Seniors Today Sunshine Coast - 23rd June 2021

Wednesday, 23 June, 2021

SeniorsToday.com.au

The pride of the region

Stolen racer back on track

PAGE 5

PAGE 38

Treasures of the past at Noosa Page 7

Perfect weekend getaway Page 33

You’re never too old to race dragons Paddlers of all ages including a large contingent of over 50s make up the Sunshine Coast Dragon Boat and Outrigger Canoe Club and are proving age is no barrier to winning.

The club, formed in 2005, paddled its way to an impressive haul of medals at the most recent interstate championship at Lake Kawana.

Story page 3

Sunshine Coast Dragon Boat Club’s over-50s members at the Coast to Coast Dragons.

Positive purpose

By Tania Phillips A trip to the Abbey Medieval Festival many years ago had Irene Gerken hooked.

“I’ve been volunteering at the museum for a few years now,” Irene explained.

“I took last year off because my husband was very ill and he died in Feb-

ruary, I came back to volunteer just a couple of weeks ago. So I am back here and I love doing it.”

She said after years of volunteering it was like belonging to a family – a family that she first became acquainted with more than a decade ago.

“I’ve always had an interest in the medieval and ancient civilisations and I

found the Abbey, it must have been 1015 years ago when I came to the festival which I enjoyed very much,” Irene explained.

“I came to the next three and then I ran out of people to come with me and we lived on the Gold Coast so I didn’t want to come up by myself. So that put an end to it for a while and then we moved up here and when I realised the

Abbey was just down the road, I thought what a wonderful opportunity so I took it and I’ve been enjoying it ever since.”

Irene is now a jack of all trades at the Abbey Museum as well as being part of the volunteer workforce that puts on the Abbey Festival – taking on a number of different roles.

Story pages 12-13

INSIDE

NEWS

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PROPERTY AND FINANCE ......page 8 IN PROFILE ................ pages 10-11 GARDENING ......................page 16

The editor’s desk

RECIPES .................... pages 20-21 HEALTH ..................... pages 22-25 OUT AND ABOUT ........ pages 26-33 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT pages 34-35 WHAT’S ON .......................page 36 ACTIVE OUTDOORS ..... pages 37-38

CONTACT US

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EDITORIAL Tania Phillips Journalist E: tania.phillips@StarNewsGroup.com.au

ADVERTISING Phill Le Petit Advertising Manager E: phill.lepetit@StarNewsGroup.com.au M: 0439 377 525

Louisa Kneller Advertising Sales Executive E: louisa.kneller@StarNewsGroup.com.au M: 0413 380 545

DEADLINES 2021 September Edition

The guys from Woombye based distiller Sunshine & Sons with Raelene on her birthday. A dry gin by the distillery was launched in her honour, on Friday at her party. If all bottles are sold it will raise up to $30,000 for Bloomhill.

Picture: EMPIRE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

Raelene still beating odds Turning 70 is a big occasion for anyone but “making it to 70” is particular sweet for beloved Olympian Raelene Boyd.

On June 4 at Mercedes Benz Sunshine Coast Boyle, celebrated the milestone at a ticketed party which raised $76,000 for Bloomhill Cancer Care – the Sunshine Coast Charity that she is patron of.

Raelene survived both breast and ovarian cancers, which she was diagnosed with after an extraordinary athletic career that included claiming silver Olympic medals and winning gold and silver at four Commonwealth Games.

“You get nervous, at the milestone birthdays – you know, when I was first diagnosed I didn’t know if I’d make it to 50,” Raelene said.

“You get nervous about whether it’s going to be the last big milestone. But here I am at 70 – I made it, and that’s 25 years post-diagnosis.”

As a 17-year-old, Raelene represented Australia at the Olympics in Mexico City 1968, claiming silver in the 200m; placing fourth in the 100m, and setting world junior records in both distances.

Her world records took 12 years and eight years respectively, to be broken.

She went on to collect three gold medals at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.

Raelene’s love of fitness, her personal drive and determination were all assets that helped her through her cancer ex-

periences, which began in 1996 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Exercise has been my life saver,” she said.

“It might be a walk with the dog, a bike ride or mowing the lawn – but I’ve stayed active and that’s been great for mental health as well as recovering from cancer and cancer treatments.

“There’s a heap of science around that, and that informs Bloomhill’s commitment to exercise which is part of the tailored support it provides people with cancer. It’s really excellent what Bloomhill is doing, and I want everyone with cancer to know about them. You’ll simply never regret walking through those doors.”

Asked what was special about Bloomhill, Raelene said it was the quality care.

“It’s a caring place,” she said. “You can come here and have counselling, have a massage, nurses look after you. The feel here is that you’re not walking into a clinical area, where you have to say, ‘I’ve got cancer’. You’re in a kindred spirit place.

In this world of cancer there’s nothing worse than someone walking up to you and asking you how you are. At Bloomhill they ask – ‘what can we do for you’?”

The funds raised will help Bloomhill continue to provide individualised support for people with cancer and their loved ones.

Advertising Bookings: COB Wednesday 25 August Artwork: Noon Thursday 2 September Distributed: Monday 13 September

December Edition Advertising Bookings: COB Wednesday 17 November Artwork: Noon Thursday 25 November Distributed: Monday 6 December

Welcome to our second edition of Seniors Today Sunshine Coast.

Louisa and I just want to thank you all for the support shown for our first issue in Autumn. We were blown away from the support and it wasn’t just from the community and local businesses either.

Our little publication took out it’s section at the recent Queensland Country Press Association 2021 Media Excellence Awards in Brisbane – so heartening after just one issue. So thank you so much for coming on this journey with us.

And now to the second one it’s winter, a time of hearty soups and stews so we have some new recipes from the Meat Livestock for you to try out.

There are also plenty of short trips away to read about and maybe even book – imagine spending time in front of a roaring log fire at Tenterfield, exploring around Maleny or heading out to Jazz and Jumpers in July at Warwick (it’s worth it just to see the yarn-bombed trees) or take in the Snowflake Festival at Stanthorpe (the Granite Belt town is on snow-watch as I write this).

There are also gardening tips from Gardening Australia’s Jerry Coleby Williams, who lives just down the Coast at Wynnum – including what we should be planting at this time of year and why it’s important to check what will grow in our climate.

No rest for us though – we have already started work on the winter edition. Contact Louise for advertising or myself if you have a story to tell.

- Tania Phillips Tania Phillips Senior Journalist Tania.Phillips@starnewsgroup. com.au Louisa Kneller Advertising Sales Executive D (07) 5292 5302 M 0413 380 545 E louisa.kneller@starnewsgroup. com.au 36 Mary Street, Noosaville, QLD, 4566

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NEWS

Sunshine Coast Dragon Boat club’s mens premiers.

Pictures: JOHN NAPPER, ACTION IN FOCUS

Sunshine Coast Dragon Boat Club’s over 50s members at the Coast to Coast Dragons.

Sunshine Coast Dragon Boat Club women’s premiers.

Dragon boaters fired up The Sunshine Coast Dragon Boat and Outrigger Canoe Club paddled its way to an impressive haul of medals at the most recent interstate championship at Lake Kawana.

The Coast-to-Coast Dragon Boat Festival saw 27 dragon boat clubs from across Queensland as well as Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra compete at the three-day event.

The Sunshine Coast team, named the state champions a few months before, finished the weekend with a record 10 gold, four silver and three bronze medals across the premier, 40-plus, and 55plus age divisions.

The Lake Kawana-based club, formed in 2005 by founding member and head coach, Deb Matthews has evolved and expanded since that time and are now back-to-back state champions.

Jack Green, 52, first became involved in dragon boat when he was looking for a low impact, but competitive sport, that also provided a physical challenge.

“What got me hooked from the start was the power of 20 people paddling in unison,” Jack says.

“I remember the first time I sat in the boat and we took off I wasn’t prepared for the thrust of the boat moving forward and nearly slipped back off my seat.”

Jack is part of the club’s strong men’s crew and finished the Coast-to-Coast championship with an impressive six gold medals – not a bad result for a relative newcomer to the sport.

“There are so many ways to describe how much I enjoy this sport. I love the training, competition, inspiring people, team spirt, plus, the motivation to improve physically on and off the water.

We train hard but it’s well worth the effort and reward,” Jack says.

Chrissie Bellert, 68, started dragon boat racing more than 15 years ago after crossing paths with the sport via a corporate regatta.

“From a young age I was always involved and enjoyed competitive team

Mixed Premiers. sports, footy, roller derby and squash, which are all very taxing on the joints, so after a long time of abuse my knees and other joints said no more, which was so devastating,” Chrissie recalls.

“I was hooked on dragon boating from the first outing. It was the best workout you could have sitting down, so, I really felt like I had hit the jackpot!

CALOUNDRA STORE

“I’m now 68 years old and am healthy, fit, still competing locally, nationally and internationally and happy to boot – all due to being part of such an amazingly diverse club.”

More information on the Sunshine Coast Dragon Boat and Outrigger Canoe Club can be found at scdragonboatclub.com.au

opening soon!

Just Comfort Shoes will open a new store at Caloundra Village, 1 Ormuz Ave, in late June or July.

To learn more, visit justcomfortshoes.com.au/blogs/news. To receive updates on the Caloundra opening and news roughly every 1-3 months, visit justcomfortshoes.com.au/contact and subscribe.

This is an expansion, not a relocation! Our Mooloolaba shop at 155 Brisbane Rd will continue.

We cherry-pick styles from top comfort brands to find shoes for hard-to-fit feet, and specialise in orthotic-friendly, wide-fitting and adjustable shoes for women and men. We also offer a 5% seniors’ discount for in-stock purchases in store and can often place special orders for shoes not in stock.

Visit our Mooloolaba store at 155 Brisbane Rd. Open 9am-5pm Mon-Fri and 9am-noon Sat. Phone 07 5444 8009. info@justcomfortshoes.com.au. www.justcomfortshoes.com.au 12494904-NG26-21

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NEWS

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A bus stop at Alexandra Headland’s which is now compliant.

Better bus stop access Sunshine Coast Council reached a major milestone in early June providing 719 (98 per cent) bus stops across the region that meet disability access requirements.

Mayor Mark Jamieson said the major milestone benefited everyone in the community including people living with a disability, carers, parents with prams and many of the region’s senior residents.

“While the state government through TransLink is responsible for providing and operating public transport, all councils have a role and responsibility in providing accessible bus stops,” Mayor Jamieson said.

“Our council, in partnership with the Queensland government, is completing its Bus Stop Accessibility Upgrade Program 18 months ahead of the Federal government’s target completion date of December 2022.

“The bus stop upgrades started in 2007 as part of meeting the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and the Commonwealth Government’s Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 which were developed to make public transport accessible for everyone in our communities.

“Thanks to council’s Transport Levy, introduced in 2014, council has contributed more than $3.9 million from the Levy funds towards this initiative, in addition to the $3.8 million from general funds.

“As a healthy, smart and creative region, it is incumbent on us to ensure our public facilities are safe and accessible to all.”

As part of this program, existing bus 4 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

One of the 719 bus stops across the region now meeting disability access requirements. stops were upgraded and new bus stops were installed to achieve DDA compliance.

Almost all of Sunshine Coast bus stops from Caloundra to Peregian Springs and from Mooloolaba to the hinterland have been upgraded to provide the community with: concrete bus stop surfaces, signage, installation of tactile ground surface indicators, handrails, manoeuvring areas and upgraded footpath connections to bus stop locations.

Member for Caloundra Jason Hunt said the Queensland government has contributed more than $4.2 million to Sunshine Coast Council in upgrading existing passenger facilities.

“Accessing essential public transport services so you can maintain independence and participate in society is a basic human right,” Mr Hunt said.

“Upgrading bus stops to be more ac-

cessible is one of the simplest ways to remove some of the barriers that people with disability or mobility issues find challenging when using public transport.

“The Queensland government is committed to creating a single integrated transport network accessible to everyone, and Sunshine Coast Council plays an important role too through upgrade programs like these.”

“I congratulate Mayor Jamieson and council for pushing this program forward and improving the quality and accessibility of bus stops right across the Sunshine Coast.”

The remaining 11 sites are difficult to make compliant and consequently are under detailed review by the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

For more information on how to plan a journey visit TransLink’s journey planner.

Community Portfolio Councillor David Law, Caloundra MP Jason Hunt and Mayor Mark Jamieson inspecting a DDA compliant bus stop at Alexandra Parade.

FAST FACTS The Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 expect 100 per cent of bus stops across Australia to be compliant by 2022 719 (98 per cent) compliant bus stops out of 730 stops on the Sunshine Coast upgraded to meet DDA compliance 526 of the 730 bus stops provide overhead shelter for patrons Nearly $12 million contributed from council and the Queensland government to deliver the upgrades Bus stop upgrades include Concrete bus stop surfaces.

Signage.

Installation of tactile ground surface indicators.

Handrails.

Manoeuvring areas.

Upgraded footpath connections to bus stop locations.

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NEWS

Active aid

Ninderry MP Dan Purdie hosted a group of Coolum Lioness members for morning tea.

Pride of the region To celebrate National Volunteer Week this year, Ninderry MP Dan Purdie hosted a group of Coolum Lioness members for morning tea in honour of their many years combined service to the local community.

Earlier this year, Lions International issued a directive forcing the closure of the group, which has been active in the local community for over 40 years. In that time, 112 individuals have volunteered their time as members.

Mr Purdie said the Coolum Lionesses, who began their journey in 1978, had raised more than half a million dollars, but had invested much more than money in the local community.

He said they leave behind a litany of tremendous legacies, such as the beach wheelchair in Coolum, and vital fundraising support for valuable programs like school chaplaincy.

“They have freely given their time, compassion and hope for a better life for

those less fortunate,” Mr Purdie said.

“As I said in a recent speech in Parliament, I thank each and every one of you for your selfless service to our community, and I can assure you that each act of kindness will long be remembered in the hearts of locals, and in the pages of Hansard.”

Mr Purdie presented each of the ladies with a special handcrafted commemorative trophy in recognition of their service.

Aged care budget package welcomed Queensland community services group Be has welcomed the multi-billion dollar investment in aged care and the expansion of home care packages for older Australians announced in the Federal Budget.

Be (formerly ComLink) has operated for 30 years providing home care packages, home support and transport services.

Be chief executive Liam Mayor said Be was a leading contributor across Queensland helping older people maintain their quality of life and wellbeing and looked forward to helping implement the new initiatives.

“The budget announcement is a very welcome investment for older Austra-

lians and something Be will play an active role implementing in the communities we serve across Queensland,” Liam said.

“The way we care for our ageing population is a measure of our strength as a society.

“Be supports clients to live healthy and independent lives in their own homes, for longer.

“We achieve this through our emphasis on building relationships with our clients, giving them a voice in the things that are important to them.”

He said the budget included 80,0000 new home care packages, 33,000 training places for personal carers and a new Indigenous workforce, increased

access for respite services for carers and a strengthened regulatory regime to monitor and enforce standards of care.

“Be is well placed to respond to these initiatives and deliver more for our clients,” Mr Mayo added.

“Our dedicated team of staff and volunteers has a fine track record. As a team we will look strategically at this announcement to grow our services across Queensland.

“With an ageing population, I welcome the focus on training and education in the aged care sector and the increase in the available workforce that will flow from that investment in skills.

Noosa Community Support (NCS) has leapt into 2021 with lots of new activities and support programs for local seniors.

The Centre, located at 11 Wallace Drive Noosaville, offers a wide range of wellness and social activities that are fun, healthy and entertaining.

“Due to Covid, our clients couldn’t participate in their normal Centre-based socialisation,” she said.

“This year we have been excited to get back together and offer some engaging activities that will suit any local senior, still taking Covid -19 precautions.”

Morning or afternoon tea is included when participating in art therapy, gardening, the tool shed, music and movement sessions, as well as social outings and local trips.

Noosa Community Support can also provide advice with navigating My Aged Care, and work closely with Carer Gateway.

Other services available are home maintenance, in-home care, shopping, transport and centrebased respite for loved ones. For more information view the timetable of activities on their website noosacommunitysupport.com.au or phone 5329 6175.

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NEWS

Garden Expo blooms again For those bitten by the gardening bug during the 2020 lockdown, the return of Queensland’s premier gardening event – The Queensland Garden Expo – might just be the helping hand they are looking for.

The event, ironically cancelled last year due to Covid, is on track to welcome thousands of visitors from far and wide to a three-day celebration of all things gardening in July this year at the Nambour Showgrounds, Coronation Avenue, Nambour.

Expo Event Manager Marion Beazley said while it was disappointing that the 2020 Expo had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, the resulting increase in people gardening provided an exciting opportunity for this year’s event to attract new visitors.

“The Nursery Industry Survey captured the growth in people wanting to invest time in creating their own backyard oasis, particularly as more people are working from home and many are restricted in their ability to travel for holidays,” Ms Beazley said.

“We’re confident the Queensland Garden Expo will provide ample opportunity to nurture this newfound love

for gardening with 350 exhibitors — including 55 nurseries — and around 45 guest speakers presenting an actionpacked program.

“This year we have included a number of ‘Back to Basics’ talks each day to encourage visitors who are new to gardening, in addition to the wide range of gardening topics that have become firm favourites with our more experienced gardeners.

“Attendees can learn, explore and get inspired; and can then find everything they need at the Expo, including a choice of more than 60,000 plants ready for sale each day of the event.”

The 36th annual Queensland Garden

Expo will take place from 9-11 July at the Nambour Showgrounds and nurseries are now preparing stock to ensure there are plenty of plant favourites, new lines to launch and unique and rare plants to offer attendees.

The Expo offers more than seven hectares of inspiration including guest speakers on all sorts of gardening topics and there is plenty to do for grandkids, including a range of interactive sessions such as kids craft, seed planting and of course our popular free kids playground.”

The Queensland Garden Expo speaker program is the biggest in Australia and will welcome back crowd-favou-

rites such as ABC’s Gardening Australia gurus Sophie Thomson, Costa Georgiadis and Jerry Coleby-Williams as well as event favourites Adam Woodhams, Dr Kevin Redd and Phil Dudman.

Tickets are $20 for adults, while children under 15 are free. For more information, visit www.qldgardenexpo.com. au.

Fast facts — Queensland Garden Expo 2021 Three-day event 60,000 plants on sale each day More than 7 hectares of gardening inspiration 350-plus exhibitors and displays, including 55 nurseries 120+ free lectures and demonstrations 11 speaker stages

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History keepers: Treasures of the past at Noosa museum

By Margaret Maccoll Stepping into the Noosa Shire Museum at Pomona is like being transported to a past time. Its rabbit warren-like rooms are laden with treasures, which tell the story of the shire. At each turn there are items of interest from photographs and clothing to documents and displays. Significantly, the museum is also the Keeping Place of objects and memorabilia sacred to the local Kabi Kabi / Gubbi Gubbi people, setting it apart from regional museums that restrict their displays to European history.

The museum is no longer a place where history is stored away in boxes.

It has changed its focus to become an information and education centre relevant to present day life, according to Cooroora Historical Society president Jeanette Alfredson.

Noosa Today dropped by the facility recently to speak to the keepers of the regions history.

The Noosa Shire Museum has been based in Pomona since the mid-1980s at the former Shire Council Chambers, which moved to its current facility at Tewantin in 1980.

The museum is operated by a committee and a group of dedicated volunteers and one paid employee, operations and development officer Ann Podobnik. Jeanette was among the museum’s founders, members of the Cooroora Historical Society, who lobbied Noosa Council to establish the Heritage Levy which helps preserve the shire’s significant buildings and culture.

As a descendant of one of the area’s pioneering European families Jeanette has a long-standing interest in the shire’s history. Her family was a timber family whose father operated his busi-

Ann Podobnik, Jeanette Alfredson and Brian O’Connor at Noosa Shire Museum. ness from Pomona’s Alfredson building which now houses a brewery. After WWII housing was in short supply and her father, a cabinetmaker, built pre-cut houses which were sent by rail across the state to be assembled.

The museum’s role has been to preserve and interpret its past. It contains 6000 items of historical significance and 1500 manuscripts and family histories. The museum also houses an extensive and impressive collection of 9000 photographs, capturing many moments of the shire’s pioneering past as well as modern moments that will one day be an important part of local history. Ann said her role has included sorting through collections that had been stored away for 30 years. “About 90 per cent of the collection has come out of storage boxes. It’s a good opportunity to show the community what we’re housing,” she said.

The museum benefits from a small annual grant from the Council. However, this year, Noosa Council set aside an additional $20,000 to help the Cooroora Historical Society prepare a new strategic plan, train volunteers in conservation practices and purchase a

computer program, known as Mosaic, which is used to track the collection items and report on each item’s history and condition.

The museum has embarked on its plan to make its collection more relevant to visitors by reorganising exhibits into ‘themes’ of history, innovation, environment, community engagement and education and are beginning a process of refreshing displays.

“We should be relevant to what is happening today,” Jeanette said.

“There’s a responsibility to the community to provide information on social issues.”

Committee member Brian O’Connor said two matters which stood out in the review were the need to do more to focus on coastal Noosa history and to showcase local Indigenous culture.

Brian said through its participation in the review those who guide the museum have been challenged to accept change and have become emboldened with the confidence to tackle it head-on.

“We realise that, while our task is to preserve and interpret the past, it

is not where our thinking belongs,” he said. The changes wrought by this process have already begun in the areas of governance, removing items for sale and procurement, he said. “And we realise more the importance of our volunteers and the additional training we must give them.”

The museum is also co-operating with Pomona’s other historic sites to enhance the historic experience for visitors. The museum and the Majestic Theatre aim to attract visitors for a ‘blast of the past’, combining a silent movie, lunch in the park and a guided tour of the museum and its memorabilia.

The museum welcomes visitors from far and wide. Jeanette said about 10-15 per cent came from Britain, some from New Zealand and many from Victoria. “A lot of people come here to do their family histories,” she said. In addition a steady stream of students visit as part of their school curriculum and learn about the changes that have happened over time.

Brian said the museum provided people with a sense of place. He sees the museum having a significant role to play in relation to the Noosa Biosphere “We are a people that, in everything we do, we must consider our impact on the environment ... and that goes to the heart of how we live,” he said.

“So interpreting ourselves and who we are ... the Noosa Shire Museum sits at the heart of Noosa Shire’s Living Heritage Town at the centre of the Noosa Biosphere. That is a pretty important space to occupy. We should be the Biosphere Museum. That sets us apart from other museums in country towns. Ours is a bigger role, on behalf of the entire shire. Noosa’s story is important and needs to be told well.”

WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 7

PROPERTY AND FINANCE

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Exchange Traded Funds

By Mark Davidson First up – what is an Exchange Traded Fund or ETF? The standard definition is that it is a type of security that tracks an index, sector, commodity, or other asset, but which can be purchased or sold on a stock exchange the same as a regular stock.

An ETF can be structured to track anything from the price of an individual commodity, to a large and diverse collection of securities. ETFs can even be structured to track specific investment strategies. In other words, it is a managed fund that is traded on the stock market, making them easy to access. In addition, fees are generally quite low.

Recently, there have been some interesting sector ETF’s gain popularity

due to popular themes. The funds mentioned below are not exhaustive, and are just a selection of the hundreds of ETF’s available. They are by no means recommendations. Please fee free to call to discuss your personal situation and which ETF’s may be appropriate to you.

ACDC – not a rock band, but the ETFS Battery Tech & Lithium ETF. It offers investors exposure to the energy storage and production megatrend, including companies involved in the supply chain and production for battery technology and lithium mining. The Solactive Battery Value-Chain Index tracks the performance of companies that are providers of electro-chemical storage technology and mining companies

that produce metals that are primarily used for manufacturing of lithium batteries. Some of the holdings include Tesla, Daimler AG, Pilbara Minerals, & Galaxy Resources. The management fee is 0.69%, quite cheap in comparison to some international managed funds.

ASIA – Betashares Asia Technology Tigers. The fund aims to track the performance of an index that provides access to the 50 largest technology and online retail companies that have their main area of business in Asia (including Japan). It is a simple, cost effective way to access some leading technology companies, including Alibaba & Tencent.

The management fee is just 0.57% CLNE – Vac Eck Vectors Global Clean Energy ETF. CLNE gives investors a di-

versified portfolio of 30 of the largest and most liquid companies involved in clean energy production and associated technology and equipment globally.

In summary there are many options, more than can be mentioned here, but the key is to take advice. And don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Mark Davidson is an Authorised Representative (no 427049) of Ord Minnett Ltd, AFS licence 237121. This article contains general financial advice only and does not consider your personal circumstances; you should determine its suitability to you. Before acquiring a financial product you should consider the relevant product disclosure statement.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Super changes welcomed for those close to downsizing A leading financial advisor has welcomed the changes to the Pension Loans Scheme as part of this year’s Federal Budget.

Paul Rogan, founder of Pension Boost a private commercial venture aimed at helping Australian’s navigate their retirement years, said major enhancements to the scheme will come into being from July 1 next year.

Mr Rogan said the reforms included

a no negative equity guarantee applying to PLS loans.

“This has been one of the major advocacy reforms Pension Boost has been pushing and so we are very delighted to see that this important protection for seniors will be introduced to level the playing field for all reverse mortgage solutions,” he said.

Mr Rogan said a lump-sum option is also being introduced with singles

being able to access up to $12,385 and couples up to $18,670 via up to two advances in any 12 month period – which represents 50 per cent of the annual rate of the full Age pension.

He said more seniors will be able to access downsizing contributions to super.

“From July 1 2022, seniors choosing to downsize who are at least 60 years of age will be able to contribute up to

$300,000 each from their home sale into their super,” Mr Rogan said. “The change is that previously you had to be 65. You continue to need to have owned your property for at least 10 years.

“An alternative to downsizing which doesn’t impact your age pension eligibility is accessing the government’s Pension Loans Scheme (PLS) to release the equity in your home to assist with funding your lifestyle.”

Dilemma for retirees in lowinterest world How are you funding your retirement in a low interest rate world?

To learn more, Start a Conversation with Ord Minnett today.

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Steve Price, Roxanne Moates, Don Oxenham and Steve Ricketts at a Men of League function.

NEWS

Enjoying a Men Of League event on the Sunshine Coast are Peter Kane, Roxanne Moates and Billy Moore.

Giving back to league

By Tania Phillips When you think of volunteer groups getting together to help others, you probably think of Rotary, Lions and Probus but there is a new kid on the block making it’s presence felt particularly in times of Covid and beyond.

The Men Of League Foundation is an organisation founded almost 20 years ago by a group of former footballers to help their mates who were struggling.

Since then the group has grown and become much more encompassing, now helping as many people as possible in the rugby league community from ball boys and junior players to the canteen workers, groundskeepers, referees and administrators.

National Wellbeing Lead for the group Roxanne Moates said the group aimed to help anyone in the rugby league community who was doing it tough.

“We care for the men, women and children of the rugby league Community,” Roxanne explained.

“We started in 2002 with Ron Coote, Jim Hall and Max Brown and they looked around their community and saw some of their fellow players struggling so they started with a bit of we will helped the guys that we played with. It’s had a number of different ideas over the years.

“But we’ve come to the masthead of

the men, women and children of the rugby league community – as long as you’ve made a contribution to rugby league. That can be as a junior player, as a volunteer, you could be the canteen lady, the guy that marks the field up, an administrator, an ex NRL player, a referee or an official, anyone that comes under that banner if they find them selves in a hard situation, whether it be socially, emotionally, financially, with a disability or illness. We do what we can to support you.”

She said they tried to support in all sorts of ways.

“I would say 70-80 per cent of our work is what I would call social and emotional – we have about a hundred well-being volunteers throughout Australia,” Roxanne said.

“Someone might ring up and say hey you know John Smith has been put into a nursing home he could really use a visit he played footy in the Riverina for 20 years. So one of our volunteers will go and visit, take a bit of merchandise, a hat or a shirt.

“They talk about the good old days, maybe have a coffee and they’ll do that regularly – it’s not just a one-off. Once they make that relationship, they will check in on them quite regularly.

“We have people in country areas that might become have well, they might have cancer, need to travel into

a city centre for treatment. We can help with some food and fuel vouchers, maybe if they need to stay maybe some accommodation. Once again while they’re away from home and everyone else they know volunteers will provide a friendly face and will visit them.”

She said the group and their work was a natural offshoot of the community/family feeling that a sport can create.

“I think when you have a connection with something like rugby league, you have a bond, you have mutual ground to start from,” Roxanne said.

“We can help financially, during Covid we had a number of families where their income situation changed, perhaps both parents lost work or they went to a one income family. Once again, providing they were involved in the rugby league community we were able to provide financial support. That could be an immediate action grant of $500 and that covers, food, fuel, if they have some bills that need to be paid. We can look at a full grant which could be everything from medical equipment, modification to a house if someone needs to be in a wheelchair, living costs – we can assist with bills and those sorts of things.

“So it’s pretty creative if people come to us and let us know how we can help them and if we can we will.”

How do you become a volunteer?

“If you have a love and passion for rugby league and you have some time to put towards it we are open to people putting up their hands to volunteer,” she said.

“We do a bit of an induction process – we talk a little about our purpose and our goals, what we expect from our volunteers given that they are representing our organisation. I also make sure they get some support as well because sometimes we deal with people who are doing it really tough, maybe might have some mental health issues, depression and anxiety.

“If you’re a volunteer, you might have the best intentions in the world but sometimes there’s a bit of fear about – how do I have a conversation with people that are in that situation. I’m a psychologist – I’m not employed in that role but it definitely helps in terms of being able to manage and support people. You can have vicarious trauma.”

As well as volunteering there are a lot of fundraising functions with former players at all levels holding every thing from golf days to sportsman’s lunches.

“All the money raised goes back into our wellbeing program which means we have the money to provide support to those doing it tough,” she said.

To become involved in the organisation go to the their website Menofleague.com.

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Grow local, sell local and make the best product we can ... that’s the philosophy of a family-run coffee plantation at Kin Kin, as ERLE LEVEY reports.

Taking the plunge ...

When I told people there was a locallygrown coffee in Noosa they looked at me with suspicion.

“No way,’’ I was told.

Yes, Noosa coffee. We grow it here.

“Oh, I didn’t realise that.’’

Yet a phone call and basic directions on how to get to the remote hinterland property saw me driving up the range early of a Tuesday morning.

Through rolling grassland then up into tall-tree country, the sunlight filtering through the leaves.

“Grow local, sell local and make the best product we can’’ ... that’s the philosophy of Noosa Black, a family-run coffee plantation at Kin Kin. It is the only commercial coffee plantation in the region.

Cappuccino, flat white, espresso, macchiato, caffe latte, affogato … it doesn’t matter what type of coffee.

Water temperature, the grind size, the amount of water. Double shot, single shot ... find the coffee you like and make it the best way for your personal preference.

Peter Hinner has always drunk it but insists he is not a coffee tragic “We do drink tea,’’ he tells me as we sit on the verandah of their Kin Kin home. His wife Traecy is downstairs helping with processing of the harvest.

Coffee beans are spread on hessian on the floorboards in front of us, drying in the sun.

It’s a similar set-up on the ground level.

That’s also where the pulp is being removed from the coffee cherry.

Traecy comes upstairs and Peter makes some macchiatos with a splash of hot milk.

It’s a glorious outlook down the valley.

So why coffee, and why Kin Kin? “It likes altitude,’’ Peter replies, “... it’s an under-storey plant that loves shade and mottled light, even temperature and high rainfall.

“The higher you go, the narrower the temperature range. It’s a sub-tropical crop and cannot tolerate frost.’’

There are two methods of processing the freshly-picked coffee cherries.

The dry method sees the freshly picked cherries spread out to dry in the sun. They are raked and turned throughout the day, then covered at night or during rain to prevent them from getting damp.

The wet method, which Traecy was attending to, removes the skin and pulp by running the cherry through a roller with a plate one side and what looks like a cheese grater the other.

Only the parchment skin is left on and the beans are left in water to remove the slick layer of mucilage that is still attached. Then they are ready for drying.

It’s a process that has that amazing feeling of authenticity. This is the way the beans have been dried for thousands of years.

“We show people how exactly the same coffee can taste differently from 10 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

Traecy and Peter Hinner at their Kin Kin coffee farm during harvest time. 216225

They gave us a wonderful piece of advice, which we ignored. That was to start off small ... 500 trees. But we thought, no, go big or go home.’’ the different ways of making it,’’ Peter continues, “... espresso, in a plunger, cold brew, cold drip, aeropress.

“Percolated on the stove makes a very different coffee.

“For a bus tour we did single origin coffee three different ways and people could not believe the difference.

“Grinding fresh is always good.’’

And what of the decision to become coffee farmers, how did that come about?

“We’re insane,’’ Peter replies. “We wanted a change ... that was 20-odd years ago and we thought farming would be good.

“We sat on the property for a while and thought about coffee. Australia imports 90 per cent of coffee and it seemed like it would be a good idea.’’

Traecy takes up the story. She came from Brisbane but Peter was in the mining game, so they travelled a lot ...

South East Queensland, Nhulunbuy, Kalimantan, Sierra Leone.

“That was where it probably started but we didn’t realise it,’’ she said. “We used to run with the Hash House Harriers.

“When we watched all the videos of our time there in West Africa we realised there was all this coffee growing there.

“They were jungle runs. We would follow the trails ... there were always a couple of dodgy ones you didn’t want to get caught on ... but there were people harvesting coffee.

“Pete also worked in Malaysia, and North Korea for a while. We sort of moved a bit.’’

All that travel made them realise how beautiful Australia is and the op-

portunity that is here.

“It’s one of the best places ... the calmness of country life and the coast not far away.’’

Peter goes down for a surf as much as he can.

Traecy likes swimming, especially in the ocean because of its calming effect.

Pete was originally from Western Australia and met Trace at the Astra Hotel Bondi Beach. He was on a road trip with mates from university to the Snowy Mountains.

Trace was down from Brisbane with girlfriends, having taken time off from work with a public relations company her eldest sister started.

“I asked her on a date in Brisbane,’’ Peter said, “ ... to a movie.

“Basically, ever since I knew her she wanted a poddy calf.’’

Traecy’s aunts and uncles had a property inland from Byron Bay so she had spent a bit of time there.

“We agreed we wanted some land and a farm,’’ Pete said. “Not two acres, not five acres but something decent so she could have a poddy.’’

They chose Kin Kin because of having lived in a lot of out-of-the-way places overseas, and they wanted some space.

The three children - Jade, Grant and Kirsty - had been doing distance education, often all in the same room.

“When eldest was going to high school we knew we needed to come back,’’ Traecy said.

“We had been holidaying here over the years ... Noosa, Tin Can, Rainbow.

“The motivator was do you want to

stay in mining, travelling, or have an independent income?

“Then one day we had been to Tin Can, and didn’t want to go back through Gympie again.

“We came through Kin Kin in midsummer and it reminded us of northern New South Wales, where my relatives grew up.’’

It took Pete and Traecy two years to buy the property. They looked out and it was covered in bladey grass.

They went to Widgee, Goomboorian and Black Mountain. The property market had exploded at Eumundi and as far as Cooroy but not Kin Kin at that stage.

After a third visit, Pete knew they wanted farmland but the agent kept bringing them back to this one.

Traecy’s sister was blown away by it and asked why they had not bought it.

The property comprises 20 hectares (50 acres), with a north-easterly slope.

Sister Tree Creek runs through it, down to Kin Kin Creek.

“Coffee was not on the horizon,’’ Pete said. “It took a couple of years to figure out what to do with it.

“We would drive up here and sit on the ridge. There was no house, no shed, just a beautiful paddock of pasture as it had been a bit of a dairy.

“We were amazed by the view.

“Now we have to make it pay,’’ we thought, “and the search for a crop came.

“Sierra Leone was a retrospective. We didn’t want to follow conventional farming - mango, avocado, macadamaia or ginger.

“We were looking for something different ... lemon myrtle, walnut, wasabi, pepper. Cold climate crops.

“Then we thought of ti-tree.’’

Pete said he honestly could not remember how the conversation switched to coffee.

A family friend of Traecy’s grew 500 trees at Landsborough.

“We joined Sunshine Coast Coffee Growers Association,’’ she said “ ... chatted to a few people.

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216225

winter for ripening,’’ Peter said.

“That’s exactly what we saw in Sierra Leone, where we were. We had run right past it, not knowing it existed.’’

Harvesting is between July and late October, using machinery as much as possible but they do hand pick.

“We bring in help ... extended family or those on farms around us,’’ Traecy said.

“The processing involves the crop being loaded into a floatation tank ... if it floats it means it is more mature and we assign it as late harvest, dry it in the skin in full sun.

“They are called naturals.

“If it sinks, that means it is a perfectly ripe, red cherry. ’’ The wet method is a very natural, traditional process.

Sun drying takes seven to 10 days, and the veranda is a great place for that.

The alternative is commercial farms that use rotating gas-fired kilns.

“This is like using microwave as opposed to a crockpot for eight hours,’’ Peter says.

“Wash it, sun dry it, and you can store it for two years as long as it is in the parchment, sitting inside is the green bean.

“It’s a silver skin, like angel hair, and when you take it off it blows away in the wind.

“The coffee stays fresh. When we are ready to start roasting we hull it to expose the green bean.

“We roast regularly ... virtually every week.

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sell in Noosa.

“Grow local, sell local and make the best product we can.

“We didn’t realise we had to put so much effort into getting our name out there.’’

Eventually Traecy got the courage up to approach the Pomona IGA and they explained what was needed to sell the product in the shop.

“IGA has a local-grown ethos,’’ Peter explained. “We would have struggled if not for them.’’

Noosa Black joined Country Noosa, Tourism Noosa and became one of the farms to open as part of Cooloola Farm Trail.

That was a pivotal moment as the farm is virtually on the border of Noosa and Gympie.

“Cooloola Farm Trail has been so encouraging,’’ Traecy said. “It’s a great community of local producers that support each other and go to events together.’’

Are people now knocking on the door?

“We’ve got a very loyal following now,’’ Peter said, “especially since Covid.

“The ethics of growing locally, selling locally ... we would like to keep it that way.

“I was coming out of the surf at Noosa and, seeing the car, someone asked: ’Are you that Noosa Black?’

“We have KOFFEE number plates ... we’ve had them for 10 years but were too embarrassed to put them on.

“Now, we are happy to display the brand.’

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Traecy and Peter Hinner with the fruits of their labour ... Noosa Black coffee.

“It’s like doing dried apricots. It concentrates the flavour and a bit of fermentation goes on as well.’’

Traecy said roasting the late harvest a bit longer made a stronger flavour, a darker roast.

Everything they do is with family and friends to be as inclusive as possible.

They even vote on the names for the different blends.

First Point’s flavour profile is full body, cocoa with a touch of nut. Hazelnut, Traecy suggests.

Wantima is single origin and the name is Gubbi Gubbi for Noosa headland. It is cocoa and nutty ... more like peanuts.

Late harvest is a a bit more rich in flavour, caramel with a touch of berry.

The farm is just not restricted to coffee and limes, they also have lambs, chickens and guinea fowl.

Percy Peacock is the Noosa Black logo.

Even that was a family effort as the next door neighbour’s daughter helped Traecy with the packaging and art work.

“They caught me calling out to Percy one day and he ended up on the logo,’’ she said.

“Percy adopted us.

“The logo was not going to be a coffee bean ... it had to be different to conventional.’’

The business strategy behind Noosa Black, was simple, Peter said.

“Grow coffee and people will bash our door down to buy it.

“Guess what? That never happened.

“The first five years was a struggle.

“Our vision was, grow in Noosa and

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“Two years later, we took the plunge.’’

Peter said it was a classic case of being fearful of something new.

“As part of the association we built up the courage to take the plunge.

“They gave us a wonderful piece of advice, which we ignored.

“That was to start off small ... 500 trees.

“But we thought, no, go big or go home.’’

And that’s exactly what they did ... planting just under 6500 trees in 2005.

Another element was they knew the area and the land. It was important for the sun to go down the row to give even light.

Coffee matures in winter so if the paddock is wrong then when the sun is low the different sides of the trees ripen at different times.

“Knowing we were at a lower altitude we get a mix of Tewantin and Gympie weather,’’ Peter says, “so the crop is susceptible to frost.’’

To mitigate the risk of the coffee crop failing, Traecy said they decided to grow limes on the rich alluvial flats.

“Limes do very well. They are not irrigated and you do not have to spray. We use fruit fly traps and that’s all.

“There are a few different types of limes ... Tahitian, sweet, finger and blood limes.

“I do a Tahitian lime cheesecake with Davidson plum sauce on top.’’

In the fourth year of growth, when the trees were reaching production, a frost killed 50 per cent of the coffee paddock.

“After we cried,’’ Traecy said, “ ... it took three weeks to realise it was the frost that had done the damage.

“They were entirely brown so we had to replant many of them.’’

The initial plantings came from northern New South Wales as tubestock.

Yet since last year they have been sending the cherry to a Rockhampton nursery that propagated 1500 from the Noosa Black seeds.

The crop can be ready for harvest at three years but the fourth year is really the start of it.

It grows on new growth and after about year 10 the trees need to be trimmed severely or replanted.

Peter and Traecy have found the K7 Arabica variety to be more suitable to this part of the country.

“We have the rainfall ... and a dry

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Volunteering at the Abbey

By Tania Phillips It’s not every place that you volunteer where you can dress up and be transported back to another era.

However that’s just what happens to volunteers at the Abbey Medieval Festival and the Festival is just one of the many places you can volunteer at the Caboolture-based museum.

According to Abbey Museum Director and Festival Director Edith Cuffe volunteers are the lifeblood of organization which started with a solely volunteer work force.

“To start off with, when the museum started – and the festival – it was all volunteers,” she said.

“The museum is what it is today because of the volunteers that we’ve had in the past who have put their love and passion for helping and teaching and educating, preserving history and presenting history in interesting ways.

Even today, even though we have now grown to where we have a very small core paid staff at the festival we still have more than 200 volunteers and the museum on a weekly basis, we have about 50 volunteers.

“They do wonderful wonderful things and they have enabled the museum to be seen as something different and do push above it’s weight.

That’s a common term we get is your little museum pushes above it’s weight in what we present to the world and to

our visitors and the programs that we run.

“Without volunteers that would not be possible.”

So how do you get involved as a volunteer?

“There’s lots of different ways, we have an on-line application for both our museum on a regular basis and also for the festival,” Edith explained.

“They just have to go to our website, we’ve got a website for the festival and one for the museum, and apply and then we ask people what they are interested in. It could be anything from helping to present education programs to students, being on our reception desk, helping out with administration to doing arts and craft work like making props and things that are used in our education and school holiday programs. Cooking, catering, sewing – we have a little team of sewing ladies who make costumes for our festival. We now have a brand called Abbey Made and these are products made by our sewing ladies that we sell on our online shop.

“Last year because we were looking for other avenues for funding we did a series of medieval teddy-bears and they made the costumes for these teddy bears and they sold like hotcakes.

“It may seem little things but they all support the museum.”

Irene finds a

By Tania Phillips A trip to the Abbey Medieval Festival many years ago had Irene Gerken hooked. “I’ve been volunteering at the museum for a few years now,” Irene explained.

“I took last year off because my husband was very ill and he died in February, I came back to volunteer just a couple of weeks ago. So I am back here and I love doing it.” She said after years of volunteering it was like belonging to a family – a family that she first became acquainted with more than a decade ago.

“I’ve always had an interest in the medieval and ancient civilisations and I found the Abbey, it must have been 1015 years ago when I came to the festival which I enjoyed very much,” Irene explained.

“I came to the next three and then I ran out of people to come with me and we lived on the Gold Coast so I didn’t want to come up by myself. So that put an end to it for a while and then we moved up here and when I realised the Abbey was just down the road, I thought what a wonderful opportunity so I took it and I’ve been enjoying it ever since.”

Irene is now a jack of all trades at the Abbey Museum as well as being part of the volunteer workforce that puts on the Abbey Festival – taking on a number of different roles.

“I’m on the desk during the week –

on the Wednesday’s when I’m here and one Saturday a month which means I can invite people into the museum to have a look around and tell them a bit about that,” she explained.

“Then I can take them to the church and talk to them about the stain glass windows that are in there.

“During the festival over the past couple of years I was working with the Jousting arena. One year I helped out just doing what they wanted me to do – guiding the crowds and on the entry and making sure the people had seats and all that kind of things. Then the next year I co-ordinated it and I got other people to do that,” she laughed, it is a sought after position.

“This year I’m going to be selling in the museum shop so that will be mean I will be meeting a lot of people by doing that. Of course you dress up in medieval costumes and you feel a part of the day.

It is fun – it’s hard work – you’re on your feet a lot but its really interesting I love it.

“I’ve become part of a very large family – everybody looks after everybody else. If there’s a problem you just have to speak up and there’s somebody to help solve it. That’s really good too.”

She said she really missed while she was off looking after her husband and it was really good to be able to come back and join in again and be a part of a family.

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family and a clear purpose

Irene at the front desk of the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology.

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WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 13

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WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 15

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Grow vegetables to suit

By Tania Phillips Don’t be impulsive.

Plant to suit your climate zone and not what’s available in the shops -that’s the advice from Gardening Australia’s Jerry Coleby to Brisbane Gardeners this winter.

In fact while our southern counterparts are planting root vegetables, Jerry advises us in the north that this is the perfect time to be planting our tomatoes (and cherry ones at that).

And if anyone is going to know about winter gardening it’s going to be Jerry – it was one of his specialities when he was working in London and after moving to Brisbane in 2003 has been carefully acclimatising and learning just what works and when for our climate.

“It’s an interesting topic – and not one that normally comes up, I have to admit because a lot of people that live in the subtropics just take in their stride because winter isn’t as significant event here as it would be in a higher latitude,” the Wynnum Manly-based horticulturalist said.

“Of course I’m a London-born gardener and for me winter was five months of particularly bleak weather and the days were a lot shorter and so making something out of a garden during those bleak periods was a bit of an art form. And that art form reached it’s peak during the Victorian-era and I was very lucky to have experienced winter gardening in dedicated winter gardens, both heated indoor ones and outside.

And I had quite a reputation back in the UK. “When you come over here you have to explain to people, in terms that they understand, what winter gardening involves and so the easiest way for me to do that for a Queensland audience would be to say during winter, which is only about 10 weeks long, I’m able to grow the summer crops that I used to grow in England far better than I could ever do in an English summer. Even the worst Brisbane winter is better than the average London summer.”

He said that explanation suddenly gives people perspective and an entry into looking at cool climate crops from a slightly different angles.

“One of the best ways to take it to the next level is to talk about growing tomatoes,” Jerry explained.

“Here in coastal Brisbane winter, is the best time to grow them and yet everybody insists that they plant them in spring because they’re misinformed generally by the horticultural media.

Which is again, generally, based in South Eastern Australia particularly in the Melbourne area where they do have a longer colder winter and they can only grow tomatoes successfully by sowing them in spring.

“So we are flooded with half right information from the south from a different climate zone to ours and that’s carried into Queensland because there are so many people that migrate from Tasmania and particularly from Victoria up to the sub tropics to escape winters and they bring that knowledge that tomatoes are a spring thing here. It really starts to unravel as soon as they use this southern information in a northern zone.”

16 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

Jerry Coleby-Williams.

So we should be putting our tomatoes in now?

“Well I sowed mine in March as I normally do. I potted them up this morning, they’re in 100mm pots and when they fill those pots with roots, I will be putting them outside,” he said when we chatted in early May. “So March is when you start sowing them but because we have such a benign winter and such an everlasting spring summer you can sow them once a fortnight from the beginning of March – so the first week of March, the middle of March, the end of March – three sowing. You can do another in the middle of April, the end of April and the middle of May and end of May. That way you will have tomatoes from July right the way through until October.

“Tomatoes only need a maximum of 23 degrees. That is their optimum temperature for growth, flowering and fruiting. And we often hit that here in Brisbane in winter.”

He said as long as they get six hours of winter sunshine and it hovers between 21 and 23 degrees, then tomatoes just don’t stop growing. They also flower quicker here than they do further south

thanks to the incredibly benign conditions that occur from the Northern Rivers all the way up to Townsville.

“I wouldn’t dream of putting a tomato in after the middle of winter,” Jerry emphasised.

“That’s the last time I’d be sowing snow peas and garden peas and things like swede, turnip and radish which love the cool weather and grow really quickly in the middle of winter, midwinter is the cut off point for a lot of the crops I used to grow in the middle of summer.”

Jerry advises to make sure you use your smartphone when you head to the nursery to buy your seedlings. “Öne of the simplest pieces of advice I give people is not to be an impulse buyer, I know it is difficult to resist something that looks gorgeous and is beautifully priced and you think it’s the right time to do it,” he said.

“We’re geared to take opportunities like that and buy things which look like good value for money. But just stop right there because most of us have a smart phone and with a smart phone you can enter the name of the plant and do a web search and you might be able to find relevant information for your

climate zone that will say don’t plant it now – go by that information. Gardening Australia has that sort of information on gardening by climate zone – it’s on their website.”

So does Jerry have a favourite tomato that grows particularly well in our climate?

“Oh yes, yes I do – one is called Green Zebra, that was one that my grand-dad introduced me to in the UK and I’ve grown it and shown it on TV and it is one of a group of tomatoes that I really recommend to people,” he said.

“The first thing is -it’s a cherry tomatoes and cherry tomatoes just naturally do better in our warm climate than our taller growing tomatoes which are grown in glass houses as truss tomatoes.

They are the big showy tomatoes, you’ll get those in bags in supermarkets. The big fruited tomatoes generally seem to get attacked by caterpillars. They only need to have a little bit of a nibble on the fruit and the whole fruit will be ruined – they don’t show the same interest in cherry tomatoes.

“Simply by choosing a cherry tomato, you’ve narrowed the odds and increased your chances of success.”

SENIORSTODAY.COM.AU

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

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WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 17

EKKA 2021

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Ekka at a glance · Visit the Spotlight Arts & Cook-

·

· · · · · ·

·

·

·

ery precinct in the upper Royal International Convention Centre, showcasing everything from cakes to quilts and knitting. You might also pick up some tips and tricks at the demonstration stage Get some gardening inspiration by checking out the horticultural displays and veggie gardens in the Flower and Garden precinct in the lower Royal International Convention Centre Enjoy the community bands on Gourmet Plaza performing music styles from jazz to rock See the work of local designers in the iconic Natural Fibres Fashion Parades presented by Channel Seven Take a look at the competitions in the Main Arena from beef cattle to horses See the clever canines being judged in the Black Hawk Canine Pavilion – they’re always a highlight!

Watch in awe at the strength of the axemen and women in the Woodchop and Sawing Competition at the Woodchop Arena Take your seat in the Main Arena in the early evening for the vintage speedcars and EkkaNITES night show including a spectacular fireworks display The show will open on Saturday (August 7) and close on the following Sunday (August 15) running for nine days instead of 10.

It will maintain two full weekends and the Ekka public holiday and will save the RNA significant operational costs, ensuring a cost-effective approach in their comeback year Some of the major competitions will be featured in new locations.

The Old Museum will be rested in 2021 with the flower and garden precinct relocated to the Agricultural Hall, while the Quilts competition will become part of the new Spotlight Arts & Cookery precinct located upstairs in the Royal International Convention Centre for the first time Our canine competition will move to Expo Place, near the popular RACQ Animal Nursery

18 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

A lifetime in shows

By Tania Phillips Trevor Beckingham believes he has his dream job – a job he thinks he was probably, if not born to do, then one he has definitely spent a lifetime preparing for.

He’s the General Manager of the Queensland Chamber of Agricultural Societies – a job that calls on all of his previous experience with shows, as an accountant and with the Queensland Olympic Committee and the sport of Badminton. He has devoted his life to service to the Brisbane and Queensland communities – something he earned an Order of Australia Medal for back in 2013 for service “to the community of Queensland through contributions to accountancy and business associations, to representative sport and to agriculture”.

But for the man, who’s family gifted him a trip to go to shows in the UK for a milestone birthday, Agricultural shows are (other than his family) his big love.

And while it is his dream job being GM of the Queensland Chamber has been challenging of late – travelling all over the State and helping to create Covid safe plans so his beloved shows can return. But though he says it’s all come at a time when he expected to be slowing down and looking to retire, you know he wouldn’t swap it for the world.

“It’s all been there almost on the peripheral,” he said of his love of Agricultural Societies and shows of all shapes and sizes.

“My grandfather was an avid jersey breeder back in the day and he had a Jersey stud out at Aspley and he used to exhibit at Royal Queensland Show.

“The birthday gift he gave to all his grand children is that on their 10th birthday they got to sleep a night at EKKA. “In my case the rest, as they say, is history because I was then hooked,” he laughed.

“When he stopped exhibiting which wasn’t long after my tenth birthday there was a guy who used work for him that helped out at shows and he said I’m working for somebody now who’s really looking for a young fellow to help us out.

“So I started 50 years ago - full-time assisting people show their cattle and have spent – well I worked out – one physical year of my life has spent living on the Exhibition grounds. Although I live in Brisbane I used to move into the showgrounds and live there to look after the cattle and that mean’s one things led to another which means I got tied up with the jersey cattle Society. There was then a breakaway group called the Queensland Jersey Breeders I was the secretary Treasurer for that for about 10 years.

“But in the meantime my exhibiting experience came under the eye of a couple of councillors at the RNA who said we’re looking for an assistant Dairy Superintendent to eventually go on to become the Dairy Superintendent so I spent seven years in the daily superintendent’s office at the Royal Qld Show.

“That kind of all ended when I busted some drug cheats in a big raid back in 2004. Made world news – udder cheats busted.”

From there chatting to exhibitors at

It’s Ekka time again - a favourite time of year for Showman Trevor Beckingham. the EKKA on show nights – he and a group of others realized that the EKKAs days with dairy cows were numbered.

“We decided to do something about it – not in opposition to Ekka but something to give the exhibitors another alternative so we looked around and came up with Gatton as being a likely candidate,” Trevor explained.

“We gave ourselves a ten-year target to become the largest dairy show in Queensland and achieved it after seven – 2019 was our 10th year and by that stage we had been the largest dairy show in Qld. We had a hiatus last year, we’re back on track (and I spent half of last night getting all the sponsorship proposals out).

“I do a lot of the administrative side of that. One thing led to another and I came on to the management committee of the Gatton Show Society which I’m still a member of. Through that I was asked to judge a junior rural ambassador competition – I was the guest speaker at that.”

He said someone saw him talk he was asked to do an administrative operational review of Queensland Ag shows and again one thing led to another and suddenly he had his dream job.

“That was the funniest interview that I didn’t have because when I handed

in my report they said “do you want a job?”

“I was blissfully enjoying semi-retirement as it was and the rest as they say is history. I’ve been there just over two years now.”

He said his professional training as a CPA has certainly helped.

“I did my degree part-time because I worked in a family business that we closed in 2015.

“But I always believed the accounting experience I was getting in a small family business wasn’t enough so I looked to get experience outside. I became the venue accountant at the 82 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane. That then led to me being the treasurer of the Qld Badminton association for 17 years which lead to me being the delegate from Badminton to the Qld Olympic Council, the Qld Commonwealth Games Association.”

From there he became involved with the Qld Olympic council for 20 years ending as secretary general for a number of years but his focus in the past year in particularly has been on making sure Qld shows – which he believes are important parts of both the Qld economy as a whole and the economy and life of each town they are held in.

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WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 19

RECIPES

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Winter warmers from MLA The weather is getting colder every day now and thoughts are turning to more hearty meals. But even if you have more time on your hands these days you don’t want to spent hours cooking. Here are some lamb meals from Meat and Livestock Australia that are easy to prepare but hearty and warming.

ONE POT LAMB STEW Serves: 6 Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 2 hours

· 2 tbsp brown sugar · 2 cups (500ml) coconut water (or beef stock) · Zest and juice of 2 limes, +extra wedges, to

Ingredients 1.2kg boneless piece lamb shoulder, fat trimmed, diced into 5cm pieces 1 tbsp ground cumin 1 tbsp ground coriander 1 tbsp cinnamon 2 garlic cloves, crushed

· · · ·

· · · · ·

Method 1. In a large snap lock bag or glass container combine cumin, coriander, cinnamon, garlic and sugar. Add lamb, season and rub well to coat. Set aside for 15 minutes to marinate.

2. Spray a large casserole dish or heavy based saucepan with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Cook lamb, in batches, for 3-4 minutes or until browned all over. Set cooked lamb aside on a plate while completing browning process. Return cooked lamb to dish, add coconut water (or stock) and lime juice. Set over high heat, stir well

serve 1 large eggplant, diced into 4cm pieces 2 carrots, peeled, diced into 3cm pieces 175g green beans, cut into thirds 100g baby spinach Steamed jasmine rice, coriander sprigs, natural yoghurt, flaked almonds, toasted, to serve

and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 1 hour. Remove lid, and simmer, uncovered, for a further 3540 minutes. Add eggplant and carrot for last 25 minutes and add green beans for last 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir through spinach. Season.

3. Serve lamb with jasmine rice, coriander, yoghurt and lime wedges. Sprinkle with lime zest and almonds.

Tips 1. Diced lamb neck, leg or rump would also work well in this recipe.

IRISH LAMB STEW Serves: 6 Prep time: 15 mins Cooking time: 80 mins Ingredients 600g lean diced lamb ¼ cup plain flour ¼ cup olive oil 1 brown onion, diced into 1cm pieces 2 carrots, peeled, diced into 1cm pieces

· · · · ·

Method 1. Place lamb and flour in a large snap-lock bag. Season, seal and shake well to coat.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavybased saucepan over medium heat. Cook lamb, in batches, for 4-5 minutes or until browned, adding extra oil as needed. Set aside on a plate.

2. Add remaining oil to pan and cook onion, carrot and celery, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion has softened.

3. Return lamb, any juices and potato to pan then add stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaves. Bring

· 2 stalks celery, diced into 1cm pieces · 400g desiree potatoes, peeled, diced · · · · · ·

into 3cm pieces 2 cups (500ml) salt-reduced beef stock ¼ cup tomato paste 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2 sprigs thyme 2 bay leaves 250g silverbeet, trimmed, shredded 1 cup frozen peas Parsley leaves, mixed leaf salad,

to the boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 1hr 15 minutes or until lamb is tender, adding a little extra stock or water, if needed. Stir through silverbeet and peas. Replace lid and set aside for 5 minutes. Season. Remove bay leaves and thyme stalks.

4. Sprinkle lamb stew with parsley and serve with salad leaves and crusty baguette.

Tips 1. Add turnips, swedes, green beans or your choice of shredded leafy greens to the stew to mix the vegetables up.

12483599-SG13-21

20 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

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LAMB SHANK PILAF

LEMONGRASS BRAISED LAMB SHANKS

Serves: 4 Prep time: 15 mins Cooking time: 3 hours Ingredients 2 tbsp olive oil 4 lamb shanks (approx. 400g each), fat trimmed 2 tbsp mild curry powder 1L salt-reduced beef stock 400g can diced tomatoes 1 red onion, thinly sliced 200g basmati rice 350g butternut pumpkin, peeled, diced into

Jerry Mai shares this delicious lamb shank recipe, infused with Asian flavours. Something the whole family will love.

· · · · · · · ·

Method 1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°fan-forced).

In a large snap lock bag place half the oil, lamb shanks and curry powder. Season and rub to coat.

2. Heat a large ovenproof casserole dish over medium-high heat and cook shanks, in 2 batches, if necessary, for 8-10 minutes or until browned all over. Add stock and tomatoes and bring to the boil. Place in the oven for 2-2 ¼ hours or until tender and falling off the bone. Remove shanks from sauce and set aside in a large bowl covered with foil to keep warm. Reserve sauce.

3. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add remaining oil and onion and cook for 3-4 minutes or until lightly golden. Add rice and stir well. Add pumpkin and 4 cups (1 litre) of reserved sauce, stir well and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 15 Mins Cooking Time: 35 Mins

· ·

RECIPES

3cm cubes 1 small bunch English spinach, trimmed, chopped 1/3 cup dried apricots, finely chopped Toasted pine nuts, chopped, mint sprigs, baby leaf

low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the broth has been absorbed and the rice is tender. You may need to add a little more sauce or stock to the rice throughout the cooking process. Remove from heat and add spinach and apricots. Season, stir well and replace lid for 2 minutes.

Place shanks on top of with pilaf and spoon over any remaining sauce.

4. Sprinkle with pine nuts and mint. Serve with baby leaf salad, cucumber and lemon wedges.

Tips 1. Either serve the shanks whole on the bone or you can shred the meat off the bone and stir the meat through the pilaf.

2. For a quick version of the pilaf use lamb leg or rump steaks instead of the shanks.

3. You can buy pre-diced pumpkin from most supermarkets or greengrocers to save time.

Ingredients 4 lamb shanks 1 stalk lemongrass, crushed and cut into 5cm lengths 1/2 teaspoon 5 spice powder 6 star anise 1 small quill of cinnamon 3cm knob of ginger, grated

· · · · · ·

Method 1. Place all the marinade ingredients into medium bowl and mix well. Dust the shanks with a little flour. Heat a medium pan with veg oil, brown the shanks for a couple minutes on each side. Add the shanks and coat with marinade. Leave to marinate for 3 hours or best overnight 2. Place the shanks and marinade in the pressure cooker top with stock, make sure the shanks are covered and clamp the lid.

Bring to full pressure, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 25 mins. Turn off the heat and vent immediately 3. Add the carrots, onion and potatoes and clamp the lid. Bring to full pressure, turn

· 2 tablespoon caster sugar · 3 tablespoon fish sauce · 2 tablespoon tomato paste · Flour, for dusting the shanks · 2 carrots, peeled and diced · 2 potatoes, peeled and diced · 3 brown onions, peeled sliced into wedges · 1.5L-2L vegetable stock, ought to cover the · · · ·

shanks 1 bunch coriander, washed and cut into 2cm lengths 1 small red onion, peeled sliced thinly 1 bunch Thai basil, leaves picked 2 large red chillies, sliced angle

the heat down to medium and cook for 5 mins. Turn off the heat and vent immediately 4. The shanks should be tender and falling off the bone. Taste the stock add salt if necessary 5. Serve the shanks and veg on some steamed rice and garnish with garnish mix Tips 1. Diced lamb shoulder or lamb leg would also work in place of shanks - a cut that’s good for slow cooking.

2. The potatoes can be swapped for sweet potato for a healthier option.

3. Shanks can also be cooked in a pot simmering on the stove top for 2 to 3 hours.

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WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 21

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

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Clinic offers mobile service Advance Oral are a 100 per cent locally owned denture clinic in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine coast and have been operating for more than 20 years.

Their local clinic is supported by a full mobile service that operates for the convenience of the customer as they understand that sometimes mobility is a challenge.

They know that having a smile can bring confidence, self-esteem and positivity to oneself and their passion and purpose in making this happen in the lives of their patients.

With an aim to provide dentures that are lifelike, comfortable and fully personalized to meet their patients individual needs. They strive to give their patients the confidence to talk, smile and eat without feeling uncomfortable or self-conscious.

Many people need dentures for many different reasons. Simply put, they are removable, custom-made replacements for missing teeth. Regardless of the issue they have had with their faulty teeth, Advance Oral aim to provide their patients with a sturdy, functional replacement that restores their smile and confidence.

They believe dentures can help their patients enjoy a more fulfilling diet as well. With faulty/cracked teeth, it can be hard to enjoy some favourite foods are hard to chew.

Dentures can make it easier to return

to a normal diet.

Dentures also provide patients with an increased bite, allowing them to once again enjoy most of the food they enjoyed before.

Advance Oral offer a complete service from new full dentures, partial dentures, implant retained and immediate dentures, and everything in between.

They say generally, a new set of dentures will take around 2-3 weeks to be made, however they realise that in some cases people lose their denture or need an emergency replacement, in these cases, they can replace dentures in as little as 24 hours.

Denture relines enable patients to get the best fit and comfort from their denture and maximum suction, the

denture needs to fit closely and evenly on gums and ridges.

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Relines are available as a same day service. Soft reline materials can be used to improve comfort.

When dentures breaks or a tooth is lost Advance Oral warn not to attempt to glue it back together with super glue or other adhesives. They warn this could cause more damage to the denture, making it more complicated

and thus more expensive to repair. Advance Oral can usually repair dentures within the hour in their clinic or same day service for mobile. They have more than 35 years of experience and pride themselves on their aftercare and are happy to return to you if you are having any issues with your dentures. Several follow up appointments are included in the cost of relines and new dentures.

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Professional denture cleaning is affordable, and can be claim with a health fund.

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HEALTH AND WELLBEING

SENIORSTODAY.COM.AU

Heaven is in the detail One of the most common remarks made by over-50s considering buying a home at a GemLife over-50s lifestyle resort is about the quality of the inclusions according GemLife Palmwoods Sales Manager Liz. Millroy.

She said from ultra-high ceilings and energy-efficient solar panelling to premium kitchen appliances and tapware, prospective homeowners are frequently surprised, delighted and impressed with the quality and breadth of inclusions on offer.

GemLife Palmwoods is a resort currently under development in the Sunshine Coast’s picturesque hinterland and Ms Millroy said that as part of its commitment to quality, GemLife want-

ed to ensure its standard inclusions provided everything buyers could want.

“All the details have been thoughtfully considered to minimise the need for upgrades and adding to homeowners build costs, something quite common with many other residential

builders,” she said.

“GemLife aims to be market-leading and by listening to the feedback of buyers and residents, we constantly refine and improve our inclusions offering.”

Ms Millroy said based on what she had seen in the marketplace and through feedback from buyers GemLife provided a higher standard of inclusions than available elsewhere.

“We stand out from our competitors.

I know for a fact that GemLife offers more standard inclusions than elsewhere which means buyers get more for their money,” she said.

“The finishing touches are important, and we’re constantly evolving and introducing new things and people re-

ally appreciate this.”

Sales Manager at GemLife’s Maroochydore resort Joanne Michalowsky said first-time visitors to the resort were consistently blown-away by what they saw.

“They love our standard inclusions.

For example, all our kitchens come with upmarket Smeg appliances including the microwave, oven, induction cooktop, and Fisher & Paykel dish drawers,” Ms Michalowsky said.

GemLife has 10 resorts across Australia. On the Sunshine Coast, resorts are located at Palmwoods, Maroochydore, and Pacific Paradise.

Call 1800 317 393 or visit the website gemlife.com.au

Interaction a factor: Keep moving with Mobility Caring As people age, being able to move about freely in the community plays a major role in their health and wellbeing.

According to the staff at Mobility Caring a 2017 study suggested seniors who leave their homes at least once a day are likely to live longer compared to those who stay inside. Interestingly, the study’s authors suggested the most significant difference was opportunities for social interaction: a factor

strongly associated with good health and wellbeing in older people.

Those who were able to leave their house more often were able to see people and engage in activities they enjoyed. Being able to get out in the community doesn’t just affect a person’s physical health; it also has implications for their sense of connectedness, happiness, and independence – in short, their quality of life.

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24 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

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HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Looking after carers

By Tania Phillps Your spouse has just been diagnosed with dementia and life has been turned upside-down – what comes next?

That’s what Sunshine Coasters John Newsome and Helen Petersen are hoping to help with, thanks to their new booklet – A Hands on Guide to Dementia Care. It’s a book written in plain English by people who have been there and done that – offering tips on all sorts of down-to-earth and practical things a carer might face in every day life.

“Helen and I have been in the dementia world for about 20 years each,” John explained. “She on the carers side – her husband has Lewy Body Dementia and is currently in a nursing home – so she has a lot of experience from the carers side. I have been working and volunteering in dementia for the past 20 years – now retired. I’m a retired teacher and family and friends have always said to us both – you guys have so much knowledge you should put what you know in writing and help people.

“So when Covid hit last year, we did just that. We sat down for several Fridays in a row and put pen to paper then my mate and I at home pumped it out on the computer into an A5 size and took it to the printer and that’s basically what happened.”

Initially it was only designed to be used in the Palmwoods Sundale Nursing fraternity.

“There is a lot of people in there – a lot of them have dementia and we thought it would be nice for them to have this use as a user manual,” he said.

“It was so successful that we ended up taking it to doctors, dentists, podiatrists, physiotherapists, chemist all in our local area just because we aren’t sales people. This is not a job for us we are just doing volunteer stuff and all the money we received via donation is all from friends and family was to get us kicked off. We have since got a grant from the Heritage bank for $2200 and that allowed us to print further.”

They are continuing their printing and have now reached more than 5K copies just through the help of donations.

“Only last week we received $1k from an old gentleman who thought the book was fantastic,” John said.

The booklets are totally free to anyone who needs them at doctors and chemists in John and Helen’s local area.

He said everyone involved with the booklet had taken copies to their local doctors and it is slowly but surely finding it’s way to the people who need it most – carers.

“There is always someone at home who is the carer and they virtually have no knowledge, no understanding of dementia – this booklet is designed for them,” he said.

“When you read it you will see that

we’ve broken it down into very user friendly terminology – it’s all black on white, there’s no colour, it’s well spaced.

It’s designed for old eyes not young eyes and the choice of no colour is intentional because the more colour you have in a book, the more confusing it is for older people. It is designed for the carer – say she wants to take her loved one shopping – we have a heading called shopping. In that section there will be a dozen or more dot points that say things like make sure you have pullups on your loved one in terms of the toilet - things like that.

“It is all broken up into separate headings like shopping, we even talk about sexuality, we talk about in-home essentials – all sorts of things that the carer faces daily. In the home for example we talk about not using mirrors, get rid of mirrors, we talk about floor levels, utensils in eating, colours in the home.

All sorts of things that we know that work because I worked in dementia for a long time in a commercial sense and Helen has worked with her husband.

“We know an awful lot about dementia and all we know is that the people reading this book say – it’s fantastic, it’s working and giving them an insight into how to care for their loved one. A lot of things they didn’t know about.”

The book also talks about where to get help particularly as many of those caring for a loved one often find themselves cut off from their friends after di-

The staff at the Buderim Chemist who John says have been invaluable in getting the booklet out into the community. agnosis with friends not knowing how to deal with the situation and what to say. Helen and John also currently run two workshops a month at the Palmdale Nursing home at Palmwoods catering for people living in the village who are still carers.

“I spend a couple of hours with their loved ones entertaining them, singing and whatever and Helen takes the other group to discuss dementia problems and how she can help and how the booklet can help them live their lives,” he said.

Participating outlets Landsborough and Mooloolah Valley Medical Centres Mooloolah Valley Pharmacy Buderim Pharmacy Terry White Pharmacy Buderim Terry White Pharmacy Caloundra Terry White Pharmacy Mountain Creek Maleny Pharmacy Landsborough Physiotherapy Centre Currimundi Podiatry Mooloolah Valley Dentist

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Even trees wear jumpers

By Tania Phillips It gets cold in Warwick – so cold that even the trees wear jumpers in July – though that’s more to do with Queensland’s Quirkiest winter festival.

That’s right the folk out at Warwick (and other places in Queensland) have been busy with knitting needles and crochet hooks as they prepare to yarn bomb their own town.

One of the victims of last year’s Covid lockdown, Warwick’s colourful, quirky and fun Jumpers and Jazz in July Festival has bounced back this year.

If you’ve never been, it’s one of those bucket-list events for we Queenslanders, a chance to get a bit of cold weather and some even cooler jazz.

After a year off, Warwick Community is rolling out the welcome mat once again for the much-awaited winter migration for the JJJ festival.

Brimming with colour and vibe, the Festival will once again feature a kaleidoscope of creative yarn bombing, ‘get-up-‘n-dance’ live jazz everywhere, eclectic showcase of exquisite crafts, and the Art Gallery’s superb yarn bombed display inside and out.

Businesses and community across the region missed the festival in 2020, and the Jumpers and Jazz volunteer committee have been working hard to bring back this vital link towards a bright and healthy community and financial vibe for Warwick and the whole Southern Downs Region.

The event will feature a variety of Markets including the new look “Showcasing our Ateliers” pop-up shops and other fun events including the Grand Automobile Display and Celebration of Local Flavours. Tickets are now online and selling like hot cakes for the much anticipated return of signature Festival 26 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

Events: the festival launch - ‘Jumpin’ Jazz Laneway Party’ on Friday, 16 July at Warwick Town Hall , and on Saturday 24 - ‘Twilight Jazz in the Park’.

Tickets are available online at warwicktickets.com.au.

For more information about the festival, key events, markets, performers,

and free jazz head to jumpersandjazz. com.au, where you can also find the full program. Catch updates on their Facebook page and Instagram.

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The hand-carved timber doors at the Maleny Community Centre. 235324

OUT AND ABOUT PAGE

Maple Street, Maleny. 235324

Ambling around Maleny

By Erle Levey Fresh air and rolling hills, waterfalls and creeks, quiet areas to sit and reflect ... Maleny is all this and more.

A blend of whimsy and nostalgia with innovation and culture.

At the southern end of the Blackall Range, it is a country town that has retained its identity in the face of the urban spread of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

With a vibrant art scene, bookshops to browse in, food, music and access to some wonderful bush walks, it is a place where you can feel grounded again, sit and reflect on life away from the hustle of a city.

A day on the Range is like stepping into happiness and nostalgia. Where the streets and roads and lanes are beautiful enough to have a walk down - you needn’t be in a forest to have a beautiful hike.

The best food, the best op shops, antique stores, and such friendly people.

One of my daughter’s favourite stores is Maple & Sage in the Main Street of Maleny. Beautiful cakes and interesting goods; fantastic candles and the sweetest service.

A drive through the Range is like going back to a time when people had their doors unlocked and trusted their neighbours, and teenagers wore cargo pants instead of mini skirts.

When going for a drive was an activity, not a means to an end.

Being in this area makes you feel alive again; a place to visit just to feel ‘like myself’ once more; to tap into my younger me.

You can have a picnic on the side of any road and feel like you’re in an Enid Blyton book.

The properties are gorgeous no matter how new or old or big or small.

And a walk pretty much anywhere along Obi Obi Road at Mapleton is a cure for any bad mood; and a little se-

A bend in the road at Maleny. 235324 cret, best done towards sunset and with a loop of Mapleton Falls at the end of the day.

Then there is Kondalilla Falls at Flaxton to explore, especially during the dry time of winter, and Gardners Falls at Maleny is a good place to cool down on a hot day.

The area around Maleny was originally populated by the Nalbo and the Dallambara - two aboriginal tribes of the Gubbi Gubbi language group - and was known for its feasts when the giant bunya tree was in fruit.

The first European to document Maleny was the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt who describes the area in his travel diary in 1844.

The Tesch brothers established a timber mill at Witta in 1917 The first European settlement followed in the wake of the Gympie gold

rush of 1867.

A day in the Range is the best activity for a day out with a friend; stopping at Maleny Food Co for the finest cheeses, and an ice cream. Rummaging among the bits and pieces at an antique or vintage treasures store. Enjoying a hot

bowl of pumpkin soup for lunch with a couple of slices of sourdough bread.

Maleny offers the rust colours of autumn leaves, the stark bare branches of winter, then the jacaranda and silky oak blossoms of spring.

Continued page 28 WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 27

OUT AND ABOUT PAGE

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Steel and rust ... part of the charm of the Blackall Range. 235324 From page 27 The two huge hand-crafted timber doors opening to the Maleny Community Centre serve as a hint at the past and an indication of what’s in the future.

The community has been owned and run by the community of Maleny for more than 100 years and works collaboratively with many other community organisations to provide social and cultural amenity in the region.

The hand-carved 4m by 4m local red cedar “wootha” entry doors are an example of the effort that goes into making Maleny such a liveable community.

From farming and timber backgrounds to the present-day co-operative store and alternate lifestyle, Maleny offers old-fashioned values together with modern attitudes and visions.

Maleny Folk Festival was born in the back room of the local hotel but the event quickly outgrew its original venue of the Maleny Showgrounds and became Woodford Folk Festival .. one of the biggest and best known in the country.

Instead of falling into the trend in the ‘80s of becoming a dormitory town for the rapidly expanding coastal areas Maleny retained its identity ... the character represents so many Australian country towns but the cultural activity sets its diary.

There’s a hospital and medical services, high school and golf course. The old butter factory is now a veterinary surgery.

The library is another community focus.

Just out of town is Maleny Dairies, an award-winning, family owned and operated business, that has been bottling milk for two decades. There are tours of the dairy six days a week.

For spectacular views of the Glasshouse Mountains, the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve is essential.

It’s ideal for a picnic but also to find out more about the ecology of the area and the history.

The much-awarded discovery centre responds directly to the magnificent views to the Glasshouse Mountains to the south and an old growth remnant rainforest to the north.

The wonderful design and construction of the centre helps tell the story of the land and the indigenous people who have links going back thousands and thousands of years.

And you can immerse yourself on a 28 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

The colours of Maleny. 235324

weaving journey through the rainforest boardwalk.

Mary Cairncross is a wonderful legacy, brought about by Mabel Thynne who was born in 1874, the third child and eldest daughter of Andrew Joseph Thynne and his wife Mary Williamina Cairncross.

The land had been divided into three farms for their son Ted; son Andrew; and for Mabel and her sister Kate together.

Throughout the 1930s there were attempts to have their area of scrub preserved for posterity.

The value for wildlife and for tourism was increasingly obvious.

Mabel asked the Council if the entire Landsborough Shire could be made a bird sanctuary, but was refused.

Finally a solution was reached. Mabel handed over the scrub and the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve became a reality in October 1941, held In trust by the Landsborough Shire Council, now the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

It is because of the Thynne family that the reserve is here today.

If you love walking and hiking and nature most of all, or simply ambling along lanes and pathways, the Range offers that in spades.

Places to stop and browse. 235324

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OUT AND ABOUT PAGE

Delicacies on Maple Street. 235324

Maple Street, Maleny. 235324

The Glasshouse Mountains from Mountain View Road. 235324

Mabel Mary Josephine Thynne, the third child and eldest daughter of Andrew Joseph Thynne and his wife Mary Williamina Cairncross. A farmer and political campaigner who did much to bring about the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve.

235324

Backboard menu at Maleny. 235324

At home on the Blackall Range. 235324

Jacarandas in season at Maleny. 235324 WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 29

OUT AND ABOUT

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Crackling fires and beauty

By Tania Phillips History, natural wonders and the novelty of four seasons, Tenterfield in Northern NSW is a beautiful holiday spot, the gateway to the New England region of NSW and just an easy and scenic drive away.

While it has plenty to offer in all seasons -particularly in the golden leafed splendor of autumn, winter is something special in Tenterfield.

It’s a town that has done it tough in recent years thanks to fires, drought and border closures but it is a town that has managed to maintain a warm welcoming country feel – even (or especially) in the cooler months.

Coming into winter you can find a warm, crackling woodfire in most of the historic towns cafe’s, restaurants and pubs and with a plethora of motels and hotels through the centre of the township as well camping grounds and boutique accommodation which includes beautiful old buildings renovated for to provide the perfect weekend getaway (including Commercial Boutique hotel an art deco building and the luxury accommodation of the beautifully restored old Council Chambers) there is something for everyone and every budget.

But the best thing about Tenterfield, though it feels like another world, it really is not that far away – only three and a half hours from the centre of Brisbane. Even that journey is part of

Mt Mackenzie. the holiday if you take the scenic Mt Lindsay Highway stretching from Brisbane out through Beaudesert down to Rathowdowney and across the border past Woodenbong to where the Tenterfield shire starts.

The Mt Lindsay road is an attraction

Picture: CAT_FOOD_TACO in itself, a beautiful scenic route with places to stay and things to see along the way. Take time to check out the old Cobb and Co coach on display at Liston – fully enclosed with information boards.

And of course as well as lots of quaint little villages dotted along the road, the

Mt Lindsay road is the gateway to three of the region’s main national parks Bald Rock, Boonoo Boonoo and Basket Swamp.

Basket Swamp and Boonoo Boonoo falls are currently at their best, both are full of water and are expected to remain that way for a chunk of the year thanks heavy summer rains. And while Bald Rock may not be achievable for the less fit of us, a walk at Boonoo Boonoo falls maybe an easy option with a 600m bitumen walk with handrails from the carpark to a beautiful viewing platform with stunning views over the gorge.

Take a drive down the Mt Makenzie tourist drive – tourist drive number nine, taking in Kildare Road and Mt McKenzie Road. The lookout from Mt McKenzie allows tourists to get a birdseye view of Tenterfield before they reach the town.

Tenterfield is the gatepost to the beautiful New England High Country choosing to come in from the gorgeous wineries of Stanthorpe – you can start your trip with a stop off at Border town Jennings -have a bite at the local pub and put one foot in Qld and NSW before making your way down to Tenterfield or drive out to some of the many little regional villages to find hidden gems like 2 Wild Souls Meadery at Torrington.

One of the other big key drawcards of a visit to Tenterfield is the history and heritage.

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Who hasn’t heard the classic Peter Allen song Tenterfield Saddler – the story of Allen’s grandfather. His old shop, where he was saddler for 52 years, sits on High Street – filled with memoriabilia including plenty to see for the Peter Allen fan. This little slice of history is open every day except for Monday.

Also for the history buff, you could take a wander down to the Tenterfield Railway Museum, staffed by friendly volunteers, it is open every day except Monday and Tuesday. The Centenary Cottage museum in an old workers cottage in Logan Street, is also worth a visit during your stay in the town.

But the absolute must-see is the Sir Henry Parkes School of Arts Museum which incidentally also houses the local cinema offering discounting movies every Tuesday while on Friday evenings they have partnered with Our Place Wine and Expresso Bar across the road offering a discount and a discounted movie ticket if you book for dinner.

The museum itself is a fascinating look into Australia’s past and it’s journey to Nationhood. Henry Parkes is known as the Founding Father of Federation – giving his famous Tenterfield Oration in the town in 1889 to kick-start the push for Federation. The museum is centred on the banquet room and table where he gave that famous speech.

If you like your history to be living, head to Wood Street to see the Old Cork Tree which locals believe is the largest cork tree in Australia. Planted in 1861 it has never had it’s cork harvest so it has been sitting their growing for a long time – a beautiful specimen of nature it’s a tourist favourite. Not bad for a tree which came to the town in a jam jar from England and has been growing in Wood Street ever since flourishing in the New England Climate.

But that’s the lovely thing about Tenterfield, it’s a very different landscape to what we are used to close to the coast – beautiful granite country taking you back to the time of bushrangers like Captain Thunderbolt, who had a lair near the town which is accessible off the Mt Lindsay Road and well signposted.

Tenterfield offers something for everyone – a chance to reconnect with nature, slow down your pace and immerse in history, country living and just sit by a crackling fire with a good book and your favourite tipple.

And then - if you’re lucky - it sometimes snows in Tenterfield.

Tenterfield Saddler.

Pictures: MADELEINE JONES

Boonoo Boonoo falls - looking good after the summer rains.

OUT AND ABOUT

Welcome to Tenterfield.

Bluff Rock.

Thunderbolt’s Hideout, Tenterfield.

WHILE IN TENTERFIELD, DON’T MISS...........................

Boonoo Boonoo Falls The view from the Boonoo Boonoo Falls Lookout is like a scene straight out of Jurassic Park – find the falls About a 40 minute drive north of Tenterfield off the Mount Lindesay Highway, you’ll find Boonoo Boonoo (pronounced Bunna Bunnoo) National Park, accessible via Boonoo Boonoo Falls Road. Once off the main highway, the road is dirt but it’s well graded. Drive until you reach the carpark at the end of the road, with a toilet, picnic tables, and two gas BBQs in an undercover area.

Bald Rock National Park A trip to Tenterfield isn’t quite complete without a visit to Bald Rock National Park. For those up for a vertically inclined challenge, the Bald Rock Summit Walk heads up the rockface of the largest granite monolith in the

southern hemisphere – guaranteed to get the heart pumping.The park is easily accessible via Mt Lindesay Road, about 30km north of Tenterfield. Upon arrival, there is a carpark area, picnic tables and toilets – all close by to the start of the walking tracks. Bushfire tore through Bald Rock National Park in 2019 and destroyed most of the vegetation, but it’s a particularly beautiful time to visit the park during its regeneration. It also means parts of the park and granite outcrops are now more visible. Bald Rock rises dramatically from the horizon at almost 1300 metres above sea level.

Tenterfield Saddlery Immortalized by Peter Allen in honour of his grand father George the Saddlery’s history began in 1858, when one of the original graziers in the region, Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson, pur-

chased the land that the saddlery sits on for 32 pounds 10 shillings. Sir Stuart was the owner of Tenterfield Station, after which the town was eventually named, and went on to become the first Premier of New South Wales. In 1870, it was sold to Charles Pavel, the first saddler, for 34 pounds. He then sold it to the Australian Joint Stock Bank in 1874.

The old building was perfect for use as a bank as the granite walls were over 20 inches thick. From 1895-1897 the building was a private home, before being sold to the town’s second saddler, Dan Egan. George Woolnough, Allen’s grandfather, became the next saddler to trade from the building in 1908. Following George’s retirement in 1860, a further two saddlers followed, Ted Daly and Trevor Gibson. The National Trust of Australia classified the Tenterfield Saddlery in 1972. Apart from mainte-

nance, the saddlery is in its original condition and houses memorabilia and leather goods.

The Sir Henry Parkes School of Arts.

Another must-see the School of Arts offers a fresh and exciting approach to Australian history, culture and environment, with a focus on Federation. Stories of Australia’s history are told through exciting and innovative displays and the museum features the Banquet Hall, where Sir Henry Parkes delivered his famous Federation speech in 1889. A display of memorabilia from Parkes’ personal life, including a compelling portrait by Julian Ashton, ivory carvings and journals are situated in the Parkes Gallery. The School of Arts is owned by the National Trust, and in 1957 was the first building in NSW to be gifted to the trust by an act of parliament.

WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 31

OUT AND ABOUT

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The Snow must go on!

It’s GO for the SNOW in Stanthorpe and Queensland’s high altitude Granite Belt region this winter. Careful planning and unprecedented demand have come together to ensure that the Snowflakes in Stanthorpe Winter Festival is Covid safe and is set to bring thousands of snow seekers to Stanthorpe during the July Queensland school holidays.

To be held between 2 and 4 July, the three-day festival is a family-friendly celebration that perfectly complements the high altitude, cool climate that Stanthorpe is so famous for.

The huge outdoor snowfield and the 90-person iceskating rink are two of the feature attractions at Snowflakes.

Despite the cold weather, the welcome is warm for visitors with a myriad of activities to take part in.

There will be markets, entertainment, local produce, snow globes, sled dogs, igloo making, children’s crafts and the famous Ice Man Challenge are just the start in this feast of the senses for all ages.

“Snowflakes in Stanthorpe is held every two years in Stanthorpe. We are grateful to be able to show off our region in a Covid Safe way at the 2021 event” Snowflakes in Stanthorpe Media Co-ordinator Robyn Henderson said.

“Our town loves being in the spotlight when it comes to cold tempera-

tures. Over the last few years, we have created an iconic event that caters for kids and kids at heart” said Robyn said.

Friday is a celebration of our Main Street with entertainment, markets and activities ending with a lantern parade on Quart Pot Creek.

Entry is free. Saturday and Sunday are held at the Stanthorpe ‘Snowgrounds’ and tickets are available online, including great value weekend options.

For tickets, detailed program and accommodation information, see snowflakesinstanthorpe.com.au

on the Granite Belt

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32 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

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Perfect midweek getaway

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shop the famous Gallery Walk, be pampered with an Aaronlee in house massage and spa treatment, take a stroll through the Botanical Gardens, play a game of golf or lawn bowls, take a short day trip to the Gold Coast or explore the Scenic Rim region. Details and maps are provided by your host when you check in.

The Retreat is very popular and rooms are filling fast.

Seniors Today bookers from now to November will receive a Complimentary Tasting Session at the world famous Tamborine Mountain Distillery. Ring Kirsten on 5545 3121 to reserve your room, book for your friends or come with a group and yes that is the price for four nights!

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Aaronlee Retreat at Tamborine Mountain in the Gold Coast Hinterland, is the perfect place to stay for a short mid week getaway.

Located less than a three-hour drive from Noosa, guests will feel like they are in another world. Temperatures on the mountain are generally five – 10 degrees cooler than Brisbane and Aaronlee’s rustic, country, rural charm will delight all who visit.

From its perch at the very top and edge of the mountain, Aaronlee Retreat offers a variety of accommodation, yet reasonably priced and available now are discounted Senior Special packages.

The Federation homestead is a 10-minute drive from town and is set amongst acres of lawns and pretty flowering garden beds.

All rooms have fire places, ceiling fans, kitchenette, outdoor seating and are fully self contained, (some with spa baths).

Guests enjoy the selection of board games, books and magazines on offer.

The Retreat has BBQ facilities, a swimming pool and there are so many places to sit and relax whilst breathing in the pure mountain air. The views from the lawns are uninterrupted and simply breathtaking.

Popular Wineries (and local sites) Tours depart daily from Aaronlee and includes a delicious sit down restaurant luncheon at a local winery.

Tamborine Mountain offers beautiful bush walks, lookouts and waterfalls.

Visit the rainforests, swim in rock pools,

COMPLIMENTARY

DOOR-TO-DOOR SERVICE Conditions Apply

www.downundercoachtours.com.au info@downundercoachtours.com.au WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 33

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

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Group back for POP-OP The Caloundra Chorale and Theatre Company is absolutely delighted that after more than 12 months they are once again able to present concerts and shows.

Their next exciting concert is POP OP! What is POP OP? Well, it is basically a collection of some of the most beautiful music ever written, including glorious and stirring choruses, poignant love songs, rollicking operetta numbers, with a couple of exciting drinking songs thrown in for good measure. In all, a tribute to life, love, and champagne!!

Come on a journey with the CCTC to explore the sheer beauty of music that has been written over four centuries and featuring (for this show only!)” The Caloundra Opera Chorus”, with selected soloists.

Travel to Vienna and Paris, Italy, Egypt, Spain, ancient Greece, and Viet-

nam on their mission to thrill the audience with well-known songs and hopefully introduce them to some that will become new favourites.

The CCTC chose these songs because they love them and hope the audience will find as much pleasure in hearing them as they do in singing them.

Performance details are: Special Price preview: Wednesday, 15 September, 7.30pm $23 Performances Continue: Friday 17 and 24 September, 7.30pm Matinees: Saturday 18 September and 25 September and Sunday 19 and 26 at 2pm Prices: Adults $33, Con $30, FOC Members and Groups $27 PRE-SHOW WINE AND CHEESE AVAILABLE ON BOOKING $10 Venue: CCTC THEATRE PIRINGA ST WURTULLA Bookings: 0490 329 912

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Maria Lindsay Director of POP-OP.

Special Price Preview 15th Sept - 7.30pm $23 Performances Continue Sept - 17, 24 - 7.30pm Matinees - 2pm Sept - 18, 19, 25, 26

FEATURING CCTC Choir, Kim Kirkman, Colin Butcher, Amanda Zinn, Helen Butcher, Tracy Stoddart, Neil Booth, Jill Fidge, Julie Marks Helen Duffy, Grant Marks

Pre Show Wine & Cheese Available on booking $10

CCTC THEATRE Piringa St, Wurtulla

BOOKINGS - 0490 329 912 34 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

All tickets include Supper & Souvenir Programme

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MUSICAL FUN & FRIVOLITY BUT WITH THAT TOUCH OF CLASS!

Prices Adults $33 Con $30 FOC, Members & Groups $27

Dave Strassman and his senior’s character Grandpa Fred E Bare.

Sweet tooth Strassman comes home for laughs World-renowned US ventriloquist David Strassman and his band of quirky puppets are returning to their “home away from home” on the Sunshine Coast at Venue 114 with a brand-new show.

The Chocolate Diet looks at many people’s obsession with sweets and lollies.

And of course, Strassman uses his beloved puppet Ted E Bare to charter a comedic course through fad dieting.

Strassman said The Chocolate Diet was his “funniest to date” and “choc a block with laughter”.

“This show has proven to be absolutely hilarious because the subject matter – dieting and denial – are two traits that we all share on a daily basis,” Strassman said.

“We’re always watching our weight, what we eat, feeling great when it’s healthy, guilty when it’s dessert. And we’re all in some state of self-denial when it comes to our self and body images.

“Dieting and denial, they go hand in hand and it’s something we can all relate to which makes for a familiar and delicious comedy.”

Interspersed with the Ted E Bare story are visits by Strassman’s famous entourage of characters including Chuck Wood, the insolent foulmouthed teenager, who truly tells it like it is.

Also on stage is relatively new character, Grandpa Fred E Bare, who laconically talks of his ability to get senior’s discount from the most wildest places.

Other puppets include Kevin the alien, who, while being quite sassy is revealingly wise and evaluates us as a species, noting how we all “crave content but are never content”.

The Beaver character, Sydney,

David Strassman. talks about quitting comedy and he probably should, given the number of terrible dad jokes he tells. Each character has his own ‘song’ moment and many of the jokes have been localised or comment upon popular culture and politics.

Strassman is one of Australia’s favourite comedians, a master of his art.

Tickets on sale now When: Saturday, 20 November 2021 7pm-8.45pm (Interval 15mins) Where: Venue114, 114 Sportsmans Parade, Bokarina Cost: $59.90 each (including booking fee) Visit: https://premier.ticketek.com .au/Shows/Show.aspx?sh=DAVID STR21 This performance is rated MA and recommended for people 15 years+.

All minors must be accompanied by an adult. This event is licenced, theatre style flat floor seating with Venue 114 operating in a Covid Safe environment.

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Will rock you Mamma Mia, here I go again … the Sunshine Coast’s premiere vocal group, Oriana Choir, will present a night to remember in August with Dancing Queen, a tribute show featuring the best of ABBA and Queen.

It follows the Oriana Choir’s superb presentation of Mozart’s Requiem and Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass in May which saw near sell-out performances at Caloundra Event Centre and St John’s Cathedral in Brisbane.

That was a highlight in the storied career of this marvellous musical ensemble.

After a year in which the opportunity to be at a live performance of this quality, in such a special setting as St John’s Cathedral, was little more than wishful thinking.

However, Oriana’s concert was a much needed shot in the arm for culture-deprived choristers and audiences alike.

So, what’s next for this world-class, Sunshine Coast based choir of eightyplus members?

As John Cleese would no doubt put it, it’s a case of ‘and now for something completely different.’

Just as aptly, it could be ‘and now for something completely Oriana.’

As the choir has demonstrated over the past 16 years, it is nothing if not eclectic - being equally adept in opera,

sacred, jazz, baroque, pop, avant-garde and more.

A brief pause to reflect on the success of the Mozart/Gjeilo concerts, and to re-charge the batteries, and Oriana will be full speed ahead into preparations for Dancing Queen’ celebrating the music of ABBA and Queen.

“Oriana in full flight, delivering a joyous, shiver-inducing Bohemian Rhapsody, is something you won’t forget in a hurry”, says former Oriana vice president Ian Rix. Featuring many favourites of both groups, including the Bohemian Rhapsody, and perennials such as Dancing Queen, Money Money Money, Mamma Mia, Somebody to Love, Crazy Little Thing Called Love and many more, this will be a supremely popular concert series, appealing to all generations.

It promises to be one of the performance delights of 2021. And what better way to drive away the Covid blues than with an uplifting evening of the music of ABBA and Queen?

Tickets are available from the venue (thej.com.au ph: 5329 6560) for the 7pm Noosa event at The J on August 14.

Bookings for either the 7pm August 21 cabaret or 2pm August 22 matinee at Venue114, Kawana are available on trybooking.com, phone 0431 542 343. Visit oriana.org.au for all the details.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Festival brings Noosa Alive Noosa is set to come alive from July 15-24 with more than 20 events, strategically spread throughout the region celebrating 10 days of unique performing arts excitement!

The NOOSA alive! Festival creates stories within the natural setting of Noosa. Each event has a story, a visual attraction while all set in Noosa’s fabulous facilities from The J Theatre to local schools or on the famous Main Beach.

The Festival has something for every age and genre and children are welcome at most performances.

The events at The J Theatre will launch with another special performance by the popular Queensland Ballet under the direction of Li Cunxin AO on July 15-16.

Enjoying a seven-year strong partnership, the Queensland Ballet returns to the event this year with the performance and a Q & A that Li Cunxin AO offers the festival goers is a highlight. Li shares his journey and insights into the world of performance, ballet and corporate support.

Meanwhile Meow Meow returns to Noosa with her unique and very popular cabaret show.

Another loyal NOOSA alive! performer Meow Meow graces the audiences with her wit, clever dialogue and vocal talent leaving jaws dropping and eyes wide open.

A unique performing arts festival not to be missed

• Queensland Ballet returns to NOOSA alive! to reignite audiences’ passion for ballet, including Artistic Director Li Cunxin presenting an intimate Q & A Thurs July 15th & Friday 16th @ 7.30pm • David Williamson AO ‘50’ Anniversary Dinner (Tickets selling fast) Mon July 19th @ 6pm • AKMAL UNHINGED, UNFILTERED & UNLEASHED A great night of hilarious comedy Wed July 21st @ 8pm

A celebrated performer hypnotising worldwide from London’s Royal Albert Hall to Lincoln Centre New York, to the Hollywood Bowl, to the Sydney Opera House.

As well, former Cirque Du Soleil Creative Director, Ash McCready has teamed up with world renowned Director/Choreographer Julieann Nugent. Together, they are known as ‘AJ CREATIVE’ and will present a ‘one night only’ boutique cirque, dance and comedy experience for NOOSA alive! 2021.

Cirque Bon Bon is a 60 minute spine tingling spectacle that fuses mind bending contortion, death defying feats of strength and precision, diverse technical dancers that have toured the world, comedy and acrobatic skill that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats.

Covid has forced Ash McCready to return to Australia and Noosa is where she has landed.

“I was forced to give up my dream job and return home,” Ash said.

“Feeling devastated was an understatement, but this opened the door of opportunity to collaborate with my mentor Julieann Nugent, conceive AJ Creative and live out our combined dream.”

All events are now on sale at noosaalive.com.au where you can find more information on all the events.

15 - 24th July 2021

• Meow-Meow International Cabaret Diva returns (Tickets selling fast) Thurs July 22nd @ 8.15pm • Cirque Bon-Bon Astounding! Spell-Binding! Spectacular!

Sat July 24th 4.15pm & 8.15pm • High Tea with BOOFF Welcome to the wonderful other-worldly realm of BOOFF Where you can share stories and pour out your heart along with your tea (Multiple shows) | Strictly Limited Seating

Thank you to our Sponsors and Presenting Patrons including Johanne & Dr Ian Wright, Judi Bailey, Angela & Tim Rossi, David & Kristin Williamson

For full details on NOOSA alive! program visit; www.noosaalive.com.au. We look forward to you joining us #noosaisalive 12499133-JW26-21

WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 35

WHAT’S ON…

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The latest in gardening Queensland Garden Expo is a three-day celebration of gardening. The event attracts more than 40,000 green thumbs and novice gardeners from across Queensland and interstate. Held at Nambour on the beautiful Sunshine Coast, it is ideally situated to showcase all the best of subtropical gardening. The Expo includes an extensive lecture and demonstration program, landscape display gardens, over 360 exhibits including 55 nurseries, a Giant Kitchen Garden Feature and a cooking stage. Queensland Garden Expo, Coronation Avenue, Nambour Showgrounds, Nambour. Friday, 9 July 8am - Sunday, 11 July 4pm. Tickets ONLY online this year. qldgardenexpo. com.au/buy-tickets/

Treasure trove at Vintage Market Lovers of vintage treasures and bespoke crafts are in for a fine time at the Viva La Vintage Market at The Imperial Hotel Eumundi. There is a wealth of fabulous old wares and unique collectables to discover, along with retro fashion gems and bespoke crafts. The market takes place in weather-proof and air conditioned venue space known as The Brewery - a fabulous character-filled space overlooking the stainless-steel tanks of the working Eumundi Brewery. Live music every market, as well as a Fizz Bar for those that fancy a glass of bubbles to celebrate their market finds! Viva La Vintage Market at The Imperial Hotel Eumundi 1 Etheridge Street, Eumundi. Sunday, 8 August, 9am to 1pm.

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Spicy blends for something different Love spices but don’t know how to use them properly? Want to have a better understanding of spices? Want to become more adventurous in the kitchen with spices? Then head to a fun filled morning spice blending class. These are based in Caloundra at Red Hot Chilli Pepper, in the magical Marrakesh Room.

Learn about spices, the science of blending, what spices are, where they come from and hints and tips for storing. Learn how to incorporate herbs and spices into daily cooking, easily. Participants create two blends in the class before Vicki lets them loose on the spices for them to create their own magic potion. Lunch is included in the class. For more information head to redhotchillipepper.com.au/

Mary Valley Art Festival Plan to spend a night or two in Mary Valley Country to see the annual Mary Valley Art Festival, a grassroots event on July 22-25 where more than $8000 is up for grabs, including $2500 for the Open Award. The rich prize pool draws quality entries from South-East Queensland, while visitors attending the festival share the privilege of being able to view or buy the results of many hours of intense effort and passion. An event highlight is the Mary Valley Alive exhibition, celebrating the festival’s 20th anniversary, which tells the story of the Mary Valley through its flora, fauna and people. Twenty artists have been invited to create artworks reflecting the theme, to be combined with artworks from the original Mary Valley Alive. Festival viewing starts on 22 July at the Imbil Public Hall, Edward Street. the festival officially opens on Friday 23 July with award presentations and celebrations, closing on Sunday 25 July.

Fuse Fest for Nambour Street Art’s Fuse Fest is a fusion of artistic talents in the one place and features more 100 stalls of arts, artisans, food, craft beers, distillers and wineries. There 36 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

The Garden Expo at Nambour is one of the big events for Winter on the Coast. will be live music from noon on the main stage with a smaller stage for solo artists. Buskers and entertainers are also scattered around the festival. A kids’ zone with a dedicated space, encouraging you to bring the whole family, will have a range of activities to bring out the children’s creative side! The main stage will have live acts up until closing time of 8pm with attendees then encouraged to travel the short distance into Nambour CBD to enjoy a number of great venues in the new Entertainment Precinct. All money raised through Fuse Fest goes towards ensuring murals and artistic improvements, throughout Nambour, can be made through Street Art Nambour Inc. Sunday, 12 September, Nambour Showground.

Succulents galore at the Garden Expo.

Forty Years of the Muster Gympie Muster is Australia’s original and most loved camping and music experience. Staged deep within the natural surrounds of the Amamoor State Forest, the Muster showcases a mix of country, roots, blues, folk and rock music as well as workshops, dancing, bush poets, kids club and more. The Muster is celebrating its 40th anniversary on the last weekend in August 2021. This year 100 artists, including Adam Brand, Kasey Chambers, Lee Kernaghan and Troy Cassar-Daley will perform at five venues, over four days. For more information head to muster.com.au/

Horizon’s Festival Experience the Sunshine Coast’s premier multi-arts festival from Friday 27 August through to Sunday 5 September. Horizon Festival connects artists, industries, communities and audiences through an award-winning celebration of arts and culture. They bring local, national and international artists together for 10 arts-fuelled days of visual art, music, performance, words and ideas, film and creative workshops. horizonfestival.com. au/

Sunshine Coast Expo 2021 Browse and compare the very latest outdoor adventure vehicles, including caravans, camper trailers, boats, 4x4s, hybrids and more. The event also includes dozens of complementary companies, including holiday and tourism bodies, 4x4 and vehicle accessories, camping equipment, insurance services, tools, gadgets and heaps more! There will be more than 160 exhibiting companies on show, live entertainment, 4WD training demonstrations, fishing and casting techniques, camp oven cooking demonstrations and prizes to be won. Tickets only online – event 24-26 September, Sunshine Coast Stadium.

Thursday 16 September 2021 9am – 4pm Caloundra Indoor Stadium, North St Golden Beach Disabilityexposc.com.au The event not bo be missed for people with disabilities, family, carers and friends plus community mided people providing products and services, all in the one central space.

With more than 100 exhibits the expo is free to attend.

FREE ENTRY – Pre-register your attendance https://www.disabilityexposc.com.au/register-your-attendance/ Parking is FREE – Available on site ACCESS AND FACILITIES Venue is wheelchair friendly and has disabled toilet facilities.

Thanks to our sponsors

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ACTIVE OUTDOORS

Leyburn Sprints are back.

Legends on track Some of the most popular personalities of Australia’s motor-racing past will be honoured at the Leyburn Legends Weekend during 25th anniversary celebrations for the Historic Leyburn Sprints in August.

The Sprints will return to the rural township on the Queensland Southern Darling Downs on 21-22 August after the 2020 event was cancelled because of Covid-19.

It will be the 25th event since the Sprints were launched to commemorate the 1949 Australian Grand Prix at Leyburn.

The Legends were a big attraction in their first appearance in Leyburn in 2019 and Sprints President Tricia Chant said the organisers were keen to invite them back.

“In 2019 we welcomed great drivers including Dick Johnson, Colin Bond, Fred Gibson, Bruce Garland, Kevin Bartlett, John French and Bob Holden and they were enormously popular

with our spectators, who remembered their achievements in the sixties, seventies and eighties,” Mrs Chant said.

“We’re going to offer another opportunity for fans to meet their heroes again this year. Some of the drivers have already confirmed their return and as well we hope to have some new names, which this time will also include some of the top mechanics of the era who put the winning cars on track.

“All these special guests at the Leyburn Legends Weekend will add another level of attraction for fans at the 2021 Sprints and we’re hoping there’s a company out there that would like to put its name as sponsor to this highlight.”

The Sprints time-trials, voted Queensland’s Motor Sport Event of the Year, are run on a 1.0 kilometre course around the closed streets of Leyburn, a town of 480 residents 60 kilometres north-west of Warwick.

Along with a 200-plus entry of historic and classic racing cars, the event will

feature the always-popular Shannons Show ‘n’ Shine, a Vintage Caravan Show and country markets.

Tourism and Events Queensland’s Queensland Destination Events Program and Southern Downs Regional Council provide financial assistance to help promote the Sprints and attract visitors to the Southern Downs region.

Proceeds from the Sprints benefit a wide variety of community organisations and projects.

The Queensland Government’s Queensland Destination Events Program and the Southern Downs Regional Council provide financial assistance to help promote the Sprints and attract visitors to the Southern Downs region.

The Leyburn Historic Sprints were named 2017 Queensland Motor Sport Event of the Year.

Applications for camp site bookings are expected to open shortly on the event website historicleyburnsprints. com.au.

Trackside at Leyburn The best way to experience the excitement and beauty of the Historic Leyburn Sprints is being there!

With more than 200 cars of all types and vintages competing one-at-a-time against the clock on a 1.0 kilometre closed-street course around the township the noise and smell encapsulates the excitement.

We have 4 x 1 Day double passes to give away to lucky readers so they can get up and personal to the action.

To enter simply go to: warwickstanthorpetoday.com.au/competitions and click on Historic Leyburn Sprints.

The event will be staged for the 25th time in the little Darling Downs township on 21-22 August.

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WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 37

ACTIVE OUTDOORS

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Racing again in ‘stolen’ car Retired Bribie Island flying instructor Peter Lefrancke, 78, has had a long and interesting love affair with his 1962 Centaur Streamliner Mk1B sports car.

Lefrancke is set to drive the little red Centaur at the Historic Leyburn Sprints in the Southern Downs later this year but it’s a drive he thought may never happen when his beloved car was lost for nearly 40 years.

The car – one of 11 racing specials was designed and built in Queensland by university engineer Tim Harlock and was first owned by Lefrancke until 1971 when it was stolen on its trailer.

It was lost for 40 years until various surviving parts found their way back to Harlock and Lefrancke was able to buy the parts from him. In 2013 he commissioned another Centaur owner – Warwick’s Bevan Batham - to undertake the full restoration.

In 2019 Peter and his Centaur returned to the Lakeside track after a 48 year absence.

And now, 50 years after it was stolen, the little red car will contest Leyburn for first time.

The Centaur sports racing cars were the brainchild of Tim Harlock, a Queenslander, and qualified mechanical engineer.

The first two built were the Mk1, Tim’s original Centaur and the Mk1b.

The Mk1b was designed and built as a collaboration between great friends, engineer Tim Harlock and Keith Turner (deceased), a technical representative of the Shell Oil Company.

Keith Turner first debuted this car, the Mk1b in the early 1960s at Lakeside.

One man and his car - Peter Lefrancke is back on track with his Centaur.

The general specifications of the Centaur Mk1b in 1962 were a Ford 105e Ford Anglia 997cc engine connected to a four speed Ford Anglia gearbox, nine inch Morris Major front drum brakes and seven inch Morris Minor rear drum brakes – all driven through an “A” series BMC rear differential.

The Centaur was upgraded several times during its life and finished with a Ford Cortina Pushrod 1500cc motor prepared by Dick Johnson – and it was in this configuration Peter and the Centaur won the Australian 1.5 Litre Sports Car Championship at the Surfers Paradise International Motor Racing circuit in 1967.

Peter Lefrancke started the restoration of his Centaur in 2014 after getting the wrecked Centaur parts back from

and the Factory Toyota at the same time up until the Centaur was stolen in 1971.

So after a hiatus nearly 50 years the two were reunited on the Lakeside circuit in 2019.

Since 2019 Peter has run the car in GEAR Days, mid-week sprints at both Lakeside and QR, and last year ran her in the HRCCQ Historic meeting at Morgan Park.

As for 2021 and beyond – he has entered the Grafton Hillclimb in June, Morgan Park in July and is entering the Centaur in the HSRCA’s 2021 Summer Festival Historic Meeting in November at Sydney Motor Sport Park in Sydney and will continue to run the Centaur in GEAR Days and some mid-week sprint meetings.

Tim Harlock in the summer of 2013.

He said he wanted to honour the memory of the owner/builder Keith Turner and configure it as it was when it first hit the Lakeside International Circuit in February 1962.

“It took four-plus years to complete the project and great thanks goes to Bevan Batham who just coincidentally restored and owns the third Centaur built the John French Centaur GT,” he said.

Peter started motor racing in 1964 in an Austin Healey Mk11a Sprite before he was selected by the Toyota AMI Racing Team to drive a factory Toyota alongside Leonard Teale, Bob Morris, Dick Thurston and others until the company withdrew from sponsorship in 1974.

Peter raced both the Centaur Mk1b

Active lifestyle dividends: Staying fit and healthy over 55

By Tania Phillips Sunshine Coast’s Healthy Sunshine Coast’s initiative is introducing new activities all the time with a whole slew coming online in recent weeks.

Exciting new classes have been added to the free and low cost program including active seniors (over-55s) at the Coolum Civic Centre and Little Mountain, plus circuit-style group fitness for over-45s at Baringa Community Centre and the Coolum Civic Centre. There’s also extra aquatic fitness in Nambour and community yoga in Maleny.

Jacinta from Jacfit has been teaching aerobics on and off as a profession since she was 18 – even when she was out of the industry she continued to teach as a hobby. Now in her 50s herself she believes she is well-placed to be running fitness classes for Over 55s.

She is heading up the active seniors program at Coolum which began back in early April.

“This week, the age group I’ve had through is probably early 50s through to mid 70s and I’ve trained seniors up to the age of eighty, it’s how they look after themselves and it’s really important they keep moving, keep the joints moving, help with the arthritis, help with normal daily functional movements such as picking up the grand kids being able to put things in the 38 SENIORS TODAY WINTER: JUNE 2021

cupboard away,” she explained.

“Obviously its important for heart health.

“I’ve been in the fitness industry for more than 25 years, I’ve done other jobs as well but overall I’ve got that sort of experience and there’s a gap in the market up here and a friend of mine just mentioned they were looking at running some classes with the Sunshine Coast Council active seniors and so that’s how it came about.

“And it’s not just the Coolum area I know they are running classes in other parts of the Sunshine Coast as well.

They are really trying to get everybody healthy and active and out and about a lot more. The other thing too a lot of the ladies (and there are some gentlemen coming into the class as well, they get to meet other people so it’s a social thing as well.”

She said it was a low impact class to

music with very basic movements.

“It is a scalable type of class so it’s a class where some of the participants can do things like squats, some can’t so we’ve got to scale it to individual needs,” Jacinta said.

“You might have people with lower back problems it’s like anyone who goes to a fitness class, I have some young participants that struggle, they’ve had knee operations or back problems. Its one of those classes where a beginner right through to an advanced fit person could participate because they can scale it to their fitness level or what their capabilities are. And it’s definitely fun.

“I had one lady who said – I’ll try anything, they are really embracing it because they want to be able to keep moving and functioning well and keep healthy.

“Living up here we’ve had a really hot summer so where the classes are, they are in the Civic Centre, it’s got airconditioning we’re basically got ourselves covered with the weather.

It’s a great venue – big and spacious – which important because we still have to comply with the Covid issues.”

Sunshine Coast Council Community Portfolio Councillor David Law said he was pleased to announce a new Pilates introductory class would

be on offer and guided bushwalking was back.

“As we rebuild our program’s schedule this year, Pilates is brand new to this dynamic and evolving program and is held every Thursday at the YMCA Caloundra,” Cr Law said.

ACTIVE SENIORS Caloundra in YMCA hall – Tuesdays 11.15am Caloundra Indoor Stadium – Wednesdays 8.15am Mooloolah at the All in One Fitness gym – Tuesdays 8am Yandina Hall with BodyPepper Fitness – Wednesdays 10.15am Mapleton at The Range Community Gym – choice of four weekly classes Nambour Gym & Fitness Studio– Tuesdays 8.30am Beerwah Community Hall with All in One Fitness – Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri at 8am NEW – Little Mountain Churches of Christ facility – Tuesdays at 9.15am NEW – Coolum Civic Centre – Tuesdays & Wednesdays at 11.30am Check out the program of FREE and LOW COST Community Yoga and Introductory Tai Chi. For more information visit www. sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/healthysunshinecoast.

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WINTER: JUNE 2021 SENIORS TODAY 39

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