140410 citynews

BIG BUZZ THE HAT

Turning tomatoes into zucchinis

KATHRYN VUKOVLJAK

Sport cries out for support

TIM GAVEL

Why whales can breathe a little easier

ROBERT MACKLIN

Dangerous walk in another’s shoes

MICHAEL MOORE

Gardening’s big show of happiness

CEDRIC BRYANT

How Elizabeth turns tomatoes into zucchinis

A VEGGIE-growing challenge has become much more for public servant Elizabeth Goodfellow, who started the 100 kilos Summer Veg Challenge at Bowning, north of Yass, in September last year as a way to encourage more people to grow fruit and veg in their own backyard.

“I wanted to do something useful, that helped the environment and made a genuine difference to people’s lives,” she says.

The initiative has taken off, and what started as a challenge for local gardeners has become a way to bring communities together and share food with people in need.

“I went to a presentation last year about sustainability at the Canberra Environment Centre, and one of the speakers was Dave Pentony, who runs Choku Bai Jo,” she says.

“He said we could produce hundreds of thousands of kilos of food if everyone grew 100kg themselves. It struck a chord with me – I’d just grown 60kg of tomatoes pretty much by accident, and I thought, it should be possible to grow a lot more.”

Elizabeth started the website 100kilos.org to encourage anyone to have a go at growing their own fruit and vegetables, by sharing photos, knowledge and tips online.

Now it’s harvest time and Elizabeth has organised a series of Harvest Swap Meets in Yass, where people can bring along their home-grown efforts and swap with other people.

“It hasn’t been a great year for growing, with all the heat, and personally I’ve only managed to grow about 11kg this year, but there are people who have done amazingly well, even if

they have a glut of one thing in particular,” she says.

“The swaps we’ve had so far have been wonderful community events, with produce that looks absolutely amazing, with up to 24 different sorts of fruit, veg and herbs.

“People seem to love to stop and chat, and share stories and recipes. We also get passers-by asking if they can buy the produce, but it’s done by exchange only.

“Sometimes they will then go away and come back with huge boxes of apples from their garden!”

Elizabeth says there’s a dedicated community of keen backyard gardeners forming online, and that she’s on the lookout for more experts to contribute to the blog.

“I’m certainly no growing expert myself, and I learnt by the school of hard knocks,” she says. “I think that’s what’s so great about the program –growing can be fun but challenging, and we can help each other.”

Elizabeth says Harvest Swaps will be starting in Canberra from April.

“We will be placing boxes at Canberra City Care in Charnwood, at Mount Rogers Community Centre in Spence, and at Communities@Work in

KATHRYN VUKOVLJAK

Gungahlin Community Centre and Tuggeranong Community Centre,” she says. “People can leave their produce and take what they feel is a fair swap.”

Any leftover food will be donated to local community organisations and food pantries, she says.

“It’s rewarding, and I find that people are positive about it and get very enthusiastic,” Elizabeth says.

“It’s taking on a life of its own.”

Upcoming Harvest Swap Meets will be held at the Thyme to Taste Cafe, 60 Comur Street, Yass, 9.30am-2pm, on April 12 and May 20.

As of April 26 there will be a regular Swap Meet at the Murrumbateman Farmers Market on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month.

For more information, visit 100kilos.org

Since 1993: Volume 20, Number 13

Arts & Entertainment 26-28

Canberra Confidential 16 Cinema 28

28

30

29

3-10 Politics 6

29 Socials 13-15

9

Sport 8

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South coast whales can breathe a little easier

THE whales that provide Canberra’s coastal holidaymakers with a delightful passing parade each year can breathe a little easier after this past week’s excellent decision from the International Court of Justice.

Morning walkers along the Tuross Boulevard sometimes spend half the day entranced by their antics close to shore. In fact, as the sea warms up, they seem to be arriving a little earlier each year.

I don’t think Japan’s preferred minke species have been much in evidence; most seem to be humpbacks and southern rights; but they’re all very welcome.

IT’S not all good news, however. The warming currents, we’re told, are also bringing the great whites and other dangerous sharks closer to our favoured beaches. The week’s death of Christine Armstrong at Tathra beach was a shocking reminder of the dangers lurking. And who knows what other unexpected perils climate change will bring.

LIBERAL heavyweight Arthur Sinodinos seemed all at sea under questioning at the ICAC hearing. Time and again he couldn’t recall or was blissfully ignorant of the skulduggery taking place on his watch as the boss of Australian Water Holdings. He couldn’t even remember that AWH had donated

The week’s death at Tathra beach was a shocking reminder of the dangers lurking.

$72,000 to the NSW Liberals… and he was the Party treasurer!

And we all thought Arthur’s shiny dome contained a mind like a steel trap. Sad really, the way these high flyers seem to be afflicted with “executive amnesia” when they reach the nation’s courtrooms.

STILL on matters oceanic, the search for the black box in whatever remains of MH370 in the wave-tossed seas west of Perth, has delivered a surprising foreign policy dividend.

The close co-operation between Australian and Chinese authorities in the search has led to China’s PLA actually asking to operate under Australian command a big naval exercise.

Defence boffins tell us it’s the first time the Chinese armed forces have ever accepted Western command in a military operation. Rim of the Pacific will comprise the navies of more than 20 nations in the seas around Hawaii where the Chinese flotilla will come under the firm direction of the RAN in rescue exercises.

Happily, it signals the Chinese leadership has forgiven PM Tony Abbott his extraordinary diplomatic solecism in declaring Japan Australia’s “best friend” in Asia.

THE WA Senate election might have caused Tony Abbott some grief… but not nearly as much as Labor Leader Bill Shorten

In fact the odds are shortening (as it were) that he’ll be replaced well before the next election, much to the relief of the 60 per cent of Labor members who voted for Anthony Albanese

AUNTY’S best friend and plucky guardian, managing director Mark Scott, stood up to her (and his) critics in a hard hitting speech that raised the prospect of a Murdoch newspaper monopoly “in every capital city except Perth”. The dogs have been barking that the “SMH” and “The Age” might well close down their print editions which would leave Rupert master of the field. But wait a minute… did Mr Scott overlook THE capital city? Or does

ROBERT MACKLIN

he know something about “The Canberra Times” that we don’t? AS for standing up, why oh why is the ABC’s charming Virginia Haussegger now required to introduce our nightly news vertically before her desk? And why is she holding sheets of paper? Is the teleprompter on the blink? More alarmingly, could this really be the end of that delicious tradition of news readers sitting modestly behind their desks… secretly disrobed?

robertmacklin.com

Barbara uses her head to create a buzz

Meet a designer whose hats and vintage-inspired pieces are designed to be noticed.

“I COULDN’T buy a fancy hat that fit, since I have a large head size, and so started making my own.” That sums up how local designer Barbara Mickelson started making highly creative headwear that has seen her internationally recognised for her work, with several awards picked up in competitions here and in NZ.

Barbara owns BMdesigns and the hats and vintage-inspired pieces she creates are designed to be noticed.

“I love the theatre of hats,” she says, “and have always worn them when in the mood.”

As with many local fashion designers, Barbara graduated with a Bachelor of Design (Fashion) from the Canberra Institute of Technology (2005). She entered CIT to learn more about design processes and pattern making. Since then she’s taken intense courses through the Textile Fibre

Forum in millinery, felting and shibori, a traditional Japanese method of dying fabric that involves folding, wrapping, stitching and clamping fabric to dye it and create texture in it.

Barbara applies the shibori method with polyester to create thermoplastic fabrics with volume that she uses for some of her outstanding headwear pieces. After dying, Barbara often edges fabric with wire to create sculptural pieces that can be draped and manipulated into stunning headwear and works of art.

While some of the headware created through BMdesigns looks heavy, awkward and difficult to wear, the opposite is true. The fabrics used, such as silk, are deceptively light and pieces are designed for total comfort and to work with most hairstyles.

For the first time, Barbara will showcase a new collection in a major fashion event. She has been accepted to participate in this year’s Fashfest, to be held at Majura Park, April 30May 3.

“It’s both exciting and a bit nerve wracking to participate in such a large event,” says Barbara, “but I just know my work will create a buzz.”

Part of the collection she will present on the runway at Fashfest is the vintage-inspired pieces she designs

and hand makes in hand-dyed silk, silk velvet and vintage fabrics, prettied up with vintage buttons, ribbon and lace.

She constructs pieces using blocked shapes and wire, which means she can manipulate and fine tune each one for an individual head fitting. Barbara then covers the pieces in fabric and trims accordingly. Because Barbara handles all dying, she can match a hat perfectly to any outfit.

And who are Barbara’s clients?

“They include those who love glamorous racewear and I have a strong following in the burlesque world and with those who adore the vintage look,” she says.

“But fashion in Canberra is changing and becoming more quirky with more people interested in wearing something unique. I now have clients who approach me just because they want to go out and make more of a statement through headwear.”

Barbara has competed and won awards in wearable art competitions in Australia and NZ and has twice presented her creations on stage at the prestigious International World of Wearable Art event in Wellington.

Fashfest, April 30-May 3. Tickets at fashfest.com.au

Dangerous walk in another’s shoes

People living in Crimea do have reason to be concerned about the anti-Russian attitudes of the party in power.

“TRY putting yourself in their shoes,” suggested an historian, Konstantin, who was our guide in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, “and perhaps you will see a different picture from that presented by the western media as to why people in the Crimea voted to go with Russia.”

Konstantin raised a series of issues that had not had serious consideration on CNN, BBC and the media that they feed. The strategic importance of the Crimea has had both the western and Russian propaganda machines in full swing.

The history of the Crimea, the impact of the policies of the Soviet Union, the cultural differences between the Crimea and the rest of the Ukraine and the changing nature of the Ukraine regime in Kiev all impact on this complex situation.

For centuries there has been movement between the area of the Crimea and what is now the Russian Federation. One of the outcomes is that the vast majority of people living in the Crimea speak Russian, have Russian origins and associate much more closely with Russia than they do with the west. Other parts of the Ukraine were part of the Soviet Union but have maintained their strong self-concept as Ukrainian.

Putting yourself in the shoes of a Crimean-Ukrainian with Russian heritage will help you understand the over 95 per cent referendum result (as reported by BBC) to join the Russian Federation. Such a person has felt the threats of some Ukrainian politi cians who are looking for a Ukraine with one language, one people and who use the Russians within their country as scapegoats.

The party in government, Batkivshchyna (or the All-Ukrainian Union “Fatherland”) under Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, is anti-Russian as is demonstrated by one platform that looks back to the early 1930s – 7.5 million people starved and the Batkivshchyna believes the Soviet Union deliberately

perpetrated this as a holocaust of the Ukrainian people. To this extent people living in Crimea do have reason to be concerned about the anti-Russian attitudes of the party in power.

No sooner had the Crimean referendum been carried than the US was talking about the move as a “breach of international law”. A sentiment reiterated by our own Foreign Minister. And yet it is not hard to recall when the US and her allies were happy to support a non-elected government on the basis they were pro-west. This appears the height of hypocrisy: the west only supporting democracy that is in its favour.

The people of Crimea, which sits from the rest of Ukraine as a separate peninsula in the Black Sea, have good reasons as to why they wish to be part of Russia rather than the Ukraine. The tensions that are created by the resistance from the west should ring the same loud warning bells as the “weapons of mass destruction” lie that pre-empted our involvement in the Iraq war.

Michael Moore was an independent member of the ACT Legislative Assembly (1989 to 2001) and was minister for health. He recently crossed Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express.

Kieran puts a face to fashion

MIXED media designer Kieran

Stopp describes his new clothing line as a “fusion” of his passions –photography, music and fashion.

The 25-year-old Wanniassa resident recently launched “I Heart Threads”, a collection of T-shirts and hoodies with his sketches or photography printed on to the garments.

Stopp’s prints range from photography of Canberra’s landscape, such

as Lake Burley Griffin, to sketches of faces, microphones or guitars and “abstract psychedelic art”.

“I’ve had heaps of requests from people who want a sketch of something in particular that means something to them, which can be worn on their shirt,” Stopp says.

“It’s making fashion very personal, so I think that’s why people have been drawn to it.”

He has just had his first solo exhibition at The Front Gallery in Lyneham,

and another exhibition in Melbourne. Stopp, who studied design at high school but has had no formal training, says his prints can also be used on canvas or skateboard decks.

“Creating prints for skateboards in particular is something that I had never seen before. I was a skater for 10 years and I thought that could be really popular,” he says.

– Laura Edwards

Visit iheartthreads.com.au

EASTER SERVICES

BRADDON – St Columba’s

Cnr Fawkner/Farrer Sts

Good Friday 9.00am

Easter Sunday 10.00am

CANBERRA CENTRAL

Wesley Uniting Church

22 National Cct, Forrest

Maundy Thursday (Wesley) 6pm

Good Friday (Wesley) 9.30am

Easter Sunday (Wesley)

9.00am and 10.30am

St Aidan’s

Brockman St, Narrabundah

Easter Sunday 9.00am

CANBERRA CITY

69 Northbourne Avenue

Maundy Thursday 7.00pm

Tenebrae Service

Good Friday 9.00am

Easter Sunday Sunrise Service

6.15am at Black Mountain

Peninsula

Easter Sunday 10am

CURTIN – St James

40 Gillies Street

Good Friday 9.30am

Easter Sunday 10.30am

GUNGAHLIN – The Valley Ave

Everyone Is Always Welcome

Thursday 8.00pm

Good Friday 9.30am

Easter Sunday 9.30am

HACKETT – St Margaret’s

cnr Phillip Ave & Antill St

Maundy Thurs 7.30pm

Joint service with Holy Cross

Good Friday 9.00am

Joint service with Holy Cross

Easter Sunday 10.30am

KIPPAX

Cnr Luke St & Hardwick Cres Holt

Maundy Thursday 7.00pm

– including a light meal

Good Friday 9.00am

Easter Sunday

9.00am & 10.30am

LYNEHAM St Ninian’s

cnr Brigalow & Mouat Sts

Good Friday 9.00am

Easter Sunday 9.30am

NORTH BELCONNEN

30 Conley Dr, Melba

sport

Sport cries out for support

I THINK it is time for a radical rethink about how to attract crowds to Canberra sporting events.

Maundy Thursday 7.30pm Service of the Shadows and Communion

Good Friday 9.15am Easter Sunday 9.15am Family Worship

O’CONNOR

Cnr Scrivener & Brigalow Sts

Maundy Thursday Service

7.00pm

Good Friday service 9.15am

Easter Saturday Prayer Vigil 10pm

Easter Sunday Service 9.15am

PEARCE – SOUTH WODEN

Pearce Community Centre off Hodgson Cres

Good Friday 9.30am Easter Day 9.30am Celebrating the Feast of the Resurrection

QUEANBEYAN

Cnr Crawford & Rutledge Sts

Holy Week: Monday to Thurs. 7.00pm to 7.30pm

Good Friday 9.00am Easter Sunday 9.30am

TUGGERANONG Comrie St. Wanniassa

Good Friday 9.30am Easter Sunday 9.30am

WATTLE PARK Barton Highway (via Hall)

Maundy Thursday 8.00pm

Good Friday 10.00am

Easter Sunday 10.30am

Victoria Street, Hall

Good Friday 11.00am

Stations of the Cross – Joint Service with Anglican and Roman Catholic congregations

WESTON CREEK

16 Parkinson Street, Weston

Maundy Thursday 6.30pm

Tenebrae Service

Good Friday 9.00am

Easter Sunday 9.00am

Combined Family Service

YARRALUMLA

Denham Street

Good Friday 9.30am

Easter Sunday 9.30am

Holy Communion

It is becoming a struggle week in, week out to entice people to watch live sport. The Brumbies’ bottom line depends on it and they have battled to get crowds to games over the past couple of years.

The Raiders’ first home game of the year against the Gold Coast on a Sunday night had the Raiders going into the match following a great win over Newcastle away from home. The crowd was disappointing.

Cricket Australia was happy with the attendance at the Sheffield Shield final at Manuka. Frankly, I thought it should have attracted more than the 8000 or so that turned up over the four and a half days of the final. Admission was free and it was the first time the final had been staged in Canberra.

Canberrans demonstrated during last year’s Centenary that they would turn out for major events if they were well promoted. The netball test, the Rugby League test and the Australian Ladies Golf Open are cases in point.

The Capitals deserve bigger crowds as do Canberra United, but it’s a hard slog.

Sports do all they can to be part of the community; they are in the schools, lending their assistance to charities and to all intents and purposes, they are part of life in Canberra. So why don’t we go to sporting events week in, week out?

One obvious factor is the emergence of pay television with every Brumbies’ and Raiders’ game televised live. The take up rate for pay television in Canberra is particularly high. Scheduling is another major issue.

I think Canberra struggles with more than one major sporting event each weekend in winter. Three weeks ago we had the Shield final, the Brumbies and the Raiders all on the same weekend. Add GWS to the equation and it is problematic as to how much people can afford.

It’s obvious the scheduling of major events in Canberra needs more work.

Why would the Brumbies play NSW on the same night as Skyfire? Why would the NRL not allow the Raiders to play a home game until the third week? They should be playing as many home games as possible before winter sets in.

There is another aspect that may add to the reduced crowd size for the Brumbies apart from the obvious, such as the game itself, which I believe has some room for improvement.

In its infancy, the Super Rugby season was short and sharp and over by the end of May. It now goes until August.

We have seen with the emergence of

More than ever, our sporting teams need your support. There isn’t as much corporate backing around, and they are doing all they can to get you to the game.

20/20 cricket, the Rugby League Nines, the Rugby Sevens and so on, that people are searching for a quick fix when it comes to going to sporting events. Their kids are involved in so many sports that it is increasingly harder to get to major sports events.

Another is the cost with public service cut backs a factor and families having less to spend on entertainment.

People still tell me it is too expensive to buy food at sporting events and I can sympathise with them after my son managed to go through $30 worth of food at a Brumbies’ game recently and complained he was still hungry!

The Brumbies have tried to lift the vibe at their home games with a band and music between breaks in play. I am not sure the music while players are walking to a lineout adds much to the experience, except to ruin any chance of conversation about the game itself. But overall it does demonstrate that the Brumbies are willing to try something new.

The Raiders have enhanced their match-day experience by adding affordable ticket prices. GWS has joined in with a free bus service to home games, a concept that the Brumbies and the Raiders have also taken up.

More than ever, our sporting teams need your support. There isn’t as much corporate

TIM GAVEL

backing around, and they are doing all they can to get you to the game.

I am interested in finding out why we aren’t getting 20,000 to Canberra Stadium on a regular basis. I am happy to broadcast some of the responses in my next column.

Email gavel.tim@abc.net.au with your thoughts.

Parton wide of the mark

MARK Parton is well wide of the mark in his column “Really, George, that’s just not on” (CN, April 3), and I am surprised that a thoughtful commentator should get it so wrong.

Brandis is observing that free peoples in a free country have the right to think anything they please. However, we have both social and legal conventions, a framework if you will, within which the expression of those thoughts can be managed to the agreed expectations of our society.

Thus one can think racist thoughts and even express them privately, but to publicly incite hatred on the basis of those ideas can be dealt with at law.

Brandis is not condoning bigotry, rather he is defending the very platform on which we enjoy the freedoms of this great country. The suggestion that the state should control thoughts and private beliefs is to be decried at every turn.

Graeme McElligott, Isabella Plains

Defining a bigot

COLUMNIST Mark Parton attacks Senator George Brandis for saying people have the right to be a bigot, which Parton defines, without giving his source, as “a person who strongly and unfairly dislikes other people, ideas etcetera....a person who hates or refuses to accept the members of a particular group (such as a racial or religious group)” (CN, April 3).

This unsupported definition may suit Parton’s argument but my “Concise Oxford Dictionary” defines bigot as “a person who is prejudiced in their views and intolerant of the opinions of others” and my Webster’s “New Collegiate” says “one obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his own church, party, belief or opinion”.

Very different to Parton’s version. At least allow your opponent’s words their normal accepted meaning if you presume to criticise him.

Hugh Dakin, Griffith

Permission to think?

WHAT country did I wake up in this morning? North Korea or inside George Orwell’s “1984” perhaps?

In Robert Macklin’s column “Go home, you’re giving us a bad name” (CN, April 10), how can you suggest that it’s a good thing for laws to control what people think? Australia enjoys a myriad of protections from hate

speech and unreasonable things people may say within laws such as defamation, and racial vilification laws already. We have adequate protection for unacceptable behaviour and suggesting that we need laws to control our free thoughts belongs in North Korea, not a free society.

Unless we allow people free thought, the ability to openly challenge, and create new ideas, then everything will be second-hand knowledge, previously approved as “non-offensive”.

In history, someone challenged those who believed in a flat earth and dare I say, some challenge climate change and defend their rights with free speech. Offensive or not, I will not be willing to live in a thoughtcontrolled society where I need permission to think.

Scott Abela, via email

A lesson from Gandhi

NO cone of cannabis silence for Mark Parton (“Grow up, legalise the weed”, CN March 20). I have had 30 years’ experience in drug policy including four attendances at national drug conferences. However, let’s put my experience aside, and call on an historical figure who was certainly an adult.

Many years ago I was nearly conned into thinking that legalisation of drugs was the way to go. But then I recalled a story about Gandhi, who was studying law, and one of his university lecturers.

Having been out thought brilliantly several times by Gandhi, the lecturer decided to take revenge at the next test. He said: “Mr Gandhi, if you were walking down the street and found a package, and within it there was a bag of wisdom, and another bag filled with money, which one would you take?”

Without hesitating, Gandhi replied: “The one with the money, of course.” Smiling smugly, the lecturer said: “I, in your place, would have taken the wisdom, don’t you think?”

“Each one takes what one doesn’t have,” responded Gandhi indifferently.

Filled with anger, the lecturer wrote on Gandhi’s exam sheet the word “idiot” and gave it to him. Gandhi sat down. A few minutes later he approached the lecturer and said: “Sir, you have signed the paper, but you did not give me the grade.”

The lesson? Drug legalisation masquerades as a lecture, but is easily countered and out thought.

Colliss Parrett, Barton

Mum of the year named

BELINDA Nunn, 37, of Isabella Plains, has been named ACT Barnardos Mother of the Year. Fellow finalists, Lauren Irvine and Mary Ryan-Baker, were also commended. Belinda is the biological mother of three daughters and has taken on the responsibility of raising her niece. Belinda will be in the running for the national award, which will be announced in Sydney on May 9.

Gardens art

THE “Art in the Gardens with Friends” botanical art exhibition is back for the seventh year at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Oils, water colours and pastels are all on display and for sale. The free exhibition is open from 9.30am-4.30pm daily until April 21.

Eagle eyes

LOCAL life-long birdwatcher/ photographer Geoffrey Dabb will talk about the presence of the wedge-tailed eagle around Canberra at the Belconnen Branch of the CWA’s next meeting in the community room of the Kippax Library, Holt, 11am, on Monday, April 28. Morning tea will be provided and interested visitors are invited to RSVP to 6255 3141 or belconnencountrywomen@gmail. com by April 24 for catering purposes.

Veterans’ friend

GUEST speaker Jane Gallagher, director of nursing at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, will talk about her travels overseas with veterans at the Woden View Club’s next lunch at the Southern Cross Club Woden, from midday, on Tuesday, April 22. View is a leading women’s volunteer organisation and part of The Smith Family and interested visitors are invited to call 6281 2022.

Youth club Cook

JACQUI Cook, from the Police Community Youth Club, is the guest speaker of the Tuggeranong Day View Club’s lunch at the Tuggeranong Vikings Town Centre club, Greenway, 11.30am on Tuesday, April 15. RSVP to 6284 8804.

Controlling eczema is so much more than dabbing on a bit of cream.

Your skin needs to be nourished—naturally.

The Psoriasis and Skin Clinic helps by tackling the triggers of your eczema, not just the symptoms. No cortisone needed.

We also treat psoriasis, acne, dermatitis, rosacea and nail problems.

ANONYMOUS SURVEY

Seeking public sector participants in PhD research

All Australian public servants working in the Public Sector (PS) are invited to participate in an anonymous PS workplace cyber-communication survey

For anyone who works in the public service then this is your opportunity to have your say!

Public servants across Australia are invited to participate in an anonymous PS Workplace Cyber-Communications Survey conducted through the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), in collaboration with the University of Sheffield, UK. This survey will gather anonymous data from public servants about their perceptions regarding negative workplace cyber-communications and any impact on health and work performance.

The survey together with background material can be found at: http://survey.qut.edu.au/f/179689/20e4/

This survey will take between 10-12 minutes and has been approved by QUT’s Human Ethics Committee.

Feel free to share this link with your PS work mates! Note: This survey will close on Friday 18th April 2014

Flying success as thousands cram the airfield

OPEN Day at Canberra Airport last weekend attracted thousands of visitors and jammed traffic all over the eastern side of town. “CityNews” snapper GARY SCHAFER got through and filed this lovely pictorial essay. More photos at citynews.com.au

‘We are so happy to be in Canberra and having our first dry summer has been awesome!’

New dental team has plenty to smile about

THERE’S a new dentist in town at Canberra City Dentistry, and he says he loves his new home and working environment.

Dr Chad Henderson jokes that he and his wife Tina, a dental assistant at the practice, moved to Canberra from New Brunswick, Canada, because they were tired of shovelling snow.

“We also like to ride motorcycles, and there isn’t much time for that in Canada, because of the long winter,” he says. “There are really only four months of the year you can do outdoor activities, so leaving the cold weather behind was definitely a factor in our decision to move.”

Dr Henderson is highly experienced; proficient in surgical extractions, implant restorations, crown and bridge work as well as cosmetic veneers, whitening and the whole family’s general and cosmetic dental needs.

His new senior dental nurse, Linda Forsyth, has also recently joined the practice after her previous employer, Dr David Frugtniet, retired last year from his University Avenue practice.

Dr Henderson says that Linda is a professional and dedicated dental nurse, with 20 years’ experience and a passion for providing patient comfort and support.

“Linda and I work very well together, and the consistency makes for a smooth-running surgery,” he says.

“While my wife Tina sometimes works as my assistant, we find it’s better for our marriage to not spend all day together,” he jokes.

Dr Henderson says that when he graduated in 2010 from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he was made aware of a reciprocal working agreement between Canada and Australia.

“I had always kept that in the back of my mind, and now that we’re here, we feel it’s been the best decision for us,” he says. “Tina and I are so happy to be in Canberra. And having our first dry summer has been awesome!”

Dr Henderson says he is enjoying working at the thriving Canberra City Dentistry with owner Dr Vicky Pusnjak.

“It’s a very professional, caring practice, with a great clientele,” he says. “I like the family atmosphere and the work is rewarding.

“We have no plans to move back to Canada.”

Co-owner of the practice, Shane Lloyd, says Canberra City Dentistry now has a wide range of sports, MMA and UFC mouthguards.

“We are also working closely with various sporting clubs to further support their mouthguard awareness campaigns and their fundraising efforts,” he says.

Canberra City Dentistry, Level 4, 28 University Avenue, Civic. Call 6162 0880.

scene / around canberra

Event of the week:

CMRI – Canberra committee reception at the French embassy

The cosmetic industry’s need for anti-ageing products to keep giving us all “hope in a bottle” had the professor debunking some of the myths and magic of their marketing strategies.

RESEARCHING telomeres and the results his team has achieved gets Prof Roger Reddel of the Children’s Medical Research Institute excited. And just quietly you should be, too.

The Canberra committee of the CMRI received all his good news at the reception at the residence of the embassy of France with the ambassador’s wife Madame Agnes Espagne-Romatet playing hostess.

We all came away knowing a lot more about those itty bitty end bits protecting the DNA in our chromosomes, the chemical compounds already being used in research to stop them shortening each time the cell divides and the positives to come out of this research particularly in cancer research.

His aside about the cosmetic industry’s need for anti-ageing products to keep giving us all “hope in a bottle” had the professor debunking some of the myths and magic promulgated by their marketing strategies.

What we will see though is money well spent to keep this institute researching with the committee already planning its mammoth picnic in the country, this year at Carwoola, and the smooth operation of a spectacular annual event that raised $90,000 in 2013 for the CMRI.

LYN MILLS

At the Property Council’s touch rugby match, Deakin At 10th

who tallied up about $25,000 in donations.

“As a town of less than 4000 people we’ve done a super awesome job,” says local hairdresser Chemain Perceval, of Gossips hair salon, who collected more than $10,600 herself, smashing her $4000 target. She also registered Gossips as a World’s Greatest Shave salon, running a barbecue and offering the philanthropic styling pro bono.

“When I was in year 8, one of my girlfriends lost her brother to leukaemia and she was a bone marrow donor for him as well,” Chemain says, explaining her first experience of the disease.

“That was a really big thing, and from that point I realised it was important to do charity work and help people out.”

Loretta Heskett from the Blind Duck Cafe also cracked $10K and another local, Peter Roper, managed to attract $2000 in support by having his chest waxed.

The art of being in the right place at the right time

“I LOVE the clouds. I love the panorama. I loved being in the right place and at the right time, and getting everything aligned,” says Canberra photographer Martin Ollman of this remarkable photo of Parliament House, taken around 7 o’clock on the evening before Australia Day. Despite the picture’s sense of timeless serenity, the shot was taken “just after the Australians of the Year had been announced and were doing their press interviews.”

“The Roulettes came over just after that,” he says.

“Every time I go to this spot at this time of year I take a photo of it – an annual shot.”

Parliament House, January 25, 2014. Photo by Martin Ollman

Rugby goes underwater

CANBERRA now has a team dedicated to “the greatest sport you’ve never played” –underwater rugby.

Organiser Bobby Simonsson came to the surface long enough to tell CC he runs the year-old Canberra underwater rugby team and that “we really are just a fledgling community sport with a small group of core players who meet weekly in the pool at the AIS.” There are also teams in Sydney,

Brisbane, Hobart and Melbourne. He attached a link (youtube.com/ watch?v=Sjxkk8VJBd0) revealing that, as a spectator sport, it looks to CC as much fun as watching fish in an aquarium.

The unisex game is played almost entirely underwater, with teams of six wearing snorkels and flippers, and chasing an unfloating ball that can be passed up, down, left, right, forwards and backwards. Intending players should check out the Facebook page, Canberra Underwater Rugby.

Rising sap

HOW could one resist: “Plant a new tree with a new woman every eight minutes”?

Yes, the Landcare for Singles’ “speed planting” Sunday is back on May 4 at the Jerrabomberra Wetlands. If the prospect of meeting environmentally friendly single women (and men) is your thing, then register at actlandcare@act.org.au or call 6205 2913.

Dear madam…

WOMEN, according to the Advertising Standards Board, are bigger complainers about advertising than men, with 57 per cent of the board’s ACT complaints last year coming from Canberra’s fairer sex. While the total complaints from the Territory represented only two per cent of the national whinge, Kambah was named as the suburb where most of the local complaints came from, followed by Braddon, Bruce and Florey. The age group most likely to complain was the 40 to 54-year-olds and people over 65 the least likely.

towards the south coast / advertising feature

Answering the call of the balmy south coast

A SLIGHT chill has already started creeping around Canberra in the evenings, whispering here and there that winter is coming, but at the coast, even as far south as Merimbula, daytime temperatures are still in the range of 20-30 degrees. Most of us living on higher ground forget the beach exists after the end of February, making autumn an excellent time to enjoy the seaside, without the crowds, and when the weather does turn frosty, clever Canberrans find relief by escaping to lower ground.

B&B on the farm

IN late March, Martin and Wendy Goodisson opened Stony Creek Farm, a new bed-and-breakfast in the rolling green hills of the Sapphire Coast’s hinterland, five minutes north of Bega.

“It’s an 1890s weatherboard homestead that was the main residence for a dairy,” says Martin. “It’s been renovated over the years and we’ve continued on with a bit of extension and renovation, but stayed true to the look and feel of the place.”

The rooms feature double French doors opening on to private verandahs, each with two optional king singles for guests. Pet owners are welcome, as are boat owners, and there’s plenty of freezer space for their catch.

The couple “escaped from Canberra”

in September, but are already extremely knowledgeable about their new home and have wasted no time getting to know the locals, so they can link guests with everything the region has to offer, from its markets, art galleries, beaches, bushwalks, antique dealers and fishing spots to its burgeoning local food movement.

“There’s a real quality food movement happening around here towards small, local producers and we’ve been hooking into that,” says Martin. “We also use our own veggies and eggs that we grow on the farm in our kitchen garden.”

Stony Creek Farm, 13594 Princes Highway, Stony Creek. Call 6492 7385 or go to stonycreekfarm.com.au

HEADING north from Canberra through the scenic Southern Highlands, past the spectacular Fitzroy Falls and down a winding road through rainforest covered mountains, we come to Kangaroo Valley, a lush oasis overshadowed by steep cliffs.

Just over two hours from Canberra, the little village and surrounding area has a lot to offer for a day trip, weekend or longer holiday.

There’s great places to eat such as Bistro One46, which serves award-winning modern Australian cuisine for lunch, dinner and weekend breakfasts in a casual and relaxed atmosphere, or Thai restaurant Jing Jo, where chef Chai creates mouth-watering treats using herbs and vegetables from his own kitchen garden combined with fresh local produce.

Nearby is the local real estate, Harcourts, who specialise in holiday rentals such as the magnificent Sohali, five minutes up the hill in a beautiful bush setting with manicured gardens and space for 12.

Or there’s Nioka Estate, a unique holiday rental that is also a highly modern, sustainable organic farm with air conditioning, three bedrooms and two

bathrooms, set on 40 hectares.

Geoff Fearon runs The Man from Kangaroo Valley Trail Rides, taking visitors through the bush on horseback and putting them up on his farm if they need accommodation.

A new antiques shop, Valley Vintage, is soon to open too, and the locals all say that with the weather perfect and the leaves turning brown, autumn is the best time to visit.

See individual advertisements in these pages for things to do and places to stay in Kangaroo Valley, or go to kangaroovalleytourist.asn.au

Café @ Barlings

Kiosk / Reception

Swimming Pools • Playgrounds for the kids

– Spa cabins • Sleep up to 5 people – Deluxe Cabins • Sleep up to 5 – Standard Cabins • Powered & Unpowered camping sites

For more details on accomodation and facilities visit www.barlingsbeach.com

info@barlingsbeach.com

facilities at Barlings include two undercover BBQ areas, a campers kitchen, a meeting room, indoor games, clean tiled amenities, an on site laundromat, free wifi and an aviary.

towards the south coast / advertising feature

For the love of pies

SOUTHERN Pies is the new kid on the block in Kangaroo Valley, having just opened with the guiding ethos to always do it for the love of pie.

“We opened 12 months ago, and have seen demand for our deep dish, gourmet pies grow strongly; we’ve found our niche,” says owner John.

Located right in the heart of the village, Southern Pies has offered a new special pie every week since opening a year ago, on top of its standard range of 12 different savoury varieties, including everything from the classic beef pie, which you can have with buttery mash, mushy peas and gravy, right through to the more unusual flavours

such as lentil and chickpea dhal, or green Thai chicken.

Southern Pies haven’t forsaken the sweet side of pie-making either, with favourites such as old fashioned cherry pie and newer tastes such as salted chai caramel slice.

“We even cater for sensitive tummies with gluten and dairy free options,” adds John, “and you can wash it all down with one of our retro milkshakes, complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top.”

Southern Pies, 1/146 Moss Vale Road, Kangaroo Valley. Call 4465 2778 or go to southernpies.com.au

Berry good news

A LITTLE further on from Kangaroo Valley, just before the coast, is beautiful, historic Berry, first settled in the 1820s by the Shoalhaven’s main pioneers, Edward Wollstonecraft and Alexander Berry, whose brother David is honoured by the town’s name.

It’s now a thriving hub of art galleries, antiques, collectibles, cafes and top-notch restaurants such as Hungry Duck and South on Albany

It’s a place that offers both a “tree change” and a “sea change” at the same time, says Berry Chamber of Commerce and Tourism vice president Tim McGoldrick, who owns the local Elders Real Estate franchise and offers the area’s biggest selection of holiday rentals through Berry Getaways

“In terms of accommodation, Berry can cater to whatever anyone’s looking for: in town, with the convenience of being near all the shops and eateries, up in the rolling green foothills and the hinterland or closer to the beach,” says Tim, adding that the town now has its own Facebook page.

“As for holiday rentals, we can cater for couples right up to big family reunions in multi-million dollar homes with lots of room. Our biggest place fits 18 people and when you split

the costs up between a big group or a few families, it’s very good value.”

Berry, 121 Queen Street, Berry. Call 4464 1600 or go to eldersberry.com.au. For holiday rentals call Berry Getaways on 4464 1793 or go to berrygetaways.com.au.

A new room with a view

CLOSER to home in the heart of Bateman’s Bay, the newly renovated Mariners Waterfront Hotel and Motel offers high-quality rooms with incredible views and delicious gastropub-style food in the bar and bistro.

“It’s the view that really makes it what it is,” says licensee Heath Bailey. “You can walk out on to your balcony and the water’s right in front of you, and the fact that there’s a bistro and bar on site means you don’t have to venture away too far to experience what the town has to offer.”

Bateman’s Bay is famous for its oysters and Heath assures us the Mariners Waterfront only ever gets theirs from local farms.

THE PERFECT PLACE…

Stony Creek Farm B&B is located two and half hours from Canberra and 10 minutes north of Bega on the stunning Sapphire Coast region of NSW. A small rural holding with established gardens, orchards and bountiful kitchen garden.

Restored and revamped with a slant of ‘industrial country design’ to the 1890s historic farmhouse is complimented with antiques and collectibles to reminisce.

Stroll through the garden and reflect on the sculptures or just soak up the view set against the Mumbulla Mountain backdrop and the sheoaks of the Brogo river.

• The owners are striving for a sustainable lifestyle by growing their own fresh food supplemented with the region’s famous dairy, seafood, fruit and vegetables and specialty products such as local oysters, full cream jersey milk and cured pantry delicacies.

• Accommodation – under the same high pitched roof and chimney line of the weatherboard homestead.

• Two private and luxurious air-conditioned queen sized bedroom areas each with full sized bathrooms, one with freestanding bath and the other with a walk in contemporary shower.

• Private verandahs to views of Mumbulla Mountain and misty valleys - provides a stunning backdrop to enjoy home cooked breakfasts made from fresh organic local product. Breakfast on own verandah, in room or in the farmstyle kitchen with wood fire heater… in the cooler months.

• Local Seafood platters or dinners for two can be provided by prior arrangement

• Enjoy a glass of wine or beer on your verandah or by the firepit

“For our food, we use as much produce from the local area as we can; we always get our eggs from a local farmer, and the same goes for things like tomatoes and other vegetables,” he says.

Its main-street location makes it easy for guests to enjoy everything the town has to offer, and with the Bay itself right outside the door, they can hop on one of the many fishing charters or cruise boats like the “Merinda”, which chugs up the river to Nelligen and out to the Tollgate Islands daily.

Mariners Waterfront Hotel, 31 Orient Street, Bateman’s Bay. Call 4472 6222 or go to marinerswaterfront.com.au

Australia’s most beautiful valley

4465 1912 www.kangaroovalleyhorseriding.com

Nestled in the heart of Kangaroo Valley and inspired by its uniqueness, charm and character, Valley Vintage is committed to providing you pieces possessing these qualities. An eclectic range to add warmth and character to your home.

Thursday-Monday 10am-4pm 165 Moss Vale Rd Kangaroo Valley Ph: 4465 2792

109a Tallowa Dam Rd, Kangaroo Valley Phone 02 4465 2210 niokaestate@gmail.com

The perfect destination for a winter break

Your winter escape awaits you, only 2.5 hours drive from Canberra. Enjoy superb cafes and fine dining, gourmet delicatessens and award winning wineries. Relax on a bush walk or pamper yourself in a local

Annual Scarecrow Festival –June long weekend

day spa. Explore our eclectic range of shops, from contemporary and retro fashion and accessories, chic homewares, antique furniture, art and pottery galleries, book store, surf shop, gifts and more.

Markets are held in the village on the first Saturday of every month.

Find us on Facebook - Milton South Coast NSW • www.miltonnsw.info

towards the south coast

Relaxing beside the harbour

JUST up the road from Berry on the southern fringe of the Illawarra is Kiama, a seaside community on a rocky stretch of coastline marked by secluded beaches at the foot of steep, fertile hills and home to Australia’s most famous blowhole, which thrills (and drenches) onlookers when it shoots water up to 25m in the air.

A short walk from the blowhole is Kiama’s premier hotel and function venue, the Sebel Harbourside, a mix of historical buildings and new occupying a commanding position on the water’s edge with 180-degree views.

The Sebel’s Blue Diamond Bar and Bistro offers a relaxed lunch and dinner option with gourmet pizzas, tapas and contemporary Australian cuisine seven days a week, with tables out in the garden courtyard or indoors overlooking the harbour, and as a wedding venue, the Sebel has everything.

The hotel has 80 stylish, self-contained guest rooms with either ocean, garden or village views, those with two bedrooms featuring a huge entertainment balcony, full size fridge and separate dining area.

Barlings Beach Holiday Park

The Sebel Harbourside won two South Coast Tourism Awards last year, for both its restaurant and accommodation, and is offering “CityNews” readers an exclusive 10 per cent discount.

The Sebel Harbourside, 31 Shoalhaven Street, Kiama. Call 4230 7500 or go to sebelharboursidekiama.com.au

SOUTH of Bateman’s Bay, between Guerilla Bay and Tomakin, is a long row of massive palms that marks Barlings Beach Holiday Park , set on its own ninehectare patch of the Eurobodalla coastline.

Guests can swim, sunbathe, build sandcastles or fly a kite on the sheltered beach right in front of the park, and the rocky shoreline at its north end is perfect for scrambling around and exploring rock pools.

“The park is a great base to explore what the Eurobodalla Coast has to offer, including whales in late winter and in spring, seals and dolphins,” says one of Barlings Beach Holiday Park’s owners, Lisa Schrier.

“As it is located in a marine park, it is an ideal location

for the scuba diver or snorkeler. If you prefer to catch the fish instead of swimming amongst them, you could try one of the many deep-sea fishing charters that the area has to offer, or even put your boat or canoe in at the local boat ramp and discover the waterways at your own pace.”

The historical village of Mogo, home to a well regarded zoo, is just down the road while Moruya, which offers skydiving, scenic flights, weekend markets and a racecourse, is less than 20km away.

Barlings Beach Holiday Park, 1939 George Bass Drive, Rosedale. Call 4471 7313 or go to barlingsbeach.com

and include

and

• Enjoy world class birdwatching, abundant wildlife and magnificent

towards the south coast / advertising feature

Destination of desire

BERRY’s multi-award-winning retirement village, The Arbour, is increasingly a retirement destination for those from Canberra.

The picturesque Berry region has a temperate climate, country and coastal appeal and there is a sophisticated and engaged local community. Sydney and Canberra remain readily accessible from Berry, which is served by the Sydney suburban rail network.

The village has been nominated as a National Finalist in the Property Council of Australia awards for 2014.

In its final year of construction and has been acclaimed throughout the industry for

its innovative and ground-breaking design of homes that suit active and engaged retirees, but also adapt as they age.

Owner John Leo notes that the highlight of all the Awards was when architect Prof John Ballinger and his wife Susan moved in 12 months after the professor discovered The Arbour as part of a judging panel.

New resident of nine months, Rosemary Halford, relished the opportunity to downsize and alleviate the maintenance burden of her large Canberra home.

The best surprise of all was the community she discovered at The Arbour, a community of people that like Rosemary who were

Warm welcome for winter

NESTLED at the foot of the Budawangs, surrounded by the green pastures of dairy farms, yet only minutes from some of the most beautiful white sand surfing beaches, the sweet, south-coast town of Milton promises to be a great destination for a winter break.

Only 2.5 hours’ drive from Canberra, it offers a broad range of accommodation options from caravan parks to motels; self contained cottages to bed-andbreakfast venues.

Whether it is enjoying one of a number of bushwalks of varying degrees of difficulty, self pampering in a local day spa, relaxing in front of the fire, or indulging in some retail therapy, Milton is a good choice for a winter break.

In The Heart of Kangaroo Valley

Planning a break? Whether you are looking for a village house, coastal shack or bush retreat Berry Getaways can find the right property for you.

Along the main street there is an eclectic range of shops including contemporary and retro fashion and accessories, chic homewares, antique furniture, art and pottery galleries, a book store, a surf shop and more. The town is blessed with cafes, as well as fine dining restaurants, that offer a variety of cuisines plus gourmet delicatessens and award-winning wineries nearby.

Markets are held in the village on the first Saturday of every month and on the Saturday of the June long weekend, Milton will host the annual Scarecrow Festival which, with this year’s nautical theme, will see the town and surrounding districts brimming with colourful, seafaring scarecrows and lots of fun activities.

More information from the Milton South Coast NSW Facebook page or visitnsw. com/Miltona

choosing to positively embrace passions and opportunities in their retirement. Rosemary, at 67, had often felt too young for other retirement villages she had visited, whereas she fitted right into The Arbour.

“The homes are very private which gives you the space and peace that you sometimes need but the opportunities to socialise and pursue your interests are all readily available.”

The Arbour welcomes visitors and conducts daily tours. More information at thearbourberry.com.au or call Michael Sullivan on 1300 727034.

camping by the lagoon

DOWN on the Sapphire Coast, 15 minutes drive north of Tathra, lies the peaceful Tanja Lagoon Camp, surrounded on all sides by the native forests of Mimosa Rocks National Park and home to an abundance of wildlife.

Accommodation is in luxurious safari tents, each resting on its own spacious deck beside the lagoon’s calm waters, with former wilderness guides Sam Bright and Lorraine Hunt on hand to assist guests as camp hosts.

They’re not gilding the lily when they say the tents are luxurious, either. Each one has an ensuite bathroom, handcrafted queen-size bed, lounge area with sofa and writing desk, kitchen with fridge and freezer, microwave and cooking equipment, as well as a gas barbecue with hotplate, grill, oven chamber and side burner.

“You will have a great experience if all you want to do is breathe in the air and soak up your surroundings, but there are plenty of other things to do,” says Sam.

“You could canoe across the lagoon to Middle Beach, swim at glorious Bithry Inlet, try out the Tathra mountain bike tracks, go for a bushwalk, kayak to the Wapengo oyster farms and buy some fresh oysters, taste the Mimosa Wines or visit the local art galleries.”

Tanja Lagoon Camp, 142 Haighs Road, Tanja. Call 6494 0123 or go to tanjalagooncamp.com.au

Our holiday houses range from exclusive upmarket retreats with all the luxuries to family friendly homes. Give our office a call to discuss your needs.

Supported by Gungahlin’s newer suburbs around it, Mitchell has more to offer than ever before. “CityNews” looks at some of the top businesses operating out of the northside’s commercial hub...

The colour full place for paint

THE Paint Place is the place to go for colour advice from the experts, as well as all the main brands, including Haymes, Wattyl, Dulux, Porters and Taubmans, say owners Rachel and Mishy Hetenyi.

“As well as paints, we also have a large wallpaper selection, and plenty of inspiration throughout the store,” says Rachel. “With our staff, we have more than 80 years’ experience between us so we’re wellplaced to offer the best advice.”

The Paint Place in Mitchell won the Paint Place Store of the Year in 2013, and the Master

Painters’ Association’s Paint Store of the Year.

“Our beautiful purpose-built store has an area dedicated to retail customers, with a big colour area and a table so you can really spread out,” Rachel says.

The Paint Place also offers an interior design service.

“Our goal is to ensure that every customer gets the best advice and the right colour every time, as well as the right products to do their job.”

Paint Place, 85 Hoskins Street, Mitchell. Call 6241 7811

Cheerleaders with the right attitude

WITH a focus on attitude as well as physical skills, Sirens Cheerleaders trains males and females of all ages to be great cheerleaders, says coach Rianna Macdougall.

“Cheerleaders are hard-working athletes who can stunt, jump, tumble and dance, role models with the positive, enthusiastic and supportive attitude a real cheerleader embodies,” she says.

“Sirens Cheerleaders took off in Canberra in 2011 and is expanding its program rapidly.

Dress for school days

“We now have our very own fully equipped cheer gym in Mitchell.

“We are constantly adding squads, coaches, upgrading our gym, sourcing cool new merch, performing at bigger and better events, bringing home trophies, planning international trips and always trying to improve the way we do things!”

Sirens Cheerleaders, 5 Pelle Street, Mitchell, cheerleadersaustralia.com.au

Savvy School Wear is the one-stop-shop for school uniforms, with expert staff offering advice and great service, says owner Anna Petridis.

“We’re a family-run business that has expanded from a small store in Erindale to Tuggeranong, Queanbeyan and Mitchell,” says Anna.

“We also have a fabulous new store that’s just minutes from Gungahlin with free parking.”

Savvy School Wear specialises in everything school uniform-related, including school shirts, polo shirts, shorts, trousers, tracksuits and trackpants, dresses and pinafores, bags, ties, hats, jumpers, jackets and skirts, and only sells the official uniforms approved by the school.

“We service most of Canberra’s schools and with winter fast approaching, come in and see one of our friendly and expert staff for your winter school uniforms,” Anna says.

Savvy School Wear, 5/83 Lysaght Street, Mitchell. Call 6162 1032

BUNGENDORE officially became a town in 1837, only 12 years after English explorer Alan Cunningham became the first European to lay eyes on the area. The railway came through in 1885, and by then the village was home to about 700 people and it was put up as a possible candidate to become the national capital. Luckily for the current residents and the many visitors who share their love of its rural charm, that didn’t happen.

A FEW years back, Bungendore got its own Community Bank through the successful initiative started by Bendigo Bank , which receives only half of the profits from the joint ventures it shares with communities all over Australia, including Bungendore and Braidwood.

“The other half goes to the local parent company, and then 80 per cent of that profit is given straight back to the community in the form of education grants, sponsorships to sporting organisations, and a lot of other ways, sometimes for small things that only cost 50 or 100 dollars, up to hundreds of thousands,” explains Bungendore branch manager Leigh Felton.

At the same time as providing a complete range of financial services, the bank’s community contributions so far have topped $1 million.

JUST around the corner on Ellenden Street at

33 is Cheryl Welsh’s legal practice Just Law. About a year ago, she had hired top conveyancer Robbie Freestone to cope with all the extra demand for their services from around the region, but demand for the firm’s legal expertise just keeps booming.

“We’ve just been talking about getting someone else again, because there’s still just so much work coming to us,” Cheryl says, explaining she has been getting more and more work as properties change hands in Braidwood, Goulburn, Tarago, Yass and Murrumbateman.

“It’s got to be the word of mouth,” she suggests. “People must have good things to say about us and the [real estate] agents must think we do good work, too, because they’re sending people, and there’s a few bank managers and other people around the place we get referrals from as well.”

A GREAT time for a trip out to Bungendore is on the third Sunday of the month, when the market@bungendore is on at the War Memorial Hall on Molonglo Street. There you can see a range of local arts and crafts all in the one place as well as fresh produce, musical instruments, toys, rugs, second-hand goods and various edible delights.

“The market@bungendore is a not-for-profit venture run by the pARTnership, a small group of Bungendore artists,” explains spokesperson Lyn Randall.

“The income from stall hire is used to promote the market and also to help the group to promote their work. Entry is by gold coin donation and this money is donated to the Bungendore War Memorial Hall Restoration Fund to assist with the maintenance of the hall.”

The market@bungendore.

best of historic Bungendore and beyond

is Food Lovers Market , an incredibly diverse emporium of fresh, local produce, which also functions as a delicatessen, art gallery and coffee shop with tasty food, gelato and some of the town’s best coffee.

“We’ve got a lot going on,” agrees owner Tony Booth, picking up an apple and explaining he only sells fruit that’s grown and packed the natural way without tricks to improve its appearance and comes from places within a few hours’ drive like Young and Leeton.

“First and foremost, Food Lovers Market is about supporting local producers, so it’s local first, Australian second, particularly in terms of the fresh produce,” he says.

“Another overriding requirement for our business was that everything had to be good quality – the deli’s got some overseas influences, because obviously you’ve got hundreds of years of experience in places like Italy and Spain and you can’t beat that – and the other overriding requirements were we had to have good variety and good prices.”

AROUND the corner on Malbon Street is the famous Bungendore Wood Works, whose cafe is almost as highly regarded among Canberrans as the gallery itself.

“I’d like to think we’re becoming a bit of an institution out here,” says Cafe Wood Works owner Eric Dangerfield. “We’ve been here 13 years, and consistency is what we’re all about.”

Whether it’s for a quick pitstop on the way to or from the coast, a special sit-down dining experience or a big function, Eric says the Wood Works Cafe is ready to exceed the expectations of Canberrans.

MOJO Constructions is another business that reflects Bungendore’s country pride.

“We’re a diverse and versatile construction company, so we can cater for all construction needs,” says owner Mark Osarek, adding that he’s happy to provide obligation-free quotes.

“We run a fast, friendly and reliable service with a focus on professionalism and quality.”

…and beyond

JUST up the road from Bungendore to the north of Canberra lies Wamboin, where you can find Annie’s Collectables open on weekends and public holidays (other times by appointment).

“The most common reaction from first time visitors to Annie’s Collectables is: ‘Wow’,” says owner Joyce Nordsvan.

“They are surprised and impressed by the extensive range of affordable antiques and collectables, including our extensive collections of Carlton Ware, uranium glass, Shelley, Wedgwood, Doulton, crystal, silver and fantastic coloured glass, as well as a lovely selection of vintage clothing and jewellery.”

ONLY a few rolling hills away in the other direction is Braidwood, which celebrates its 175th birthday this year, starting on April 27 with a Foundation Day Family Picnic in Ryrie Park.

“The event will feature the Mayor of Palerang unveiling the Heritage Path, which traces the 175 years’ history of Braidwood, through engraved paving stones,” says Judit Kovacs from Braidwood Heritage Society.

Then on May 3 a parade rolls through town from 1pm, with the NSW Governor Marie Bashir doing the honours.

“The parade will proceed up on Wallace Street [the Kings Highway], which will be closed to traffic with diversions in place, and will include a number of floats, a parade of vintage cars, horse-drawn carriages, families in

costumes that trace their history back to the beginning, and a parade of children from Braidwood Central School, forming a timeline of Braidwood’s 175-year history,” Judit explains, adding that Ryrie Park will also host a heritage market with much more to peruse than the regular monthly markets held there.

She also advises that it will be worth having a look at the exhibition of works entered in the Heritage Art Prize Award, which is judged by ACT Museums and Galleries director Shane Breynard and presented by the Governor.

“Winners of each category (youth and adult) will be announced at the opening of the exhibitions on May 2, the youth exhibition at St Bede’s Primary School at 5pm and the main exhibition at the National Theatre at 6pm, followed by a reception at the BRAG Arts Centre.”

The Heritage Art Prize comes with a $3000 sweetener for adults and $1250 for youth prizes, put up by the Braidwood and Bungendore Community Banks, and is open to artists living in postcodes 2621 and 2622 only (artists who aren’t blow-ins apply to bragart.com.au by April 14).

Festival of Braidwood. Call Judit Kovacs on 4842 1119 or go to festivalofbraidwood.org.au

arts & entertainment

The mystifying art of unknown Elioth Gruner

By Helen Musa

THE Canberra Museum and Gallery can breathe easy – at long last it has a major exhibition.

The opening of “Elioth Gruner: The Texture of Light”, curated by senior gallery staffer Deborah Clark, recently saw the gallery packed with arts identities, not least the reclusive Cooma-based artist Imants Tillers and the event-shy director of the National Gallery of Australia, Ron Radford, who was on hand to talk about the Sydney landscape painter he very much admired, but whose reputation he said had deteriorated since his death in 1939.

That is the mystery about Gruner, known among the cognoscenti as one of the finest brush technicians that Australia has ever seen – indeed, Clark believes he outclasses far more famous Australian painters – he is almost unknown to the wider public. How could this be? Gruner’s importance had been recognised by his inclusion in the London Academy show mounted by the NGA last year and clearly, Radford remarked, it was “high time for a Gruner exhibition”. In his day at least, “his works were always loved by the general public” and the director praised his concern with light and the way, in many later paintings, “Gruner loved to emphasise the folds of the land” which he said were “sculptured by light”.

Visitors to this show will see his point. There are more than 30 paintings of the south coast and the Southern Highlands,

Yass and the Murrumbidgee River valley, and Cooma and the Monaro plateau.

Noting that the Art Gallery of NSW had hitherto been the only gallery regularly showing Gruner, with its last major show in 1983, making a rare loan to CMAG of their 1919 destination piece, “Spring Frost” quite a coup. It seemed all the more mysterious that the reputation of such a considerable artist

LUXURY COACH TO LYRIC THEATRE, SYDNEY

should have declined. “It doesn’t quite fit,” Radford said.

Curator Clark’s enthusiasm is infectious.

“He is a bloody marvellous painter” she tells “CityNews” as she chronicles Gruner’s life, from his birth in NZ, through his cashstarved years studying part time, his artistic epiphany as he discovered plein air at Emu Plains and his growing profile via the Society

ABOVE: Gruner’s “Murrumbidgee Ranges”, 1934… on display at the Canberra Museum and Gallery.

LEFT: Gruner’s “Weetangera, Canberra”, 1937.

of Artists and the Macquarie Galleries.

His devotion to his mother, his revolutionising visit to Europe in 1923 after her death, his excursions into the backblocks of Australia including a camping site on the periphery of pre-lake Canberra, and his private sexual orientation that he was largely obliged to conceal – Clark speaks of all of these as if she knew him intimately.

That’s hardly surprising, given that a large part of the six years since she started working at the Canberra Museum and Gallery have been devoted to the research behind this show where, among 70 paintings, no fewer

than 37 are of Canberra’s immediate region.

Clark perceives in his work a transformation, probably deriving from his encounters with modernism in Europe.

“From this time on,” she says, his paintings become almost abstract, the colour tone changes, things become flatter.

“I think it’s a really truthful representation of the regional characteristics of the national landscape.”

“Elioth Gruner: The Texture of Light”, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Civic Square, until June 22.

Folk musicians in the key of slack

By Helen Musa

THE word “ukelele” derives from two Hawaiian words meaning “flea” and “jump”.

As well, Hawaiian uke and slackkey guitar maestro, Jeff Peterson, tells me, we are all pronouncing it the wrong way – it should sound more like “ookoolaylay” and its sound resembles that of a jumping flea.

You’ll be able to pick up this and other useful facts and skills if you join Peterson’s two-day masterclass on April 16 and 17 in the lead up to the National Folk Festival.

His third visit, he’ll also be playing his guitar on the festival stage with Australian shakuhachi (Japanese

bamboo flute) master, Riley Lee, cofounder of the drumming ensemble Taikoz.

While Peterson still lives in a ranch on the island of Maui surrounded by imported eucalyptus trees that “give it the feel of the Canberra region”, Lee lives in Manly, but he comes from Hawaii, moving to Australia years ago when Sydney University offered him a Ph.D. scholarship.

The shakuhachi is an ancient instrument of great refinement and intensity in performance, but the slack-key guitar, of which Peterson is the acknowledged world master, involves loosening the keys in a way that allowed the Hawaiians to play in the “Aloha spirit”.

SATURDAY 21ST JUNE 2014

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Traditional music on the islands involved, he says, “mainly a lot of percussion and chanting, which was intense and powerful”, but the guitar was more relaxed, as Hawaiians adopted what is known as the “nahenahe” style of singing, soothing, but beautiful, with a very strong quality.

But don’t Peterson and Lee occupy two ends of the musical spectrum – relaxation and intensity?

“Just think of the relaxing soothing quality of the slack-key and think of the way the shakuhachi can be very lyrical and its emotions very close to the human voice,” Peterson suggests.

Lee confirms this, by phone from Manly, also making the point that traditionally, stringed instruments “just go together”, with the guitar, for instance, providing a rhythmical and harmonic background to the more ethereal sound of the flute.

This accounts for the enormous

success of the album he and Peterson put down together a few years ago – “Bamboo Slack Key”.

While he’s in town, Lee will be holding breathing workshops, but his main focus right now is helping to organise Taikoz’s first tour of the US, playing Honolulu, Santa Rosa, Sacramento and the World Taiko Gathering in Los Angeles.

Peterson says that while he will be playing the guitar in his concerts with Lee, “just for fun”, he might play the ukelele as well.

So why is there a world-wide craze for the uke, including here in Canberra?

“There’s something very special about an instrument that you can pick up and start strumming,” he says. “It’s one of the most userfriendly instruments in the world, it brings people together.”

arts in the city

Composer gets a hearing in Washington

CANBERRA com -

poser, Jes Grixti, tells us his music has been selected to be performed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, strangely, as part of the European Month of Culture.

“Being a professional composer is not for everyone, that’s for sure,” he says in the understatement of the week.

THE National Capital Orchestra is describing itself as “Canberra’s other symphony orchestra”. Its first concert of the year will feature Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and a marimba concerto composed by Eric Ewazen, with young Canberra-trained percussion virtuoso, Veronica Bailey, as soloist. The Q, Queanbeyan, 3pm, April 13. Bookings to 6285 6290 or theq.net.au

Webster, whose work is tied to outdoor experiences. As gallery manager Annika Harding puts it, he has “a refreshing approach to painting as part of a crossdisciplinary art practice”. ANCA Gallery, 1 Rosevear Street, Dickson, noon-5pm, Wednesday to Sunday, April 9-27.

“SNACK” is a free Tuggeranong Arts Centre slam poetry workshop project, April 14-17, for young people aged 14-18. Expressions of interest are essential to TCA’s community cultural inclusion officer, Jorge Bagnini, at ccip@tuggeranongarts.com or 6293 1443.

MANAGEMENT at Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre, is justifiably crowing at figures released in its annual report showing an increase in revenue to artists through the centre’s programs, with a total of $160,000 going directly to artists, writers and curators in 2013.

THAT formidable ARIA-winning Canberra pianist and composer, Sally Whitwell, will soon be performing the Australian premiere of the “Sonetti Lussuriosi” by Michael Nyman then hopping on a plane to Los Angeles to play with Philip Glass. But first, she’s presenting “In Her Shoes: music by women composers”, mark III, featuring the Acacia Quartet, known for recording the complete quartets of Elena Kats-Chernin. At All Saints Anglican Church, Cowper Street, Ainslie, 3pm, Sunday, April 13. Tickets at the door.

THE Oriana Chorale’s first concert for 2014 will be “Mirrors in Mirror: Music for Maundy Thursday”. Brett Weymark will be conducting the chorale, joined by youth choir, Kompactus, to perform Arvo Pärt’s 1990 “Berlin Mass”, interspersed with pieces by J.S. Bach, Schütz and Lotti, Eric Whitacre, Thompson and Górecki. Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, 7.30pm, Maundy Thursday, April 17, bookings to trybooking. com/80689 or orianachorale.com

“GHOST Forests” is a great title for the solo exhibition at ANCA Gallery by Jonathan

HELEN MUSA

‘Warts and All’ and well rehearsed

theatre

“Warts and All” Written, produced and directed by Bruce Hoogendoorn At Canberra Theatre Courtyard Studio until April 12.

Reviewed by Simone Penkethman

“WARTS and All” is a well rehearsed and strongly performed new comedy by prolific local playwright, Bruce Hoogendoorn.

It’s delivered with unpretentious charm by a strong cast led by two rival grandmothers. Oliver Baudert in drag is perfect as Alice, a boastful old woman who would go to the opening of a hat box. Helen Vaughan-Roberts’ Margaret is dry, wry and played with impeccable timing. The relationship between Margaret and her depressed teenage grandson Simon (Will Huang) is strong, funny and real.

The intergenerational ghost story tackles themes of family pride, personal identity and reconciliation with the past. While visiting his grandmother because he is ill, depressed and has just failed school, Simon is in turn visited by the amnesic ghost of a sports coach (Rob De Fries).

This haunting leads Simon on a quest through family history during which he meets a high-achieving love interest, solves a 70-year-old family mystery and begins his own recovery.

Hoogendoorn is an insightful and compassionate writer whose characters are as likeable as they are funny. There is nothing groundbreaking about his style of drawing room comedy, but he does it well. The lighting and set are adequate

but spare and the direction is simple, highlighting the committed cast’s engaging and enjoyable performances.

“Warts and All” is suitable for all ages, local, original, funny and affordable – what’s not to like?

& entertainment reviews

Small experience, but big on quality

It was so good that my friend returned the next day (without me) to order her very own sausage penne, loving every single bite.

FOOD envy. It happens to the best of us.

You’re at a restaurant and order what you’re convinced is the most delish dish on the menu only to discover, when your dear friend lets you sample theirs, that they’ve got more inspiring food.

This happened recently to a friend of mine at Da Rosario on London Circuit, the city’s newest Italian place, when she sampled my sausage penne. It was so good that my friend returned the next day (without me) to order her very own sausage penne, loving every single bite.

Da Rosario is modelled after the little pizzerias in Italy where you can enjoy a coffee or wine while grabbing your weekly fix of salami and bread. So it’s tiny by design.

Quality of food is high on the menu at Da Rosario, an Italian grocer-type operation. It’s so small you can’t dine inside and Da Rosario uses the kitchen of its big brother next door, Mezzalira, to prepare the food. The main man at the helm is Vince, one of the Trimboli brothers.

My sausage penne, from the “pasta e zuppa” part of the menu, smashed it ($17). It came with crumbled bits of Calabrese sausage, cavolo nero (legendary Tuscan cabbage), Cinzano bianco vermouth and shaved pecorino. The dish was the right size (some establishments prefer quantity over quality with pasta) and gorgeous.

Although my friend was suffering from food envy this didn’t mean she didn’t adore her panini ($10), made with slow-roasted, deboned and rolled Berkshire pork and stuffed with rosemary and thyme, grilled eggplant and baby cos. It was served on a wooden board and the perfect size for those who want something tasty at lunch that isn’t

too large or heavy.

The wood-fired pizzas are no doubt fab and, of course, you can enjoy antipasti.

The menu also offers rotating specials. Breakfasts are simple and include small passionfruit tarts. Savoury breakfast options roll out soon and don’t forget you can take away.

At Da Rosario it’s fun to sit on stools on the sidewalk pavement in an oh-so-cosmopolitan kind of way.

The service was friendly, efficient and the waiters knowledgeable on product (it drives me bonkers when I ask about a dish and am greeted by a waiter shrugging their shoulders because they haven’t a clue).

Our waiter suggested we try the tiramisu, which comes in a small glass ($10) and I really wanted to but couldn’t fit it in. Next time. And there will be a next time.

Da Rosario Pizzicheria, Melbourne Building, 59 London Circuit, Civic.

WENDY JOHNSON

Adventurous study in naivety

theatre

“Johnny Castellano is Mine” By Emma Gibson, directed by Karla Conway At The Street Theatre until April 12. Reviewed by Joe Woodward

“JOHNNY Castellano is Mine” is a study in naivety; a sculptural fantasia touching on inner powers through which the human body and psyche act as a conduit only to be left devastated.

Gibson’s play strips a person down to the layers below all pretence and lays bare the yearnings and magnetism that propels personal action into the realms of the grotesque. Yet in its compelling simplicity, the production maintains a beautiful aesthetic in its poetic delivery and visual display.

This achievement is the result of an effective collaboration between The Street Theatre and Canberra Youth Theatre. Karla Conway’s direction is bold, adventurous and very challenging for the lone actor, Alison Plevey. The design by Samantha Pickering is sparse yet totally integrated with the movement of the actor. Gibson’s script displays maturity and surety.

The performance style reflects thousands of isolated moments of a strain in one’s life; stopped and restarted as thoughts find physical form in photographs. This has the effect of taking the audience away from naturalistic associations and allowing personal reflections to be embedded into the experience. It goes some way towards the highest ideals in theatre while still needing time to refine itself by playing and meeting with audiences.

La Scala Italian Restaurant

Farce and fantasy amid the nostalgia

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (M)

INSPIRED by “The World of Yesterday”, the autobiographical memoir by Stefan Zweig (1881-1942), writer/director Wes Anderson brings his unique view of people and events to this combination of upper-crust manners and values with farce, fantasy and nostalgia.

In the early 1930s, concierge Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) rules a Grande Luxe Hotel on the top of an eastern European mountain.

In the 1960s, in an almost deserted dining room, Moustafa (F Murray Abraham) tells a writer (Jude Law) about his life as apprentice hotel lobby boy Zero (Tony Revelori) in 1932 and the hotel’s slow decay.

Wealthy lady guests, especially Madame D (Tilda Swinton, wearing ageing make-up reputed to have taken several hours to get right) valued Gustave’s boudoir talents. Madame D, found dead in suspicious circumstances, owned the hotel. The plot, leading Gustave and his apprentice through a string of adventures, develops when, to the fury of her son Dmitri (Adrien Brody), it transpires that Gustave, having pleasured her whenever she was in residence, is her sole heir.

Never allowing the subtle pungency of its perceptive observations to divert its constant flow of comedy, Anderson deftly guides the film among class distinctions, prison life, a jailbreak, high life on a high mountain, hot pursuit on skis, the village patisseur’s daughter, political life, a severed head, a priceless painting, useful friends in high places and more.

Its intelligent humour applies a fresh gloss to familiar situations. A one-sheet poster in cinema foyers listing its great supporting cast could become a collector’s item.

At Palace Electric and Hoyts

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (M)

THIS is the sequel that writers Christopher Markus and Steven McFeely warned in 2012 was coming down the Pike. A further

Dougal Macdonald cinema

sequel is promised for May 2016. Oh, my god!

Even reviewers are permitted personal likes and dislikes. I avoided “CapAm 1” and if anything else had been opening on the day “CapAm: Winter Soldier” opened, I’d have shunned that as well. I don’t enjoy boring films. “Winter Soldier” did that, big time.

The good guys work for spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D, commanded by Nick (Samuel L Jackson). HYDRA is a bunch of moles inside SHIELD led by Pierce (Robert Redford) and devoted to the proposition that safety is better than freedom.

Above DC, three Helicarriers hover to pre-emptively deal with threats. On the way to the SHIELD office, Steve Rogers a.k.a Captain America (Chris Evans) and Romanoff a.k.a Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) get ambushed by the winter soldier whom Steve recognises as his former World War II comrade-in-arms Bucky.

And it’s on for young and old, violent, noisy, fatuous, predictable, flaccid tensions, American cultural colonialism with Uncle Sam’s artistic acolytes working their creatively obese butts off to inhale your dollars. Who needs it?

At all cinemas

“The Lego Movie” (PG)

“THE Lego Movie” has already raked in more than $A400 million worldwide. A sequel is presently assembling for May, 2017 release.

For this Australian-made animated adventure comedy, co-directors and writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller applied CG and stop-motion techniques to create and manipulate images from Lego pieces.

Will Ferrell voice-overs tyrannical Lord Business and plays the Man Upstairs, a dad enchanted by Lego’s versatility in challenging young minds to build all manner of things.

Set in the heart of Canberra City, Tazé’s consistently award winning restaurant offers a delicious range of Mediterranean cuisine in a beautiful, modern environment. Book now to hold a corporate function or enjoy an intimate dinner. No matter what size your group may be, the friendly Tazé team will look after you!

Construction worker Emmett (Chris Pratt) is the Special, who finds the Piece of Resistance, the only weapon capable of stopping the Kragle, Lord Business’s superweapon.

Imaginative fantasy for all ages, the film posits only one rule about using Lego. Throw away the manual. Lord and Miller obey that rule enthusiastically, using Lego to form a myriad of colourful, inventive, dramatic creations and animated characters including Gandalf, Batman, Abraham Lincoln, Shakespeare, Superman, Wonder Woman, Good Cop/Bad Cop, C3PO and Han Solo. In a world where innocence and optimism are basic blocks of civilised behaviour, nothing scares LegoLanders more than Superglue. Think about that, all you dads.

At all cinemas

Joanne Madeline Moore

your week in the stars – April 14-20, 2014

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Relationship dramas are likely as the Lunar Eclipse, Uranus and Pluto stir up partnership problems. You’re feeling fiery and feisty, but resist the temptation to start arguments and arouse opposition in others. Be extra careful what you say on Wednesday, as hasty words can cut like a knife, and loved ones aren’t in the mood to forgive and forget! So choose your words wisely.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

Bulls - have you got any bad habits you’ve been trying to kick? The Lunar Eclipse shines a bright spotlight on dietary or lifestyle choices that may be compromising your health and vitality. You’re in a friendly and talkative mood on Good Friday, as you mix and mingle, socialise and circulate. You’re also keen to over-indulge in some delicious food and yummy Easter treats!

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

This week you’ll be easily distracted, as your mercurial mind jumps all over the place. The Lunar Eclipse fires up your entertainment zone so it’s time to be a gregarious Gemini as you shop, see a movie, go to a concert, hit the clubs or party with friends. Mercury/Mars aspects help you communicate with extra power and passion, but not everyone will like what you’ve got to say!

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

Tuesday’s Lunar Eclipse highlights your home zone so be on domestic drama alert and realise that emotions will be running high, and you’re likely to blow things way out of proportion. Get set for a fabulous Good Friday as the stars favour eating, drinking, socialising, travelling and hanging out with loved ones. Time for busy Crabs to de-stress and have some holiday fun.

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Lions aren’t usually domesticated creatures (you prefer to pour your energy into shining on the public stage). But, with the Moon and Saturn hooking up your home zone, it’s time to tackle DIY jobs that you’ve been putting on the backburner. If you are travelling over the Easter break (locally, interstate or overseas) then allow yourself plenty of time as mix-ups and delays are likely.

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

This week will work best if you multi-task and mix things up. Avoid making major financial decisions, as you are likely to skip over important details. Nervous energy and stress levels are high so pace yourself. Don’t be a holiday hermit. Group activities and social networking are favoured but don’t assume you know what a loved one is thinking – you may be way off the mark.

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

The Lunar Eclipse is likely to trigger some relationship rumbles. Financial negotiations are favoured on Friday – as long as you have done your homework and have your business hat on. Over the weekend you’re in the mood to indulge your sweet tooth, as discipline flies out the window and you overdose on too many hot cross buns and chocolate Easter eggs. Enjoy!

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

Friday’s stars are fabulous for Scorpio flights of fancy as you explore and experiment, go on a grand adventure, or fall passionately in love! Creativity and children are also highlighted. If you are too set in your ways then you’re in for an unsettling Saturday and Sunday, as Uranus and Jupiter disrupt your usual routine. The more flexible you are, the better the weekend will be.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

The Lunar Eclipse stimulates your ‘kids zone’ so expect a tricky time, as children and teenagers shift into hyperactive mode. Holiday hijinks are highlighted on Friday, as you relax and enjoy socialising with family and friends. You have a talent for putting your foot firmly in your mouth (especially this weekend) but are people ready for your special brand of Sagittarian truth serum?

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Conscientious Capricorn – when trying to juggle professional projects and personal matters, compromise is the key. If you try to do everything 100% perfectly, you’ll just end up exhausted. Prepare for some upheaval on the weekend, as unpredictable Uranus shakes things up on the home front. If you’ve been stuck in a domestic rut, it might be just what the doctor ordered.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

You’ll feel restless over the Easter break, as the Uranus/Pluto square stirs up your temperamental side. Just remember there’s a fine line between reckless behaviour (resulting in regrets) and spontaneous action (leading to success). If you keep busy with interesting and productive projects, then there’ll be less inclination for you to be disruptive and demanding.

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

The focus is on lust and loot as the Lunar Eclipse brings up unresolved issues. An intimate relationship could soar or crash depending on how committed you are, emotionally and financially. With Venus and Neptune both visiting your sign, you’re emanating some serious charisma and your appreciation of art, literature and music is especially high. Daily astrology updates at www.twitter.com/JoMadelineMoore Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2014

General knowledge crossword No. 449

Be

$150

Across

1 What was the given name of the Australian artist, ... Namatjira?

8 Which Australian aeronautical pioneer (1850-1915) contributed to the development of later aeroplanes, Lawrence ...?

9 What is a demand, as by applause, for a repetition of a song, etc?

10 Which people are authorised to examine accounts and the like?

11 Name an early term for silver

13 What do we call bodies of retainers in attendance upon important personages?

16 What is an alternative term for apothecaries?

19 Name another term for a bodily disorder

22 What is an extended pictorial representation of a landscape?

24 Name an alternative word for a serviette

25 Which ailment is caused by a vitamin B deficiency (4,4)?

26 Which other term describes a creek or stream?

Sudoku hard No. 124

Down

2 Which word indicates a relationship to the moon?

3 To run away to marry, is to do what?

4 What are cinemas also called?

5 What is a grating of crossed bars?

6 Name a positive particle present in every atomic nucleus

7 To be disinclined or reluctant, is to be what?

12 Name the unit of inheritance

14 Which Australian state is known as the “Apple Isle”?

15 Name one of the two bones of the forearm

17 Which place is said to be the abode of God, angels, etc?

18 Which eye condition is also known as near-sightedness?

20 What do we call a person who suffers from Hansen’s disease?

21 Where, perhaps, would a cowboy work?

23 What is the summit of anything?

Creating Sustainable Gardens

Happiness is… the Melbourne garden show

When visiting open gardens, look for simple ideas that have been used in parts of the garden.

SPECTACULAR is the only word to describe the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.

Classed as the largest flower show in the Southern Hemisphere it is easy to see why.

Set in the Carlton Gardens and the magnificent Royal Exhibition Building (constructed in 1880 and the first building in Australia to receive World Heritage listing), the most popular attraction is the Showcase Gardens. They are in two divisions; one for landscape designers to compete for prizes and promote their work, the other for “achievable” garden designs with ideas that can be translated into gardens for the average backyard.

The first category is similar to the showcase gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show; many of the ideas are totally impractical. However, ideas can be gleaned from maybe a part of the design, which could be used in your own garden.

Similarly, when visiting open gardens locally in the autumn, look for simple ideas that have been used in parts of the garden. This may be a gazebo, a water feature or simply an arrangement of plants for visual effect that would translate into your own garden.

One of the prize-winning gardens

I have shown here illustrates a happy medium between the two categories. Large round stepping stones lead the eye to a rather stunning orange coloured leaf sculpture. This provides partial shade to the timber deck. With the garden on a slope, dry stone walls have been used, which look more natural when used without cement. Areas of lawn for children to play and a good selection of hardy plants complete the picture.

ON the way home from Melbourne we visited Lambley Nursery at Ascot, near Creswick in north-east Victoria, which is recognised throughout the gardening world here and overseas for its spectacular collection of more than 1000 varieties of perennial plants.

Nurseryman David Glenn and his artist wife, Criss Canning, purchased a hectare of barren land surrounding an 1870s farmhouse in 2002 on the hot, dry, windswept plains of the central Victorian goldfields.

Having now inspected this nursery, its propagation of plants and the trial beds, I have no hesitation in recommending its plants/seeds ordered by mail or online.

More information at lambley.com.au

Jottings...

• Add a handful of blood and bone to every few barrow loads of raked leaves to your compost heap for quicker composting.

• Apply decking oil to outdoor timber furniture before winter.

• Plant a few bulbs of the same variety every week rather than all in one go. This will extend the flowering season.

• Place fine netting over fish ponds to stop autumn leaves accumulating on the bottom. Rotted leaves can kill fish.

u

u

u

u Courtyards and Pathways

u Architects requests are

Now divided into a series of “garden rooms”, the site has been transformed into a stunning display of perennial plants.

The couple breeds plants for tough, extreme conditions and most perennials live up to these conditions. For example, in the “Dry Garden” the plants are only watered three to four times a year.

I have voiced my opinion of the uncertainty of buying plants and bulbs from mail order houses.

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