Bella magazine (issue 13) by McPherson Media Group

Edition 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; February 2018

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Contents

Issue 13, February 2018

On the cover

“Be a cover girl, you must be joking.” Courtney Perry was having a great time being part of this issue's fashion shoot.

Inside 6

Here's a sneak peak to our April photo feature

Furry tales make for a better story

It was her turn to go out — and get killed

Kate Freshwater for the defence your honour

One day (times ﬁve) at a time

Rising above the statistics

Don't get cross, get ﬁt and get a life

It's vital you understand what your diet offers

A little catharsis called Chloe

There's no need to whisper, it's a story worth hearing

bella Summer hair and make-up

Behind a bella photoshoot

There's no single answer to multiple sclerosis

Canapés aren't just ﬁnger food...

They're supercalifragilisticexpialidociously Insta-famous

Give your garden the edge

She's got your ticket to ride

Lords Fashions stepping out in style

Dangerously diminutive — and loving it all

Hair today, gone tomorrow, hair again — and so on

Thirty Something

Suddenly Single

bella advertising Stuart Addicott stuart.addicott@riverineherald.com.au 5482 1111

Want more bella? facebook.com/bellamagazineechuca Instagram — @bellamagazineechuca bella.riverineherald.com.au

34 43

Photography: Luke Hemer, Stuart Walmsley Editorial design: Bella Considine, Brendan Cain Advertising design: Adele Dhillon, Brendan Cain, Bella Considine, Tanya Main Words: Sophie Baldwin, Andrew Mole, Tyla Harrington, Vivienne Duck, Kimberley Price

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HIS MONTH I want to do something different.

I want to encourage women to pay it forward. Because that's exactly what one bella reader did when I caught up with her for coffee recently. After telling me how great bella was, she gave me a book full of inspiring quotes from inspiring women. “Pay it forward,” she said with a smile. When she was a lot younger (and she's not old) a woman said kind things about her and encouraged her to pay it forward and ever since she has. Which is where I (and now you) come in. When someone does something remarkably kind and selfless it creates a chain reaction. If you Google 'pay it forward' it says: Respond to a person's kindness to oneself by being kind to someone else. It could be as simple as smiling to a stranger or helping someone carry their groceries to the car. Or it could be above and beyond that. After all, why should we limit kindness? In the spirit of paying it forward, here are three of my favourite quotes from the book I was given. A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done. Marge Piercy A woman is like a tea bag — you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water. Eleanor Roosevelt A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult. Melinda Gates Also if you were wondering what's going on with our cover, turn to pages 38 and 39 and check out our behind the scenes for a photo shoot feature, with tutorials on hair and makeup. And a sneak preview of next issue's amazing fashion photo shoot (on pages 6 and 7). We'll also be running a bella Fashion Competition at the Echuca Cup race meeting in March. You could win a two-night package for you and five friends at Tindarra Resort. Details on page 13. We also introduce you to LORDS Fashions, Bellus Hair Studio and Travel Counsellors. And a whole lot more. Enjoy.

Editor Tyla Harrington.

Furry tales make for a better story

Forget the fairy tales, Echuca's Alli Quinn didn't care a toss for Prince Charming on his valiant steed. But she would have been very interested in the horse. TYLA HARRINGTON talks to an animal lover who knows all too well the joy — and pain — of caring too much about every one of God's creatures.

ORGET PRINCESSES AND white knights — once upon a time, as a young girl, Alli Quinn's dreams had nothing to do with them.

Animals. Loving and helping all of them. That's what her dreams were made of. Today Alli, who lived in Echuca until she was 18, is all grown up and at 29 is living her childhood dream working as a zookeeper in Dubai. Her dreams have matured too. Now when she closes her eyes she sees black rhinos, not being classiﬁed as critically endangered, and for the bloody business of illegal poaching to stop. And while she still has a long career ahead of her, working with black rhinos at the Port Lympne Park in the UK, is deﬁnitely the highlight to date. It was there she worked with 14 black rhinos,

from babies to 33-year-old nanas.

around and cuddle cute animals.

“Regardless of the weather you have to keep working, rain, hail or shine and you have to be prepared for the odd accident, from “To be able to build a bond with the rhinos, being urinated or defecated on, to copping and get to know their individual personalia kick or a bite — the works. ties, was unbelievable.” “But at the end of the day it's all worth it.” It's a memory close to Alli's heart. Before being a zookeeper became a realEven more so now because of the crisis ity, and even before study was making that black rhinos face in the wild with illegal reality eventuate, Alli was a 14-year-old girl poaching. trying to get all the experience with animals that she could. “At present they are classiﬁed as critically “Being there for the new babies to arrive was such an amazing experience,” Alli said.

endangered, and if poaching continues within just 10 years you'll never see another one in the wild. It's heart breaking … and just for two horns.” Alli admits being a zookeeper is not a glamorous job by any stretch.

“I already knew long before I was 14 that I wanted to be a zookeeper so I started trying to gain experience anywhere I could. I started at the pound on a weekend cleaning and dog walking.

“When I was in high school I applied for work experience at Melbourne zoo. Then “Some days you come home with half a throughout university holidays I took every hayshed in your clothes,” she said. opportunity to apply and do placements “It's lots of hard work and heavy lift- across the country from Perth zoo to the national zoo in Canberra. ing — there's not a lot of time to just sit

“I was also lucky that I had very supportive parents who helped me out and allowed me to be able to undertake these opportunities. “Through university (a Bachelor of Biological Science majoring in zoology at La Trobe University in Bundoora) I volunteered at the local wildlife park then once I ﬁnished uni I started working at Vision Australia — Seeing Eye Dogs in Kensington.” After working at Seeing Eye Dogs, Alli then got the opportunity to work at an orangutan rehab centre in Borneo. An opportunity she described as “life changing” because it was here that she became a “surrogate” mum to orangutans who had lost their mothers. Some had been shot (usually for being on farmer's lands), while others had been kept as pets. “We helped teach them climbing skills as a lot of them were still quite young … babies will usually stay with their mothers until they are seven or eight so being orphaned so young they have a lot to learn,” Alli said. Once she returned Alli landed a job at Halls Gap which started her journey through the zoo industry. Here she was the head of ungulates and reptiles and worked with a variety of species from Australian natives, birds, primates, small carnivores, ungulates and reptiles, as well as lemurs, capuchin monkeys, spider monkeys, red pandas, serval, meerkats, giraffe, bison, buffalo, horses, elk, tahr, venomous snakes, pythons, salt water crocodiles, monitors, perenties, alligators, ostrich and camels. Just to name a few. She's also worked at the Sepilok Orangutan Centre in Malaysia (working with about 30 different orangutans from babies to teenagers). And had the chance to meet world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall. “Her knowledge on great apes-chimps in particular is astounding,” she said. Now she's at the Dubai Safari Park (a zoo which recently opened) working with a variety of hoofstock species including eland, kudu, cape buffalo, springbok, blackbuck, Arabian oryx, addax, impala and giraffe. For Alli a typical day starts at 6 am for a 7 am start. “We gather in the morning with the team to discuss any issues from the previous day and collect food that was prepared the day before,” she said. “Then we head off to the sections that we're working on. The ﬁrst thing we do is an animal check and head count, making sure all animals are present with no injuries or stress if there's any new additions to the herd. “Next we clean their night area, remove all old food and faeces — general >>>

>>> husbandry — and put out fresh food. “We rotate the animals so we're able to clean their exhibit. “After husbandry is done we get to do all the delightful jobs such as cleaning drains, clearing away rubbish and so on.” Before the zookeepers head home they do the final checks and give animals access to night dens and/or lock them up as well as provide food to keep them going until morning. Finally end of day reports are written up detailing the day's occurrences or any issues other keepers need to know about. Alli has and always will love animals. She says her favourite is tied between a giraffe, black rhino and the Arafura file snake. “Ever since I can remember I have been animal mad and surrounded by animals — whether it's my aunty bringing home a kitten for us or catching drop tail skinks in the garden or hiding out in the horse sheds,” she said. “I loved going to the zoos and would spend a whole day just walking around. “I was brought up watching Steve Irwin and David Attenborough. They were definitely my idols and are still to this day. “I remember every assignment in primary school — through to secondary if given the option — it would always be done on an animal and the weirder and quirkier the better.” Alli also pointed out all animals were dangerous in their own right. “But anything with sheer size and strength coupled with brains is always a dynamic combination,” she said. “Great apes are a perfect example because they are so intelligent — they watch your routines and have been known to pick locks with objects they find around. They are just so clever. “Reptiles can also react so fast so you can never get too complacent with them.” Of course what Alli loves about her job is spending her day surrounded by animals. “But also the bond that you build with the animals you're in charge of,” she said. “You build a certain level of trust with them, which allows you to give them the best level of care possible, and (as a keeper) you're playing a part in keeping these species alive. “Starting your morning off with a giraffe kiss is worth the early starts too.” But being a zookeeper halfway across the world does have its challenges which for Alli includes not getting back home very often.

and missing out on the milestones of weddings and birthdays is always tough.” Still Alli is determined to stay in Dubai for a few years and see what happens next. And if you're the little girl Alli was, dreaming not of a white knight but saving the black rhinos, then her advice to you is simple. “Start young,” she said.

“But Skype and face time have been a bless- “Volunteer with anything animal related as ing,” Alli said. early as you can — be that at a pound, wildlife rehab centres, vet clinics or even getting “I do miss home so much, especially all involved in Wildlife Information, Rescue my friends and family (parents Jack and Rosemary Quinn who still live in Echuca), and Education Service — it's all animal

“

REGARDLESS OF THE WEATHER YOU HAVE TO KEEP WORKING, RAIN, HAIL OR SHINE, AND YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED FOR THE ODD ACCIDENT, FROM BEING URINATED OR DEFECATED ON, TO COPPING A KICK OR A BITE — THE WORKS.

”

husbandry experience, which applies to all animals. “And don't give up if you don't get a zoo job straight away. Persistence and hard work will pay off eventually. I'm proof of that.” Studying biology and even psychology at high school helps too. Alli said if she could change anything about the zoo industry it would be the negative

stigma sometimes associated with it. “They (zoos) do such amazing work with conservation and breeding programs for critically endangered animals that are being released back into the wild,” she said. “They also are allowing people the chance to see animals that they might not ever get to see anywhere else. “They are such an invaluable education

resource and we are in a world now where education is key to the survival of these animals. “At the end of the day, if you can have one person walk away having learnt something then that's enough — we're doing our bit.” When it comes to Alli there's no question she is doing more than a bit — and she's not planning to walk away any time soon.

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Riverine

Herald 13

It was her turn to go out — and get killed Tracey Pearson knows what the dark side is about and while she has lived through days that would defy the imagination she told VIVIENNE DUCK the hardest event has been fronting up to the job to see a colleague and friend killed in front of your eyes.

E HUMANS MAKE about 35,000 decisions each day.

Most are insignificant, many are made without too much thought, some with absolutely no thought — but there are those that only in hindsight are life changing. Constable Tracey Pearson (nee Clifton) made one hell of a life changing decision on March 27, 1986. It was a flight or fight moment. And she fought. It was the day a car bomb exploded outside the Russell St police headquarters; killing one and injuring 22. And instead of running from the flames 22-year-old Tracey ran towards the carnage.

“I remember people just standing by and watching. I kept yelling to get an ambulance.” From there Tracey was sent out to direct traffic. “I don't think my inspector really knew I was there when it happened,” she said. “When we were allowed back in the building I was sent home after seeing the doctor. “As it was Easter Thursday I was meant to come home to Deniliquin after work for the weekend so mum was expecting me home. “All I could think of was that the last time I saw my sister I told her I hated her. “But I am glad that wasn't the last time I got to see her.” Tracey doesn't believe in saying 'what if'.

“I had walked out of police headquarters with a trainee, stood next to the parked car to wait for some cars to pass and then we crossed the road — ﬁve seconds later the car blew up,” Tracey said. “At ﬁrst I thought the whole building had been blown up and then I saw all the smoke and the car. “I remember thinking all the people are gone. “And then I saw Carl Denadio.” Carl was also a policeman and he was badly injured from the blast, fading in and out of consciousness.

“It could do your head in thinking what could have happened if I waited by the car for a few more seconds and all that,” she said. “It isn't something I have done and people always say I am lucky and I deﬁnitely am. “But I believe I was there for a reason and there is no point dwelling on something that didn't happen.” Although there were no physical scars from that day, Tracey said it took her a long time to come to terms with it. “We lost a friend and a colleague that day,” she said.

With a deep breath and a nervous smile Tracey let go of her barrier and expressed her continued pain. “I seem like a woman who is strong and nothing bothers me,” she said. “But 31 years later and I am still anxious. I still jump every time I hear a bang. “I have gone on to get married and have two girls and Angela didn't. I can get quite emotional about that.” But that fateful day in March of 1986 doesn't deﬁne Tracey. She went on to have a successful career with the police, moving from Fitzroy to Swan Hill and ﬁnally Echuca. “I always wanted to be a policewoman. It was something I loved and do miss at times,” Tracey said. “I loved being in Melbourne and going to concerts and the MCG for work. “One of my favourite photos is when I photobombed Princess Diana when she was in Melbourne.” Tracey married Mark in 1997 in Echuca and had Stephanie in 1998 and Kate in 2001. Sadly she had to retire from the police in 1998 on grounds of ill health. “I had hurt my knee and although it was disappointing it probably came at the right time — I could look after my girls,” Tracey said.

“I said to the trainee that we had to go back. We grabbed him and dragged him to the “Constable Angela Taylor went out to get steps at the other end of the building,” some lunch for her team. It was just her turn. And she didn't make it back. Tracey said.

“Policing was the only thing I had ever known. It was the only constant in my life.

“He was pretty badly hurt and we knew we just had to get him away from the car.

“But I had a lot of fun in the police force and did a lot of great things.

“I knew Angela and I had been with her that morning.”

“I set up the McCopper Day at McDonald's where police officers would serve food and work at Echuca maccas. “It was about building the profile of local police and all the guys got on board which was great. “We had youth anger management courses at high schools and if we were able to make a difference in one person's life it was worth it.” She also helped set up the drink safe program in Echuca pubs where police officers would take breathalysers into pubs to show people how their drinking was affecting them. But there were also some not so great moments. “Death messages were always the worst. I remember one I did where he was the only son and had a motorbike accident and the mother didn't want him to go,” Tracey said. “It plays on your mind days after. “There was one in Melbourne where we had to take away three kids who were locked up in a flat all day. “But our job is just to move them from one place to another. They became wards of the state and I just hope they all ended up together. “You always hope they are going to something better but you just don't know. It isn't your call. “I am proud to have served as a member of the police force. “Our squad was the first to have more girls than guys and we have always had a special bond.” Tracey went on to work with the YMCA as a swim instructor, before becoming the aquatic education co-ordinator. “I have always loved kids,” she said. “And now I see them come through at St Joe's.” Tracey is now a teacher's aid at St Joseph's College Echuca. “I support students with special needs and help them with their work and I think my policing background helps in this space,” Tracey said. “I do a girl's body image group as well which is great when you start seeing the difference in the girls. “And I am now the pastoral wellbeing teacher.” In her own words “I keep moving onwards upwards.”

just and

Tracey Pearson was a police officer for 15 years and was at the scene of the Russell St bombings. She is now a teacher.

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Kate Freshwater for the defence your honour Kate Freshwater has been getting a lot of media coverage since she arrived in town. Nearly all of it because of her work as a defender in criminal law. She arrived in the twin towns to join a practice but after making her bones in the local legal world she has taken that big step she knew would always come â&#x20AC;&#x201D; launching her own ďŹ rm.

Criminal and family lawyer Kate Freshwater at Deniliquin Courthouse.

HERE IS ONE part of the law that has eluded Kate Freshwater.

Much to her frustration.

She would give almost anything to be one of the 12 good citizens, tried and true, who make up the jury. But as a criminal lawyer that will always be, for her, a professional no-go zone. The only way she can inﬂuence what happens in the minds of jurors, and then in the negotiations behind closed doors as the dozen deliberate, is her performance in the well of the court, as the advocate of the accused.

and free to make the decisions about how I would do it.

loveless marriages has not impacted on the pain, heartbreak and anger.

“It was always my goal to have my own ﬁrm.”

That remains the constant bedfellow of family courts and that is the other arena which Kate enters on a regular basis.

Kate is happy to confess she is somewhat litigious by nature, thrives on being in court and sees legal defence as an essen- “The law is dispassionate, it must be,” Kate said. tial — indeed irreplaceable — part of the process. “Of course people are not, and it is my role Today as Kate Freshwater Lawyer, and regis- to fairly represent my client in parallel with preparing them, cushioning them, from the tered to act both sides of the river, Kate said when it comes to outcomes things are deﬁ- emotional challenge this process can be,” nitely much tougher in NSW than in Victoria, she said. adding to the pressure on the advocate.

“The breakdown of marriage is a tragedy for everyone involved; that is what underFor example, she said NSW can hand down pinned the overhaul of the Act more than intensive correction orders, a much more And that is what this woman lives for — the intensive version of Victoria's CCO (commu- 40 years ago. cut and thrust of the courtroom, much of it nity correction order) that is well policed “But few criminal cases present the same is in the Magistrates Courts but occasionally and involves everything from monitoring to shifts to the County and Supreme Courts, raw human emotion found in family courts where she is more likely to be the one brief- snap drug tests. as it is impacting so many lives so directly, ing the barristers rather than confronting “Statistically, the rate of imprisonment in so completely and often for a long time to witnesses, arguing points of law with the come.” NSW is higher than Victoria, statistically the judges and turning it on for the jury. terms of imprisonment imposed in NSW for This is where lawyers have to draw a very a range of offences are longer than for simi- fine, occasionally blurred, line between The underbelly of Echuca-Moama, like most lar offences in Victoria. major centres in Australia, is not just played providing zealous representation and out in the courtroom; it is also plastered “And NSW has more options at the top end getting too involved. across the headlines and, often, covered of the sentencing scale as alternatives to Kate said criminal and family law are often with glee by television and the growing full time custody.” discounted as the less glamourous areas digital media world. of the profession but those clients really Kate is the first to admit running her own “It's almost like a marriage, the law and the present some of the most interesting and firm has been a significant step forward but media, and for me that's always been a little complex cases. the upside is you “get to learn a lot about ironic,” Kate said. yourself — and in a hurry”. She said it was not only legal issues you're “Because when I was finishing high school I dealing with, but generally a combination of She said it certainly meant work was now was torn between being a journalist and a issues results in them coming into the office, her priority. lawyer so I did arts at Melbourne University including family violence, mental health, and then still not sure completed my law “This has gone from being a job to a lifestyle, drug and alcohol dependencies, housing, but that's OK because I love it,” she said. employment and financial issues. degree at Monash,” she said. After graduation Kate worked in worker's compensation and on behalf of WorkSafe before deciding criminal law was really where she wanted to be. So in 2012 the Deni girl arrived in EchucaMoama to join Cosgriff Lawyers with a firm plan in her mind — get a taste of criminal law and then “nick off overseas”. That was five years ago. She is still here. What's more, following recent career changes, looks like being here for some time, with overseas now only on the holiday agenda. Kate moved from Cosgriff Lawyers to Nicholas W J Rolfe & Associates and his criminal law practice and she knew she had found exactly what she was looking for. “It's very hard to get into criminal law in Melbourne; or Sydney for that matter, it is very competitive so going regional was the best option for me — and going regional was also like coming home for me so the decision was easy,” she said. “After I had been here for a while I felt it was as good a time as any to launch out on my own, be totally responsible for what I did

Not the losing, like anyone with a competitive nature Kate plays to win and carries the same attitude into the courtroom. But the law is perhaps the most complex game in town, with a lot of grey and very little black and white. A dismissal of charges is the end game, but often a win can be measured by other benchmarks — such as the severity (or otherwise) of a sentence and the conditions attached thereto. In law, wins can come in the smallest increments and that is the cornerstone of advocacy. But if the verbal combat of the criminal court gives this advocate a professional rush, the other half of Kate Freshwater Lawyer is far more personal and sobering. Family law has been a boom business in Australia since the introduction of the no-fault divorce in the 1975 radical overhaul of the Family Law Act. But that distillation of dodgy private eyes tracking husbands and wives around town for salacious photos of indiscretions, of people making wild accusations to escape

“Often a triage of the client's case results in making various referrals to other services to help the client address those issues as well,” Kate said. “Often the legal problem is a byproduct of all those other problems,” she said. “I'd be lying if I said there aren't times when I find my job stressful, but I think that comes from caring about your clients and wanting to get the best possible outcome for them.” But stressful stints aside, the job definitely also has its lighter moments even if not all clients are satisfied with the outcome, and is perhaps the downside of practicing in a country town. “There are the moments you are standing at the end of a queue at the supermarket checkout and further down the line is someone you have recently defended who was quite upfront in their dissatisfaction with the court's decision,” Kate said. “That's when you look down at your shopping basket and ask yourself how urgently you need that box of Shapes,” she said. “Invariably they aren't urgent at all, and you can wander out another exit.”

o t s p i 6t

stay motivated to exercise

It isn’t always easy to keep the motivation levels up to exercise regularly. With that in mind, here are some tips to help keep the motivation as your new year’s resolutions start to fade.

Change your mindset: Embrace the idea that exercise is about more than losing weight and changing physique. Exercise can help you in many ways more than what is seen from the outside. Exercise can help improve physical function, mental health and can help reduce chronic disease risk for conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Widen your perception to all the health benefits of physical activity. Instant gratification: Immediate results from exercise include positive mental outlook. Even short bouts of activity can reduce stress and improve mood through the release of endorphins in the brain. Compare how you feel mentally before and after physical activity. When you connect exercise with these positive feelings you start to notice a more immediate benefit. Get a training partner: There are many benefits to having a workout partner. Not only having someone to be accountable to but most people actually work harder when they are training with a friend. You are also more likely to train for longer and try new exercises when you have a friend to exercise with.

Make it a priority: Make your health one of your top priorities! If not, this could keep you from sticking with exercise. Until you place a high value on health and the many benefits of a physically active lifestyle, your efforts will probably fall short. People make time for things that are important to them. Be honest. Where do health and a physically active lifestyle fit into your value system? If exercise feels like one more thing on the to-do list, it is time to re-frame your thinking. By thinking of exercise as a “get to do” instead of a “have to do” the inner voice is messaging a positive experience. If you find yourself saying “I have to exercise” and it seems like drudgery imagine if you start telling yourself “I get to exercise”. The inner voice is powerful. What is yours saying? Mix it up: Variety is key to keep exercise fun and engaging. Try a new group exercise class, or round up some friends for a few sessions with a personal trainer. With so many exercise options out there, there is some form of activity for everyone. An open mind and sense of adventure can keep you motivated and looking forward to your next workout! Set goals: Setting SMART goals can help you focus and set a clear direction for what you intend to accomplish. Be specific about your exercise plan when you are writing down your goals. “Getting in shape” is vague compared to “I will walk Monday, Wednesday, Friday for 45 minutes before breakfast!” This lays out an intentional plan for what the exercise is, when it will take place and for how long. Those that write down goals and record their exercise do better with long-term behaviour change.

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One day (times five) at a time Just a generation ago ﬁve children in one family was pretty much the norm. But circa 2018 you are part of a very exclusive club if you have more than two, so when SOPHIE BALDWIN (yes, a mother of two) heard about the Bryants it was too good a story to miss.

HE SUN IS barely up but that makes no difference in the Bryant household.

The babies have been up for hours. Bang, bang, bang — it's three dirty nappy changes in quick succession, endless bowls of cereal, three litres of milk and the big hand hasn't even hit the seven yet. And of course that's after a round of musical beds, children wandering from room to room and a night time spent more awake than asleep. Welcome to parenthood 101 (times ﬁve — Tahliah, 12, Nash, nine, Hendrix, three, Kingi Blossom, nearly two and baby Hart, four months) for Sarah and Douglas Bryant.

As proud as they are of their brood the couple know their life is a little crazy, but in Sarah's words “it's a good kind of crazy”. There may never be much downtime; and things might be chaotic from sunup to sundown, but Sarah and Douglas cherish every moment. Sarah can't remember when she last hasn't been covered in somebody else's body ﬂuids. “I can't imagine a world that exists where I am not spewed, pooed or wee'd on, on a daily basis,” she sighed.

“I have given up on lady luxuries such as nice smelling body wash and perfume because the sweet scent is often lost under the spew that constantly adorns the front of everything I wear — even my 12-year-old spewed on me the other day,” she laughed. And as a busy stay-at-home mum Sarah has certainly learnt not to sweat the small things. “Some days I don't care if the kids have two minute noodles for breakfast, lunch and tea — as long as they are fed and alive somedays, well that is good enough. “I don't even write a to-do list anymore because I think I would pass out from the shock of what needs to be done.”

Left to right: Nash Giri, Hendrix Bryant, Hart Bryant (baby), Douglas Bryant, Sarah Bryant, Kingi Blossom Bryant and Tahliah Giri.

Hendrix Bryant.

Sarah said juggling ﬁve kids was not easy, especially when it comes to balancing the needs of the two eldest.

know if it's different this time because I know in my heart and mind that I am done with babies, but I am really motivated to move this weight for myself.”

“Fitting in football, netball and cricket trainSarah has been documenting her weight ing around the needs of the three little kids sometimes gets a bit hectic but it is impor- loss on social media and has been surprised by the positive feedback she has received. tant Tahliah and Nash get to do the things they love as well. “Some people have said that I am motivating them, which is gobsmacking to hear “We are all used to jumping in the car and because I barely used to manage to be able rushing from one thing to the other. to motivate myself somedays.” “Dougie is such a trooper and I couldn't manage half the things I do without his help, To date she has lost 13 kg. love and support and he just loves being a For Sarah and Douglas the decision to have dad, he absolutely lives for it.” a big family was easy, it was something both of them always wanted. Sarah said Douglas had encouraged her But they haven't taken it for granted. to take time away from the family and do something for herself, which in her case has become a desire to get back in shape. Sarah joined a 24-hour gym and has been known to frequent the place well after her kids have gone to bed.

Originally the target was six until health reasons forced them to reassess. Now they are more than happy with their ﬁve little cherubs. While all the kids are different, Sarah said her middle daughter Hendrix has had more than her fair share of tough times.

“The past four years I have dedicated my body to my babies now it's time to get back into shape. My core and abdominal strength has been on holidays since 2005 but I am slowly and surely building it back up.

“Hen Pen has an undiagnosed genetic syndrome and she has spent a lot of her life in and out of hospital.”

“My ﬁtness journey always came to a screaming halt because of another baby but I don't

When Hendrix was born she was full term but only a tiny 2.5 kg and then had trouble

gaining weight, was in pain a lot of the time and was just generally miserable. “Today she is still really small for her age but she has thrived in the past 12 months and mentally come ahead in leaps and bounds. She is learning from Kingi, a fearless little thing which in turn has made Hen Pen a lot braver. Previously her anxiety would overwhelm everything she did, in fact dealing with her anxiety has; at times, been much harder than the genetic issue. ” Hendrix has been tested for some genetic syndromes but that is a long process and it may take years to actually get the diagnosis. “We have decided to just focus on what we can do to help her now and while she remains in good health and continues to thrive, we aren't too concerned about a diagnosis.” Sarah said despite all the challenges, the vomiting, the visits to hospital (at one point three children had broken bones from separate incidents), the chaos and the calm she wouldn't change a thing. “Being a mum is hard work. It is exhausting and rewarding in equal measure — and it is my life.”

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Rising above the statistics The minute Sharnee McCoy was told she had cancer she had also become, amongst other things, just another statistic. Yet when SOPHIE BALDWIN caught up with her she discovered not one person dealing with the diagnosis, there were seven people who had made it their own and they were going to get through it together.

Echuca breast cancer sufferer Sharnee McCoy is currently undergoing radiation treatment.

diagnosis, I just thought I would rather it be me than any one of my girls.”

this would make to the lives of my girls and Wynton.

But it can also be surprisingly life affirming.

The next step was a biopsy but with a 13-day wait before she could get into Shepparton, Sharnee was fortunate to get an earlier appointment in Melbourne with breast cancer specialist Dr Cheng.

Breast cancer has given Sharnee, her ﬁve daughters and partner Wynton a new perspective on life.

“I will forever be grateful to Wynton's brother Steven and his wife Kerry for making that happen.”

“I am not the same person I once was and I am learning to ﬁnd myself again. I certainly look at life a lot differently now and I don't sweat the small stuff anymore — this whole process has actually made me realise how lucky and blessed I truly am.”

Wanting to keep the worry away from her girls, Sharnee decided to only share this information with Wynton and a few close friends.

“Starting chemo was going to do things to my appearance and my body over which I had no control. It is something I didn't want them to have to go through, but it did change the way we looked at things and it proved daily that love, strength and hope can conquer any fear, if we have each other and amazing people who surround us every day.”

N 2017, 17,586 WOMEN were diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sharnee McCoy was one of them.

A breast cancer diagnosis is many things — it is confronting, consuming and life changing.

Sharnee started a blog on Facebook to document and share her journey with others 'The Breast Is Yet to Come' and now has over 700 followers. In January 2018 she started a six-week bloc of radiation treatment which will see her spend ﬁve days a week in Bendigo, her despair coming through in the blog she has been keeping of her life post diagnosis: “It did deﬂate me for a bit. I was feeling like my life was starting to move on and then I am reminded I still have more treatment to go. I know I am blessed to be able to have treatment as many aren't so lucky, so I will continue to embrace this part of my life and let it lead me to more new amazing people and opportunities.”

During chemo there were times of depression, sickness and extreme fatigue. Visits to hospital with high temperatures and moments when Sharnee became desperately overwhelmed.

“I honestly thought I was going to be told I had a cyst or lump but when Dr Cheng told me my biopsy had come back malignant “I did lose count of the number of times I and I have breast cancer I felt like I had been faked being 'well' physically, emotionally hit by a truck to my heart. I don't remem- and mentally to try and protect my beautiber a lot about the appointment but once ful girls from the effects of such a traumatic outside I began crying again and thought, experience. what am I going to tell my girls? I don't want “It made some people think I was ok and I them to go through this.” should have been bouncing back but recovSharnee said nothing describes the pain of ery from something that, at times destroyed looking at your children and telling them you in every aspect of your life, is a long you have breast cancer. work in progress.

“I would never wish it on anyone, but once “It is so important to listen to your own body the hardest part was done it was top off and and try to make sense of the life changing the girls were feeling the lump and asking event that feels like a bad dream I have only lots of great questions. I have always been just started slightly waking up from.” very open and honest with the girls and Throughout the seven months of chemo they have been very much part of the jourSharnee chose to work from home because ney, it has taken some of the scariness out it gave her something else to focus on. Sharnee's cancer journey began on the long of it and knowledge is power.” weekend in March 2017. “One and All (the organisation she works In surgery on May 2 Sharnee had a large for) were a great distraction for me — being On a getaway with Wynton she rolled over piece of breast tissue underneath the nipple busy helped me to cope with things in my in bed and felt a lump press up against the removed and cancer found in 10 lymph own way.” inside of her right arm. nodes so a full auxiliary clearance of 32 Upon completion of chemo she packed up nodes was completed. Thinking it was nothing she went to sleep all things 'cancer' from her bedroom. but a few hours later she woke up crying. Two days later she was home, tender and “I remember the day my beautiful friend “My hand was feeling the lump and some- sore but on the mend. Fiona and I went shopping to make my thing was saying to me Sharnee, you have Returning for a checkup eight days later, bedroom a safe and comforting place for cancer, you need to get to the doctors — the Sharnee was told she had stage 3 invathe months ahead. It has given me memofeeling was very strong and persistent,” sive ductal carcinoma cancer that is HER2 ries that will last a lifetime — at times my Sharnee said. positive. bed held up to 10 people eating dinner, The lump was a hard mass close to the skin “I was extremely lucky because the tumor watching movies and discussing their day. that felt like orange peel. It was the size of a was so aggressive if I had of been there “It was my safe place to cry in the arms of my 10 cent piece — it wasn't sore, red or swollen. 3–6 months down the track they would man and I also spent many lonely moments have been telling me a completely different “Usually when we are told to check our stuck in a bubble while it felt like the world story,” she said. breast they say that you will feel something and life I knew was going on quite happily like a pea, mine was nothing like that at all.” “I also tick every box for the cancer to return without me.” The couple cut their weekend short, after treatment so I will be monitored The Sharnee of 2018 is still in treatment and closely for the next five years.” returned home and straight away Sharnee very much trying to work out who she now got a referral for a mammogram. Her treatment has included chemotherapy, is and what that means for her future. On March 16 she had the mammogram, radiotherapy and then a 12 month IV drug “The past year has taught me so much about for the HER2 positive part of the cancer. followed by a breast ultrasound. myself, my family and others. I am grateful for the journey it has sent me on and will “When I saw the lump in my underarm tears “Up until my first round of chemo I had felt like I was somewhat in control of this roller embrace the woman it has made me — and filled my eyes and my only thought was for coaster and the only time I cried was at I welcome 2018 with an open mind and my girls. I never felt fear for myself and I never thought 'why me?' or questioned my night when I thought about the changes heart.”

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Crossﬁtters Meredith Hodder and Ann-Marie Middleton participate in a class at FITmob Central Health & Fitness, Echuca.

Don't get cross, get fit and get a life C

ROSS FIT.

Functional movements performed at high intensity.

Kettle bells, weights, pushups, box jumps, burpees, pull ups, GHD (glute-ham developers) sit ups and plenty of blood, sweat and tears. It's not for the fainthearted but with a little

bit of hard work and dedication anyone can do it. Just ask Ann-Marie Middleton and Meredith Hodder. Their commitment to ﬁtness has bought them both back from some pretty tough places and their shared love of Cross Fit has even seen them join forces and compete in

a couple of local competitions. The girls agree Cross Fit was something they never would have thought possible for themselves, but with hard work and a commitment to training, they have achieved more than they ever thought they would. And perhaps most importantly, it has helped change their outlook — and their lives.

NNIE AT 33 bears very little resemblance to the woman she was at 23.

That girl was wracked with anxiety and suffering from severe depression. This woman is now strong, ﬁerce and conﬁdent.

make sense of her own experiences and plan a path forward. She also went back to studying and gained a diploma in community services which led to some volunteer work before evolving into a professional position.

Annie quickly found she got the most enjoyment out of working with young adults and It hasn't been an easy road and there have sharing her own personal mental health been periods in her life when Annie honestly experience. didn't think she would make it, but here she is, 10 years later, married, loving life, smash- “I wanted to use my own mental health journey to inspire others and instill some hope ing her goals and competing in Cross Fit in them. competitions. When Annie left high school she was full of hopes and dreams.

Depression doesn't deﬁne you and you can certainly create a new life from it.”

She went to university, travelled completed a degree in photography.

It wasn't until Annie moved to Echuca and joined a local gym that she discovered her love for Cross Fit.

and

At 23 she moved back to her home town of Wodonga. “I had ticked everything off my bucket list and suddenly I found myself stuck in this huge hole,” Annie said. Depression and anxiety had come calling. “At my heaviest I was 105 kgs and stuck in this very dark place. I sought medical advice and was put on medication which resulted in a huge weight gain (25 kgs) and made me feel even worse.” Annie decided to take matters into her own hands and in 2009 she became determined to get her life back. She joined Jenny Craig, began walking and then going to the gym. She became involved in an inspiring program for young people dealing with mental health challenges which provided the opportunity to

Meredith Hodder.

“I was a complete beginner when I started. I could barely lift an 8 kg kettle bell or barbell and now I recently hit 40 kgs on my snatches. I love challenging myself and seeing myself improve and because the sport is constantly evolving, there is always something new to work toward. Annie trains four or ﬁve times a week, including a session with a personal trainer, which has helped improve her skills and technique. At the start of 2017 Annie set herself a goal to enter a competition. “I just threw it out there to Mez (Meredith Hodder) who was back in training and in November we headed down and competed in both a pairs and individual comp. It was so much fun and I have plans to do more this year.”

there and then to do something every day for 21 days. “The only way to break a bad habit is to build a new one and my love of Cross Fit just grew legs from there — it may have been about losing a bit of weight at the start but now it is more about gaining conﬁdence. “It's not just about shrinking in size it's about growing in strength in every sense of the word.”

T IS PRETTY easy to let life get in the way.

Just ask registered nurse and unit manager Meredith Hodder.

As a busy single working mum of sevenyear-old daughter Lucia, Mez knows all about that. “It was February 2017 and I was treating my body like a toilet. Life was busy and I found I wasn't looking after myself. I decided to get the right perspective, start respecting my body and work on getting myself back to having a healthy and strong body and mind so I could not only be a happier person but a better mum to my little girl,” Mez said. Exercise had previously been a part of Mez's life so she made a commitment to herself

Mez said when she ﬁrst started every little improvement saw her push herself a little harder. “Seeing what my body can do now with a little bit of hard work compared to six months ago is amazing and as I am getting stronger, I am extending myself and doing things I never thought I would be able to do. “It has given me a real sense of achievement to throw something heavy around and see the results appear up on the board at the gym, and the clearer mindset it brings is bliss.”

Ann-Marie Middleton. Annie said moving out of her comfort zone was the best thing she had ever done. “I would encourage anyone to venture out of their comfort zone and try something different. Cross Fit isn't for everyone but for those who do it, they love it and at the end of the day it is an affordable and fun sport. “In many ways Cross Fit has become my mental health plan. It helps keep me both physically and mentally ﬁt and I am so grateful to have found a great place to train where you are supported by great coaches and encouraging classmates. “I have also tried out Olympic weight lifting which is something I thought I would never do, but it's a great stress relief throwing a heavy barbell around — it helps me to feel ﬁtter and stronger in everyday life. “I am so grateful to all those who have helped me along my journey to get to where I am today.”

able to do so many pull ups or lift a certain weight and I would certainly like to do more competitions in the future — not just for the fun factor but also for the free t-shirt you get afterwards,” she laughed. Mez said reconnecting with her love for fitness has also inspired her to start a personal training course. “I talked myself out of having a career in fitness years ago but I feel like now I have a lot of knowledge and life experience to draw from and I am looking forward to being able to share that with others, particularly women of a similar age to me". She said women, including mothers, feel guilty about prioritising time for themselves. “It is important to schedule time for yourself. It makes us better people and better mothers. Exercise is not always about weight loss either; it's about feeling fit, healthy and strong. Cross Fit gave me my confidence back.

“In February last year I was at an all-time low with how I viewed myself and now I have so Mez said participating in Cross Fit competimany goals and aspirations. I think there is a tions also inspired her to push harder. beast in every woman and it stirs when you “I have some individual goals, like being put a barbell in her hand.”

SAY HELLO TO YOUR TRAVEL EXPERTS

WHY YOU SHOULD BOOK WITH US

HELLO TARA

HELLO KIRSTEN

HELLO ASHLEA

HELLO JESSICA

HELLO BERNIE

As a franchise owner with 21 years’ experience in the travel industry it is clear Tara has a passion for travel. Tara has been to over 50 countries with Eastern Europe, Africa, Peru, China and the Middle East being among some of her favourite destinations. With an understanding of how precious time can be Tara likes to keep the stress out of itinerary planning and still gets excited making her clients’ holidays a reality. Tara has earned many awards within the travel industry including helloworld Travel, Qantas Holidays, Scenic Tours & most notably owns & operates a Premium award winning agency.

As a Senior Travel Consultant for 24 years, Kirsten brings a wealth of knowledge. Kirsten is renowned for her ability to tailor make any itinerary or airfare combination, Kirsten has the can do attitude to make it happen. Kirsten thrives on a challenge and has earned many awards over the years, including the prestigious No 1 Travel Consultant in Victoria for Qantas Holidays. Having travelled extensively, some of Kirsten’s favourite destinations include South America, Maldives, Hawaii, Lizard Island, Qualia and most recently a family holiday to the USA in November with her husband and 3 children aged 16, 14 & 10 years.

With over 6 years experience as a Travel Consultant, Ash loves to make clients’ travel dreams come true. Ash aspires to travel as much as possible and has seen many parts of the globe, including Southern Africa, Cambodia, Uganda, Vietnam and she recently returned from living in France for 6 months where she discovered a passion for the local culture, food and wine. Ash was a finalist in the Australian Federation of Travel Agents “Rookie of the Year” award, finishing in the top 5 consultants nationally. Her friendly nature and attention to detail will ensure your travel experience is everything that you desire.

Jessica has been part of the helloworld Travel Echuca team for just over 12 months and already is taking pride in her growing repeat clientele. Her excitement for travel has taken her to many destinations including Fiji, Vanuatu, Bali, and being an esteemed horse rider, one of her favourites the Calgary Stampede in Canada. She has also just returned from an adventurous week in beautiful Tasmania. Jessica takes great pride in her work and endeavours to get to know her clients so she can match the perfect holiday experience.

After a break from the industry, Bernie is a welcomed addition to the helloworld Echuca team returning part time. Bernie has had a long association with the travel industry in both corporate and leisure travel and has worked interstate and overseas having lived in both Ireland and far north Queensland. Bernie has an interest in adventure travel and has worked for Backpackers World and other adventure based ground operators. Her favourite destinations include Croatia, Albania, Mexico and Africa and she is due to set sail on her first ocean cruise with her husband and two young children to the South Pacific.

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It's vital you understand what your diet offers T

We start to lose this synergy with processing of food and sometimes even lose the nutrients to the point where they need to be added back in.

HE NEW YEAR has well and truly arrived.

And if you're like most people Kelly Fenton's age, you gave up on resolutions weeks ago — if not sooner.

So why is eating the right diet, including whole foods and considering the vitality of food so important?

“I don't know about you but for whatever reason I always failed to take them seriously and inevitably lacked the follow through to achieve my newly set goals,” the naturopath said.

“Simply it is because it feeds our bodies own innate intelligence otherwise known as our Body Wisdom,” Echuca Family Acupuncture Doctor of Chinese medicine Suzy McCleary said.

“Perhaps that's because for a long time (in my earlier years) they revolved around diet and lifestyle improvements and I just loved food and life way too much to give up very much of anything."

“Body Wisdom causes you to shiver when you are cold and to perspire when you are hot." “Body Wisdom makes you experience hunger when your body needs food, and thirst when it needs water."

“However if you are a New Year's resolution devotee and this year's resolution has been about making better diet choices then these days I am certainly able to lend some help on the topic.” Rule number 1: What works for you doesn't work for everybody We are all individuals with our own special genetic makeup. Just because you thrive on a particular diet, doesn't mean everybody will. So there is simply no 'one diet ﬁts all'. The best diet for you is the one you thrive on whether it be high protein, high fat low carb, vegan or Eskimo — if you feel good on it and you are well, then it's working for you.

Kelly Fenton and Suzy McCleary. almost everything, varied animal proteins, whole grains and legumes. Rule number 3: Consider the vitality We always seem to forget about the 'vitality' of foods. I think this has come with the age of convenience foods, super food powders and mass production of vitamins. Don't

Rule number 2: Keep it whole

get me wrong, these can all be helpful, but

No matter what diet you lean towards, using whole foods always applies.

most impact on our health. Choose recently

This means eating foods as close to nature as possible with minimal processing. For me wholefoods means loads of fresh fruit and vegetables, the use of whole organic (where possible) fats such as butter and ghee, nuts and seeds sprinkled in and on

ultimately it is our diet that will have the living foods such as those suggested above and understand that Mother Nature has packaged foods to get the most out of them — the nutrients in whole foods work synergistically for maximum absorption and beneﬁt.

“If you have a harmful virus in your body, body wisdom creates a fever to burn it up. Body Wisdom forms scabs to heal open wounds. Simply put, Body Wisdom controls and co-ordinates every system, organ, tissue, and cell in the human body, and without it, life would cease to exist.” According to Suzy in an attempt to outsmart our creator we are continually urged to poison our body's with chemicals which work in opposition to our natural life process. This includes processed foods, many our body doesn't even recognise as food. “Sometimes there is immense power in simplicity,” Suzy said. “Rather than tamper with a perfectly designed system, one of the best ways to ensure a healthy life is to get out of the way and let your Body Wisdom do its work. However in order for this to happen we need to make the right diet choices.”

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A little catharsis called Chloe Velvet-eyed, abandoned on a Kenyan street and not old enough to realise just how precarious her future was. Until she laid eyes on a mother and daughter with a hole in their own hearts and SOPHIE BALDWIN writes it was not just love at ﬁrst sight, it was the beginning of the rest of their lives — all three lives.

EALING COMES IN many forms; sometimes it comes when you most need it — and least expect it. For Tracey Caldow and her daughter Caitlin healing has come in the form of a beautiful brown eyed seven-month-old Kenyan princess named Chloe (pictured above with mum Tracey).

Once upon a time the Caldows — including husband and dad Rob — had their own princess named Chloe. Chloe was the couple's second daughter, who died from Rett Syndrome (RTT) in 2012. She was only 16. But 16 years of ﬁghting, of love and of touching so many people; especially sister Caitlin who said “through her adversity she taught us all so much”.

rarely left her face — and she got so much pleasure from the music of Robbie Williams. “Chloe touched so many people with her cheeky smile and mischievous ways and she made everyone smile,” Tracey said. To understand the signiﬁcance of the Kenyan princess we need to step back ﬁve years. At the time of Chloe's death, Caitlin was scheduled to take a trip to South Africa to visit an orphanage and help build a house through a program called Vesabroad. “When Chloe passed away I thought I honestly would never go back and that opportunity was lost forever,” Caitlin said. Time and life for the family went on and Caitlin graduated in criminal law at Griffith University in Queensland last July.

Her Chloe endured so much as her illness ravaged her body and robbed her of movement, communication and the ability to feed herself.

She was at work, listening to a Robbie Williams track on the radio when an email from Vesabroad came through requesting she be a tour leader.

As her RTT progressed she suffered seizures daily and yet through all the pain her smile

“I knew this was my last opportunity to go and I just felt like the timing of it, with

Robbie Williams playing in the background, was Chloe's way of telling me I had to go this time,” she said. “So I didn't tell anyone and applied online. I also heard about a place called Mission In Action (MIA) and decided to add another couple of weeks to my trip so I could visit there.” Caitlin and her dad also secretly organised for Tracey to attend the Kenyan leg of her trip. “Ever since I can remember there have been two things mum's wanted to do in life — ﬁrst was to visit Italy, which we ticked off two years ago, and second was to do an African Safari and it ﬁlled me with so much joy that for her 50th birthday, we were able to make that happen. “Travelling for mum is always hard and sometimes it is a bittersweet experience because our Chloe isn't here to enjoy it with us and this trip was no different. “It was an extremely emotional experience for us both, but also in some ways a healing one.”

On November 5 Tracey and Caitlin boarded a plane for their African adventure. “I had many apprehensions before the trip but all those worries melted away the minute we arrived at MIA, we were made to feel so welcome and loved by everyone,” Caitlin said. Both Tracey and Caitlin threw themselves into the everyday care of the children and while they were there, MIA got the call to pick up an abandoned seven-month-old child in Nakuru. “Within minutes we were in the car. On the way Ivan explained he and his team would work tirelessly to find the baby's family because MIA 'does not take people's children'.” Picking up the abandoned child it was love at first sight for Tracey and Caitlin. “It may have been the melting of our hearts witnessing firsthand such a sad experience, it may have been the look on her face when she saw her first mazungu (white person) but I like to think it was because she knew we needed her in our lives just like she need us.” The morning after her arrival Ivan asked for our permission to call the little bub Chloe. “We were honoured beyond words, although we couldn't get any words out through our crying — we both could think of no better way to honour our Chloe's memory.” Sadly little baby Chloe's story was one that was so familiar on the streets of Kenya. Chloe's mother Angela was forced to abandon her after being mistreated by her 'husband's' family and told to leave — after she was given $7. Distraught she left Chloe on the steps of a restaurant in a box knowing someone would find this well-cared-for baby. The next day wanting her daughter back, she had to go to the police knowing she now faced a mandatory four years jail for abandoning her baby.

“The bond we formed with Chloe in such a short time was just incredible and we are going to sponsor her. When we go back to “Ivan and his amazing team stepped in MIA we will work with her mum and hopeand came to her aid. They put a proposi- fully down the track, with her permission, tion forward asking if Angela could be we will be able to get Chloe to visit us here under their guardianship and admitted to a in Australia on a regular basis, I can't wait. program they have started called One Tribe “We Facetime her regularly and the kids tell Mama,” Tracey said. us she cries when we hang up,” Tracey said. One Tribe Mama teaches mothers a skill The Kenyan Government does not allow to provide them with an income and they children to be adopted into Australia. then set them up so they can stay with their But Caitlin has become so inspired by the children. work Mission In Action does, she is consid“Angela is unable to have Chloe back until ering returning in a legal capacity. she successfully completes her two-year probation, which also includes intensive “The child protection setup is not great over there. It's not corrupt like many others but counselling. it does need a lot of work and if I could “If she fails to arrive on time for any appointhelp in any way I would deﬁnitely consider ments she will be sent immediately to jail for returning.” 4 years,” Tracey said. Caitlin has come a long way from the little For the time being Chloe will remain in care Gunbower girl at the local primary school. with Mission In Action, where her mother “Growing up I never ever missed out on has supervised visits.

anything but Chloe taught me there is always someone in a situation worse than your own. I have always wanted to help people and I have been volunteering in different capacities all my life. “Honestly; volunteering at MIA has been the most rewarding experience of my life. It is so hard to put into words but to see the pure joy on the children's faces and to be able to be part of that joy has changed my life and changed the way I will look at things in the future.” Both Tracey and Caitlin would urge anyone considering sponsoring a child to look at the great work Mission In Action does. “A $50 a month sponsorship goes a long way to improving the lives of these beautiful, loving and kind children and if you can afford it, I urge you to consider MIA. It all helps and it really is a wonderful cause to support,” Caitlin said. For more information go to www.missioninaction.com.au/kenya-team/

There's no need to whisper, it's a story worth hearing If you haven't caught up with equine learning you are in for a surprise as the ancient connection between human and horse, which has served so well in war, at work and for fun, builds on that heritage to reincarnate itself as a form of therapy.

HEN MICHELLE QUINN steps into a horse yard everyone — humans and horses — is cloaked in an air of calm so tangible you feel you can almost reach out and touch it.

If this remarkable woman is not directly communicating with those horses she is most certainly communing with them. They seem irresistibly drawn to her, their great heads lowered; snuffling at Michelle's face, neck, shoulders and arms. There is no resistance when she gently guides 400–500 kg of horseﬂesh away from the one with which she is connecting. While there is no denying Michelle knows her horses, there's also no denying the horses know her just as well.

attitudes and everything from love to fear. You and I might agree a horse can sense whether you feel comfortable (or not) when you are close but Michelle is adamant they can do the same thing when you are out of sight and the horse is out of your mind. Equine learning is a nascent therapy that encourages people to learn more about themselves through personal interactions with horses. It provides experiential counselling, life coaching and education and can help people with disabilities, trauma and mental health related barriers engage in society. From a little girl horses have always been part of Michelle's life, although as a young child, she never dreamed they would have quite the role in her life they do now.

And that is the very essence of equine learning. Like most animals working closely with “Horses have helped me throughout my humans it is obvious they can detect moods, life and I wanted to be able to share that

experience with others, which is why I became an equine learning practitioner,” Michelle explained. Equine learning is huge in America and the UK and Michelle is quick to point out it is an alternative therapy. It is difficult to describe exactly what she does with her four-legged consultants but whatever it is it clearly works in helping others. She has no complaints with mainstream medicine and treatments, she simply offers a different path for people to consider when dealing with personal issues. Her business Soaring Horizons isn't about saddling up a trusty steed and heading into the bush a la the man from Snowy River. With Michelle you partner the horse to provide self-awareness, connection and relationship fostering.

“Horses are honest and can read a person's energy very well,” Michelle said. “It is hard to put into words but a horse goes by gut and feel — they don't use their brains like humans, to complicate things, and they reflect the way you are thinking,” she said. Michelle spent two years training at The Equine Psychotherapy Institute in Mount Prospect. She has been practicing her therapy for the past five years and in that time she has seen it work so well on so many different people — with a compendium of issues. Such as the teenage girl on the autism spectrum. “When she first came to see me she wasn't socialising or fitting in at all. She was able to watch how the horses interacted and use that experience to enable her to learn how to deal with other people. “Eighteen months later we put her through an obstacle course with the horses and that helped her to learn how to deal with challenges. “This kind of treatment isn't for everyone, no treatment ever is, but there is a place for it and it is certainly gaining credibility as more and more people benefit from it.” Case in point. I entered the paddock and pretty soon one of the horses came up to me and spent quite a lot of time nosing my right arm and shoulder. And I just looked at Michelle. Only the day before I had been at the sports therapist to fix that very spot. Nobody told Shine I had a sore shoulder and she wouldn't have understood if they had. But it seemed she just knew. Coincidence? Maybe. But there was also something happening between the two of us. Michelle said to become an equine learning practioner she has had to work on herself. “It has definitely changed the way I think. I am so much more aware of myself and my own body and once you connect with yourself there is a flow-on effect,” she said. “We are all well aware of how busy our lives can be and many of us get caught up in that whether it is through our kids, work or life in general, but horses have a way of getting you to stop and reflect.” Michelle is a mother and a dairy farmer — and by any measure that makes you a confirmed realist. But she is also an emotional alchemist, converting base fears, worries and concerns and replacing them with serenity and a new, empowering, sense of self-awareness. Healing the pained, the lost and the confused. Four legs at a time.

5482 6177

254 Hare Street, Echuca @tracioriannishairandbeauty facebook.com/tracioriannishairandbeauty

Summer hair and make-up Natural messy ponytail styling tutorial by Bec at Blush Hair Room 1. Start with clean, fresh and straight hair. 2. Create some loose curls using curler or straightening iron. 3. Tease hair to achieve the height you want and to break up your curls. 4. Tie hair up into pony tail. 5. Use tail comb to create messy pony tail

— this will increase more height in the pony. 6. Take piece of hair from under pony tail to wrap around the top of the style — this will also cover the hair tie from being seen. 7. To secure deﬁnition in the curls, ﬁnish with UNITE second day paste (available at Blush Hair Room).

Natural, fresh, summer make up tutorial by Sam at Willowtree Beauty Lounge 1. Apply Curtis collection primer to your skin.

6. Use the Inika blush on cheeks and brow bones

2. Apply liquid air brush ﬁnish foundation to whole face.

7. Bronzer is to also be added to the eyelids — this creates depth through the eye — and apply blush on top of the lid as well.

3. Apply Youngblood loose powder to whole face over the foundation — this will give you a longer lasting coverage. 4. Apply Inika bronzer outside the sides and top of the face. Starting from the forehead bones create a circular motion, in the ﬁgure of a 3. From the forehead bone, down the cheek bones and along the chin bone. 5. Apply the Inika cream highlighter to side of eyes and cheek bones and entire eye lids.

Expert Tip SAVE ON LIPSTICK BY USING LINER WITH LIP GLOSS

8. For optional extra glow add Curtis Collection eye shadow (colour: luxe oasis) to the inner corner of the eye. 9. Fill in brows with Curtis Collection brow tint. 10. Apply mascara and false eyelashes (Curtis Collection). 11. Add a little extra brown eyeshadow (Youngblood) through the eye crease and under eye. 12. Apply the Inika lip treatment and line lips with Curtis Collection lip liner.

Behind a bella photoshoot

A bella photoshoot brings out the funny side of our models and suppliers as well as piecing together perfect images. If your business would like to be a part of our April photo shoot give us a shout out on Facebook: BellaMagazineEchuca or editorial@riverineherald.com.au

Big thanks to these guys: Models: Jacci Kelly, Hannah Eeles & Courtney Perry Photographer: Stuart Walmsley

Style, hair, make-up and props

BLUSH HAIR ROOM

Find the floor you’ve been searching for Choices Flooring Echuca has been servicing Echuca and the surrounding area since 2001. They have the latest ideas in carpets, timber, laminate, luxury vinyl, tiles, rugs and window furnishings.

There’s a flooring choice to suit every home and every budget.

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With over 25 years’ experience in the flooring industry, Russell, Angela and the team are committed to bringing you professional and up to date information on the latest trends and styles to help you find what you’re searching for. So if you’re looking for the latest trends in flooring, everything that’s new underfoot, then look no further than Choices Flooring Echuca.

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The Evolution of Echuca Benevolent Society and Aged Care Now in its 140th year of operation, Echuca Benevolent Society is expanding with 20 new independent living units and 13 assisted accommodation units, alongside dining and common rooms. Echuca Ladies Benevolent Society originally provided basic commodities to some of the homeless men in the bustling port town of Echuca. Now it operates Wharparilla Lodge, a 92 bed fully accredited residential accommodation facility; Cunningham Downs, 79 x 2 and 3 bedroom independent living units; 14 assisted accommodation units known as Brolga Apartments and 29 independent living units at Illoura Village in Francis Street, Echuca. Echuca Community for the Aged has scope for signiﬁcant expansion on an additional 6.5 hectares of land generously gifted

by the McSwain family and has licenses for another 45 beds at Wharparilla Lodge. The Board has recently engaged PTA Architecture P/L to develop a master plan for these future expansions. CEO of Echuca Community for the Aged, Colin Price, is excited by the prospects for future expansion. “This growth is exciting,” he said. “Echuca Community for the Aged is the only aged care facility in Echuca-Moama owned entirely by the local community and run by a Board comprised of local volunteers.” “Any proﬁts made go straight

back into improving and expanding our facilities.” “People feel more secure knowing that if they ever require nursing home care it can be provided within this community and it’s only a few minutes’ walk away from their home.” If you are interested in any of the independent living or assisted accommodation options offered by Echuca Community for the Aged, Colin Price can be contacted on (03) 5480 5000 or the website address is www.echucaca.com.au.

Echuca Benevolent Society Inc. Hartshorn Drive, Echuca 3564 P: 03 5480 5000 W: www.echucaca.com.au E: info@echucaca.com.au

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There's no single answer to multiple sclerosis As a mother-to-be Darlene Weeks deďŹ ed cuttingedge medical advice and then, as a woman, again made her own treatment decisions after being diagnosed with aggressive multiple sclerosis, SOPHIE BALDWIN writes. >>>

>>>

N 1989 DARLENE WEEKS made the brave decision to continue with her second pregnancy despite being told the child would have Down syndrome. Despite her termination.

doctor

recommending

Then in spite of all that angst gave birth to the proverbial happy, healthy, bouncing baby girl. It was an incredibly valuable lesson that would soon alter her own life. “After my daughter was born I found out later I had antibodies interfering with the blood test, there was no sign of Down syndrome at all,” Darlene said. But there were soon other signs there was a problem. Not with her daughter but for Darlene herself. Soon after the birth she started experiencing partial loss of her sight and as the years passed her health began to significantly deteriorate. As a wife and mother of two little children, life became increasingly difficult and demanding as even the most simple of daily tasks became harder to manage. In the end Darlene could not even peel a potato; it would take her three hours to make the bed and if she drove anywhere she needed to stop regularly because extreme fatigue would just overtake her. “Spasms would start in my feet and work

alternative therapies. their way up through my body. I couldn't write a single word, I couldn't function and I “I have nothing against traditional medicouldn't do a single thing — I was struggling cine and there are many, many, many good with motherhood and life was a nightmare,” outcomes that come from it, but in my Darlene said. personal situation I just didn't think that it The turning point came when a checkout was the answer for me.” chick in Coles made fun of her. Darlene said she came to her decision after “I was mortiﬁed. I was totally aware of what a 2000 discussion with her neurologist and was going on around me but my body just her own research of medications prescribed wouldn't co-operate.” to MS sufferers and the discovery one of the side effects could be cancer. In 1999, after so many visits to doctors and specialists that it all started becoming a blur, she got a diagnosis.

“I was facing a pretty awful life and at the time my neurologist said to me, off the record, you can follow this line of medicaDarlene had multiple sclerosis. tion but I think you will get better results if That explained the spasms and the numbyou look for something else.” ness in as much as 90 per cent of her body, It was a decision Darlene is glad she made slurred speech and inability to command because she now knows of quite a few MS her limbs — all of which was compounded sufferers who have since passed away from by the loss of bowel and bladder control cancer and brain tumors. and the omnipresent exhaustion which is the signature of MS. By which point Darlene was facing a life she was seriously considering no longer being a part of.

One of the ﬁrst things Darlene did, under advice from her naturopath, was to get her mercury tooth ﬁllings removed.

“The difference was amazing, the spasms She doesn't mind admitting that, or spell- practically stopped overnight and after a day they were gone all together. ing out how bad she really was because Darlene circa 2018 is as happy and almost “Because I have had my DNA analysed as healthy and bouncy as her daughter was I can now see why I couldn't cope with after her dire pre-natal sentence. mercury — certain genes are affected by it and I was obviously one of those people, Her journey to wellness has been nothing but seeing the change and experiencing it short of extraordinary because it involved turning her back on the traditional medi- so quickly convinced me I was on the right cation offered and healing herself through path.”

Darlene said she did face pressure from family and friends about her decision to avoid mainstream medicine but as she began to see improvements in herself, she knew she had made the right decision. She also used Bowen therapy which is a holistic remedial body technique that works on the soft connective tissue (fascia) of the body. It can be used to treat musculoskeletal or related neurological problems including acute sports injuries and chronic or organic conditions. “Bowen therapy helped me regain the use of my leg and freed up my body. “I am so grateful to all the practitioners who helped me, including naturopath Margaret Phipps, chiropractor Mark Pearce and acupuncturist Nathan Smith, I was incredibly fortunate to ﬁnd such dedicated people to help me.” “But the biggest change I made personally was to my diet. I became gluten and lactose free and even today I still don't have much milk. I eat real food; I have eradicated preservatives and additives from my diet. I eat good proteins and lots of good fats such as coconut oil, ﬂax seeds and avocados, these things don't make you fat or unhealthy, it is all the carbs and other things that do.

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“I no longer have chemicals in the house and I use natural cleaners. There are no mobile phones or electrical devices such as phones or TV in the bedroom and the electric blanket is turned off at the power point each night, to ensure I have a good night's sleep. “It's a lifestyle for me now and the last time I saw my neurologist was 10 years ago, I don't see any point in wasting the money now.” The success of her regimen and her thirst for knowledge inevitably led her along a path where her personal journey and her quest for answers have given Darlene an insatiable desire for knowledge which has led her down the path of study which began in 2003 and is still ongoing today. She has a Bachelor of Health in nutritional medicine and naturopathy, along with diplomas including Bowen therapy and most recently MTHFR Support Australia. “I have learnt so much over the years and I want to share my knowledge and help as many people as I possibly can. There has been a deﬁnite shift in the way people think and if people have a chronic illness and aren't getting any better, they will search for answers somewhere else.” Darlene said she has clients from across Victoria and gets a lot of enjoyment from helping others on the road to health. “I love what I do and want to continue to provide an affordable service. I think it is important services like this are, and continue to be, within the ﬁnancial reach of the everyday person.”

5481 3333

www.richriver.com.au 45

for the

love food of

MICHELLE THEODORE CATERING, PROVIDING HOME COOKED SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR NEXT FUNCTION. DINNER PARTIES CORPORATE FUNCTIONS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION HOME DINNER PARTIES

WANT TO ENJOY THE EASE AND TASTE OF A HOME COOKED MEAL WITHOUT HAVING TO SHOP FOR THE INGREDIENTS, PREPARE AND COOK THE DISHES?

CATERING MADE EASY FOR YOU! MICHELLE BOYD 0400 131 129 For all inquiries and menus please email michelle@hmval.com.au 46

Canapés aren't just finger food... …when done properly, they are culinary concoctions created with passion and ﬂair. Invite Michelle Theodore into your home and you will see catering taken to a new level. “Canapés are such a great ﬁt with our summer and I would love to share mine with bella readers,” Michelle said. “I love nothing more than combining my passion for food with my love for entertaining,” she said.

to the success of any occasion — they are a perfect ﬁt with everything from baby showers, birthdays and weddings to corporate events, office celebrations and product launches.”

“These little mouthfuls of delicious ﬂavour really let you have fun with food and add

In this issue Michelle lets slip some of her secret combinations for her canapés.

Mexican Chicken Corn Chips Ingredients: • 2 Large Free Range chicken breasts cooked and let cool • 1 large packet of organic round corn chips (natural ﬂavoured) • 1 birds eye chilli • 1 red onion ﬁnely chopped • Half a bunch of coriander • 1 red capsicum

• • • •

1 can of corn kernels (drained) 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes ﬁnely sliced 1 tablespoon of Mexican seasoning 4 large table spoons of your favourite Aioli, Yoghurt or homemade mayonnaise • 1 fresh lime juiced • Salt and pepper to taste

Method: Finely slice all ingredients and combine in large bowl once the chicken has cooled.

spoon making sure all of the ingredients are

Add your seasoning, fresh coriander and aioli to the bowl and mix with a large

on top of corn chip and add extra coriander

coated and serve a generous teaspoon size for decoration.

an element of strength

Iron 55.933

Iron is a mineral that helps our body carry the oxygen around. It is stored in haemoglobin that is found in our red blood cells. Your haemoglobin levels in the blood may be low (anaemia) if you do not have enough iron. Symptoms of low iron include; feeling tired, having poor concentration and being more susceptible to infection. Haem iron from animal products is absorbed by the body about ten times easier than non-haem iron. Foods that contain haem iron include: Â&#x2021; Meats such as beef, lamb, pork, chicken or turkey Â&#x2021; )LVK VKHOOÃ&#x20AC; VK VDOPRQ VDUGLQHV and tuna Â&#x2021; 2IIDO OLYHU DQG NLGQH\ When meat is redder it has more iron in it. Non-haem iron is found in some plant foods but is not absorbed by the body as well as iron from animal foods. Foods that contain non-haem iron include:

How much iron do we need each day and how can you get that amount? FOOD (SERVING SIZE)

IRON (MG)

Â&#x2021; ,URQ IRUWLÃ&#x20AC; HG EUHDGV DQG EUHDNIDVW cereals Â&#x2021; Legumes (e.g. kidney beans, baked beans, chickpeas) Â&#x2021; *UHHQ OHDI\ YHJHWDEOHV Â&#x2021; Nuts/nut pastes and dried fruit Â&#x2021; Eggs There are some foods and drinks that can help iron be absorbed better and there are some that can impair how well we absorb iron. Some foods that can inhibit the absorption of iron are tea, coffee, unprocessed bran and some soy proteins. ,W LV NQRZQ WKDW HDWLQJ YLWDPLQ & ULFK foods with your meal will increase iron absorption, particularly if the iron is from non-haem sources.

Good sources of vitamin C include: Â&#x2021; Fruits such as oranges, lemons, pineapples, strawberries and blueberries Â&#x2021; Vegetables like tomatoes, capsicum, and broccoli How much iron do we need each day and how can you get that amount? How much iron Men (19+) Women (19-50 years) Women (51+ years) Girls (14â&#x20AC;&#x201C;18 years) Boys (14â&#x20AC;&#x201C;18 years) Girls & Boys (9â&#x20AC;&#x201C;13 years) Girls & Boys (4â&#x20AC;&#x201C;8 years) Girls & Boys (1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;3 years)

1 small potato

1 cup cooked soybeans

8.8

Â½ cup green peas

0.9

100 g Bok choy

0.8

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2 wheat biscuits

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1 cup oats

1.3

1 small box sultanas

100 g fresh fruit

3.1

100 g Lean lamb

2.5

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Dairy Foods

100 g chicken

0.9

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100 g Lean Pork 100 g Tuna 120 g Sardines

0.1

1.4

1 cup milk

0.3

1.0

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Snack foods and drink

ZKROHJUDLQ FUDFNHUV

50 g cashews

1 cup cooked Quinoa

2.8

50 g pine nuts

3.24 0.3 2.1 2.24 2

Vegetables

50 g pistachios

Â½ cup cooked spinach

2.2

50 g almonds

5 asparagus spears

1.0

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Â½ cup cooked beans

1.0

1 tablespoon Peanut Butter

100 g Tofu

5.2

3 slices beetroot

1.2

1 teaspoon Vegemite

2 tablespoons Tahini

2.7

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50 g Liquorice

Echuca Moama Family Medical Practice providing quality primary healthcare to the rural community. 1 Martin St, Moama 179â&#x20AC;&#x201C;183 Annesley St, Echuca

0.74 0.2â&#x20AC;&#x201C;0.7

1 slice cheese

100 g Snapper

Â½ cup 3 Bean Mix

0.5

1.1

140 g Baked Beans

0.5

100 g brown rice

1 Egg Â½ cup Kidney Beans

8 mg/day 18 mg/day 8 mg/day 15 mg/day 11 mg/day 8 mg/day 10 mg/day 9 mg/day

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100 g Lean Beef

> Haem iron (from animal foods) > Non-haem iron (from plant foods)

Bread and Cereal foods

Meat and meat alternatives 100 g Kangaroo

Did you know there are two types of iron?

(03) 5480 2933 (03) 5480 6001

2.5 2 1.95 1.8 0.5 0.13 4.4

Taste the Flavours of Echuca Moama

20th May 2018 Morrisons Winery 11am - 4pm, 2 Merool Rd, Moama Tickets available from:

flavoursfestival.com or St Anneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Echuca Cellar Door

NEW STOCK ARRIVING DAILY

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They're supercalifragilisticexpialidociously Insta-famous Meet the Tuesday Twins — they are at the cutting edge of a digi-generation that is making its mark in the world of marketing. TYLA HARRINGTON caught up with their mothers to get the full story of these high-proﬁle tiny tots.

ITH MORE THAN 15,000 Instagram followers between them, youngsters

Arloh Adrain and Elvy Connelly are basically Insta-famous. Which, if you don't already know, is the dream of just about every teen in Echuca-Moama. And, if we're being honest, maybe some adults too. Called

the

little

Tuesday

twins,

they

each have an Instagram account plus a

combined account. While they might not run the accounts themselves (they might be a little precocious but they are still only two-years-old) mums — best friends Nicole Connelly and Alishia Adrain from Echuca — know the success lies with them. “We only started 13 months ago so they've gained a fairly big following,” Nicole said. “They work for a large number of brands (about 30 at the moment).

“What's made them so popular is they are both very different colouring but they're the same body size and body shape so when they put clothes on people can visualise their kid in the same outﬁt because their colouring might be either Arloh's or Elvy's.” Arlo and Elvy were born a week apart and are best friends. Instagram is a photo-sharing app and service that allows users to share pictures and videos publicly — or privately to pre-approved followers. >>>

>>> Both Nicole and Alishia like the app and enjoy taking photos, so thought why not take photos of their two special people, modelling cute clothes and upload the photos to Instagram?

much fun.” But the mothers admitted they don't always look as good as they do on Instagram. “No,” Nicole said with a laugh.

“We both thought what's something unique we could do and it's sort of gone from there,” Nicole said.

“But they do love each other. They're best friends and play together all the time. They're really good together.”

“It's pretty easy really. We both like styling.”

Usually Nicole and Alishia post every Tuesday, hence the name, but when the youngsters are doing showcases that can change.

Alishia added “a good day is when they're happy”. “And when things go to plan,” she said. “Sometimes we've done three outﬁts in a day and different locations so that's a really good day. A bad day is when we've got nothing and we've had that happen. “At the end of either day we all just have so

“Because it involves a lot of prepping,” Nicole said. “If they've got extras we have to do it ourselves so it can be hard and time consuming at times.

“We try to scout locations that are unique. Sometimes you can pull up to a ﬁeld and it's amazing but sometimes we work so hard to get a location but for one reason or another it doesn't work.” One positive is they usually do get to keep the clothes. “I usually do about 250 shots on mine and Alishia does all the close-up work,” Nicole said. Not only do Nicole and Alishia have young children that are the same age, their older children are too. Max (Nicole's son) and Alishia's daughter (Tameika) are both nine. “It's all grown so quickly and we've had so much fun along the way,” Alishia said.

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2018 @ ENH Pre accredited training

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• Help with iPads or Apple Mac computers • Need help with basic reading, writing, spelling or maths? • ii` > ÀiÃÕ i¶ ii` i « w } forms? • English language support • Writing creatively • Crochet- Beginners Welcome • Baking from the heart • Community garden

Craft Time • Colouring for adults • Health and Wellbeing • Meditation & more • Children’s meditation (8-14 years) • Relaxation through meditation • Walking group • Morning yoga • Tai Chi & Qigong • Mindfulness Meditation

If you have a skill or an ear to share we are always looking for volunteers. Phone the House to see how you could assist.

Echuca Neighbourhood House

261 High Street, Echuca. Vic. 3564 Phone: 5482 6914 Fax: 03 5480 1026 Email : info@enh.org.au Website: www.enh.org.au ABN: 43 374 311 705

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Give your garden the edge G

ARDEN EDGING. IT'S something we get a lot of questions about.

Edging serves a practical purpose in your garden, keeping everything where it should be, but it can also be an attractive and creative feature, deﬁning a border, adding texture, structure and colour and drawing attention to all the right places. “Edging is there for a reason; keeping the soil and mulch in the garden beds and those pesky lawn runners from taking over the garden, but it also plays an important role in the overall look of your garden,” landscape designer and co-director of The Garden Planners Craig Turner said. “When choosing edging you need to select a product that suits the design of your garden, after that, the choices are only limited by your imagination and your budget,” he said. Here's a few options to consider.

for maintenance providing a neat mowing strip,” said Craig. “I'd avoid end-on-end. It doesn't have the same polished look and doesn't really provide enough depth.”

Steel Steel is great as it comes in so many proﬁles and styles making it super versatile. Whether you use galvanised, stainless or the new, on point, trendy Corten Steel, you'll be able to create practical and attractive edges. “Steel edging is our favourite option,” Craig said. “We like to use FormBoss™. It's stronger than aluminium, easy to shape into anything from intricate curves to endless straight lines and holds its shape really well.” FormBoss™ is also really economical. The

Timber

initial outlay is less than options like plate steel, aluminium and concrete, and because

Simple products such as treated pine, which is termite resistant, make a great divider for straight gardens. Generally purchased in 6 m lengths they can be placed ﬂush with the lawn providing a nice edge for your mower wheel or whipper snipper. It's a cheap, practical option but isn't going to add anything much aesthetically to your garden.

Brick

it lasts well you avoid the cost (and backache) of reinstalling every couple of years.

Plastic “If we're talking edging we have to mention plastic, but it's an option we'd really recommend you avoid,” says Craig. Why? Plastic edging is generally dug into the garden with flimsy pegs and left above the ground to battle all the weather elements, including heat, which in our climate will bend the plastic and pull the pegs out of the ground in no time. Its high profile means it often gets hit by the whipper snipper, or other garden tools and ends up split, cracked and looking pretty ordinary. “These days there are so many great options to choose from that look amazing and will fit most budgets,” Craig said. PS: We're often asked how high edging needs to be to keep birds from flicking mulch everywhere. Unfortunately, you'd need to build the Great Wall of China to stop our black birds. We don't even try, but we have a few other tricks to deter them. Stay tuned to future blog posts where we'll share our top tips.

Plant of the month DAPHNE 'ETERNAL FRAGRANCE' A must-have plant.

Bricks are great for straight or gently curved garden beds sweeping through lawns. “I love brick edging,” Craig said. “Installed correctly it looks fantastic and it's a great way to use up left-over bricks if you've built a new home — recycling at its best.” Bricks need to be laid on a ﬁrm base of compacted gravel and mortar or concrete; once the base is solid there are loads of pattern options. “Side-by-side gives you a larger brick face which is a great visual feature. It's also good

Eternal Fragrance is an awarding winning Daphne suitable for a variety of garden applications. You will be rewarded with sweetly fragrant flowers on the deep green to fresh lime foliage on repeated occasions throughout the year — first flush in late winter and then in early summer and again in autumn. Unlike other Daphnes, Eternal Fragrance will thrive in a full sun position but will also perform in semi shade. A truly outstanding garden and pot performer, proven by more than 30 years of development with results that speak for themselves.

WE DESIGN GARDENS...YOU BRING THEM TO LIFE At The Garden Planners we are passionate about beautiful and affordable landscape design.

CRAIG TURNER craig@thegardenplanners.com.au

She's got your ticket to ride T

RAVEL IS JUST about everyone's dream.

suits you.

“I really love to travel and putting together itineraries for clients and then seeing and hearing about all the joy and adventures my clients have had, gives me great satisfaction knowing that I have helped create Or you can drop off the radar in some remote country or visit a luxury resort, these wonderful experiences for my clients. commandeering your own banana lounge, Its all about creating memories. “Travel Counsellors can cater for anything from a setting up camp poolside and never moving trip to the Gold Coast, adventure holidays until it is time to fly home. taking you off the beaten track to cultural Rebecca Russell well and truly understands immersions and cycling tours. And if there the travel bug. is something I don't know about, I have a huge network of other Travel Counsellors I She got itchy feet early, signing up to Contiki tours, landing herself in Africa and can tap into with a wealth of travel experiimmersing herself into the world of safa- ence and knowledge.” ris and traipsed across large tracts of the Rebecca said she recently organised a continent. European trip for a client going to a paintA CV that makes her so incredibly in ing workshop in Italy and as something a demand in the twin towns to guide and little extra, she had some Italian themed advise people looking to make their own biscuits made for her client. memories. “It was a bit of fun and being a Travel Rebecca has spent some years in main- Counsellor means I can offer extra personal stream travel agencies but just as she did service to my clients.” it her way as a traveller, she wants the Rebecca is personally escorting a culture freedom to help her clients do it their way, and yoga retreat in Bali from June 3–9. running a home-based agency as an independent Travel Counsellor. “I am offering a special escorted retreat which includes six nights' accommodation Travel Counsellors have access to all the in the art and cultural heart of Bali at the travel deals and run their own booking stunning Wapa di Ume Resort and Spa in system. Ubud. We are taking our own qualified yoga Rebecca facilitates the process, plans the master and the trip will include daily yoga holiday based on what the client wants, classes, paddy trek, cooking and art classes, liases with all the suppliers and coordinates and Tirta Temple water purification ritual. It the itinerary and documentation to meet is going to be a wonderful experience.” your needs. Not one to sit still, Rebecca is also lookShe said Travel Counsellors offer a personal ing at opening up a pop up store office in service, are independent, global, award Rochester to service customers. winning and perhaps most importantly, your money is safe — everything booked is “I am looking at heading over there once a month at this stage. I have a mobile office fully protected, no ifs, buts or maybes. space lined up and we will see how it goes “I can book anything from a night in from there. Melbourne to an 80 days around the world “A lot of my business has been through word adventure,” Rebecca said. of mouth to date but in 2018 I decided it was “Travel Counsellors are not tied into any time to become more visible and put myself particular suppliers so we can offer exactly out there — after all I have a real passion for what the client wants –we are definitely all travel and I absolutely love my job.” about getting the client the exact experiRebecca can be contacted on 0419 832 242 ence they are after, all you have to do is tell or email rebecca.russell@travelcounsellors. me what you want and I will go out of my com.au or go to www.travelcounsellors.com. way to find it for you.” au/rebecca.russell Rebecca said she is flexible and has no She also has a Facebook page Travel problem working with clients after hours or Counsellors Echuca/Moama — Rebecca Russell on the weekend, and as she is mobile, she can come to you at a time and place that or Instagram travelcounsellorsechuca In Australia we may be restricted by the number of countries you can visit in close proximity, but there is still much to see.

Lords Fashions stepping out in style S

UPPORTING THE LOCAL community is ﬁrmly in the heart of Craig Lord and his staff at LORDS Fashions in the heart of Hare St.

Having the correct size bra is very important and sales assistant Donna recommended all women, no matter their age, have their bras ﬁtted correctly.

In 1928 the business was originally opened “We really encourage everyone to have their bras routinely ﬁtted because sizes always and had recently been trading as Echuca Fashion Centre. It is currently transform- change,” Donna said. ing with a trading name change to LORDS LORDS huge store stocks a range of everyFashion carrying the name of the local one's favourite brands, such as Australian family that has owned and ran it for the made Tanner St, Emily Adams, Orientique, past 38 years. We are constantly looking to Fate + Becker, Vivid, Equus, Givoni, Thomas improve our ranges for a better local choice Cook and the popular everyday budget for our customers. range Betty Basics. Craig Lord is at the helm today and he said his family and their shop have traded through enormous change in Echuca's retail precinct. And that it is still successfully trading in the same spot is down to, Craig said, its individuality and the loyalty of Echuca-Moama. “Our best support is from our local people,” Craig said. “It is always great to get the positive comments from the visitors to town on our large range and depth of stock, which is a big difference to the multinationals visitors see everywhere else,” he said. “We are constantly working on making the business better.” LORDS houses an extensive range in fashion for women, men, teens, children and babies. Among the ranks of dresses, lingerie, skirts, shirts and workwear is a huge array of active wear with some of Australia's best labels available. Lorna Jane's ever-stylish and comfortable wear is being continually updated with the latest styles and covers crop tops, leggings, shorts and sweat resistant tee shirts and tops for the fashionably energetic young girls and women of the twin towns. LORDS also stocks a large range of bras including Triumph, Playtex, Berlei and Fayreform. Bra ﬁtting is also available for customers before their purchase.

As the colder months come around LORDS has its luxury premium range of POSSUM/ MERINO knitwear arriving from Merino Snug and Merino Mink. The possum fur provides a product that is very soft and lightweight but will keep you warm and snug in the single digit temperatures. LORDS extensive range provides fashion choices for every occasion from formal and corporate for the office to sports and school wear. There's even women's work boots by Australia's She Wear. Most of all, the team at LORDS is committed to delivering the best quality product with the best customer service in town. The recently launched LORDS Customer Club provides a great loyalty program to shoppers and provides the regulars with heaps of great discounts and promotions. “We want to keep our customers happy and keep them coming back,” Craig said. “We are always aiming to look after the local community.” LORDS Fashions Est 1928. Located at 198–200 Hare St, Echuca. Open: Monday to Friday 9 am – 5.30 pm. Saturday 9 am – 2.30 pm.

New season fashion in-store

Dangerously diminutive — and loving it all KIMBERLEY PRICE had to be agile and alert to keep up with Jayda Goulding. The mini martial artist is building herself a reputation — and track record — on the competition circuit against girls and boys.

her mother Erin said.

HE STARTED TRAINING at seven.

Not in the morning. Not even the evening. No. Jayda Goulding was just seven years old when she took up Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

“It's evened her out a bit, made her a bit more settled,” she said. “She has more conﬁdence, especially at tournaments where she could go up to anyone and introduce herself.”

Initially because her older brother Mason took it up but then it overtook her and she got very serious, very quickly.

One of the biggest improvements in Jayda's character has been her ability in dealing with problems in the playground.

So serious she is already competing out of her age group and weight range just to ﬁnd someone good enough for a better bout.

The Echuca West Primary School student has had some issues with ﬁtting-in, but instead of becoming frustrated with the situation, the Year 4 student has simply learnt to be kind.

And that, increasingly, has meant taking on the boys — and beating them. Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a martial amalgam (a judo base from Japan with some Brazilian samba style technique injected) built on the principle a smaller, weaker person can defend and out-manoeuvre a bigger, stronger opponent. In November 2016 this pocket rocket entered, and won, her ﬁrst tournament.

and stronger and I think I can't do it,” she said. “But I've also got the strength to get on top.

But it had nothing to do with beginner's “Sometimes people's moves don't work on luck. Competing in a further seven tour- me because I'm so flexible.” naments in Victoria and interstate she has With a range of techniques to learn, perfectfinished on the podium every time ing each one is quite difficult, working her With the highlight of her short, yet formi- way through ground-fighting techniques such as joint-locks, chokeholds and rolling. dable career Tasmania last October, where she took part in the 2017 Pan Pacific — and But it's not just about the physical training took home the crown as champion in her on the mat, as with most martial arts there age and weight category. are also life lessons, such as focus, discipline, co-ordination and goal-setting. Since then it has increasingly been bouts against those boys, and she keeps on For Jayda, the sport has given her so much winning. more than martial arts skills and her parents have definitely seen the difference in their Speaking through a fit of the giggles, Jayda admitted she is on a roll whether her oppo- daughter. nent is a girl or boy. “I found Jayda was a bit hyper so it has been a good way to make her concentrate more,” “Some of the boys I am up against are bigger

“As soon as she started the martial arts, she didn't seem to care as much about the negatives at school because she knew that she was good at something,” Erin said. “She has just learnt to try and be nice to everyone.” “Because you don't know what people are going through,” Jayda chimed in. “It's important to be friendly to everyone.” Having learnt to overcome her opponents with strategies and understanding rather than irrationality, Jayda said she had incorporated many of the martial arts lessons into her life. “It's like a puzzle,” she beamed. 'I have to think about what to do next.” With her weekends quickly ﬁlling with competition and training; Jayda dreams of one day becoming a world champion in her sport — but then shyly smiled and shrugged. “Really, I will be happy for anything.”

Hair today, gone tomorrow, hair again — and so on O

NE OF THE signature events in a person's cancer journey is their hair. More correctly the hair you soon won't have.

Yet it seems such a small price to pay for your life.

roughly three years to grow the required 30 cm of natural hair. Moama born and bred, Brydie now resides in Geelong and works in the Epworth Rehabilitation Ward where, surrounded by people who are worse-off, the nurse is constantly inspired by them.

For the outside world, seeing someone without hair is a clear indication they are “It's about providing something for people currently battling through one of the tough- who need it,” she says. est diseases imaginable. And while in the “Everyone is really touched by it. grand scheme of things it is inconsequential because it nearly always grows back. “Knowing that patients could be wearing my hair as a wig is really nice — and having But for many women, having no hair can be family and friends who have been through seriously damaging to personal confidence. cancer definitely hits home and makes it So for the third time Brydie Edgar has been more worthwhile.” shorn to donate her hair to L. Barnett Wig For Brydie, growing out and cutting her hair Makers in Melbourne, who create wigs for is a simple way to give back to those who cancer sufferers. are really in need. The act of giving and caring for others is just And she encouraged everyone able to help another part of this nurse's warm nature. to get involved and donate their hair. While some people are often surprised by “It's something a bit different,” she said. Brydie's donations, the decision to continually cut her hair is not a difficult one. “People don't know about it. “I think I saw it on Ellen DeGeneres many “Everyone's amazed wig making can happen years ago and I thought 'what a great idea',” from their own hair.” she laughed. By growing out and cutting off 30 cm of her “People are quite shocked when they realise hair, Brydie has helped three women feel a it's what I do. sense of normalcy while battling cancer. “I just say, it'll grow back.” Regardless of who she does convince to join her hirsute heroics Brydie will be countBrydie first cut her hair for wig making just after she finished high school. It takes her ing down the days to her next shearing.

Thirty Something

Childless by choice but why did I make that call? I

T'S A FUNNY thing; but while I have known for some time (yes, alright, years) that I don't have an overly maternal bone in my body; the reason for that life determination has always eluded me. More than once, lying (mostly alone) in bed late at night, the question has popped into my mind and the result has always been the same. It slips into some dark recess as I switch gears and think happy thoughts — such as the upcoming Easter celebrations and all the chocolate that implies. But just the other day, in one of those Eureka moments, all those years of avoiding the truth, those nights of pushing it away from my conscious self, the recriminations of mother, the sympathetic sideways glances of legions of mothers, coalesced.

rained three weeks ago but we need more. It poured two weeks ago and we don't want any. It just went on and on and on. He, on the other hand, didn't. Not with me anyway. And I dread to think what the conversation might have been after our rains in December. At which point it all suddenly came together with a recent conversation at the home of my incredibly fecund sister, still plump and soft from the birth of her latest child. There were two of her friends and three of mine at this open plan tête-à-tête but I was in a class of my own here because I alone was without child. And suddenly my mind ﬂashed back to my ﬂirtation with the farming life: Will he/ she go down happily? Will he/she sleep for more than two hours? Has he/she obliged the required calls of nature (which the doting mothers then get to mop up)?

In an earlier life I did walk out with a young man, the scion of a pastoral dynasty (loaded to the gills with landholdings slightly larger than the UK) but my God he became very boring very quickly.

The chatter went on and on and on.

His every waking moment seemed like an endless ﬁxation.

Every sentence beginning with 'will' or 'when'.

On rain.

And therein lies the problem; in my humble opinion.

Would it fall? When would it fall? How much would fall? How much do we need? It

The girls all laugh about placenta brain

(pre-birth) and baby brain (post birth) — and I am not arguing. Some of those sitting with me on the day of my epiphany are super smart, strong women who had conquered all. Yet here they were, shackled to these helpless little beings who cannot walk, talk, communicate or entertain. Their primary functions seem to be crying, making sure neither parent ever sleeps, having food stuffed in one end and the most remarkable concoctions expelled from the other. You cannot go out, you wouldn't want to stay in, you are sleep deprived, you can only connect with others in this human subset and your emotions are as mercurial as a crazy woman and as fragile as a man's. That is why I have managed to remain childless. It also explains why I will continue to do so — provided the world of chemistry and technology deliver their parts of this pact. And tonight it will be back to sheep and basic arithmetic as I have solved one of the great unknowns in my mind. It is none of your business if I will be counting those sheep alone.

Australia is made up of 50 percent women, 50 percent men. An effective parliament should represent that. www.peterwalsh.org.au peterwalshmp peterwalshmp Peter Walsh MP 466 High St, Echuca Ph 5482 2039 or 1300 467 906 Funded from Parliament’s Electorate Ofﬁce & Communications Budget.

Suddenly Single

High hopes, we've got high hopes As someone who tends to lurch from crisis to crisis our Ms Suddenly Single is ﬁnally getting her act together — hopefully everyone else connected with her is following the same script.

AM NOT really sure what happened to 2017 but here we are — the start of another year and boy, oh, boy 2018, aren't you going to be a good one.

As per usual I didn't quite make the New Year in, I was sound asleep by 11 pm but in my defense, it had been a very hectic Christmas period that extended well into the end of the December. But 2017 very much ﬁnished on a high for me. I got to spend Christmas with my whole family — my dear old dad is very sick and even though he drives me crazy at times (OK, most of the time), it was nice to have everyone home for him. Christmas was spent eating, swimming, eating, laughing, eating, driving and of course eating a bit more. Like most families, ours is big, loud and opinionated. My family loves nothing better then stirring the crap out of someone and guess who was the butt of everyone's jokes this year? Jokes and jibes aside, when I stop and think about it I have mentally and physically come a long way this year and am proud to say I am no longer as unhinged as I once was (although I am not sure if my boss will

quite see things in the same light.) I have let go of the anger and resentment I once had and I have chosen instead to focus on the million awesome things that I do have in my life. I am very much looking forward to my future and what it has in store for me. The end of my marriage was one of the toughest things I have had to endure and I have had to deal with it and grieve it in my own way. Today I am now many things that I wasn't two years ago because of it, and it is bloody awesome. I am conﬁdent and content in who I am and this year I WILL make it to an Ironman because, let's face it, who doesn't want to spend 15 hours swimming, riding and running in a single day? I have started training and I must say what is ahead does seem a little daunting, but I am determined to give it a crack. I decided to ﬁnish 2017 with what was sold to me by one of my dear friends as an 'easy' trail run in Daylesford and good for my Ironman training. Well let's just say the 24 km run would have been 'easy' if I was a goat crossed with a

M O A M A

Palmer’s Gym and Tumble Tots Echuca Moama Cnr Echuca and Martin Streets, Moama E: palmersgymofﬁce@gmail.com M: 0428 990 819 W: www.palmersgym.com.au

greyhound but unfortunately I am just an average 43-year-old woman who found the most difficult bloody event I have ever competed in. It took me 3.5 hours to run those never ending goddamn goat track hills and let's just say the couple of runs I did do on the hill setting on the treadmill in preparation didn't quite cut it. It only took me five minutes into the race to realise 'Jesus, I am in for it here'. It was rocky, hilly and very, very hot and it just never seemed to end. We got to run through a couple of small streams but all I wanted to do was submerge my whole body in them, not just my poor feet — which, by the way, nearly needed amputating by the end because they were so sore. At the 14 km mark a very fit and agile older lady (well in her 60s) cruised past me and while I was thinking come on Sophie she is old, I couldn't help but marvel at her awesomeness, which proved to me yet again that age is very much just a number and not a reflection of where you should be physically. I am hoping this 'fun trail run' is just a glitch in my training and not a reflection of what lies ahead or otherwise it's going to be a long and painful year.

Gymnastics for all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities 65

Brought to you by

Aries (March 21 – April 20) Half of the zodiac might be ready to self-destruct, that doesn’t mean you have to join the queue. Most problems arise through no-one’s willingness to back off, so it’s up to you to lead by example. After the 16th is a great time to arrange meetings and start negotiations. Meanwhile, Venus is networking on your behalf - so make the most of new introductions.

Taurus (April 21 – May 20) When it comes to ﬁghting spirit, you’re fully armed this month. As you become more willing to try anything new, solutions to old problems surface. Determined and optimistic, you seize life’s opportunities and with this energy comes an uncompromising demand for recognition. Just don’t be so wrapped up in your own affairs that family feels neglected.

Gemini (May 21 – June 21) The full moon brightens your communications sector on the 1st, bringing closure to a long standing issue. A friend comes clean about a secret issue. Once the facts are faced, everyone will feel better. After the 12th the Sun links arms with visionary Venus. This coupling is breathtaking and creativity surges to new levels. Bring projects to fruition before someone else does.

Capricorn

Your February

HOROSCOPES by Tanya Obreza

(December 22 – January 20) This is a month to be noticed. Demand recognition, and if others try to derail your efforts - challenge them tactfully. Resist being too blunt and, more importantly - have your facts straight. Enhance your talents at work, develop new ones and seize each opportunity for success. Romantically, happier bonds offer loving relief. Don’t rule out travel.

Sagittarius

Aquarius

(November 23 – December 21)

(January 21 – February 18) Yours is a straight-down-the-line zodiac sign - never afraid to tell it like it is. You want, and deserve, only the very best. And, this year, you intend to get it. From the start of your birthday, you’re given planetary permission to take what’s yours. The cosmos also introduces playfulness, as well as the kind of good fortune that affords a few luxuries. Even in your love life, you dare to be different. When it comes to work and study, you also start to look at the bigger picture. Aims soar much higher. By year’s end - so do you.

With power-hungry Mars energising Sagittarians, there are few obstacles you can’t overcome. Charisma, love and money are overﬂowing. While others are reeling from the current lunar and solar eclipse, you’re thriving. If you’ve been waiting for the right time for a fresh start, do so after the 16th. Seize opportunities - no matter how bizarre they may seem.

Scorpio

Pisces

(October 24 – November 22)

(February 19 – March 20) You’ve been burning the candle at both ends. The end result? Nervous tension and exhaustion. You can’t keep treating your body as if it’s a machine or pretty soon, some cogs could come loose. Delegate, Pisces. Take that over-due holiday. In any case, some retrospection and rest is needed before your upcoming birthday season. That’s when you get to play!

Your lust for life can occasionally run over budget and you’re probably picking up the tab for your own, or another’s spending. There’s nothing like ﬁnancial woes to try a relationship. At work, if unexpected changes occur - don’t fret: Uranus provides enough fuel to help you last the distance. Just don’t take short cuts, or you’ll hit a dead end.

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

(June 22 – July 22)

(July 23 – August 23)

(August 24 – September 22)

(September 23 – October 23)

Sexy Venus holds a lot of clout for some weeks yet, so enjoy it. Most can expect a little extra cash and a lot more loving. Changes at home also keep you on your toes. Though you can be a workaholic, home is far more alluring this month and you’re in the mood to redecorate. There’s nothing like an expensive distraction to keep you happy.

February encourages co-operation. Mix a little tact with a lot of ambition and you have a sure-ﬁre recipe for success. Bear in mind, though, that there are promises, and there are “maybes”. If you’re planning to renege on something, you’d do well to know the difference. It would be courteous, too, to consult those party to any arrangements. Fair’s fair.

February brings a more relaxed mood, so catch up on daily chores. Life starts to make more sense and communication becomes easier. The planets also stir up a hunger for knowledge, so expect some study or travel. Even if this isn’t feasible, there should be more happiness in your life. Romance is high on the agenda. For couples, it’s about making joint plans.

Intuitive Guidance Readings to

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You don’t think the same way others do, and those used to this should know better than to try to force your hand. Occasionally we’re ushered down a new path where old allies and interests fall by the wayside. Changes like this mostly work in our favour. But we may not realise their importance until later. By then, you’re usually grateful for the guidance.

Where will 2018 take you? Bali Culture and Yoga

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MY PASSION IS SKIN

it’s crucial for our overall wellbeing Samantha Wilson (BHScDT-VU) with her degree in Health Science (Dermal Therapy) and her 28 years of experience in the beauty industry sets her aside as the qualiﬁed person you should talk to at Bellus Studio Beauty & Skin Clinic in Rochester. • A visiting doctor to administer injectables including anti-wrinkle and ﬁller injections • Large range of skin care products to service a variety of skin conditions • IPL – hair reduction • Photo rejuvenation including vascular, pigmentation and acne treatments • Peels • Microneedling (CIT) • Facial treatments • Microdermabransion (medical grade) Beauty Services including • Spray tans • Waxing • Nails Open Tuesday to Saturday from 9am and late on Tuesday and Thursday by appointment.

68 Mackay Street, Rochester Book online at www.bellusstudio.com.au or 5484 1472