June, 2020
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VIRTUAL EXPO Business services direct to you TRAVEL
SEEING NZ ON FOOT
LIFE AFTER COVID-19
Adventure on the Tarawera Trail WELLBEING
COPING MECHANISMS
Strategies to deal with grief
KATHRYN GREINER’S REALITY CHECK ON THE ‘NEW NORMAL’ FOR OUR DEMOGRAPHIC
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6 Sharing your neighbourhood news.
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Winds of change blow Gail Forrer Seniors Group Editor THIS month we lead with Kathryn Greiner, a woman who, both in private and public spheres, has her finger on the pulse of older Australians. At 73 Greiner is not keen on being described as one of the ‘’elderly’’. The word elderly seems to have come from another time – long before this generation of older people reaped the benefits of modern medicine and lifestyle. COVID-19 has also placed aged people in front of the debate because of the initial perception there were some who considered the virus an older people’s problem. However, the Prime Minister has said: “Every Australian matters. It doesn’t matter whether they have just been born or are approaching the end of their lives – every Australian matters.” Intergenerational solidarity shown through
many and varied acts of community kindness has acknowledged and supported the value of older people during this difficult time. Sadly, I also have to inform you that, due to fast-changing world events in the areas of technology and including the COVID-19 virus, this will be the last issue of Seniors News (both in print and digitally). Senior News staff is a small team of dedicated professionals who have endeavoured to provide readers with inspiring, practical and entertaining stories aimed at empowering the older person. I trust that in some way this has been achieved. Thanks so much for your support. It has been a pleasure working with you. Gail
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CONTACT US General Manager Geoff Crockett – 07 5430 1006 geoff.crockett@news.com.au Editor Gail Forrer – 07 5435 3203 gail.forrer@seniorsnewspaper.com.au Media Sales Executive Mark Smith – 07 3327 3327 mark.smith@newsregionalmedia.com.au Online Get your news online at www.seniorsnews.com.au Advertising, editorial and distribution enquiries Phone: 1300 880 265 or (07) 5435 3200 Email: advertising@seniorsnewspaper.com.au or editor@seniorsnewspaper.com.au Location: 2 Newspaper Place, Maroochydore 4558 Website: www.seniorsnews.com.au Subscriptions Only $39.90 for one year (12 editions) including GST and postage anywhere in Australia. Please call our circulations services on 1300 361 604 and quote “Wide Bay Seniors Newspaper”. The Seniors Newspaper is published monthly and distributed free in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales. The Seniors newspaper stable includes Toowoomba, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Northern NSW, Coffs and Clarence and Central Coast publications. Published by News Corp Australia Printed by News Corp Australia, Yandina. Opinions expressed by contributors to Seniors Newspapers are not necessarily those of the editor or the owner/publisher and publication of advertisements implies no endorsement by the owner/publisher.
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Stretching the friendship Inspiring intergenerational TV experiment set for broader use Tracey Johnstone THE enormous success of the ABC television series Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds has led to researchers looking at how this intergenerational experiment can be offered in the broader community. There have been similar projects conducted through other aged care facilities, but few are known to exist in the non-residential seniors’ community. With support funding from the University of NSW’s Ageing Futures Institute, project co-leader, Dr Stephanie Ward from the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), and Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) senior research scientist Dr Ruth Peters, will investigate how to bring older adults and
young children together for learning activities. “We were all initially inspired by the television program, which I was on,” Dr Ward said. The geriatrician found the key outcomes from the show were purpose and connection. “I could see the way that the experiment gave the adults a sense of purpose and how important that was, for some of them, in changing their health and their attitudes,’’ Dr Ward said. “The sense of connection is incredibly important for all of us at any age but can become more difficult to maintain at an older age.” It underpinned a great deal of the transformation the TV show researchers and viewers saw. “It reminded us all how
UPLIFTING CONNECTION: Resident Stuart enjoys a visit from Jax and Michaela in a scene from the TV series Old People's Home for 4 Year Olds. Pictures: ABC-TV
incredibly resilient and resourceful older and younger people are and what magic can happen when you bring the two generations together,” Dr Ward said. “Coming out of that, we want to look at what is sustainable and feasible in the longer term for intergenerational projects and what will be useful for
community-based older populations.‘’ The multidisciplinary Intergenerational Integration Initiative project will look at the best way to deliver a similar project to what was conducted in the aged care home but within the broader senior community. Dr Peters said: “We want to bring together older
adults living in the community with children living in that community.’’ Dr Ward added: “We saw in the television show how beneficial it could be but we need more evidence to find the best way to do this.’’ While the TV show was based on four-days-a-week interaction, the researchers are considering a shorter format.
The decision will hinge on the feedback they receive from an Australia-wide survey, which they want anyone aged 18 and over to complete. “We want to know what people think about intergenerational interaction, what’s best, what’s the facilitators, the barriers and how can we deliver this type of interaction going forward,” Dr Peters said. The survey is available online at coghealth.net.au/ the-intergenerationintegration-project. By the end of this year, the project team hopes to have resources available on how groups can conduct face-to-face intergenerational interactions on an ongoing basis. Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds screened for five weeks as part of a sevenweek experiment to see how the company of youngsters could improve seniors’ lives.
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Long life after Nazi ordeal Centenarian grateful for help to avoid deadly camps Alison Houston THERE were times when Marie-Louise (Marlies) Green didn’t think she would make it to 25, never mind 100. Her warm smile belies the hardships and horrors she witnessed, having been born to a Jewish family in Essen, Germany, on May 22, 1920, just 13 years before the Nazis came to power. Her secret, she said in the lead-up to her 100th birthday celebrations at St Andrew’s Retirement Living and Aged Care, Tallebudgera, was to “keep smiling, keep busy, keep laughing, enjoy everything in moderation … and lots of sleep”. “It’s also important to get active every day – I walk every day, which I picked up from my parents, who took me hiking in Switzerland as a child.’’ However, listening to Marlies speak in an oral history interview with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2002, it is clear that an empathic heart and having inherited her parents’ strength have a lot to do with it as well. She said she did not speak much about her experiences, but was recording her story then because “The world should know what happened … “I always thought after the war that people might have learned and it would never happen again, but I was quite wrong because you see it happening not just for the Jews but in other countries. The cruelties go on forever.’’ Farewell Germany Marlies recalled an almost idyllic childhood, completely free of discrimination, despite being the only Jews in their area. “We felt as German as anybody else,” she said. But in early 1934, with the rise of Hitler, her school, fearing closure, threw out all the Jewish students. “That was really the first time I felt different,’’ Marlies
WELL-LIVED LIFE: Marlies Green celebrates her 100th year at Tallebudgera's St Andrew's Retirement Living and Aged Care ... always grateful for the help that saved her life during World War II.
said. Faced with everincreasing rules about where Jews could and could not go, and after her brother was bashed by a group of boys for being Jewish, her parents decided to leave Germany for rural Holland. Holland is occupied When Holland was then occupied by the Nazis from May 1940, shops and restaurants were closed to Jews, they were forced to wear yellow stars on all their clothes and travel restrictions began. Dutch resistance was quickly snuffed out when, having attempted to boycott the new travel rules, the Nazis “picked out about 100 men and shot them” in punishment. Living in the countryside, Marlies and her brother
found work on farms because farm workers were needed to feed the German army. Even so, in August 1942 they were summoned to attend Westerbork transit camp – the first stop for many on their way to concentration camps. They were lucky to be
production. “… it was good for me and my brother, but leaving all the others behind was a dreadful feeling,” she said with tears in her eyes. Marlies still treasures that piece of paper, saying: “This is my most precious document, which gives me the permission to leave the
I ALWAYS THOUGHT AFTER THE WAR THAT PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE LEARNED AND IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN, BUT I WAS QUITE WRONG BECAUSE YOU SEE IT HAPPENING NOT JUST FOR THE JEWS BUT IN OTHER COUNTRIES. THE CRUELTIES GO ON FOREVER. MARLIES GREEN
given a reprieve thanks to a determined neighbour and the farmers insisting to German authorities that the siblings were essential for
camp, and that is what has saved my life, just that little piece of paper.’’ However, her parents were ordered to
Amsterdam’s Jewish quarter, and a month later the children were ordered to join them. The family’s fate Again, Marlies said she and her brother were blessed to find friends who, despite putting their own lives at risk, separately took them in and hid them for the rest of the war – 2½ years. Her parents were not so fortunate, with her mother saying: “If all Jews have to go, I go with them.’’ After the war, she learnt that her parents had died at the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland. Marlies met her mathematician husband, Bert, who worked with Albert Einstein, in Edinburgh, married in Dublin and the pair moved to
Australia for him to start a new department of mathematical physics at Adelaide University. She has two children, Roy and Joanne, of whom she is very proud. Joanne, who was at the 100th celebrations, said her mother always wanted to repay the help she received during the war, and “adopted” anyone new to Adelaide, ensuring they weren’t lonely. “She’s been such a loving mother, grandmother and ‘second mother’ to so many people,” Joanne said. Marlies did return to visit German friends, but admitted: “It was a strange feeling, especially when people came and shook my hand … I wondered what that hand had done.’’ SEWE01Z01MA - V1
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Tricky topics made easier Website helps families tackle youth issues Gail Forrer BE prepared. There are things that an angst-filled teenager will not want to ask their parents. But if the grandparent/ aunt/uncle/ godparent is open, receptive and well read, the touchy conversations may well start with them. Sixty-four-year-old Melbourne journalist and media identity Eileen Berry is the energising force behind the creation of Parent Guides, an Australian not-for-profit organisation that has set up a comprehensive website and various book guides to help parents and grandparents, and carers, to educate themselves about drugs,
INFORMED: Parent Guides ambassador David Corduff.
sex, social media, mental health and more. The guide came about after Eileen, a concerned citizen, caring aunty and
godmother, realised she was not hearing or seeing the sort of conversations that could support our youth. “I can’t believe it,” she
said. “The conversations we weren’t having years ago, we’re still not having now.” The website www.parent guides.com.au presents upto-date research and expert advice in a “no-holdsbarred’’ way that tackles difficult issues and facilitates conversations. Helping families to be mentally strong and deal with the “tremendous challenges” they face is close to the heart of retired businessman, father-ofthree and grandfather of seven, David Corduff. The Beyond Blue speaker and now Parent Guides ambassador is passionate about mental health. He often sees parents, carers and children struggle to cope with social media, cyber bullying, drugs, gambling, mental health, and respect. “Parents need as much support and information as possible to be there for their children when life challenges
occur,” David said. “There is a definite gap in connections – and this resource helps to plug it. “In an ever-changing world, parents need to access factual, researchbased information such as the Parent Guides.’’ David said the book’s relevancy was enhanced further with the wellresearched information. “If anyone asks if this is really true, or if the statistics are correct, then you can assure them this absolutely is,’’ he said. David worked in manufacturing and has been married to Liz for 45 years. He arrived from Ireland in 1971 and became an Australian citizen in 1988. He is a board member at Presentation Family Centre on the Mornington Peninsula, which offers short-term, low-cost respite facilities for families affected by adverse conditions. David has had a long
association with Parent Guides CEO Yvonne Hackett and more recently Eileen Berry. He says their publications are “top class, relevant and well researched”. “They are an excellent resource and can fundamentally make a difference to the parentchild relationship,” he said. David is also a fan of Alan Hopgood’s superb play about suicide, Jess Chooses Life, and wants to see it and Parent Guides promoted more widely, particularly in schools. “Life is always full of challenges,” David said. “It is our response to these challenges that determines whether the outcomes are good or not so good. “In the critical parentchild relationship, it is very important to have resources such as the Parent Guides available, to underpin a supportive and potentially positive outcome.”
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Community notes
Community group guide Since this is our last edition I would like to say a special thanks to you for taking the time each month to email your community notes and pictures to us. You have made a great contribution to our newspaper. Gail, Editor.
VIEW CLUBS Hervey Bay WE CONTINUE in isolation but are very relieved that the restrictions are starting to ease and look forward to the day we return to normal with our monthly meetings, luncheons and socials. In the meantime we are staying connected via email and phone, simple gestures to let members know they are not forgotten. Our great plans to celebrate our 25th birthday have had to be put on hold but we will definitely be celebrating this milestone ASAP. We are eager to restart our normal routine, never forgetting that the focus of all VIEW clubs is to support The Smith Family and its charity helping disadvantaged children with their education. For more information, phone Bev on 07 4128 2692.
These will centre on outdoor activities such as picnics in the park. We will mark our 29th year with our club birthday in August. This is always an important event on our club calendar and this year it will be an outdoor, catered affair marking the first major function since the suspension of club activities in March. Our annual car rally will also take place in September, testing our skills. A fun day out for all those who participate. It is unfortunate that two club trips planned for this year must be cancelled. Hopefully they will be reinstated next year. Our book club continues to function and our games players are starting to come together in small groups at home. As restrictions ease, we will be able to increase our numbers. Things are looking
BLOOMING BEAUTIES: Robin Busk and Geoff Cornwell manning the Hervey Bay VIEW Club trading table, which is a great source of income for the club and The Smith Family.
brighter and Bargara Probus will continue to flourish within our community. Information about our club is available from our membership officer, Alan, on 0400 839 753.
CHARITY CAFE URGENTLY NEEDS VOLUNTEERS WISHLIST Coffee House at Gympie Hospital urgently needs volunteers to help serve coffees and fresh food at their cafe. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, regular volunteers have been unable to make their shifts. Wishlist CEO Lisa Rowe said all profits from the cafe
remained in Gympie for the benefit of Gympie Hospital patients and families. If you would like to volunteer a few hours one or two days a week, please phone Wishlist on 07 5202 1777.
FRASER COAST WEEKLY CHORUS WE ARE a not-for-profit group of enthusiastic ladies who love to sing! We perform anywhere in the Wide Bay area and entertain throughout the year at numerous aged care facilities, retirement villages, community centres and other venues. We sing all types of music
in harmony and have a lot of fun learning new songs and performing for the enjoyment of audiences. You don’t need to be a trained vocalist. Members come from all corners of the community with varying degrees of vocal expertise and are united by their love of singing, New members are always welcome, so if you love to sing, come along on a Monday night and find out what we are all about from 6-8.30 at Tavistock Street, Torquay. For further details, contact Angie Lewis on 0467 963 778 or at
PROBUS CLUBS Bargara and District Mixed DURING this difficult time, our club has endeavoured to keep in touch with our members through newsletters while looking out for each other through phone calls, email and social media outlets. Clubs have received regular updates and helpful information from our parent body, Probus South Pacific Limited. Now that we are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel, our committee is planning our return to some of the social contact that is so important to us all and while keeping within the staged guidelines, small steps are being taken to start bringing members together.
Life is too short not to laugh. Join Karen Flannery from the Hervey Bay Laughter Club as she leads many happy ladies through a funfilled routine of exercising, laughter and giggles.
angielewis245@gmail.com. More information about the Chorus can be obtained by visiting our website, frasercoastchorus.org.au.
MARYBOROUGH OPEN GARDENS THIS is an annual event when private gardens in Maryborough and surrounds are opened to the public to enjoy, gain inspiration, learn about what grows in your neighbourhood and simply share the love of gardening. Visitors are treated to a wide range of garden sizes and styles, from the formal to quirky and artistic, and small to large acreage. Entry to gardens is free, with some having fundraising events including plant sales and refreshments. There will be something to please seasoned and aspiring gardeners and those who simply appreciate gardens. You don’t need a green thumb to visit and enjoy the Maryborough Open Gardens. Subject to government directives regarding COVID19, the 2020 Maryborough Open Gardens will be held on the last weekend of August. This is the first time that the open gardens are being held over two days, with the Town Gardens open on Saturday, August 29, and Country Gardens open on Sunday, August 30. For more information, visit the website, maryboroughopen gardens.net. SEWE01Z01MA - V1
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You can be there in spirit Farewelling someone you have lost without attending a service Doris Zagdanski WHILE social distancing regulations have had a major impact on funerals, we can still create meaningful farewells by using special ways to include people who can’t attend in person. Funerals always matter, but now they matter more than ever because people may not have had the chance to visit or say goodbye to a family member or friend before they pass away. So they enable us to say what needs to be said, allow our grief to be expressed, and also allow us to connect with people who would normally reach out. And it’s not just adults who are affected. Being able to say goodbye at a funeral is also important for children. There are several ways the funeral industry is helping families and friends say goodbye to a loved one while the current COVID-19 restrictions are in place. • Technology is available to live-stream funerals, allowing people to view the ceremony from all over the world. It enables eulogies, readings, music etc to be included from those who can’t be there in person. Funerals can also be recorded or filmed so they can be shared on social media. It’s quite acceptable to use your iPhone to film or record the service yourself or you can give permission to your funeral director to
take photos or make a recording on their phone for you. • At the service, empty chairs can be placed to represent family and friends who can’t attend. The name or even a photo of the person who is absent can be placed on the chair. A flower can also be placed there to represent the missing person and at the end of the service, those flowers can be placed on the coffin for the journey to the crematorium or cemetery. When there are several grandchildren unable to attend, a chair could be placed for each one and a photo, drawing or special memento placed on it to represent their presence. • Collect Facebook, Instagram and email messages and ask the celebrant to read them at the funeral, to represent those who can’t attend. These could also be printed and displayed on a photo board at the funeral or compiled into what would have been the “order of service” booklet. • Many funerals these days include a DVD photo presentation. Family and friends of the deceased can still create one but ask each family member who cannot attend to send their favourite photos to be included, along with some of the words from friends’ text messages etc. The DVD can be uploaded to social media and extra hard copies can be made as keepsakes for family
REACH OUT: Bereavement expert Doris Zagdanski.
members. • Photos and messages from people who can’t attend the funeral can be placed in or on the coffin by the funeral director. Children can be encouraged to draw or write special messages, which can be placed in the hands of the deceased or sealed in an envelope inside the coffin. These messages could even be placed during the viewing, which could also be filmed, photographed or livestreamed. • Use the death/funeral
notice or Facebook to tell friends what time the funeral is and ask them to join you at that time by doing something special to remember the deceased. They could light a candle at home, raise a toast, play a special song, say a prayer together, or cook their favourite meal, wear their favourite colour or do whatever feels right for them. • Flowers can be sent to the funeral to represent those who cannot attend. They can be arranged
around the coffin or displayed prominently, and card messages can be read aloud as part of the service. • You can organise a drive-by of the family home by the hearse, so people who can’t attend the funeral can be in the front garden to pay their respects. The hearse could stop to allow a minute’s silence and flowers could be placed on the coffin by family members. • The viewing of the deceased can also take on special significance, especially if family or friends
were not able to see them before their death. A viewing can be held with or without a funeral ceremony. You can speak with your funeral director about an extended viewing time so people who cannot attend the funeral still have an opportunity to say a personal goodbye. The viewing can be a time to place photos, cards, mementos on or in the coffin (especially from those who can’t be there) while favourite music is played in the background. A family iPad could be set up to record the viewing for others to see later or watch while the viewing is taking place. Family or funeral staff can carry the coffin from the viewing to the hearse, making this part of the farewell ritual. The procession can be photographed or filmed to share with those who can’t be there. • Consider inviting two groups of people to the funeral – one group for the viewing and another for the funeral ceremony, so that more people have the opportunity to be part of the farewell. For more advice on coping with loss and grief, including factsheets, book lists, videos and links to grief related support services, go to mygriefassist.com.au. – Doris Zagdanski has been involved in the funeral industry for 30 years, helping families arrange funerals as well as volunteering in bereavement support groups. She is the author of seven books on the subject of grief and empathy.
Do you feel your rights are being respected? Are your family members supportive, or do they create stress in your life? Are any of the following scenarios happening to you?
• Being told that you can’t make any decisions for yourself because you have had a diagnosis of dementia. • Being pressured into entering a nursing home when you’re not ready. • Being frightened to voice your needs/concerns. • Carers or family members borrowing money and not paying you back. • Adult children moving in with you and refusing to pay rent.
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Snack attack fights flab HERE’S a new way to snack and it will get you moving and make you feel good about yourself; it’s called exercise snacking. Before you pick up a morning biscuit or an afternoon piece of cake, for a few minutes each time, try some simple strength and resistance exercises. If you think that a daily walk is sufficient exercise, think again. “Walking doesn’t provide enough stimuli for either
bone or muscle,” Deakin University’s chair of exercise and ageing Professor Robin Daly says. “There are cardiovascular benefits from walking. I am certainly not saying don’t walk. It’s good for your functional performance. “Muscles like stress and strain. What is needed are strength and resistance exercises.’’ Adding to your daily “huff and puff” exercise program should be at least two
muscle-strengthening sessions each week but preferably every day. Where to start? Professor Daly suggests starting with “snacking’’. It’s probably a better way of not only starting to add strength and resistance exercises into your day but also to sustain them over a long period of time if they are done during the day whenever it suits you. It’s particularly important during the COVID-19 crisis. SEWE01Z01MA - V1
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SENIORS
How society will change Greiner analyses post-pandemic life
‘‘
Tracey Johnstone
I fear ... it will be even harder for somebody over 55 to be maintained in employment.
MEMO to ScoMo: 70 is not “elderly”, bristles Kathryn Greiner (AO) as she stares down the barrel of the “new normal’’. The chair of the NSW Government’s Ministerial Advisory Council on Ageing and the CRC Longevity Project recognises nothing is the same right now, and nor will it be in the future when Australia, and in fact the world, gets to the other side of COVID-19. “Social change is a pendulum that swings out,” she says. “This time it has swung way out, causing great disruption to our lives. “When that pendulum comes back and things come back to what we now call the ‘new normal’, it will never be in the same place that it was again. We are going to be further down the technological track. “We will have to manage our spending because things will cost a lot more because we won’t have the income we used to have.” Seniors will need to adapt to this new normal. Every aspect of their lives, and those of younger generations, are being impacted by this health crisis and its consequent financial crisis. While rigorous debates will ensue as the state and federal governments confront the challenges of retaining old social and economic policies, and implementing the introduction of new ones,
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ED INSPIR
Kathryn sees some key issues ahead that seniors need to get across. Inviting seniors to supermarkets at an allocated time, Kathryn says, was a positive move and one she hoped would continue well into the future. However, supermarkets have announced they have stopped the initiative as stock levels have returned to normal. “The concept that our older people deserve a bit more space and time to shop, I think, is a classic one,” Kathryn says. However, asking seniors to do this at 8am is a tough call for many of them, who struggle to be mobile at that early hour. She has also noticed a surge in the conversation around the lack of fit-for-purpose housing, particularly public housing, which has been highlighted to younger neighbours who are assisting seniors to cope with their everyday tasks. Work changes The call is for the doubling of the JobSeeker (formerly Newstart) allowance to stay even though the Government has said it will reduce it in late September. It is vital for those who
are unemployed and are not old enough to qualify for the age pension. “I think the community won’t allow the Government to go back,” Kathryn says. “We are going back to post-Great Depression thinking by government, which is why there has to be a platform to support people who cannot work and who cannot find jobs.” For several years now, there has been a big push to keep older workers in the workplace longer. That will change. Kathryn sees those over 50 struggling even more to find a job or keep an existing one. “I fear we are going to go back to an era where it will be even harder for somebody who is over 55 to be maintained in employment.” The challenge will come from younger people’s attitude to working. The favoured gig economy will slow down as young people seek to move from casual work towards permanent employment. Staying home It’s highly unlikely many Baby Boomers who have saved to travel overseas every two or more years will have the cash to spend on
SOBERING VISION: Kathryn Greiner (AO), chair of the NSW Ministerial Advisory Council on Ageing, says life will never return to what it was before COVID-19.
their dream adventures. Many will find the value of their investments will have decreased significantly. So too their dividend income. “Where the travel industry has picked up the last four or five years with this ready market, that market has gone. And they will have reputational issues to address,” Kathryn says. Family stress “The numbers will go up,” Kathryn says about
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It is also expected that many Baby Boomers will be asked to provide financial assistance to their children, who will struggle to meet their financial commitments. Cash to card Cash, for the most part, has disappeared. We’re online in almost every way. Health, social connections, banking – we’re there now. That’s OK for those seniors who can afford an
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psychological elder abuse, which is happening behind closed doors. “We are hearing older people being confined to their bedrooms in a generational share house. “I heard of one independent-living resident who went to the shops and was then told he had to leave his accommodation. In the regional areas, there are tremendous problems with older people even being able to get to the shops.”
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and how seniors will fare NBN connection, Kathryn says, but what about those who can’t afford it or haven’t become accustomed to technology? “We know the Commonwealth Bank is a hair’s breadth away, if not already, from not accepting cheques anymore; everyone will have to do internet banking. “For a lot of older people, that’s a struggle.” She says the Government needs to provide financial assistance to seniors, much as it does with things like electricity, so they can all be digitally connected via the NBN.
meeting weekly with the state’s peak agencies to identify ageing issues that need to be highlighted to his State Government colleagues. Kathryn is also putting her mind to the idea of a phone app that provides immediate senior-specific information and the possibility of keeping engaged the younger generations who have stepped up to assist Meals on Wheels as volunteer delivery drivers. Ex-Socceroo Craig Foster led the Play for Lives campaign, one of the positive initiatives to come from the pandemic.
younger generations, the idea posed as a question to Prime Minister Scott Morrison by Leigh Sales on the ABC’s 7.30 show on April 16, about locking down older Australians until the coronavirus crisis passes, receives an aghast response from Kathryn. “That is absolutely outrageous,” the 73-year-old says. Older Australians can be active, not so active, needing help or infirm – we are not all the same. “The Government needs to avoid the ageist attitude digging deep into our society,” Kathryn says. “They need to do a report that shows that the virus did kill people from across the age ranges. “It’s often the ones that have a complicated or an immune-challenged system that causes the death.”
Telehealth nod Another change that has every likelihood of staying is telehealth, if Federal Health Minister Health Greg Hunt has his way. It’s not intended to replace in-person medical consultations, but for those health issues that can easily be managed via phone or video-link conversations, telehealth could well help to improve the accessibility of medical personnel. Kathryn uses the example of visiting her physiotherapist. While she had five faceto-face sessions, she believes that after the initial assessment, she could have had the subsequent recovery sessions conducted through online consultations. Ageism arises While the EveryAGE Counts campaign is working overtime to quell the resurgence of ageist attitudes among the
LIVE
ED INSPIR
AN
Good neighbours Community connections have been rife. They are bringing out the best in many people, who are
supporting their neighbours in many ways. But is it sustainable? Seniors will probably see these community outpourings dissipate as the younger generations return to work, their social connections spread out from their homes and local streets, and the children return to normal school attendance. “I think it will be hard to maintain,” Kathryn says. Creating an in-building intranet is one suggestion she makes for those living in close communities to stay connected well after this pandemic. Another suggestion is using local libraries as social hubs. “Hopefully for those that have been isolated but somehow found their way into engaging in a group, let’s keep our fingers crossed they feel motivated to keep engaged in that group,” Kathryn says. Taking action The five years ahead will be interesting, Kathryn
surmises. The trillion dollars the Government has committed to getting Australia to other side has to be paid back, somehow. Where will that money come from? “I fear it will come out of the older people,” Kathryn says. “Will that mean the GST will rise? Will that mean there will be a wealth tax? “Will that mean that a land tax will come on to the family home? Negative gearing will go out the window. “These are areas that we as a nation have been dancing around. This kind of a crisis may bring them back to the fore. “Certainly, in the short term, if not in the long term.” Not all that she sees coming out of COVID-19 is bad. Look at the #PlayForLives campaign. Former Socceroo Craig Foster is driving the campaign, which is encouraging professional athletes to take on essential volunteer positions left
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vacant due to COVID-19. Kathryn cites this as a good example, as well as the recruitment of volunteer Meals on Wheels drivers through sports clubs with footballers who’ve suddenly found time on their hands. The “innovation and agility in organisations and their capacity to pivot” is impressing Kathryn. Take, for example, the restaurant trade with its move to takeaway meals. “The second one is the recognition that older members of our society are due a certain degree of respect, which has been missing in our very forwardlooking, young-thinking country,’’ she said. “I think we have to bring more care back into the community and we have to look after those who may not be able to look after themselves. “The Government is (also) far more aware of older people.” NSW’s minister responsible for ageing, Dr Geoff Lee, is already virtually
Local governments Seniors need to push their local councils to be the “dynamic driver” of community connections, Kathryn enthuses. While many councils struggle to be innovative, Kathryn sees opportunities for them if they can pivot as a result of what they observe during the pandemic and reinvent themselves as key delivery agents for positive community change. “The further away from the ground you get, the harder it is for the granularity of it to be seen as so important; you think far more in the macro,” Kathryn says. “I think the issues of people and their everyday lives are very much micro; they are on the ground with state and local governments.” When it becomes appropriate to meet, Kathryn expects various local and state government entities to discuss the lessons learnt and the changes that need to be made.
Ruth is for women who care about their families, their communities and their country. It’s a down-to-earth magazine that shares stories about local women and their life journeys whilst celebrating Australian communities, produce, designers and ideas. Our writers are from all walks of life and each piece they contribute brings the magazzine together in a way that will bring you joy, comfort and inspiration.
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FEATURE
JUNE, 2020//
SENIORS
SENIORS VIRTUAL EXPO 2020 ADVERTISING FEATURE
Bringing the expo to you THERE is no getting away from it – COVID-19 restrictions have made life pretty challenging for all of us, as individuals and as businesses. Many of our readers look forward to this time of year when they can get out of the house and head along to a seniors expo to see what’s new among the industries and businesses who count them as customers. For business owners, the expos traditionally offer the opportunity to meet new customers face-to-face and share their products or services. Right now, having thousands of people wander through an exhibition hall is not able to happen. There are still great products and services out there to be showcased though, and that’s where the Seniors Virtual Expo 2020 is
here to help. For the months of June and July, Seniors News will host an online virtual expo on our website at www.seniorsnews.com.au, where we will share the latest products and services from our advertisers, supported in print with regional advertising most relevant to readers of each of our eight monthly publications. By promoting businesses online and in print, we’re making it easier for readers to contact businesses in the way that suits them best, and making it possible for readers to order products directly from the websites of the businesses involved. For many businesses, online sales have helped to keep them going while their shopfronts are closed. For Seniors, our online
editions (complete with live click-throughs to websites mentioned in stories and advertising) have seen increased interest. And while COVID restrictions closed some of our regular distribution points such as libraries and sporting clubs we’ve found there’s been a jump in demand for our news online. In March, traffic to our website jumped to 325,138 page views for the month and 129,923 unique visitors (as reported by Adobe). Businesses signed up so far include Bite Dental, Algester Lodge, Jubilee Community Care, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Stafford Fashions, Aidacare, Gourmet Meals, Wellways and Van Homes. Follow the expo action at www.seniorsnews.com.au/ topic/virtual-seniors-expo2020.
ONLINE EXPO: There are some great products and services for consumers to view and purchase online and the Seniors Virtual Expo 2020 is able to assist you with that in the comfort of your own home.
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SENIORS VIRTUAL EXPO 2020 ADVERTISING FEATURE
Quality healthcare needs Assistive equipment for seniors providing unparalleled customer service and product excellence as a path to optimal healthcare equipment solutions for our customers. We work hard at a local level to support your needs. Our showroom is located at 3/19 Islander Road, Pialba and provides a fantastic location in the Hervey Bay area for clients and therapists to visit and view our extensive range. Business hours are Monday to Friday: 8.30am - 4,30pm. For more information, visit the website, go to aidacare.com.au or phone 07 4194 5019 to consult with one of our friendly staff members.
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THE Aidacare Hervey Bay store is operating, and available to help all customers. We have adapted to current challenges to supply and deliver on all “essential services and products”. We supply to seniors who are in isolation or lockdown due to COVID-19. We are able to do inhome trials and deliveries subject to compliance with current guidelines. Our showrooms are all open and managing face-toface contact in compliance with government health guidelines. Staff have appropriate PPE safety for all and equipment is thoroughly cleaned and ready for hire or
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FEATURE
JUNE, 2020//
SENIORS
SENIORS VIRTUAL EXPO 2020 ADVERTISING FEATURE
Support for carers
The Posture support bras are perfect for those ladies with health concerns like osteoporosis and arthritis.
Find your perfect fit AT Big Girls Don’t Cry Anymore, we specialise in Bras Sizes 6 to 36, Cups A to N and with more than 270 different sizes. We have the largest range of fuller-figured, plus-size and curvy bras in Australia. At our premises we have 1.5x2m fitting rooms in store or we do free virtual fittings, with the use of FaceTime or Skype, with experienced, trained corsetieres by appointment. We have many different styles of bras and swimwear – underwire,
non-underwire, sport, leisure, T-shirt, plunge and front opening, with either posture support or not. The Posture support bras are perfect for those ladies with osteoporosis frozen shoulders, arthritis or just for women who prefer to do their bra up in the front. We are located at 1a/1806 Sandgate Road, Virginia – open seven days a week from 9am-5pm. You can also shop online, at www.brastogo.com.au, or phone 07 3265 1811.
AUSTRALIA’S 2.7 million unpaid carers now have access to greater support with the introduction of the Australian Government’s Carer Gateway. Carer Gateway provides practical information and advice and connects carers with local support services including support planning, counselling, peer support, financial packages and emergency respite. It’s free to access for anyone caring for a family member or friend who is living with a
disability, mental health condition, chronic health condition, terminal illness, or is frail aged. Wellways Australia is the chosen service provider of Carer Gateway services throughout Queensland. Wellways has been working with carers for the past 40 years and has long recognised that carers require support in their own right. If you provide support to a family member or friend phone 1800 422 737 or see www.carergateway.gov.au.
Lyall is carer to his mother-in-law. Carer Gateway provides information and advice and connects carers with local supports.
A Vanhome granny flat is a great addition to the backyard.
Fabulous granny flat THE Granny Flat. It’s a staple in Australian housing and accommodation and as common as a tin of Milo in the kitchen cupboard. These secondary dwellings have been popular for decades, with reports showing Aussies are building more and more each year. The issue the majority of the population face with building a granny flat is that they require development or building applications. One Australian company, however, is completely revolutionising the granny flat.
Vanhomes is a family-run business hailing from the Central Coast of NSW which specialises in a one-of-akind, folding granny flat. A Vanhome is a legally registrable and compliant caravan, built on to a series of hinges that allow them to fold out in a matter of hours. They range from 17sq m up to 60sq m and don’t require any building application, so without council approval. They are relocatable and can be set up in half a day as a fully functional granny flat on your property. Visit www.vanhomes.com.au.
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ESCAPE
JUNE, 2020//
Soak up the charms of Kiwi hotspot
SENIORS
BATHED IN BEAUTY: The 15km Tarawera Trail is based around Lake Tarawera, near Rotorua, New Zealand. The trail ends in Mt Tarawera’s shadow. Pictures: Graeme Wilson
Immerse yourself in nature with lakeside walk Graeme Wilson FOLLOWING last December’s tragic eruption on White Island, it was with some trepidation that I contemplated tackling New Zealand’s latest great walk. The 15km Tarawera Trail near Rotorua ends in the shadows of active volcano Mt Tarawera, responsible for the country’s most devastating eruption in 1886. It took the lives of more than 100 locals – completely burying a nearby village – with ash spread across 15,000sq km and the accompanying roar heard almost 1000km away in Christchurch. But with history showing the average space between eruptions is about 1500 years, and zero recent sign of activity, my partner and I set off justifiably confident that this sleeping giant was unlikely to reawaken any
time soon. The free walk starts on the shores of Lake Tarawera, about a 15-minute drive from downtown Rotorua in the North Island, and winds its way around the lake with picnic and toilet facilities along the way. While some choose to make a full day of the picturesque undulating return walk from the Te Wairoa carpark to Te Rata Bay (Hot Water Beach), we decided to spend a leisurely five hours on the one-way trip. That still allowed time for a well-earned relax in the heated lake waters at journey’s end before a 15minute water taxi ride provided a rapid return to our starting point. On arrival at Hot Water Beach, you’re greeted by plumes of steam spiralling invitingly upwards as boiling water from thermal springs creates a naturally heated
shoreside spa. Along the preceding path, short climbs and descents alternate as you work your way from pumice-strewn lakeside beaches to elevated vantage points among the native ferns so famously replicated on the jerseys of New Zealand sporting teams. The Kiwis are justifiably proud of the renowned beauty of their country and we deliberately took our time to stop regularly and take it all in. We encountered just a few fellow hikers on our walk and, of course, the trail has been even quieter in the past few months, with New Zealanders locked down during a highly successful response to contain the COVID-19 virus that has decimated other parts of the world. But the hope is that with both Australia and New Zealand having standout
success in managing the virus, country borders will soon reopen to allow transTasman travel. When that happens, I highly recommend you grab the chance to venture across “the ditch” and enjoy all our near neighbours have to offer – and as a bonus be able to do it in relative peace as the rest of the world remains locked out and watching on in envy.
Here’s cheers to good times at the newly reopened Secret Spot Hot Tubs. It’s the perfect place to fully submerge yourself in the healing waters or just soak your feet while enjoying a glass or two of your favourite tipple.
Rotorua itself is New Zealand’s cultural tourism capital and staying a night either side of your Tarawera walk opens up many exciting opportunities. Maybe take a mountain bike ride in the vast forestry areas, stroll through the awe-inspiring Redwood Memorial Grove, and ride the gondola to the top of Mt Ngongotaha to take in panoramic views of Rotorua
and surrounds. And if Hot Water Beach has you hooked on the soothing qualities of a dip in steaming water, drop into the newly reopened Secret Spot Hot Tubs. Fully submerge yourself in the soothing, healing waters, or choose to just soak your feet while enjoying a glass or two of your favourite beverage. Sweet as.
An abundance of New Zealand’s iconic native ferns adds to the visual feast that is the Tarawera Trail. SEWE01Z01MA - V1
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The trail’s short climbs and descents alternate as you work your way from pumice-strewn lakeside beaches to elevated vantage points among the native ferns.
‘‘
The Kiwis are justifiably proud of the beauty of their country and we deliberately took our time to stop regularly and take it all in.
Walk this way for a hike to remember. V1 - SEWE01Z01MA
Hot Water Beach’s plumes of steam spiral invitingly upwards as boiling water from thermal springs creates a naturally heated shoreside spa.
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WELLBEING
JUNE, 2020//
SENIORS
Wellbeing
‘‘
Why retire when you are doing what I’m doing?
APPETITE FOR A CHALLENGE: At 75, journalist Ray Martin has found comedy as the host of new lifestyle satire At Home Alone Together.
Ray’s still right at home at 75 Tania Phillips TELEVISION host and journalist Ray Martin has always kept his personal life private but a new “home show” and COVID-19 lockdown conditions have meant a change of heart. At Home Alone Together, to air on the ABC on Wednesday nights at 8.30, is a satirical look at life under lockdown through the scope of a lifestyle show, with the veteran journalist acting as host and straight man to a group of young comedians. The whole program came together quickly, according to the 75-year-old, with the ABC agreeing and turning the show around in just a few weeks. And while it shocked him to gain the approval of the network quickly, the real boss and person with the power was his wife of 50 years, Diane. A notoriously private person who shielded their two children from the limelight too, Diane wasn’t thrilled to have their house turned into a television set – putting their lives and possessions on show. “It’s a huge breakthrough because I’ve been really private about my family. In the 50-odd years of my
career there have never been photos of my kids. Often with Bert and Patti (Newton) and so on, the children were part of their television persona but my wife is very private,” Ray said. “We had to get her across the line – she doesn’t like the idea of doing a ‘Grand Designs’ in our place, where everyone gets to see your carpets and your paintings and prints. She thinks that’s intrusive. “But we still had to film it here so we have filmed it in the kitchen, the family room and the lounge room and outside and up on the deck, and in my study. It’s been kind of fun.” However, Diane Martin’s approval didn’t come without a little extra convincing on the part of her husband. “My wife is a house and kitchen Nazi, so it means she and I go round on a Sunday night, before we film on a Monday and Tuesday, with a mop and a vacuum cleaner,” he laughed. “She is fussy about a tidy house, and the end result is we’ve never seen the house so spick and span.” With Diane’s approval in place, Ray became the host
and added another show to his long list of television achievements. In fact, even though he officially retired three yeas ago, Ray continues to be one of the hardest-working men in the Australian television industry. In the past three years he has averaged 90 plane trips a year for work, and even now in lockdown Ray has had three television shows on three different networks in a six-week period, including Channel 7 travel show Hello World, which he filmed last year, and a onehour documentary on VC winner Keith Payne produced for SBS with former ABC head of news Max Uechtritz. Ray admits he is a little surprised to be popping up all over our screens at this age – particularly in a comedy show – and in fact many of his friends. spotting the promo during the Shaun Micallef show, thought it was just another of Micallef’s spoofs. “I’d done some stuff with a guy named Dan Illich, who’s the producer of this, and then Chris Taylor from The Chaser, who is the writer.” Illich had put together live
A scene from At Home Alone Together, one of the many projects keeping Ray Martin busy.
satire featuring Ray and several other journalists last year in Sydney, which the veteran journalist described as “a lot of fun”. “I’d done some Chasers with Chris some years back and I did a number of comedy spots for SBS with (satirist) Mark Humphries,” Ray said, explaining he was no stranger to the genre. “They rang up and said we’ve got this new show coming and we think that you’d be absurd enough to be a good host for it. I liked the idea and someone at the ABC must have been smoking something because
they agreed.’’ So what’s next for Ray (other than writing a book on Fred Hollows and using his COVID-19 downside to sort his thousands of photos, fix up his deck and get through the list of jobs Diane has for him to do now he is finally at home)? One thing for sure is he obviously has no intention of really retiring. “No, no there is no stopping,” he said seriously. “Oddly enough, before you rang, I was just watching a documentary with David Attenborough, who turns 94 today – he’s become my role model. To keep doing what
he does at 94 – I’ve got 20 years to go. “Why would you want to retire when you are doing what I’m doing, a show like this or a documentary on Keith Payne etc, etc, as against going out and playing golf or bowls or going down to the leagues club? You’re kidding me – I couldn’t think of anything worse. “For sheer satisfaction, fun, enjoyment and for keeping enthusiastic, I can’t think of anything else. I wouldn’t have swapped being a journalist for anything in the world.” SEWE01Z01MA - V1
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Living
Howard’s painting foray gives stagnancy the brush-off Tracey Johnstone IT’S ironic: the industry we are relying so heavily on to keep us occupied as we stay at home during the COVID19 crisis is largely being ignored when it comes to financial handouts. “It seems the spirit of our society is not considered essential,’’ actor John Howard says. “That’s what we do: we tell stories about our society. Apparently, according to this Government, that’s not essential, yet it seems in lockdown people find it extremely essential.’’ Most of the industry participants who have brought us films, plays, operas, TV shows and music live on casual employment; day to day, contract to contract. Add age into the mix and the immediate future is dire. Howard, 67, a Silver Logie winner, star of many iconic Australian movies, plays and TV shows such as SeaChange and Packed to the Rafters can’t qualify for JobKeeper, is too old to receive JobSeeker and is far from ready to retire, so the pension isn’t the answer either. There is no reason for him to stop working. He knows he can keep going until he drops, as long as there are acting roles for him. On March 15 and in the throes of delivering a stellar performance in Melbourne as part of the national tour of the comedy show Senior Moments, Howard found himself unemployed and on a plane home to Sydney. The upside of that experience? He discovered he has a “beautiful” singing voice. Delivering Puccini’s Nessun Dorma in a mock opera during the show, Howard was quite surprised he could do it, and well. Could he add this to his long list of talents? Yes, he declares. During this social isolation, many of Howard’s colleagues are continuing to develop acting material, but with a reduction in arts industry government grants and the restrictions around V1 - SEWE01Z01MA
John Howard's sidekick, Colin the cafe kelpie, has been a great companion in a coronavirus lockdown during which the respected actor has discovered his painting and poetry talents.
THE LONGER THIS GOES ON, I AM THINKING I AM GOING TO HAVE TO REINVENT MYSELF. A LOT OF US ARE HAVING TO REINVENT WHAT WE ARE DOING, WHO WE ARE AND HOW WE ARE GOING TO MAKE A LIVING. JOHN HOWARD
VERSE-ATILE: Actor John Howard takes an iso selfie while he reads one of his poems at his Sydney apartment during lockdown. Howard was forced to return home from Melbourne in mid-March during a national tour with the Senior Moments theatre comedy.
social gathering, several have turned to Woolworths, working stacking shelves. Howard holds some hope that his writer colleagues will remember to include roles for older actors. “Normally (when a job finishes), you go and get a job somewhere to keep some cash coming through,’’ Howard says. “Over the 45 years I have been working, sometimes I have been working and sometimes I haven’t. “This is unusual as there aren’t options.’’ Back in his apartment at the seaside suburb of Manly,
the past few months have been a time of reflection for Howard as he struggles with no income. Reinvention is currently the most obvious option for him. Howard is keeping himself amused by writing poems, or “Pome’’, as he calls them – because he doesn’t like to take himself too seriously – and painting. He posts his work to his Facebook #JohnHoward and Instagram #JohnHoward ActorOfficial accounts. Encouraged to share his work, unruly-haired Howard dons the iso poet’s dark
glasses and launches into reading his favourite Pome, called Grace. “And now a gentleness comes to us. In the eye of our storm of desire and fear. A quietness my love. Out of our talking, into our listening. Grace. The most beautiful word I know my love comes to us. And we can be truly happy.” There’s not much money in poems, Howard admits, but his newly discovered painting talent is another thing.
Last year he “invaded” the studio of artist and friend Sophie Gralton. While cleaning her brushes, he found the inspiration to try painting a parrot. “Some months later I put it on Facebook to see what would happen,” Howard says. “Someone bought it. I thought, hello. So, I painted a few more birds, then I got a run on ibises and from there it went to ‘can you paint my dog?’.” When the mood takes him and the artistic side of his brain gets juiced up, he will spend 20 minutes or up to eight hours a day painting. Howard’s also taken on painting people, but those efforts are not for showing yet. The idea of an exhibition is brewing in his brain but that will happen sometime in the future as he develops more material and skills and
waits for the world to return to normal. “I am really enjoying it, so I am looking to be as good as I can,” he said. Facebook has become an important tool for Howard to remind his many followers “I am still around; I haven’t shuffled off to Buffalo”. He’s also accepted an advocacy role with the Queensland organisation Designer Life, which offers career transition for matureage job seekers. “It’s about retraining people over 40. There’s going to be a lot of that going on,” Howard says. “The reason I am doing this is I think it’s a very worthwhile thing for people to be considering. “The longer this goes on, I am thinking I am going to have to reinvent myself. “A lot of us are having to reinvent what we are doing, who we are and how we are going to make a living.”
20
REVIEWS
JUNE, 2020//
Suspense builds in steamy series finale THOSE who usually make the pilgrimage to Currumbin Creek’s Elephant Rock for Anzac Day had to change their plans this year due to COVID-19. The spectacular Dawn Service draws people from across Australia to reflect on the sacrifices of our veterans and frontline services in a hauntingly beautiful location, making the area famous. A not-so-well-known event occurred in Currumbin in the 1990s when two old circus elephants were retired to Currumbin Valley. Author Donna Munro lived at Currumbin at the time. Her deep love of animals and a particular fondness for elephants made her intrigued by their plight. The ban of exotic circus animals on the Gold Coast was first made by the city council in 2009 but was later overturned and lifted in 2013. It wasn’t until as recently as 2016 the ban was reinstated. Most of the elephants were retired to a sanctuary in Victoria. Two elephants on a property in Currumbin Valley may have been relocated later, or spent their last days roaming the bush in freedom. Locals recollect it, but with no media evidence, it now seems like folklore, so why not include it in a piece of fiction?
The intriguing story made a unique backdrop for Munro’s latest work of contemporary women’s fiction, Elephant Creek, the Sunshine Coast author’s last stand-alone story of The Zanzibar Moon series. Elephant Creek is described as “steamy romantic suspense’’ set on the Gold Coast.
Emma Jarvis has a dilemma – should she keep dating rock-star handsome Wade or pursue her crush on sexy, silent, probablymarried Noah Cooper? Noah and his Down syndrome daughter, Hope, are due for a fresh start. But a car accident propels Emma into their secretive world. Will Noah put his guard
down long enough to let love back into his life? Emma finds that convincing Noah of a police conspiracy is one thing. Avoiding combusting when she’s near him is a totally different predicament. Noah has enough problems without falling for delightful Emma and her lust-inducing cut-off shorts. His wife’s abandonment. Proving his father’s innocence. And Hope, beginning mainstream school where bullies lurk. When Noah learns his dead brother’s son, Jai, is with Emma’s family, he must cut contact with Emma or lose what’s most precious to him. But when Jai and Hope disappear, can the adults unite to find the missing children in the Australian bush? Will an old circus elephant be the key to bonding them before it’s too late? The sequel to The Zanzibar Moon brings all three books to a final enthralling, emotional conclusion in a stand-alone story filled with passion and heat. “I love including a feisty woman, a gorgeous man, animals, children and family — to tug at readers’ heartstrings. Everyone can relate to loving a child or a pet, and falling in love,” Munro says. – Warm Witty Publishing, RRP $25.99.
SENIORS
Shattering experience spurs tips
Woman of substance VIVID and compelling in its portrait of one woman’s struggle for fulfilment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door to a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel. Escaping an abusive marriage, 17-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist – and confidante to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own. Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her name and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down with a high-spirited young girl in tow, a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. But she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those around her.
HEIDI Wyeth is no stranger to loneliness. After losing her husband, Mel, to pancreatic cancer in 2017, Heidi says her life stopped: “All I could do was try to survive.’’ Now, with the world to a greater or lesser extent in lockdown, she says many people are facing up to life’s greatest unknown. “While the elderly and chronically ill are immensely vulnerable, global statistics have shown us that no one is truly ‘safe’,’’ she says. “That’s a sobering reality. The sort of realisation that will, I hope, spur people on to take charge of their affairs, just in case the worst does happen.’’ Heidi’s insight comes from personal experience. “My husband and I didn’t think ‘what if’ – it was something we’d deal with in later life. And suddenly it wasn’t. Suddenly it was something we had to deal with then and there.” That spurred Heidi to create Just in Case – a straightforward “what’s what and where’’ covering everything from letters for loved ones to insurance details and your digital footprint. Go to www.justincase book.com.au. RRP $19.99.
Cop’s riveting pursuit of serial killer HOLD on to the sides of your armchair while you delve into author Katherine Firkin’s novel Sticks and Stones. The Australian news journalist takes the reader into a world she knows well from her time reporting on Melbourne’s underworld. The places are familiar, the crime story stark and engaging. It’s easy to connect with the innocent characters and their stories: the disappearance of Daniel Norman’s sister and then of mother Natale Gibson. Children are abandoned.
Detective Emmett Corban, of the Missing Persons Unit, shuffles off his complacency quickly when the missing person reports turn to vicious murder in Melbourne backstreets. All that is seen is not as it seems. Family secrets, drugs, homelessness and despair make this an edgy read. Lies are told and retold, a serial killer abounds; just how is Corban going to find the answers... and quickly? Just as the net seems to be tightening, the investigation is
turned on its head. The body of a woman is found ... then another. During Firkin’s time working for the Herald Sun, she covered some of Victoria’s most notorious and colourful criminal events, such as the death and funeral of the infamous underworld figure Carl Williams. Her novel seethes with the undercurrents of modern life in a city tormented by its criminal past. Sticks and Stones is published by Penguin. RRP $32.99. – Tracey Johnstone SEWE01Z01MA - V1
SENIORS
CLASSIFIEDS
\\JUNE, 2020
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G E N E R A L K N O W L E D G E
PUZZLES
\\JUNE, 2020
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Across 1 A biography of which actor is entitled “Neither Shaken nor Stirred”? (4,7) 8 What soil nematode is a pest of root crops? (7) 9 Which city is the industrial hub of the Ruhr? (5) 10 The precious stone sardius mentioned in the Bible was probably what? (4) 11 What did Benin change its name from in 1975? (7) 12 What precedes the name on a British warship? (1,1,1) 13 The medieval shawm was the forerunner of which wind instrument? (4) 15 Who is the Greek goddess of victory? (4) 17 What is a newt also called? (3) 19 In 1991, who (Boris ____) became the first popularly elected leader in Russian history? (7) 20 What is a game played at the opponents’ ground? (4) 23 The Canary Islands are an autonomous region of which country? (5) 24 “Spudding in” is the initial drilling of what? (3,4) 25 What does the word biscuit literally mean? (5,6)
Down 1 Which drink is available as cream, dry or sweet? (6) 2 What do you do when speaking off the cuff? (2,3) 3 A thrombosis is caused by a what in the blood? (4) 4 Who traditionally roam in search of pasture for their animals? (6) 5 What is driven by a mahout? (8) 6 What veil covers the face of a Muslim woman? (7) 7 Which English king won the Battle of Agincourt in 1415? (5,1) 12 Where were the 1952 Olympic Games held? (8) 14 In which city was the De Lorean car factory set up in 1978? (7) 16 Plaster of Paris is made from what mineral? (6) 17 What word from French might be shouted by an audience? (6) 18 Which part of the body is affected by a sty? (6) 21 What large North Atlantic sea snail is harvested for food? (5) 22 What is the highest adult male singing voice? (4)
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SUDOKU
Fill the grid so every column, every row and 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.
QUICK CROSSWORD 1
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DOUBLECROSS 6
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Find a finished crossword by deleting one of the two letters in each divided square.
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Down 2. Shabby (4-2-4) 3. Lucid (4) 4. Exactly right (4,2) 5. Fought (6) 6. Newcomer (8) 7. Deal out (4) 11. Wilful (10) 13. Murderer (8) 16. Overcome (6) 17. Clothing maker (6) 18. Untainted (4) 20. Enthusiasm (4)
Across 1. Combines (4) 8. Trainee, learner (10) 9. Upside down (8) 10. Dull pain (4) 12. Heave (6) 14. Military ID (3,3) 15. Against (L) (6) 17. Push (6) 18. Bonus, gain (4) 19. Snowstorm (8) 21. Preposterous (10) 22. Roman cloak (4)
SOLUTIONS
5x5 M E N U S
P R E Y S
ALPHAGRAMS: HALLS, IDEALS, JOSTLED, KNITTERS, LIMESTONE. GK CROSSWORD Across: 1 Sean Connery, 8 Eelworm, 9 Essen, 10 Ruby, 11 Dahomey, 12 HMS, 13 Oboe, 15 Nike, 17 Eft, 19 Yeltsin, 20 Away, 21 Spain, 24 Oil well, 25 Twice cooked. Down: 1 Sherry, 2 Ad lib, 3 Clot, 4 Nomads, 5 Elephant, 6 Yashmak, 7 Henry V, 12 Helsinki, 14 Belfast, 16 Gypsum, 17 Encore, 18 Eyelid, 21 Whelk, 22 Alto.
Solve the anagrams. Each solution is a one-word anagram of the letters beside it, and the five solutions are sequential. For example, if the five-letter solution starts with J, the six-letter solution starts with K, and so on.
SHALL SAILED OLD JETS TRINKETS SEE MILTON
5x5 C
DOUBLECROSS
QUICK CROSSWORD Across: 1. Adds 8. Apprentice 9. Inverted 10. Ache 12. Strain 14. Dog tag 15. Versus 17. Thrust 18. Plus 19. Blizzard 21. Ridiculous 22. Toga. Down: 2. Down-at-heel 3. Sane 4. Spot on 5. Feuded 6. Stranger 7. Mete 11. Headstrong 13. Assassin 16. Subdue 17. Tailor 18. Pure 20. Zest.
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Note: more than one solution may be possible.
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Insert the missing letters to make ten words — five reading across the grid and five reading down.
Y S
All puzzles © The Puzzle Company
TODAY: Good 14 Very Good 20 Excellent 24
itch loch loci scold stoic tich
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How many words of four letters or more can you make? Each letter must be used only once and all words must contain the centre
S W A R D
WORD GO ROUND
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SUDOKU
ALPHAGRAMS
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