Friday-Sunday on February 14; phone 4632 8058 or go to www.toowoombarep .com.au.

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NEWS

FEBRUARY, 2020//

SENIORS

High-calibre performers Medals signify excellence in Corrective Services work TWO current Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) officers and a former one have been named as recipients of the prestigious Australian Corrections Medal in this year’s Australia Day Honours List.

Minister for Corrective Services Mark Ryan said he was thrilled to recognise the hard work of this year’s recipients.

“I am extremely proud on behalf of the Government to officially congratulate this year’s recipients of the Australian Corrections Medal: Ms Robyn Ernst, Ms Simone Lourigan and Ms Jenny Lynas,” Mr Ryan said.

“Robyn Ernst is recognised for her commitment and dedication to improving outcomes for women in prison, and for her commitment to the management, rehabilitation and successful reintegration of female offenders over her 24-year career at Queensland Correctional Services.

“Simone Lourigan is recognised for her extensive experience over her 14-year career in QCS for her work in psychological and intervention services for high-risk and dangerous male prisoners and for her dedication to their rehabilitation.

“Jenny Lynas is recognised for her dedication to community safety during her 20-year career in QCS and for her tireless work to enhance management and safe reintegration of dangerous sex offenders into the community.

“She has since left the QCS to further her career in other areas.

“I congratulate them for their distinguished service to Queensland and their tireless efforts to keep their community safe.’’

Commissioner Peter Martin (APM) said the awards highlighted and celebrated the diversity of the important work that QCS officers performed in the community.

“It is very appropriate that

HIGH PRAISE: The Australian Police Medal has been awarded to six officers who have shown an outstanding level of commitment to both the QPS and the community.

Picture: Contributed

This year’s Australian Corrections Medal recognises the work of dedicated QCS personnel Robyn Ernst, Simone Lourigan and Jenny Lynas. The medals were presented as part of this year’s Australia Day Honours List.

Picture: Contributed

the hard work of Robyn, Simone and Jenny is formally recognised in this way, and it highlights the amazing work our officers do every day to keep Queensland safe,” Commissioner Martin said.

“As we continue to position ourselves as a forward-thinking, top-tier public safety agency, it is important for us to appropriately recognise our people for the vital role they play in the community.

“Excellence is one of the guiding principles of

National recognition for six of the best Police Minister Mark Ryan and Commissioner Katarina Carroll have congratulated six Queensland Police Service (QPS) officers who have received Australian Police Medals (APMs).

The officers recognised for their contributions are: Inspector Nyree Whelan, Inspector Corey Allen, Detective Senior Sergeant Michelle Clark, Detective Senior Sergeant Sasha Finney, Superintendent Craig Hanlon and Chief

Corrections 2030, and it is vital that we identify and celebrate the excellent work of our greatest assets, our people.’’

Established in 2017, the ACM is awarded every year on Australia Day and the Queen’s Birthday for distinguished service by correctional officers across Australia.

The highly coveted medal features the Federation Star and bears the scales of justice, with both symbols surrounded by a laurel of Australian wattle.

Superintendent Mark Wheeler.

Commissioner Carroll said the six officers who had been awarded the medal had exceeded the standard of conduct expected to be met by all members of the QPS. “On behalf of the QPS, I would like to personally congratulate all six APM recipients receiving this honour and thank you for your ongoing dedication within Queensland Police,” Commissioner Carroll said.

Minister Ryan said the

Queensland recipients of this national honour had demonstrated an outstanding level of commitment to both the QPS and the community.

“These recipients have delivered a distinguished level of service to Queensland through their leadership qualities, professionalism and commitment as police officers,” Mr Ryan said.

“I am proud to congratulate all of the officers who have received this high honour.”

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NEWS

FEBRUARY, 2020//

SENIORS

Restoration put on track Berghofer gives $300,000 for steam train to be fitted out for travellers to tour in fine style Alison Houston

dollars have been raised little by little to keep the restoration going, and an estimated 30-40 volunteers have worked on it hands-on over the years.

“We’ve got a great organisation and we are very blessed with our volunteers and their skills,” Ros said.

But finishing the job seemed all but impossible until philanthropist Clive was impressed by a DownsSteam open day last year, stopped for coffee and a scone and asked, “Would you people like a hand to get this under way?”

What could they say?

“We are eternally grateful,” Ros said.

She said while most people knew of Clive Berghofer’s record $50.1 million donation to the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) in 2013 and a 2001 donation of

FULL STEAM AHEAD: Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio (right), philanthropist Clive Berghofer and Tourist Railway and Museum president Ros Scotney. Picture: Toowoomba Chronicle

$10 million to The Cancer Research Centre, part of QIMR, “he does a lot of good that we don’t know about”.

It is now hoped the unique steam train’s restoration will be completed within 24 months, before testing and accreditation takes place.

Then it will be time for The Pride of Toowoomba to hit the tracks again, having previously clocked up 1.8 million kilometres (1,134,533 miles) before being “written off the books” on May 28, 1964.

“People who come and see what we are doing and

talk to us are always asking, ‘When can we book?’ Ros said.

To find out more about DownsSteam, go to https:// downssteam.com, phone 4630 2358 or pay a visit Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday between 9am and 3pm. Entry is by donation.

7117397aa

IT’S probably the most expensive coffee and scone Clive Berghofer has ever had – costing him $100,000 annually for three years.

But it means full steam ahead at last for restoration of 1914 steam loco No. 106.

Known as The Pride of Toowoomba, it is the sole survivor of the original 150 C16 steam trains, and one of just 15 built at the historic Toowoomba Foundry.

And it’s “a game-changer” for the volunteer-run DownsSteam Tourist Railway and Museum, which hopes to have the train steaming towards Clifton, Nobby and Pittsworth in 2023.

But that’s just the start, with plans for overnight tours to Stanthorpe’s wineries, with travellers

bedding down in traditionally restored sleeping cars and enjoying the luxury of the dining car and piano bar.

Train buff John Peel’s discovery of the No. 106 sitting idle and in danger of being scrapped at Ipswich in 2000 led to DownsSteam’s formation in 2001.

President Ros Scotney has supported the project from the start.

She said Clive’s donation, made official on January 16, was “my dream come true – there’s no way we would have raised that money”.

As then mayor of Pittsworth, Ros was part of the Eastern Downs Regional Organisation of Councils, which originally raised the funds to ensure bringing the No. 106 safely home, firstly to storage in Pittsworth and then to the Drayton site.

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ESCAPE

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21

Copenhagen’s cultural riches a fascinating step back in time

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Departs: 05/03/20

SPECIALISING IN SENIOR’S TRAVEL

Departs: 29/04/20

14 Day Birdsvillle & Lawn Hill Gorge

COMPLIMENTARY DOOR TO DOOR SERVICE (Area Conditions Apply)

Departs: 13/07/20

FULLY ACCOMMODATED TOURS

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SENIORS

Hit the roof with bike ride on IN BRIEF

RIDE along the roof of India on a breathtaking Himalayan motorbike tour.

Adrenaline junkies can open throttle on the roof of the world on a motorbike tour that offers breathtaking views of the Indian Himalayas and the world’s most hair-raising roads.

Nomadic Knights is offering a $US500 discount on its Roof of India tour in July if booked by February 15.

The journey will see travellers ride Royal Enfield motorbikes along some of the highest roads in the world.

The 14-night Roof of India ride begins on July 11 and is available for $US4480 for riders, including the $US500 discount if booked by February 15.

Use the code JULYROI500 when booking.

Includes accommodation, bike hire, breakfasts, dinners and mechanical and

ADRENALINE HITS: Explore the lesser-known northeastern part of India on the back of a motorbike with Nomadic Knights.

logistical support. Flights to India are extra. Info: www.nomadicknights.com.

SOUTHERN GREECE WALKING TOUR

On Foot Holidays has announced a new selfguided walk for 2020.

Travellers will explore the remote mountain villages and natural beauty of the

Peloponnese in southern Greece.

The six-night route is the newest of the operator’s 32 inn-to-inn walks throughout Europe, which

aim to immerse travellers in a destination as they enjoy “the art of slow travel’’.

The walk begins in the stonemasons’ village of Lagadia, and highlights of

the journey include beautiful fir forests, panoramic mountain views, working monasteries, jewellers’ workshops, watermills and the remote and pretty

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eXPerienCe lonGreaCh & Winton

There’s plenty of fascinating things to see and do in the heart of Qld. Visit the Qantas museum and Stockmans Hall of Fame or Winton — the birthplace of Waltzing Matilda and it’s Age of Dinosaurs Museum. 7 days from $1,390 including return QLD Pension Rail Fare return in Economy Seat. Upgrade to Sleeper Cabin $1,870

Departing Monthly April to Oct

sav oct when e $10 obe boo 0 PP r De kin pAr g tur e

aWesome foursome Gulflander adventure

Travel the Gulf Country of northern Qld aboard the legendary Gulf & Savannahlander Trains. Visit the Atherton Tablelands, Georgetown, Cobbold Gorge, Finnegans Rest & Mt Surprise and traveling back to Cairns on the through lush tropical rainforest aboard the Kuranda Scenic Railway. 10 days from $2,490 including return QLD Pension Rail Fare in Economy Seat.

Upgrade to Deluxe Rail Bed $2,890

Departure Monthly April to Oct

Dis sa cou ve nte $30 D A 0 PP irf Are s

RUSTIC CHARMS: The Peloponnese in southern Greece is explored in a “slow travel’’ walking tour.

village of Elati in its forest clearing. The final day of the self-guided tour will see guests journey into the wooded Lousios Gorge, where ancient monasteries cling to the cliffs and

watermills once turned, before climbing up towards the final destination, the vibrant hilltop town of Dimitsana.

Including six nights’ accommodation, all

breakfasts, four picnic lunches and all luggage transfers, the walk costs from £720 a person, twinshare (about $1382).

Info: www.onfootholidays co.uk.

eCCentriC liGhtninG ridGe

The most unique mining town in Australia, Lighting Ridge boasts with over 100yrs of opal mining history. Fossick for your own treasure on lands that 100mil years ago dinosaurs roamed. Visit Museums, Mines and Caves and even an artesian pool!

5 days from $1,460 Departing 13th May 2020

total tasmania

Tasmania, “the Island of Inspiration” is an island of dramatic coastlines, quaint villages, convict-built heritage and magnificent food and wine. Incl Hobart, Port Arthur, Derwent Bridge, Tamar Valley, Beauty Point, Cradle Mt & Gordon River Cruise. 11 days, $3,490. return airfares $3,925 Departure Dates: 1st April 2020

Call our friendly, experienced team to book your next touring holiday or to join one of our Uplift Tours special group departures.

1300 484 510 or (07) 5513 1086 E: groups@uplifttours.com I www.uplifttoursandtravel.com

Innovative. Inspiring. Unique.

Service is our Strength. Travel is our Passion.

disCover CooktoWn

Discover Cooktown on the fantastic tour including Cairns, Port Douglas, Daintree River, Mossman Gorge, 2 Nights in Cooktown, Endevour River Cruise and much more !!! *6 days tour only $1,490PP T/S *Single / Sole Use add $420 *8 Days with Return Rail Fare QLD Pension Economy Seat $1540 QLD Pension Rail Bed $1890 Seniors Card Economy Seat $1725 Seniors Card Deluxe Rail Bed $2160

Departure Dates 2020: 3rd July, 1st Sep.

ChillaGo Caves, Cairns and Port douGlas

Depart Brisbane for Cairns Welcome. Visit Historical Herberton Historical Village presenting the story of Australia’s pioneering past. Then Mossman Gorge and Daintree River Cruise. Visit spectacular Chillagoe Caves, Cairns Botanic Gardens and Cairns Aquarium. *6 days tour only $1390 *Single / Sole Use add $290 *8 Days with Return Rail Fare QLD Pension Economy Seat $1440 QLD Pension Deluxe Rail Bed $1790 Seniors Card Deluxe Rail Bed $2060 Departure Dates: 10th July Ph: 07 5510 8958

From

$3,259*

*per person Twin Share Ex BNE Single Supplement $695

COOK ISLANDS PACIFIC PARADISE TOUR From

$3,559*

29 MAY - 06 JUNE 2020 Join former Australian Lawn Bowls coach and Commonwealth Champion, Cameron Curtis on this incredible fully hosted tour, representing outstanding value for money that will provide you with amazing opportunities to bowl, meet the locals, see the very best sights and rejuvenate Learn from the very best on the sport with your amazing tour host, as you immerse yourself in your local surrounds. The waterfalls are breathtaking, the caves are evocative, the cuisine is to-die-for and the people are fascinating. Join Cameron, as we explore this treasured island of the South Pacific for our first ever Samoan Bowls Carnival!

Longreach the geographical heart of Queensland. Depart Brisbane on the Spirit of the Outback. Welcome BBQ in Longreach, QANTAS Museum, Stockmans Hall of Fame, Thompson River Cruise, Campfire Dinner and Show. Winton, Age of Dinosaurs, Waltzing Matilda Center, 3 Sister and Lark quarry Dino Stampede. *5 days tour only $1690 *PP T/S - Sole Use Room add $320 *7 Days with Return Rail *QLD Pension Economy Seat $1740 *QLD Pension 1st Class Cabin $2170 *Seniors Card 1st Class Cabin $2410

12 - 20 JUNE 2020

Discover this untouched beauty, culture and charm of the Cook Island... matched only by the friendliness of her people. This fully inclusive escorted tour specially designed for the mature traveller offers exceptional value for money with the most authentic experiences available in the magical Cooks!

*per person Twin Share Ex BNE Single Supplement $775

YULEFEST IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS From

$2,779* *per person Twin Share Ex BNE Single Supplement $360

Departure Dates: 4 July, 12 Sep

06 - 10 JULY 2020

$5,414*

From

$3,495*

*per person Twin Share or Single Supplement Ex SYD

ClassiC southern outbaCk Pubs and Cunnamulla

ukulele festival of its kind in the world. We will experience all the festivities and immerse yourself in a little Oahu sightseeing also. So, come and join us on this Ukulele Festival where the magic is in the music and the love that we share...

*8 Days* - *Classic Outback Pubs – if only the walls could talk! *Discover the pubs where Australian folklore characters came to life including “Dad & Dave” Rudd’s Pub, Stanthorpe, QLD oldest 1864 Nindigully Pub, 1866 Club Boutique Hotel, Cunnamulla Fella Centre, Charleville Cosmos Observatory & Historic Corones Hotel, Mitchell Great Artisan Hot Water Pools, Big Rig Night Show Roma, Dalby. *8 days $2,180*PP Twin Share, Single add $420,

9 - 13 SEPTEMBER 2020

*Departure Dates 2020: 1st April*

This fascinating tour takes you down a private railway, along goods only railway lines and railway branches that are normally closed, all whilst showcasing the best of regional NSW. Relive the heyday of long-distance travel with restored ex-Southern Aurora sleeping carriages on a vintage train called the “Aurora Australis”. Savour local produce and wines, enjoy sightseeing and visit some spectacular gardens, view delightful scenery and relax onboard.

iConiC Pubs of north Queensland

*10 Days* -Depart Brisbane to Cairns on the Spirit of QLD Train – See spectacular scenic destinations whilst visiting well known and historic pubs including the 1878 Court House Hotel, Port Douglas, highest pub in QLD Ravenshoe Hotel, the Iconic *“Pub with no Beer”* Ingham, 1901 Great Northern Hotel, Townsville, Charters Towers 1865 Eureka Hotel *10 days with Return Rail Fare. QLD Pension Economy Seat $2,040.

QLD Pension Deluxe Rail Bed $2,370. Seniors Card Deluxe Rail Bed $2,580 *Departure Dates 2020: 28th April 25th July; 19th Sep*

ContaCt us for a free BroChure

TERMS & CONDITIONS *Price is per person twin share. Single Supplement applies. Credit card surcharges apply. Deposit of AUD $500-$800 per person is required to secure tour. Tour requires a minimum number of passengers to depart. Prices may fluctuate if surcharges, fee, taxes or currency change. Prices current as at 20th January 2020 Uplift Tours and Travel in conjunction with Norfolk Select Marketing ABN: 93 367 366 822 ATAS Accreditations A10619 Cruising is a great way to relax and explore.

7099112az

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*Departure Dates 2020: 13th June.

wh sa en ve $ Dep booki 100 PP Art ng ure Apr il

*per person Twin Share Ex BNE Single Supplement $1,995

GOLDEN WEST RAIL TOUR

best of the north West & mt isa

Ever wanted to experience the Best of North West Outback Queensland but never could manage to get there? Well now is your chance. Visit Herberton Historical Village, Undara Lava Tubes, Georgetown, 190 million year old Cobbold Gorge, Quirky Croydon, Remote Karumba, Cloncurry, Mt Isa and its Mines, Richmond’s Dinosaurs & Charters Towers. *11 Days Tour Only $2890 *Single / Sole Use add $290 *13 days with return rail fare Qld Pension economy seat $2940 QLD Pension Deluxe Rail Bed $3290 Seniors Card Deluxe Rail Bed $3560

Join us on this 5-day Yulefest short break exploring the very best of this iconic region. This World Heritage Listed area offers some of the most unique scenery and culture attractions in NSW. Enjoy a very special Yulefest dinner, with an atmosphere of Christmas! Relax and enjoy all this iconic Australian Wilderness has on offer.

HAWAII 50TH ANNUAL 13 - 23 JULY 2020 The Hawaii Ukulele Festival this year celebrates 50 years and is the largest UKULELE FESTIVAL From

“the real” outbaCk sPeCtaCular dinner With dinos and lark Quarry

herberton > undara lava tubes > Georgetown > forsayth > Cobbold Gorge Croydon > karumba > Cloncurry > mt isa > richmond > Charters towers

Visit www.greatvalueholidays.com.au

or phone 1300 722 661 Terms and conditions apply: See website for details.

Our Industry Partner:

7050938am

SAMOA BOWLS CARNIVAL

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FEBRUARY, 2020//

Discover the wonders of Copenhagen

SENIORS

PRETTY AS A PICTURE: The Marble Church and fountain in Amalienborg Palace and Gardens.

Pictures: Shirley Sinclair

More to this beautiful city than glimpsed tree Shirley Sinclair THE Hop On, Hop Off Boat guide tells us we are coming up to the most photographed tree in Denmark.

Tree?

OK. There are so many highlights on a canal tour around Copenhagen, this must be an impressive tree if it’s important enough to point out.

Along with the other passengers, we ready our smartphones and cameras for the big moment.

Then the penny drops.

As the canal boats come out of the tunnel under the bridge, Our Saviour Church’s distinctive “corkscrew” tower comes into view.

We only have about 30 seconds before the boat moves on.

But many people miss the momentary shot, capturing the tree just above the canal instead.

It’s so commonplace that the tree has its own Facebook page: Missedthegoldenchurch.

Look it up. We all laughed and laughed.

The good news is that you can get off the boat at the Christianshavn stop and

have a much closer look at this elegant baroque church with a black and gold helix (corkscrew) spire that reaches 90m and the external anticlockwise winding staircase that can be climbed to the top for 360degree views over central Copenhagen.

You will also marvel at the melodies played by the bells of its carillon – the largest in northern Europe – which plays hourly from 8am to midnight.

Nearby at the same boat stop is Christiania: a quirky “Freetown” that boasts colourful houses and sculptures, creative artists and an alternative hippy society – the equivalent of our Nimbin but on a smaller scale.

In 1971, a group of hippy squatters broke down the barricades to the abandoned military base and Christiania was born.

Hundreds of curious visitors daily now pass through the defined entrances to this antiestablishment commune that houses up to 1000 people on 7.7 hectares.

While the community governs itself with its own rules that are independent

of the Danish government, it has still had its run-ins with police, mostly due to its reputation as an area for cannabis trade, especially in the so-called Green Light District’s Pusher Street.

Many residents are actively campaigning to rid Christiania of drugs but on the day we visited last July, stalls were still in operation and we abided by a sign warning visitors that no photos are allowed inside Christiania, due to the possible sale of drugs and paraphernalia that might be captured.

But there is much more to this bohemian area than meets any disapproving eye.

Christiania hosts regular concerts on stage and in various venues that attract jazz, blues and contemporary music lovers from far and wide as well as those wanting to join in impromptu jam sessions.

Skaters from around the world make a beeline for the ALIS Wonderland skate park with its wooden bowl that also hosts contests and demonstrations, as well as graffitied half-pipes and other equipment to test skills.

Plenty of cafe seats are

An intricate 20th-century artwork in the Tapestry Room.

available for a quick caffeine hit, and visitors have an array of breakfast/brunch/ lunch takeaway choices including tasty organic vegan and vegetarian offerings, hamburgers, Thaiinspired dishes as well as Sunshine Bakery pastries.

Or simply get away from the crowds and relax by the canal, surrounded by trees and good vibes.

To learn more about this fascinating place, Christiania guided tours are held at 1 and 3pm daily.

But there’s certainly plenty more to explore in this city, which is home to Australia’s homegrown Princess Mary and her husband Frederik, the Crown Prince of Denmark.

We found even a 48-hour Hop on Hop Off Boat ticket wasn’t enough time to quench our curiosity for this enticing capital but the routes do help visitors explore the well-defined

Colourful Christiania, a “Freetown’’ founded by squatters..

neighbourhoods and their distinct vibes.

One of our favourite spots for a drink overwater on the canal happened to be at this same stop, at Christianshavns Badudlejning and Cafe.

Apparently the watering hole has been welcoming guests since 1898 and it’s also right opposite our favourite bakery and cafe:

Lagkagehuset, where we couldn’t resist a coffee and cinnamon roll (kanel snegle) daily.

Another boat tour guide tells us that while thousands of visitors to Copenhagen all want to see the Little Mermaid at Stop D, the relatively small sculpture also regularly makes Europe’s Most Disappointing Attractions List, alongside

Colourful Nyhavn of tourist brochure fame.

Rosenborg Castle and the King's Garden.

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It’s so commonplace that the tree has its own Facebook page: Missedthegoldenchurch. other statues such as Brussels’ Mannikin Pis. It’s still fun to tick it off the bucket list but try to pick your time (early morning or late afternoon) or you’ll be jostling for a picture with busloads of other tourists.

While here, stroll along the top of the ramparts of one of the best-preserved forts in Europe at the Citadel (Kastellet), which forms the shape of a star or pentagon with bastions at its corners.

The historic site, built in the 17th century to guard the approach to the harbour, these days is mostly a public park that attracts joggers and walkers around its large parade ground, barracks and various other buildings including the Citadel Church and a windmill.

Christiansborg Palace (Departure Point A at Ved Stranden) is where we spent the better part of two hours, wandering the opulent, V2 - SETE01Z01MA

800-year-old seat of power.

While visitors can choose to inspect The Royal Stables, The Royal Kitchen, Christiansborg Palace Chapel and the ruins under the palace, we devoted our time to The Royal Reception Rooms and The Great Hall with its 1100 years of Danish history laid out in tapestries.

Queen Margrethe II carries out her official duties in these rooms: receiving guests, signing acts of Parliament into law, hosting banquets and gala dinners for state visits and other occasions.

It’s an insight into a whole new world – one of parquetry floors, crystal chandeliers, and black-andgold colour schemes, magnificent antique sideboards and priceless ceramics and paintings.

Among the friezes is one 35m long by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, done in

1812, of Alexandra the Great entering Babylon after his conquest of Persia. The Plate Room highlights the Flora Danica setting featuring lifesize plants in the botanical artwork (being porcelain, the plates are only used to serve dessert despite being a complete dinner set, because other courses are usually served on silver plates).

The royal dining hall, where royal banquets were once a daily ritual for the court, is dominated by the massive oval mahogany table, able to seat 52 guests, but which is now seldom used.

The eye-catching Tapestry Room is a pleasant surprise of history through colourful embroidery, with faces of The Beatles and Donald Duck, the Second World War and Berlin Wall among some of the 20thcentury inclusions.

The Throne Room is another must-see for its gold and embossed burgundy thrones, Greek marble pilasters, with a ceiling painting by Danish artist Kraesten Iversen and walls clad in silk hangings of Danish coat of arms with three lions and nine hearts from Lyon in France.

The king’s throne features two golden lions and the queen’s throne has two gilded mythical creatures called griffons.

The thrones – historic relics from the time of absolute monarchy (1660 to 1848) – were nearly lost when the palace burned to the ground in 1884, but are not used by the Queen, who ascended to the throne the day after her father died in 1972.

Take along an audio guide to explore on your own or join a guided tour of the palace.

The Ofelia Plads Departure Point (or if we just turned left and walked from our Wakeup Copenhagen Borgergade hotel) is closest for Amalienborg Palace and Gardens and the spectacular Marble Church (Frederik’s Church) or further on to the beautiful Rosenborg Castle and The King’s Garden (which is home to the statue of Little Mermaid author and revered Dane Hans Christian Andersen).

But Copenhagen’s bestknown attraction is Nyhavn (Departure Point B) – with its colourful 17th-century waterfront buildings that have been reimagined as restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels and specialty shops.

As a tourist mecca, Nyhavn is simply a fun place to be at any time of year.

We happened to visit during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, which offers free and ticketed events throughout the cities at various venues including the little park surrounding Memorial Anchor at Nyhavn, where we spent a couple of hours listening to a hardworking trio play popular music hits from artists including our own Crowded House.

Pull up a chair and gaze out over the passing parade of people and boats (including historic wooden ships) while downing a Carlsberg or two.

But be warned: Copenhagen isn’t cheap by Aussie standards and an extended time here will cost you.

We lapped up the twilight on our first night, paying just under $200 (915 Danish kroner) for a three-course meal for two.

Our choices from a set menu led us to half-lobster entrees, main meals of eyefillet steak wrapped in bacon with hollandaise sauce and potatoes, and grilled salmon pasta with tomato, mushroom and basil, with crème brulees for dessert.

With drinks (half-bottle of white Chilean wine and two schooners of Jacobson brown ale), the bill was worth it just once for the happy atmosphere and waterside panoramas begging to be photographed.

For something a little more reasonable, cross the Inderhavnsbroen – a bridge that opened in 2016 connecting Nyhavn on the west side of the river to Christianshavn on the east – for a choice of bars and street food vendors including Gasoline Grill, Pasta Station, Sweet Treat and Fish & Chips in the Broens Skotebane food court, where it’s easy to strike up conversations with visitors from all over the globe at the picnic table seating.

Other major attractions you will want to linger longer at on the boat tours are Tivoli Gardens (for its flowers, restaurants, rollercoasters and concerts), the Opera House, and the impressive waterfront Black Diamond extension to the Royal Danish Library (so nicknamed because of the polished black-granite cladding and irregular angles of the building).

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Copenhagen viewed from the water gives another perspective of the city’s charms.

The eye-catching Our Saviour's Church has a distinctive “corkscrew” tower.

Four full days weren’t enough to conquer one of Europe’s oldest cities, established as a 10thcentury Viking fishing settlement.

If you can avoid that tree near Our Saviour Church and any pricey tourist traps, you’ll find the city really can be like the song from my childhood: Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen Friendly old girl of a town ‘Neath her tavern light On this merry night Let us clink and drink one down To wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen Salty old queen of the sea Once I sailed away But I’m home today Singing Copenhagen, wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen for me.

DISCOVER IT COPENHAGEN Canal Tours Copenhagen, which operates open and covered boats, has been plying the Copenhagen harbour and canals since 1904.

The Hop On Hop Off routes allow travellers to see old and new architecture and historic points of interest, with commentary by experienced guides.

If you buy the Best Offer ticket, you can use the bus and the boat for different perspectives and sights on land and water.

CONTACT Go to stromma.com/ copenhagen.

ACCOMMODATION Wakeup Copenhagen Borgergade, 9 Borgergade, Copenhagen.

Call (45) 44 800 000.

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SENIORS

Refuge high in the Pyrenees A place to rest on the trail.

‘‘

Life’s real or imagined problems simply fade away...

HIGH LIFE IN THE PYRENEES: The temptation is to just stand and stare in silent awe at the magnificence of the stunning mountains.

Pictures: Graeme Wilson

An ideal picnic spot beside one of the many waterfalls.

Graeme Wilson AS I stood and gazed in awe at the legendary Pyrenees soaring into the sky directly ahead, the soulful words of Marvin Gaye began playing in my mind.

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.

A year ago I tentatively dipped my toe into the water with my first overnight hike (NZ’s spectacular Kepler Track) and from there my partner and I decided there was only one way to go – onwards and upwards.

So fast-forward to central Spain’s World Heritagelisted Ordesa National Park and the latest challenge – a picturesque five-hour hike along the Ordesa Valley and up the Pyrenees to a height of 2195m and our evening accommodation at the 80bunk Refugio Goriz.

For many the refuge serves as base camp for the more challenging climb to the 3355m summit of Spain’s third-highest peak, Monte Perdido, but for us it was the perfect challenge in itself.

It’s hard to describe the

Terraced waterfalls tumble serenely down to the floor of the Ordesa Valley.

scale of the Pyrenees. You actually have to be standing there yourself, looking up at the towering wall of rock, to fully appreciate their enormity.

Hopefully the accompanying photographs give at least some idea of their ability to make mere mortals feel somewhat insignificant.

The walk to Goriz gives ample opportunity to stand and stare in amazement and we found ourselves stopping

regularly and doing just that.

Breathtaking.

The route is dotted with waterfalls and we timed our departure to ensure there was no great rush to reach the night’s lodgings. There’s too much beauty on offer to be in a hurry.

The refuge is comfortable, but its facilities aren’t quite Hilton or Hyatt, so much of the relaxation instead comes via nature’s own serene beauty.

Life’s real or imagined

problems simply fade away as you sit in silence, looking and listening to the water tumbling over well-worn rocks to the valley below.

Yes, I could definitely get used to this hiking life.

Next stop, the French Pyrenees.

Getting there: The beautiful village of Torla is a 9km drive from the carpark at the Goriz walk’s departure point in the national park.

Torla is a four-hour drive northwest of Barcelona.

The Refugio Goriz is situated at a height of 2195m and attracts keen hikers from all over the world.

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Clifford's Honey Farm goodies.

Picture: Contributed

‘‘

Food on KI is artisan, seasonal and boutique, bringing joy to food lovers.

SENSUAL FEAST: Savour a sunset dining experience that only Kangaroo Island can serve up.

Picture: Contributed

Watching Seal Bay residents frolic is a highlight.

Join island’s wave of support Kerry Heaney IN JANUARY fires ravaged the picturesque western wilderness of Kangaroo Island, covering our television screens with heart-wrenching images of destruction.

More than 30 per cent of the 4416 square kilometre island was affected, but there is still much to see and do on what is Australia’s third-largest island (and that includes Tasmania).

While there is a long road ahead for the island’s recovery, getting visitors back onto KI, as the locals call Kangaroo Island, will help rebuild the economy as tourism and agriculture are the primary industries.

Kingscote local Craig Wickham, who operates Exceptional Kangaroo Island’s wildlife and food tours, says he is optimistic about the island’s ability to recover from the bushfires, particularly if there is good rain.

“Nature is resilient, and the animals have learned how to bounce back from fires over millions of years.

Once we get some rain, things will start to green up pretty quickly,” Craig said.

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Excite your taste buds at Kangaroo Island Spirits.

what can you see? Work is under way to restore access for visitors to fire-affected areas of the island, including Flinders Chase National Park, home to the iconic Remarkable Rocks and Admirals Arch, where the Visitor Information Centre and cafe were sadly destroyed.

Iconic attractions such as Seal Bay Conservation Park, where a colony of endangered sea lions frolics on the beach, the interactive birds of prey experiences at Raptor Domain and the KI Wildlife Park, where more than 150 species of native animals live, are all open as usual.

Cape Willoughby lighthouse on the eastern point of Kangaroo Island was

Picture: Contributed

built in 1852. There are daily tours and self-guided walking trails that give insights into life as a lighthouse keeper.

Food on KI is artisan, seasonal and boutique, all words that bring joy to a food lover’s heart.

The island’s first hatted restaurant, Sunset Food and Wine, focuses on South Australia’s seasonal best.

Cactus Kangaroo Island is a newish cafe at Kingscote where you’ll stop for a coffee hit and find it hard to resist the freshly baked sweets.

Visit wineries in Kingscote, Cygnet River and on the Dudley Peninsula, where the clifftop Dudley Cellar Door sells awardwinning locally grown and produced wines.

Emu Bay Lavender is not only a stop for lavender products, lavender scones and ice cream, it’s also close to a favourite swimming spot for locals.

At American River, The Oyster Farm Shop farmgate sells marron, abalone, King George whiting and freshly plucked Pacific and Angasi oysters.

Drop into Kangaroo Island Spirits and taste its premium gin and vodka.

Mark Norek walks around KI guiding visitors on Life’s An Adventure walking tours.

“It does not take long for fire-affected areas to regenerate, sometimes only three to six months, and it is amazing to walk through,” Mark says.

One of KI’s significant losses in the fires was Southern Ocean Lodge.

Owners James and Hayley Baillie had an architect on the site within days and are committed to rebuilding their vision echoing the resilience of the Kangaroo Island community that has recovered from severe bushfires in the past.

Locals say a helping hand is always welcome and it’s a bonus when all you have to do is visit.

How do you get to

A visit to the Oyster Farm Shop is a must.

Kangaroo Island?

Take your car to Kangaroo Island via a ferry with Sealink or KI Connect, or fly with QantasLink or Rex direct from Melbourne or Adelaide into Kingscote.

Picture: Contributed

Donate to help the recovery. You can also help recovery efforts by donating to the KI Mayoral Relief and Recovery Bushfire Fund, SA Country Fire Service or KI Wildlife Network.

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Wellbeing AUSTRALIAN researchers have identified 107 genes that increase a person’s risk of developing the eye disease glaucoma, and developed a genetic test to detect those at risk of going blind from it.

The research, led by QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and Flinders University, has just been published in the journal Nature Genetics.

The researchers now want 20,000 people to sign up to their Genetics of Glaucoma Study so they can find more genes involved in the disease.

Glaucoma is a group of diseases that are characterised by progressive damage and degeneration of the optic nerve, causing gradual loss of vision. It is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and is predicted to affect 76 million people by 2020.

Although there is no cure for glaucoma, treatment can reliably slow or halt the rate

FEBRUARY, 2020//

SENIORS

Gene test for glaucoma risk of disease progression in most cases. Up to 50 per cent of people with the disease do not know they have it.

Lead researcher and the head of QIMR Berghofer’s Statistical Genetics Group, Associate Professor Stuart MacGregor, said identifying the new genes had allowed the researchers to develop a glaucoma polygenic risk score (PRS) that can predict who is likely to get the eye disease.

“Glaucoma is a genetic disease and the best way to prevent the loss of sight from glaucoma is through early detection and treatment,” Associate Professor MacGregor said.

“Our study found that by analysing DNA collected from saliva or blood, we could determine how likely a person was to develop the disease and who should be offered early treatment and/ or monitoring.

“Importantly, unlike existing eye health checks

SEE HERE: Prevent glaucoma through early detection.

that are based on eye pressure or optic nerve damage, the genetic test can be done before damage begins so regular screening can be put in place.

“Having a high risk score

doesn’t mean you will definitely get glaucoma, but knowing you could be at future risk allows people to take the necessary precautions.”

Clinical lead researcher

Picture: Contributed

and chair and academic head of the Department of Ophthalmology at Flinders University, Professor Jamie Craig, said the study results provided hope that mass screening for glaucoma

could be offered in the future.

“There are Australians who, if they’d had appropriate treatment a few years earlier, wouldn’t have gone blind,” said Professor Craig, who is also a consultant ophthalmologist.

“One in 30 Australians has glaucoma, but most people only find out they have it when they go to the optometrist because they are losing vision, or for a general eye check.’’

The researchers are now hoping to recruit 20,000 people with a personal or family history of the disease to join their Genetics of Glaucoma Study so that they can identify more genes that play a role in the condition.

People interested in taking part in the research can visit the Genetics of Glaucoma study website www.qimrberghofer.edu.au /genetics-of-glaucoma, phone (07) 3845 3981 or email Glaucoma_Genetics @qimrberghofer.edu.au.

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Your social connections Get active and enjoy the many events in your town FOR this year’s International Women’s Day, the Zonta Club of Toowoomba has a special treat in store for those who attend its annual lunch on Friday, March 6, at the Panoramic Room, Picnic Point, from 11am to 2pm.

The guest speaker is Toowoomba’s Alyssa Azar, the youngest Australian to climb Mount Everest’s north and south sides.

Alyssa’s story is one of courage, endurance and confronting challenges, including surviving an earthquake.

Her thirst for adventure started at the age of eight when she crossed the notorious Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea.

This was the catalyst to climb mountains on five different continents. Her goal is to complete the Seven Summits and eventually climb all of the 8000-metre peaks around the world.

At the Zonta lunch for International Women’s Day, major raffles, offering prizes including accommodation and jewellery vouchers, will be drawn. Local charity Protea Place, which provides a safe day space for women

The next meeting will be on Monday, February 17.

The guest speaker will be Di Burton from the Queensland Transport Department. Visitors are welcome. Cost of $7 includes morning tea. There will be a bring-and-buy stall and raffles.

The first bus trip for 2020 is on Tuesday, February 25, to the Awassi Cheesery at Grantham. For more information phone Hazel on 4635 4519.

CITY LIBRARY BOOK SALE

HIGH ACHIEVER: Zonta Toowoomba's International Women’s Day lunch will feature mountaineer Alyssa Azar, the youngest Australian to climb Mount Everest’s north and south sides.

Picture: Contributed

to connect to practical support and receive holistic care under one roof, will benefit from the generosity of those who attend the lunch.

Another highlight of the lunch will be the naming of the Zonta Woman of the

Year. This annual award recognises the outstanding achievements of a local woman and her contribution to the community.

Lunch attendees will enjoy a decadent twocourse lunch with bubbles on arrival at the stunning

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Zonta has supported women locally and internationally for more than 50 years.

For tickets, see the Zonta Toowoomba website or Facebook page. Phone 0439 962 801.

A Mega Book Sale will be held at City Library. Pop down to the third level of the library on Friday and Saturday, February 21 and 22, for book bargains galore.

EFTPOS and cash facilities will be available and all proceeds go to library programs and services thanks to the Friends of the Toowoomba City Library.

Friends of the Toowoomba City Library is a non-profit organisation that supports the library by fundraising and working to help make the branch a centre of the community.

The Friends of the Toowoomba City Library runs the library book sales to raise much-needed funds, of which 100 per cent goes back to the library for materials, programs and events.

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Benefits of grandsitting Grandparents talk about why connections to grandchildren Tracey Johnstone FIVE days a week Margot Bain happily has her hands full, looking after her four very young grandchildren, taking them to the park, beach or just sitting reading to them.

After missing out on spending a lot of time in her younger years in the company of her busy mother, Margot is determined to ensure she gives the best of her time and love to her grandchildren as she did to her four daughters.

Actively engaging with the children gives Margot a great sense of connection to them and to her daughters.

A recent German observation research project, published in BMJ Open, found Margot’s type of interaction with her grandchildren helps to reduce social isolation and loneliness in seniors.

The researchers observed 3949 grandparents. Those who didn’t have an active caring role had higher average loneliness scores and were in regular contact with fewer people important to them.

In Australia, about 40 per cent of children under the age of three are cared for by grandparents on a weekly basis, the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIF) reports.

“It’s enhancing my social network,” Margot says.

The researchers found caring for grandchildren could also expand the social circle of grandparents, allowing them opportunities to establish relationships with other parents or grandparents.

Margot says she chats to old friends through Facebook, sharing among them grandchildren photos and stories, and she plans meet-ups at the local park with other grandparents.

When her daughters were growing up, Margot met a lot of new friends through her local playgroup.

Once her grandchildren

GRAND CARING: Margot Bain (Nonna Gogo) with daughters and grandkids Annie, Henry, Matteo, Holly and Toto.

IN AUSTRALIA, ABOUT 40 PER CENT OF CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF THREE ARE CARED FOR BY GRANDPARENTS ON A WEEKLY BASIS. THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF FAMILY STUDIES

are old enough, she looks forward to repeating this experience through the playgroup and then school near her northern Sydney home.

Margot knows while the children are young, she needs to be available almost full time. But, after six hours each day, “It’s enough for me as I get so tired after that”, Margot, 60, admits.

She promises herself Sunday off and fits in singing with the Big Sing choir and creating stunning painted ceramics.

Grandparent caring often doesn’t stop once a

grandchild starts school.

The AIFS reports the most common type of nonparental care for children under 13 years is grandparents (18.6 per cent) followed by before - and after-school care (14.8 per cent).

As far as Ivanka Boyd, who is still working full time, is concerned, it will go on until her two grandsons have finished their schooling.

Since the boys were born, Ivanka has religiously been looking after them every second weekend.

“I cook them healthy food,” Ivanka said. “I am not a lolly and soft-drink grandma. I am the health food and culture grandma.

“I have given them what is lacking at home – lots of special love and attention, good food and culture.

“I take them out, whether they like it or not, to museums and art galleries

and teach them general knowledge.”

Now the boys are in their mid-teens she is enjoying their company over restaurant meals.

Ivanka also attends some of their sporting matches where she actively talks to other grandparents and

parents.

“I have the personality where I will interact with a telegraph pole, if necessary,” she admits.

The researchers suggest that by providing grandchild care, grandparents may boost their self-esteem and may develop positive

Bryce and Phoenix with their grandmother, Ivanka Boyd.

relationships with their children and grandchildren.

They also suggest that this positive impact might wear off if grandparents are called on too often to step in and care for a grandchild, especially if this interferes with other aspects of their lives.

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A healing journey to find a new perspective

Living

Return to Vietnam helps veteran towards forgiveness and respect CONTRIBUTED

MY NAME is Brian and I am writing this article to tell of three amazing events my wife and I shared during a trip to South-East Asia.

It was one of the most healing journeys of my life and brought about closure for me regarding my tour of duty to South Vietnam.

In 1965 I was conscripted for national service into the Royal Australian Army. I was deferred from the first intake to complete an apprenticeship and drafted in the third intake on April 20, 1966.

This was the Tuesday straight after I had just finished my apprenticeship on the Friday before (I never worked one day in that trade).

After eight months of army training, I was deployed to South Vietnam in January 1967 and returned home in late December 1967.

I failed to complete my 12month tour due to a severe alcohol problem fuelled by resentment towards the Australian government and the country of South Vietnam for perceived loss of my trade.

After being trapped in a downward spiral for some years, I found recovery and support but still clung to disdain for Vietnam in the belief that this country was the direct or indirect cause of most of my life’s problems.

I married my wife, Diane, in 1992. Di had a nursing career as a midwife, mental health nurse and a remote-area nurse. We lived in Forster, Tuncurry, in NSW and at an Anzac Day service in 1996 I met two World War II veterans, Kemble and Elliott, who were prisoners on the infamous Burma Railway and were

Placing a red rose on the cross at the Long Tan Cross Memorial.

Picture: Contributed

interned in Hellfire Pass.

In 1998, these two friends talked me into joining Legacy to assist families of deceased veterans. Every year since, at remembrance services, I would say to them: “Di and I will visit Burma Railway and Hellfire Pass one day.’’

Sadly, in 2012 Elliott passed away and in 2013, while watching the Anzac Day service broadcast from Hellfire Pass, Di said we should honour the promise to go and suggested it may help me to include Vietnam in the trip.

So we extended our trip to cover Vietnam, Burma Railway and Hellfire Pass, a journey that turned out to be a lifechanging experience.

Our voyage began in 2014 and while on a train trip from Da Nang to Hue my wife had to deliver a baby girl on the carriage floor.

Di needed something to tie off the “cord”, so I provided some pink ribbon off my suitcase. It was a remarkable moment and symbolic to “new beginnings”.

Two weeks later we attended the Long Tan Cross Memorial, where the young Vietnamese guide opened the

boot of his car and gave us a fresh red rose to place on the cross.

On Anzac Day we attended the service in Hellfire Pass, where I met Harold Mills, who was a prisoner there.

These three events made me contemplate forgiveness, respect and new beginnings. I thought about the greatgrandparents of the newborn who is no longer my enemy soldier on the opposing force.

Today he is a human being just like me. A farmer who lost his village and livelihood during the terrible war.

Then there was our young Vietnamese guide, who treated us with equality and respect and did not display any malice towards the people who invaded his country.

And our friend Harold: hearing his story helped me to realise that I have never really had it tough compared with himself, Kemble and Elliot, soldiers who lost their freedom.

Di and I returned home with a new depth of gratitude for life, and I am finally free of past demons and have a new attitude and respect towards Vietnam.

EMOTIONAL MEETING: Brian at the Anzac Day service in Hellfire Pass, where he met Harold Mills, a former prisoner there.

Picture: Contributed

Ageing of Australia’s population brings challenges for society IN 2005, Japan had the highest median age of all countries in the world, while Australia’s population was only moderately aged.

About 50 years ago the demographic situation was quite different, with the median age of Australia’s population being seven V2 - SETE01Z01MA

years older than Japan’s.

The ageing of the population is a major issue for Australian policy makers, particularly in regard to the long-term implications for reduced economic growth and the increasing demand for age pensions, and health and aged care services.

As the population ages, growth in the number of people of working age will slow, while the proportion of people of retirement age will increase.

Sustained population ageing also leads to slowing or negative population growth.

In addition to the decrease in the labour supply, the demand side of the economy may be affected through shrinking markets for goods and services.

In 2005, Japan’s population was ranked the oldest in the world, with half

the people aged over 42.9 years. In comparison, Australia’s median age is not projected to reach this level until 2032.

Japan’s population is projected to decline by 21 per cent between 2005 and 2050 (from 128 million to 101 million); Australia’s is

projected to increase by 38 per cent from 20 million to 28 million people.

Fifty years ago the demographic situation of these countries was the reverse, with Australia’s median age at 30.1 years and Japan’s sitting at 23.7 years.

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App puts health in spotlight CONTRIBUTED LEADING Victorian not-forprofit aged care provider Benetas has launched an online resource for older Australians to screen their physical resilience and act to stay independent for longer.

The Positive Ageing Tool, commonly referred to as PAT, has been developed on the back of governmentfunded research by Benetas in 2018 in conjunction with Monash University.

Two years in the making, the tool means older Australians can be in a far better position to detect and address early signs of frailty before a serious health decline. Benetas general

manager of quality, outcomes and research Catherine Joyce said this was a much-needed tool, with one in two Australians over the age of 60 who live in their own home being at risk of a relatively minor health issue triggering serious decline.

“Once that happens, for many there’s no going back,” Dr Joyce said.

“If someone has low physical resilience, a small incident like a fall or virus could be the tipping point that means they’ll no longer be able to live independently in the community.

“We all know someone who has been managing fine and then an incident which

EARLY ALERT: Benetas provides a new online tool to help older Australians monitor their health.

might be minor for other people tips them over into being in need of high care and residential support.

“This is about getting in early and helping to avoid exactly that.”

The $1.2 million Federal Government research grant from the Department of Health was designed to inform pre-emptive ways in Australia for older people to better maintain their physical resilience and curb the impact of frailty in the community. With five simple questions, PAT offers older

Australians an evidencebased, user-designed health assessment for people as young as 60 to monitor their physical resilience, coupling this with expert resources to support people.

“We recommend that people complete the quick assessment every six months,” Dr Joyce said.

“They seem like simple questions to answer, but collectively they’re proven to be strong early indicators for risk of serious health decline.

“Importantly, there are

Ms Hills said. “This is about ensuring that people and their families have the information they need well in advance of their health declining.

“Whether you’re 65 and going for runs or 75 and facing prescription changes, we need people to be monitoring their health, taking proactive steps and not wait until it’s too late.”

PAT also hosts a suite of practical resources including nutritionally beneficial recipes and support services.

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many steps that we can take to stay healthy and resilient, whether we’re 60 or going on 90.”

Benetas CEO Sandra Hills said health promotion and early intervention was exactly where aged care needed to be headed.

“The traditional aged care services from residential care, home care, clinical and allied health services are all incredibly important, but if we’re going to meet an ageing population we really need to be at the forefront of early intervention,”

Picture: Contributed

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WINDING BACK: Australian music icon John Williamson is set for his last big road tour.

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True-blue icon flags changes Alison Houston IT IS hard even for the man behind some of Australia’s most iconic songs to write something happy or uplifting in the face of Australia’s bushfire disaster.

Instead, as John Williamson prepares for his Winding Back tour, he has penned a letter to the Prime Minister calling for a national day of mourning.

“I’m devastated for the people who have lost everything, but I’m even more devastated that we have lost about 30 per cent of our koalas and other wildlife … I think that’s worthy of a day of mourning,” the long-time conservationist said.

“What would Africa be without its elephants, its lions and giraffes? Our wildlife is what makes Australia Australia.”

More than a billion creatures are believed to have been killed in the bushfires and scientists have warned entire species may be lost.

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with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Opera House forecourt, John planned to dedicate True Blue to the firefighters and people who have lost lives, loved ones and property, and Old Man Emu to the wildlife lost.

Following on from the Tamworth Country Music Festival, it’s a big start to a year of touring that will take him from one end of the country to the other.

Touring Turning 75 and celebrating 50 years since Old Man Emu brought him to prominence, John said he was not retiring but his Winding Back tour would be a final big year on the road.

“I’m not ready to retire …

I’ll do that if I start forgetting the words on stage … but right now I think I’m performing better than I ever have,” he said.

He still plans to play festivals but is ready to take a step back from the constant touring that has seen him visit venues like Tweed Heads’ Twin Towns almost annually for decades.

With more than 500 songs to his name, a two-

hour playlist isn’t easy to choose but John said there were some songs, like Cootamundra Wattle, that audiences wouldn’t let him leave the stage without singing.

“I will be polishing up some of the old songs, and there will be some surprises,” he said.

While the creator of some of the country’s unofficial anthems is still writing, for example about the spectre of a bushfire approaching and the Christchurch massacre, he said more sadness was not what audiences needed.

That’s not to say he doesn’t have people crying to True Blue and Three Sons, but he said it was a case of balancing the tears and laughter, both of which were an expression of relief for people.

“Music is always good because it’s such a positive, uplifting thing,” he said.

Despite admitting it was hard to write a happy song at the moment, John said there were positive signs in global recognition at last of climate change as a reality and some of the world’s

biggest companies turning away from using fossil fuels.

But he said this was one situation where the old Aussie adage of “she’ll be right” simply wasn’t enough.

Themes that Endure John said writing about the ordinary and “telling it like it is” was what connected with audiences and made his music so enduring.

“When you’re writing about the bush, a lot of those things don’t change that much – with farming there’s always battlers, there’s always highs and lows – the enduring character of Australia is the battler,” John said.

“And it’s pretty obvious I don’t back off from being honest about Australian life.”

The words of Rip Rip Woodchip are as relevant today as they were when the song was released in 1989: “What am I gonna do – what about the future?

Gotta draw the line without delay Why shouldn’t I get emotional – the bush is sacred Ancient life will fade away.’’

John’s attitudes have not mellowed with age.

In 2017, he wrote Pigs on the River to voice his concerns about the toll of illegal irrigation in the Murray-Darling, while Love is the Word dealt with the same-sex marriage debate and the rise of nationalism.

“It just seems the world has gone a bit crazy, and the only thing that’s going to make a difference is caring for one another,” he said at the time.

True Blue While using Sydney as a base, John said he constantly dreamt of getting back to his Queensland hinterland home at Springbrook, where he ultimately wants his ashes to be scattered.

“I sit and watch the sun go down there every night I’m there and I pinch myself …

I’m in paradise,” he said.

He is looking forward to spending more time there, eating the plants he grows before the birds and bats get to them, making his chilli oil (which is “to die for”), perhaps some art, and planting as many koalafriendly trees as he can.

His interest in koalas, which saw him quietly donate $2000 to the Koala Hospital Port Macquarie when the bushfire crisis began in November, is nothing new.

In 1986 he donated $300,000 in royalties from Goodbye Blinky Bill and audience collections to the hospital, which opened a John Williamson wing and made him a patron.

It’s just one of his “True Blue Causes”, which also include Variety – the Children’s Charity, Life Education, Bush Heritage Australia, Wildlife Warriors, WIRES, Protect Our Coral Sea, Save the Bilby, and Landcare, while last December’s Hay Mate fundraiser with John Farnham raised $4.3 million for farmers.

It is arguably because John Williamson is himself “true blue” that his songs have so accurately captured Australia and its people.

The Winding Back tour includes Toowoomba on October 17 and Caloundra on October 25. The full list of concerts is at https://john williamson.com.au/tour/.

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SHARES

Money

MONEYSMART.GOV.AU NO ONE wants to think about death, but it’s important to decide what will happen to your assets when you die.

Find out how you can give instructions to your family about your legal and medical preferences should you fall ill or lose the capacity to make those decisions yourself.

The issues to consider are: estate plans; wills; testamentary trusts; powers of attorney; your legal and financial housekeeping; and estate plans.

Estate plans: An estate plan includes your will as well as any other directions on how you want your assets distributed after your death. It includes documents that govern how you will be cared for, medically and financially, if you become unable to make your own decisions in the future.

You must be over 18 and mentally competent when you

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SENIORS

Estate planning ensures your wishes carried out draw up the legal agreements that form your estate plan. Key documents might include: a will, superannuation death nominations; testamentary trust; powers of attorney, power of guardianship, and anticipatory direction.

If you have made a binding nomination in your super or insurance policies, the beneficiaries named in those policies will override anyone mentioned in your will. If you have a family trust, the trust continues and its assets will also be distributed according to the trust deed, no matter what is written in your will.

Wills: A will takes effect when you die. It can cover things like how your assets will be shared, who will look after your children if they are still young, what trusts you want established, how much money you’d like donated to charities and even instructions about

your funeral.

Your will can be written and updated by private trustees and solicitors, who usually charge a fee. Some Public Trustees will not charge to prepare or update your will if you nominate them to be the executor of your will. Other Public Trustees may only exempt you from charges if you are a pensioner or aged over 60.

If you die intestate or your will is invalid, an administrator appointed by the court pays your bills and taxes from your assets, then distributes the remainder, based on a predetermined formula, which may not be how you intended your assets to be distributed.

If you die intestate and don’t have any living relatives, your estate is paid to the state government.

Testamentary trusts: A testamentary trust is a trust set out in your will that

only takes effect when you die.

Testamentary trusts are usually set up to protect assets. Here are some reasons why you would create one: A. The beneficiaries are minors (under 18-21 years old).

B. The beneficiaries have diminished mental capacity.

C. You do not trust the beneficiaries to use their inheritance wisely.

D. You do not want family assets split as part of a divorce settlement.

E. You do not want family assets to become part of bankruptcy proceedings.

A trust will be administered by a trustee who is usually appointed in the will. A trustee must look after the assets for the benefit of the beneficiaries until the trust expires.

Powers of attorney: Appointing someone as your power of attorney gives them the legal authority to look after your affairs on your

behalf. Powers of attorney depend on which state or territory you are in: they can refer to just financial powers, or they might include broader guardianship powers. You will need to check with your local Public Trustee.

The different types of power of attorney are: A. General power of attorney is where you appoint someone to make financial and legal decisions for you, usually for a specified period of time, for example if you’re overseas and unable to manage your legal affairs at home. This person’s appointment becomes invalid if you lose the capacity to make decisions for yourself.

B. Enduring power of attorney is where you appoint a person to make financial and legal decisions for you if you lose the capacity to make your own decisions.

C. Medical power of

attorney can make only medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so yourself.

You can prepare a few other documents to help your legal appointees and family as you grow older, including an enduring power of guardianship that gives a person the right to choose where you live and make decisions about your medical care and other lifestyle choices, if you lose the capacity to make your own decisions. Anticipatory direction records your wishes about medical treatment in the future, in case you become unable to express those wishes yourself.

An advance healthcare directive (or living will) documents note how you would like your body to be dealt with if you lose the capacity to make those decisions yourself.

Reverse mortgage pros, cons EVER wondered about how a reverse mortgage works?

A reverse mortgage is a type of loan that allows you to borrow money using the equity in your home as security. The loan can be taken as a lump sum, a regular income stream, a line of credit or a combination of these options.

Interest is charged like any other loan, except you don’t have to make repayments while you live in your home – the interest compounds over time and is added to your loan balance.

You remain the owner of your house and can stay in it for as long as you want.

You must repay the loan in full (including interest and fees) when you sell or move out of your home or, in most cases, if you move into aged care, or die.

While no income is required to qualify, credit providers are required by law to lend you money responsibly, so not everyone will be able to obtain this

type of loan.

The risks of a reverse mortgage An ASIC review of reverse-mortgage lending in Australia found that borrowers can struggle to recognise the long-term risks of their loan.

By taking out a reverse mortgage, you could face financial difficulty later in life, because: 1. Interest rates and ongoing fees are generally higher than the average home loan.

2. Your debt will increase as interest rates rise on your loan.

3. The effect of compound interest means your debt can increase quickly.

4. If the value of your home does not rise, or it falls in value, you will have less money for your future needs, like aged care or medical treatment.

5. The loan may affect your pension eligibility.

6. If you have a fixed-

interest rate loan then the costs to break your agreement can be very high.

Also keep in mind that if you are the sole owner of the property and someone lives with you, that person may not be able to stay when you move out or die (in some circumstances).

Reverse mortgage income stream You may come across companies that offer you an income stream in return for the capital growth on your home (a property option).

While the cashflow may look attractive now, the income you receive will probably be much lower than the capital appreciation of your home, which you are forgoing.

These types of offers are unlikely to be covered by credit or financial services laws, meaning you will not have access to important consumer protections, such as free external dispute resolution. So make sure you research all your options

before committing.

How much can you borrow with a reverse mortgage?

The older you are, the more you can borrow.

Different lenders may have different policies about how much they will let you borrow. As a general guide, if you are 60, the maximum amount you can borrow is likely to be 15-20 per cent of the value of your home.

You can usually add 1 per cent for each year older than 60. That means if you are 70, the maximum amount you could borrow would be about 25 to 30 per cent.

The minimum amount you can borrow may depend on the provider; it could be as low as $10,000. Keep in mind that if you borrow the maximum amount now, you may not have access to any more money later.

How much will a reverse mortgage cost?

The cost of the loan depends on the interest rate and fees. The main issue is

that as the interest compounds, the debt will grow rapidly.

Negative equity protection On September 18, 2012, the government introduced statutory “negative equity protection’’ on all new reverse-mortgage contracts.

This means you cannot end up owing the lender more than your home is worth (the market value or equity).

When the loan contract ends and your home is sold, the lender will receive the proceeds of the sale and you cannot be held liable for any debt in excess of this (except in certain circumstances such as fraud or misrepresentation).

Of course, where your home sells for more than the amount owed to the lender, you or your estate will receive the extra funds.

If you entered into a reverse mortgage before September 18, 2012, check your contract to see if you are protected in

circumstances where your loan balance ends up being more than the value of your property.

Questions to ask the reverse-mortgage provider Before you sign on the dotted line, check the following.

1. Reverse mortgage information statement Do you understand how a reverse mortgage works?

Your credit provider or credit assistance provider (such as a broker) must give you a reverse mortgage information statement.

The information statement includes: 1. Details about how a reverse mortgage works.

2. How costs are calculated.

3. What to consider before taking out a reverse mortgage.

4. Useful contacts for more information.

5. Reverse-mortgage projections.

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Retirees’ fears over savings TWO-THIRDS of retirees who have been retired five years expect to spend their savings over the next 20 years.

The latest research from National Seniors Australia surveyed levels and causes of worry among Australian retirees. The survey found that most older Australians (53 per cent) are worried about outliving their savings, with women (59 per cent) more worried than men (47 per cent).

People without any super reported the highest levels of worry, with 23 per cent worrying frequently. Many of these people are likely to be on the full age pension, with one in three worried about outliving their savings.

National Seniors CEO Professor John McCallum said these findings illustrated the extent of the worry felt by older Australians about their financial security.

“Australia has one of the best pension systems in the

world, yet Australian retirees are still showing high levels of worry that they will outlive their savings,” Professor McCallum said.

“This shows a need for better advice and education to help older Australians manage their savings so they can have the confidence to spend their money and enjoy retirement.”

Why are women more worried than men?

Not only are retired women more worried than men, they are also more likely to be relying on the age pension as their main source of income. Women are also more likely to have less than $500,000 in retirement savings, which is below the ASFA comfortable standards. Divorced women are among the most worried about their financial situation in retirement.

Challenger’s Chairman of Retirement Income Jeremy Cooper said disparities in earnings and working patterns had disadvantaged

women and their potential to accumulate wealth over their lifetimes.

“Super not only provides a reliable source of income, but also reduces worry for older Australians. On average, women live three years longer than men, but our super system doesn’t cater for this difference in longevity,’’ Mr Cooper said.

“What this and other National Seniors research clearly highlights is that people treat the age pension and their own savings differently. They fear running out of their own money, even though the safety net of the age pension will be there for them. This sends a strong signal that people worry about being solely reliant on the age pension.

“It’s therefore important that super funds explore ways of providing more lifetime income to their members.”

The research also found that having a reliable source

of income that would last for life is a key factor for worrying less, with those people with a defined benefit pension or a lifetime annuity reporting the lowest levels of worry. This is consistent with previous NSA research that found 84 per cent of retirees said regular and constant income in retirement was very important to them.

About the report: The latest National Seniors Australia report Retirement Income Worry: Who Worries and Why? is one of the largest comprehensive surveys of older Australians. The study surveyed 3584 Australians aged over 50 on their behaviour and views across a range of topics including lifestyle, health and wellbeing. The research is a joint partnership between National Seniors Australia, a peak body for older Australians, and Challenger Limited.

The full report is available

FINANCIAL FITNESS: Super levels are a concern.

at nationalseniors.com.au/ RetirementIncomeWorry.

About National Seniors Australia: National Seniors is the leading independent

Picture: Contributed

advocacy group for older Australians. It has more than 200,000 members, customers and supporters.

It fights for a fair go for seniors on many issues.

Diversify to add security Spread your investments to minimise risk and make your income stream last as long as you do OUTSIDE super, there is a bewildering number of investments on offer. You need to find a mix of investments that will fit your needs.

Security should be at the top of your mind. You will have greater security if you diversify your investments.

You might need your money to last for 20 years or more so it’s good to have investments that will at least keep pace with inflation. You may also need a reliable, long-term income stream.

Consider: 1. Diversifying your retirement investments.

2. Capital growth investments.

3. Interest-bearing accounts and term deposits.

4. Managed funds.

Diversifying your retirement investments.

A key rule to investing in retirement is to diversify.

This is even more important V2 - SETE01Z01MA

for retirees - if you lose money it will be hard to replace.

Some retirees have been devastated because they put all their money in one investment. They lost their life savings when that company went bankrupt, had a run of bad luck or the promoter turned out to be a crook. See diversification for more details.

Capital growth investments Capital growth investments, such as property and shares, are good if you want to invest your money for the long term (more than seven years). These investments will generally increase in value over time.

Of course, they can also fall in value from time to time, as the global financial crisis showed. Growth investments will hopefully also pay dividends. You can

use these as income, or reinvest them for further growth.

Shares and property may be purchased directly. An easier way is to invest in managed funds that own shares or property.

Shares A strong portfolio of blue chip shares can deliver good returns. They are more flexible investments than property as they can be bought and sold in small parcels.

Owning shares also has tax benefits. However, share markets are volatile. The value of a share can drop dramatically in a few hours and companies can go broke overnight. This can be daunting for new or nervous investors.

The Australian Securities Exchange and the Australian Investors Association offer investing courses. Seek financial advice before

investing.

Investment properties Many people invest in residential property to boost their wealth. You can take advantage of capital gains and there are tax benefits arising from negative gearing and depreciation allowances, especially if you are in the higher tax brackets.

However, people in retirement generally will not buy an investment property as their main investment.

It is poor diversification.

You could lose seriously if property prices fall in that area, if the property is vacant or if tenants don’t pay their rent.

If you need money you can’t sell part of a property, and you can’t sell it quickly at a top price. See property for more information.

Interest-bearing accounts and term deposits

These accounts are a good way to earn money for daily living expenses and emergencies.

There are no entry and exit fees and your cash is easily accessible. You are sure of getting your money back, plus any interest.

However, you will have to pay fees if you want to get out of a term deposit early.

However, there are no capital gains or tax benefits and the interest you earn may not be enough to keep up with inflation.

Interest-bearing savings accounts and term deposits will generally earn you less money in the long term than property or shares.

You should spend some time researching online savings, transaction and term deposit accounts to compare different products.

Managed funds If you are interested in a diversified mix of

investments but aren’t sure where to start, or would rather leave the hard work to experienced people, you may want to consider investing in managed funds.

There are many types of funds, fee structures and investment managers.

Do your research before you dive in.

Retirees need to be careful about mortgage funds and property funds.

Although these have been successful in the past, many people have recently burnt their fingers.

See managed funds for more information.

Think carefully about your investment strategy as it will affect the income you receive in retirement.

Reduce risk by spreading your money in different types of investments.

Consider getting financial advice before you start investing.

CLASSIFIEDS

36

FEBRUARY, 2020//

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SETE01Z01MA - V2

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38

REVIEWS

FEBRUARY, 2020//

Indigenous heroes’ stories celebrated THERE are few Aboriginal icons in White Australia history.

From the explorer to the pioneer, the swagman to the drover’s wife, with a few bushrangers for good measure, Europeans play all the leading roles.

A rare exception is the redoubtable tracker. With skills passed down over millennia, trackers could trace the movements of people across vast swathes of country.

Celebrated as saviours of lost children and disoriented adults, and finders of missing livestock, they were also cursed by robbers on the run. Trackers live in the collective memory as one of the few examples of Aboriginal people’s skills being sought after in colonial society.

In NSW alone, more than a thousand Aboriginal men and a smaller number of women toiled for authorities across the state after 1862.

This book tells the often unlikely stories of trackers including Billy Bogan, Jimmy Governor, Tommy Gordon, Frank Williams and Alec Riley. Through his work on native title claims, historian Michael Bennett realised that the role of trackers – and how they moved between two worlds – has been largely unacknowledged.

His important book reveals that their work grew out of traditional society and was sustained by the vast family networks that endure

Austen is moving with times

Doggone insightful look at life

to this day. Pathfinders brings the skilled and diverse work of trackers not only to the forefront of law enforcement history but to the general shared histories of black and white Australia.

Professor John Maynard said the book charted an important though largely

overlooked area of the country’s history.

“Aboriginal trackers hold a mythical yet obscure presence in the history of the continent. Bennett weaves back into the nation’s historical narrative these Aboriginal heroes and heroines,’’ he said.

Professor Maynard is a Worimi Aboriginal man from the Port Stephens region of NSW. He is a director at the Wollotuka Institute of Aboriginal Studies at the University of Newcastle and chair of indigenous history.

RRP $34.99.

SENIORS

ALREADY an international bestseller, Hans-Olav Thyvold’s Good Dogs Don’t Make it to the South Pole has now been translated into English.

It’s been touted as the wisest, funniest and most inspiring book on ageing and friendship written by a dog you’ll ever read.

The best thing you can aspire to in this world is company.

Whether it’s for pleasure or pain, a crowning or an execution: everything is better with company.

The major, a World War II veteran, breathes his last.

Watching over him are his wife and his faithful companion, Tassen, the story’s narrator, who is, by his own admission, a couch potato and a one-man dog.

“You might say it all went to hell with Mrs Thorkildsen, but you know what? It could have been worse, because Mrs Thorkildsen had me to keep her company.

“And I had her. That’s what we had in common, her and me, what bound us together. We were company.’’

TIME Traveller’s Wife meets Persuasion in this charming story of love, friendship and passion – Jane Austen timetravels to the modern day and learns that the search for true love is never simple.

Jane in Love is the debut novel from screenwriter and filmmaker Rachel Givney.

After reading Emma as a teenager, Givney became fascinated by Jane Austen.

She was shocked to find that the woman who had written such beautiful love stories had never found love herself and that this seemed to be the case for many other female writers. This later became the inspiration for Jane in Love.

When 28-year-old Jane Austen enlists the help of a matchmaker, she gets a lot more than she bargained for.

Jane accidentally timetravels to modern-day England and finds herself on the set of an adaptation of Northanger Abbey.

Jane is thrilled to learn she has become a famous author and is determined to return to her own time to fulfil her destiny, until she meets siblings Sofia and Fred Wentworth.

RRP $32.99

Published by Allen & Unwin. RRP $29.99.

Books bind women in journey of discovery MEET Ros from Sydney, Adele from Adelaide, Judy from Mandurah and Simone from Hobart, who are connected by books and as they discover, also by life.

A Month of Sundays brings together these four very different women who for 10 years are now the remaining members of an online book club.

All of them are in their 60s. They are meeting for the first time in person.

Their time together helps them to peel back by layers

the weaknesses and strengths of each of them.

As they spend a month in a house in the Southern Highlands of NSW relaxing, talking and discovering each other through a selection of books, relationships break and heal, are discovered and cemented.

There’s no time to settle into complacency as the reader joins the women for their “holiday’’.

Byrski cleverly builds up and breaks down the reader’s perception of each

character. It’s easy to connect with each of the women. Ros is angular and gutsy, Adele is simply complicated, Judy has a future she needs help to find and gentle Simone is a surprise.

A Month of Sundays is the type of novel you have to force yourself to put down, at least for a night. It’s an enjoyable and relatable read.

It’s Australian author Liz Byrski’s 10th novel. She is a writer and broadcaster with more than 40 years’

experience in the British and Australian media. In the ’90s Byrski was a broadcaster and executive producer with ABC Radio in Perth and later an adviser to a West Australian Government minister.

She now lectures in professional and creative writing at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, and has a PhD in writing with a focus on feminist popular fiction.

Published by Pan Macmillan. RRP $32.99 SETE01Z01MA - V2

PUZZLES

\\FEBRUARY, 2020

JIGGERED

3/8

The challenge is to rearrange a crossword which has been broken into 25 sections. One letter has been given to get you started. Work out which 3x3 square fits in with that letter and write in the letters.

You can also shade the black squares if you find it helpful.

After completing the first 3x3 area, work out which square joins on to it, and continue until you have made a complete crossword.

A N O N I N G

B R E L A E R

A U G K S K I

P E R A D E D

R U L M

T O O A P I T

G I A S C I

P

I C U M M A N G A M P W O N

D E S O E N O D

A A R F

T R O P X

R O E D D E

N P E C E

W R I K E M H

F T E D T C

T E D E E R I N

M E N E R T

T W W I N A N E N F S E

A D O E C R

M B A N T

I E N D

R M G S

Across 1. Seem (6) 5. Fixate on something (6) 9. Piled (6) 10. Occur unexpectedly (4,2) 11. Naked (4) 12. Slaughter (8) 14. Logic (6) 16. Unsullied (6) 19. Abyss (8) 21. Ran away (4) 22. Innate (6) 23. Physician (6) 24. Break away (6) 25. Stop doing something (6)

1

Down 2. Introduction (7) 3. Put into words (7) 4. Basics (9) 6. Hurtful remarks (5) 7. Assumes (7) 8. Highest (7) 13. Triumphed (9) 14. Rebounds (7) 15. Harsh, biting (7) 17. Has an influence on (7) 18. Shakes (7) 20. Rectify (5)

2

3

4

5

9

starts with J, the six-letter solution starts with K, and so on.

10

11

12

14

13

15

19

16

20

22

23

Can you complete these four words, using the same three-letter sequence in each?

24

25

SUDOKU

Fill the grid so every column, every row and 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.

F U S S E D Q C A T A R A C T

A N N U H G N I R I M O V O D

T Z E S T Y Z S C O O T E R D

E I P H O J G F E K E K H G A

S P R I G O O W D M B A S I C

O D E W E E S K H L A Q Y H R

R I F L E B H A V E B E I M E

E M I N H K E G I B P Q J N T

A Z N E R I O T A Y A M U S E

L M E B U W O D L L R T N P N

M I D P O I N T R C A N C A N

T N V T V S E J P O K Y T A Y

R A D I A N C E S K E N U R E

V N O W L V K Y A L E O R L P

C E N T X E S C O R T T E N D

BLACKOUT

Work out which squares need to be deleted to reveal a completed crossword.

Solution opposite

All puzzles ©

The Puzzle Company

D P

PRAMS, QUOTeR, ReGALIA, SMOULDeR, TOLeRANCe.

ALPHAGRAMS JIGGERED

I M P U G N

F S U N Z I P S E R S U S H I E T G D Y G O C S A R C E D T O A M O E B R T A A E S C O R G I T C

TRIO: keL

Across: 1. Appear 5. Obsess 9. Heaped 10. Crop up 11. Bare 12. Massacre 14. Reason 16. Chaste 19. Crevasse 21. Fled 22.

Inbred 23. Doctor 24. Secede 25. Desist.

Down: 2. Preface 3. express 4. Rudiments 6. Barbs 7. expects 8. Supreme 13. Succeeded 14. Recoils 15. Acerbic 17. Affects 18. Tremors 20. Amend.

QUICK CROSSWORD

E

TODAY: Good 16 Very Good 22 Excellent 27

T W A N E F S F T E D T C A N O N I N G E E R S T R O E D

R

18

21

I D E R E A I E F I N L E E K I S H O A T V I A E A P A M J U S R E T E

L M R C I N A N E E D D N P I T O V A L W I N E N E C K S T E C L O C R R A K E E T N N N C T U R E A R N N E D

How many words of four letters or more can you make? Each letter must be used only

17

TRIO

SUDOKU

A N

8

ReARRANGe reran

RAMPS TORQUE Solve the anagrams. Each solution is a one-word anagram ALGERIA of the letters beside it, and the five solutions are sequential. For OLD SERUM example, if the five-letter solution NO TREACLE

WORD GO ROUND

7

T O O T N A P R O I T X N G I I A S C E N I R A D O P A E M D C R A M I A C I A R A N F W O N T E D R E E M R I N G S

I

ALPHAGRAMS

V2 - SETE01Z01MA

6

E E R S T

U

SOLUTIONS BLACKOUT

I I

QUICK CROSSWORD

39

W R M I K E B A H T M B R E W I L A N E R E D E S P E E O N O D D E N R P E C U L M E A U G M E E K S K I R T

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SETE01Z01MA - V3