Australian Times weekly newspaper | 29 January 2013

29 January - 4 February 2013 Issue: 448

PINTS WITH AUSSIE Day A PAST wrap up London’s best historical pubs

ENTERTAINMENT P6

HIGHLANDS HIGHLIGHTS Touring Scotland

London celebrates Australia Day

travel P8

entertainment P7

41619

NEED HELP OPENING UP A UK BANK ACCOUNT? 0808 141 2314

TAX, FINANCIAL AND MIGRATION EXPERTS: Money Transfers, Tax Refunds, Visas, Limited Companies & Accounting, UK Bank Accounts, CV & Job Assistance, Travel Clinic, Shipping, Legal and Umbrella Services

www.1stcontact.com/mast2

UK AUSSIES HONOURED IN AUSTRALIA DAY AWARDS n Long-serving milliner to the Queen and creator of the fascinator, Frederick Fox, was honoured in an Australia Day gala awards dinner hosted at Australia House.

Every year the Australia Day Foundation honours the remarkable achievements of Australians living and working in the UK through the presentation of the Australian of the Year in the UK and Young Australian Achiever of the Year in the UK awards.

This year the Foundation named Frederick Fox, Australia’s milliner to Her Majesty The Queen for 34 years, as Australian of the Year in the UK. The Award was presented at a gala dinner held on Australia Day, 26 January. The evening marked not only an important night in recognising the work of Australians in the UK, but also in the history of the Foundation itself as it celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Australia Day Foundation Director Bill Muirhead said he could not think of a more worthy recipient of the 2013 Australian of the Year in the UK award than Frederick Fox, considered one of Britain’s greatest and most distinguished milliners.

“To have been milliner to Her Majesty The Queen for 34 years will be a record no other milliner will match.

“When Hardy Aimes first saw Frederick Fox’s innovative designs he immediately recognised the brilliance of a true master craftsman.”

Born in 1931 in Jerilderie in NSW’s Riverina, Fox’s design ambitions took him first to Sydney to train with top French milliner Henriette La Motte.

Fox left for life in London at age 27, securing a job with Otto Lucas.

In 1964 he took over Langee, and consolidated his reputation as a brilliant designer. Fox first came to the Queen’s attention in 1968 when asked to create hats for the Queen’s tour of Chile and Argentina. It was the start of a partnership which would last over 34 years and result in the crafting of more than 350 of the Queen’s hats.

Fox said of his time with the Queen: “I managed to survive 3 tailors, 4 dressmakers, 3 vendeuses and 2 designers and was able to give continuity to millinery for 34 years of our monarch’s remarkable reign.”

Fox also designed hats for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Anne, Diana the Princess of Wales, Princess Alice, The Duchess of Kent, the Duchess of Gloucester, and Princess Michael of Kent whilst continuing to design for a large international clientele including Hilary Clinton, Joan Collins and Barbara Cartland.

He has worked on several films, including collaborating with film director Stanley Kubrick, designing the iconic white leather crash helmets and suits for the film 2001, A Space Odyssey.

Fox is recognised as being the creator of the modern ‘fascinator’, after first designing and presenting it in his 1999 collection.

SOULFUL SARAH Blasko to perform at Barbican Hall | P7

...continued on p3

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Stay connected www.commbankuk.co.uk/mortgages Call 020 7710 3993

Applications for finance are subject to credit approval. Full terms and conditions will be included in our Loan Offer. Fees and charges are payable. Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 is incorporated in Australia with limited liability, registered in England No.BR250 and authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority. This communication is only directed at persons living within the UK and it must not be acted upon or regarded as being directed to persons outside of the UK.*APRA monthly banking statistics, 2012.

Minimum size 25mm INT0008_HomeLoan_40x200_R3.indd 1

PUBLISHING icon Ita Buttrose was named Australian of the Year in a ceremony in Canberra on Friday for her extraordinary and groundbreaking contributions in health and media.

She is the National President of Alzheimer’s Australia and the Vice President Emeritus of Arthritis Australia. She raises awareness of breast cancer, HIV/AIDS and prostate cancer.

Born in Sydney’s Potts Point, Ms Buttrose began her career as a 15-year-old copy girl at The Australian Women’s Weekly, before scoring a spot as a cadet journalist on the women’s section at the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph. She was appointed women’s editor of the newspapers aged 23.

But it was as founding editor of Cleo magazine that she shot to national prominence in the 1970s.

Three years later she was appointed editor of The Women’s Weekly.

In 1980 she became the first woman editor of an Australian metropolitan newspaper – the Murdoch-owned Daily Telegraph, and later the Sunday Telegraph.

In her acceptance speech Buttrose ...continued on p3

HOME LOANS FOR BACK HOME. To explore the possibilities contact our London office on 020 7710 3993 or visit www.commbankuk.co.uk/mortgages

Australians of the Year

6/08/12 5:08 PM

2 | News

29 January - 4 February 2013

Could this be Australia’s new flag?

Publisher: Bryce Lowry Editor: Alex Ivett Production/Design: Jackie Lampard News Editor: Paul Bleakley Business Editor: Sepi Roshan Contributors: Shannon Crane, Phillip Browne, Erin Somerville, Melissa Shortal, Justin Ng, Gareth Mohen, George Katralis, Chris Arkadieff, Lee Crossley, Mel Edwards, Will Fitzgibbon, Bronwyn Spencer, Emily Banyard, Daniel

Shillito, Mat Lyons, Sharon Spence Lieb, Nicole Crowley, Alex Bruce-Smith, Sandra Tahmasby, Tyson Yates, Amber Rose, Bianca Soldani, Jennifer Perkin, Shannon Loves, Charlie Inglefield Advertising Manager: Dominic Young Directors: P Atherton, J Durrant N Durrant, R Phillips and A Laird Additional content:

Who are we?

Australian Times is written and compiled by young Australian journalists living in the UK. Contributing on a volunteer basis, they are uniquely placed to reflect the interests, opinions and attitudes of our community. If you would like to join us, contact info@australiantimes.co.uk Address: Unit 7C, Commodore House Battersea Reach, London SW18 1TW Tel: 0845 456 4910 Email: info@australiantimes.co.uk

WEBSITE:

The paper used to print this publication has been sourced from sustainable forests (farmed trees). Please reduce waste by recycling your copy or pass it on others.

DISCLAIMER The printed opinions of advertisers and writers are theirs and not necessarily shared by Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Unless otherwise stated, copyright of all original materials is held by Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Official media sponsors of the following organisations:

ST PATRICKS DAY

On: Nova Peris ‘captain’s pick’ for NT Senate seat, says Gillard

£249 MARCH 15-18

RUNNING OF THE BULLS LA TOMATINA • Camping accommodation • Pickup upon arrival in Pamplona • Regular shuttles to centre of Pamplona • Bull run • Gift bag

JULY 5-8

£139

NEW YEAR SALE

A GROUP of prominent Australians dedicated to removing the Union Jack from the national flag have released their design of a new flag they intend to use at sporting events in a grassroots attempt to phase out usage of the traditional Australian flag design.

Ausflag, a non-profit organisation which advocates redesigning the Australian flag as an expression of national sovereignty, are pushing for their design to be adopted by sporting associations across the country and even aim to have their flag utilised as the official Australian emblem at the next Olympic Games.

The group’s members include a range of well-known Australian identities including businesswoman Janet Holmes a Court, television journalist Ray Martin, former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry and author Peter FitzSimons. The majority of Ausflag’s supporters are also vocal republicans and argue for a change in the Australian flag’s design as a means of severing ties with the United Kingdom.

The flag design released this week

Your Say

Included: • Return coach from London • City centre hostel accommodation • Breakfast • Pub crawl • City walking tour • Guinness storehouse tour • St Patricks Day parade • Gift bag

Included:

By Paul Bleakley

Included:

Honestly - how can anyone be surprised at what lengths this woman will go to stay in power?

Her footprints and knife marks are on the backs of many.

Michael

FROM

£119

• 4 star hotel accommodation • Breakfast • City walking tour • Bus transfers to festival • Tomato fight • Gift bag

AUGUST 27-29 10% off when entering the discount code ‘austimes’ (valid until 31/01/13)

www.gogombo.com info@gogombo.com

Gillard must want to be remembered as someone other than the person who destroyed the ALP, but that is her only legacy.

Hugh

Another Rudd supporter gone.

JG was never elected by the majority, only lied her way to the job. Will be good to see her gone, worst Australian PM we have had. Bring back Malcom and Kevin.

Peter

?

What’s your view

features green and gold striping, with a prominent Southern Cross motif set against blue panelling in a style reminiscent of the Eureka flag utilised by many trade union movements in Australia.

Ausflag chairman and former New South Wales MP Robert Webster has claimed that the prominent use of the boxing kangaroo motif in international sporting events is the result of Australian citizens being reluctant to wave the official flag in support of their national. He has compared the placement of the Union Jack on the Australian flag as similar to Google allowing the Apple symbol to appear in its advertising.

Ausflag board member Ray Martin said: “I’m just tired of Australians wrapping themselves in the Australian flag and all you can see if the Union Jack.”

Martin also said that the committee tasked with designing the flag had different opinions on what should be included in a flag representing Australia, however all concepts had two things in common: no Union Jack and the use of green and gold instead.

Martin’s fellow director, Janet Holmes a Court, has come out in

support of the group’s flag design and has said that the organisation would soon switch into campaign mode in order to raise the necessary funds to produce flags that could be handed out at sporting events in order to introduce Australians to Ausflag’s alternate version of the national symbol.

The release of the group’s alternate flag design has been met with criticism by organisations dedicated to the preservation of the traditional Australian flag including the Australian National Flag Association.

Spokesperson for ANFA Bert Lane said that it was disappointing that Australia Day seemed to trigger a debate about redesigning the flag every year rather than focusing on a celebration of the nation’s cultural heritage.

Lane said: “It’s unnecessary, even from a sporting point of view.

We have had athletes going to the Olympics every time with this current flag.”

On: Australian man faces caning in Tiger Airways row

On: New family migration visa rules tighten entry into UK

Bruce Griffiths was charged under Singapore’s ‘outrage of modesty’ laws. According to the British Foreign Office, people charged with Singapore’s outrage of modesty laws may receive fines, custodial sentences or corporal punishment. To quote the foreign office’s website: “The Singaporean authorities will prosecute cases of air rage within their jurisdiction.

The maximum sentence is seven years imprisonment, and corporal punishment (the rattan cane).”

The Australian government has released a statement subsequent to this article being published in which they say that they have received assurances that Griffiths will not receive the cane, although it is an option under the legislation.

Paul

Get More Opinion

AustralianTimes.co.uk/news

I am totally bummed. I earn more than the 18600. I am an Aussie citizen and my great grandparents moved to Australia from Ireland and Scotland. However, not my grandparents, hence I could never even apply. I am over 30, and work as an accountant. I have the skills and there are the jobs, but due to their tough requirements, I’ll never be able to work and getting a work visa from a current job is very very very hard.

You have to find one first with offices in the UK and then say umm, can you transfer me?? Hmm… Carolyn

On: Could this be Australia’s new flag?

Keep the Australian flag as it is! The athletes relate to it and so do the rest of us Aussies. Happy Australia Day. Christine

Share your comments on these and more stories online: AustralianTimes.co.uk

News | 3

AustralianTimes.co.uk

Awards honour Australia’s first Afghan refugee awarded Aboriginal Rhodes Scholar Young Australian of the Year ...continued from p1

In receiving the award Fox joined a long list of distinguished previous recipients who have excelled in their fields in the UK. This includes Clive James, Professor Lord May of Oxford, Professor Lord Broers of Cambridge, Sir Charles Mackerras, Michael Hintze, Gill Hicks, John Williams, Stuart Devlin and the 2012 winner Barry Humphries.

Also honoured at the Australia Day Foundation gala dinner were the achievements of young Australians in the UK, through the awarding of the Young Australian Achiever of the Year in the UK. This year’s recipient is Australia’s first Aboriginal Rhodes Scholar, Rebecca Richards. Philip Aiken, Chairman of the Australia Day Foundation, praised Ms Richards achievements when presenting her the award.

After graduating with first class honours from Anthropology at the University of Adelaide, Ms Richards was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and is currently pursuing further studies in Anthropology at Oxford.

Ms Richards is passionate about Indigenous health, human rights and education issues and is committed to preserving and promoting

Aboriginal culture. She has custodial responsibilities for women’s sites in the Flinders Ranges and her family site, Pakatu.

Ms Richards volunteered as a mentor at a teen challenge drug rehabilitation bush survival camp; was National Indigenous Youth Mobility Program spokesperson; mentor in the University of Adelaide Indigenous head-start program for rural students; youth ambassador for the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence and attended the United National Forum on Indigenous Issues and named Young Australian of the Year for South Australia in 2012.

After completing her Masters in Material Anthropology and Museum Ethnography at Oxford, Ms Richards hopes to help Aboriginal communities link up with and access objects from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.

Young Australian Achiever of the Year in the UK has been awarded annually since 2005. Previous recipients are Harry Kewell, Shane Osborn, Joe Roff, Chloe Chick, Matt Wilkin, Dr Ainsley Newson, Tim Minchin and Yasmin Sewell. - With sources

talked on the need to encourage people to adopt preventative health strategies from an early age.

She also acknowledged the difficulties of working with people with dementia and said more needed to be done to care for those suffering from this disease.

“We can beat dementia, we can remove the stigma and the sense of shame that comes with diagnosis if we increase community understanding,” Ms Buttrose said.

Senior Australian of the Year was won by Emeritus Professor Ian Maddocks. A renowned palliative care specialist, Professor Maddocks was recognized for his important

work in assisting the dying.

“I see palliative care as just good medicine,” the 81-year-old said in a video address after the award was announced.

“I find it is very important to be with the patient, I hold a lot of hands I’m afraid.

“We shall all die, some of us will deny the approach of death, some of us will approach difficult treatment and then be told there is nothing that can be done,” he said.

“In palliative care there is always something that can be done.”

Young Australian of the Year and Afghan refugee Akram Azimi, 25, is an indigenous mentor who takes his university colleagues bush to show children university could be in their

WIN a 5 London weekend

Get More News

AustralianTimes.co.uk/news

BAE Systems director Guy Griffiths awarded Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK In addition to recognising the achievements of Australians living in the UK, the Australia Day Foundation also honours a non-Australian resident of the UK who has displayed “Australian characteristics” or has contributed significantly to Australia. The previous recipients of Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK have included Hazel Murphy, Baroness Greenfield, Sir David Attenborough, Sir Robert Wilson, and Matthew Jukes.

This year the Foundation honoured businessman Guy Griffiths and his contributions to the Australian defence industry.

Bill Muirhead, Director of the Australia Day Foundation praised Mr Griffiths as a worthy recipient of the award.

“Guy Griffiths is an outstanding businessman and a genuine leader of the global defence sector. Australia in particular has benefited from Guy’s involvement in some of its most complex

...continued from p1

futures.

In a moving speech, the West Australian said: “I thought I was doomed to forever experience the poverty of not belonging.”

But he said the kindness he experienced from Australians and the indigenous community had changed that.

For three years, Mr Azimi mentored young indigenous Australians in the remote community of Looma in the Kimberley, and primary school students in a small farming community in the WA wheat belt.

In 2011, he co-founded a studentrun initiative to raise awareness about indigenous issues in universities, and has also worked with the True Blue Dreaming, a youth mentoring network.

Mr Azimi is also mentoring a Special Olympics athlete to raise public awareness about disability issues. - With AAP

and largest defence industry projects.”

As Group Managing Director – International for BAE Systems, Mr Griffiths led the effort to build up BAE Systems’ operations in Australia, and the company is now the largest Australian defence company with 5,900 Australians employed in urban, regional and remote locations across the country.

Australia’s Hawk Lead In Fighter, fleet of F18 fighter aircraft, fleets of Blackhawk, Seahawk and Chinook helicopters are maintained by the Australian company.

In previous work in Australia Mr Griffiths was responsible for the Royal Australian Air Force taking delivery of its first ASRAAM Missile for which he received the Queen’s Award for Export.

Mr Griffiths was honoured with a CBE in 2008 for his services to the defence industry.

This week’s deals on Wotif.com: US

A

ES

Marco Polo Beach Resort, Miami including breakfast & WiFi

fr. US

$175pn

P

N

superior

Petit Palace Lealtad Plaza, Madrid including breakfast & WiFi

fr.

€99pn

T AU

L

Hotel Nicolaas Witsen, Amsterdam

Art hotel Vienna

including breakfast & WiFi

including breakfast & WiFi

fr.

€69pn

fr.

€69pn

WIN a five star weekend

at Athenaeum Hotel in Mayfair, London, including a £100 dining voucher to use during your stay.

Go to www.wotif.co.uk to enter.

www.facebook.com/wotif @WotifEurope

4 | UK Life

29 January - 4 February 2013

Hanging with Hipsters SUBCULTURE SLEUTH > PAUL BLEAKLEY

I was chatting with an Australian girl recently who was telling me about her weekend out on the town in Shoreditch. She became quite proud of herself, telling me that she had gone to a ‘secret’ bar that was very exclusive and very few people knew even existed.

“Oh, is it the one where you walk through the fridge to get in?” I asked her, intentionally affecting a nonplussed attitude designed to torpedo her belief that she was now part of the ‘in crowd’.

She was shocked that I knew that her ‘secret’ bar existed. Granted, I had made a wild guess based on a story I’d overheard in another, less fridge-like bar earlier that week. The point, however, is this: hipsters are a predictable breed, more intoxicated by their own ‘coolness’ than legitimately unique and alternative.

It is a well-known fact that

Shoreditch is the spiritual home of London’s hipsters. You know the type: ironically oversized glasses, skinny jeans, hairstyles that look as though someone got distracted and forgot to shave a half. Hipsters aren’t exclusive to London, although I often think that London hipsters must consider themselves to be the pinnacle of their kind, leaders of a cultural movement intended to inspire irony and cynicism on a global scale.

The thing that I have never understood about hipsters is that they honestly believe that they are ‘cutting edge’. What makes them so cutting edge? Is it the vintage clothes? Because vintage kind of indicates that it has been done before. Is it the rave culture that many Shoreditch hipsters subscribe to? Because rave came and went during the early 1990s didn’t it?

Maybe that is why they feel the need to frequent these ‘secret’ clubs that have seemed to pop-up all throughout Shoreditch in recent times. It seems like every week someone is talking about a new bar that can only be accessed with a

A trip in time

n At #93 on the Timeout London Top 100,

the London Transport Museum helped bring the history of the city’s transport system to life for our resident adventurer. bron in

the don BRONWYN SPENCER

I’ve got a confession to make - I’m a bit of a Tube nerd. I just love it. Not the squishy smelly boring commute of course, but I am fascinated about how it runs, how it was designed and all those random Tube facts.

Even when there is a signal failure and I am late getting places, or there are engineering works on the weekend and I’m stranded - I still have a soft spot for it. So much so that people have bought me books on the subject, and one of my favourite moments in London has been when I met someone who worked for TFL and they answered my most burning question: “Where do they all go at night?”

So, needless to say I have been keen to check out the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden ever since I arrived. The only reason I hadn’t checked out number 93 before now is unlike most other museums in town, this one comes with a £13.50 entry fee. Although the ticket fee does entitle you to entrance to the museum for an entire year, compared to all the other free museums it seems a bit steep.

Once inside you are immediately transported back in time. I say that because while you are in the lift to the second floor you can literally see a clock counting back the years. The first part of the exhibition is about how Londoners got around prior to the Tube network being developed.

These were mostly horse and carriages and omnibuses transporting people short journeys. Some of these are even open to the public and you can climb up and sit in them to see

Tripping over Cobblestones

n Yes, the rumours you heard are true, password, or if you know somebody that is already inside. To me, if you have to know somebody already at the party… well, that makes it less a ‘bar’ and more ‘someone’s house with a DJ’.

I had my birthday at a bar in Shoreditch earlier this year, in what was marketed at a rave yet in actuality was five hipsters dancing ironically by themselves. It was my first opportunity to observe this bizarre and confusing subculture, and in the months that have followed I still have yet to work them out.

Maybe that is the one thing that makes Shoreditch hipsters so unique: the fact that they make no sense whatsoever.

there are Aussies living in the UK OUTSIDE London. A new bi-weekly column explores what it’s like for the Australian expat in that strange new world – non-London.

Get More UK Life

AustralianTimes.co.uk/uk-life

what they would have been like. One of them has a list of rules for riding in the buses, such as ‘no discussion of politics’ and ‘avoid making a single lady blush’.

From there you slowly work your way through the ages and read about the development of the Underground, the population growth, and the transport needs of London. It’s of course not all about the Tube, as the museum also has many of the vintage buses on display as well. It was great to jump in and sit in one of the first ever Tubes from the Metropolitan line, and on the back of one of the old fashioned double-deckers with a view out over the museum.

The museum also features displays on cyclists and pedestrian pathways, showing that there are many modes of transport around the city. It’s also not all about the past with several exhibits on planning for the future and what’s next for transport development in London.

My favourite part - the gift shop.

Not only did they have great London knick knacks and souvenirs, but you can also buy bags and wallets made out of the Tube seat covers. We spent ages trawling through all the retro posters that have featured on the Underground. Although I managed to resist buying anything this time, at least now I know it’s a great place to go if I ever need to get a gift or souvenir.

Edinburgh Expat > Tyson Yates

So, that was Hogmanay. And much like 2012 itself, the Scottish end of year celebration came and went in a head-spinning montage involving dazzling pyrotechnics, energetic street parties, burning Viking longships, a wee dip in the frosty ocean followed by not one but TWO public holidays (1st AND the 2nd of January) which I can only assume were hastily handed over by the Scottish government as tokens of guilt for the part they played in the hangovers of more than 80 000 revellers who made the pilgrimage to Edinburgh to see out the old year.

Today the smoky residue of the world famous fireworks display has well and truly settled on top of Edinburgh castle and beneath it the city’s main drag, Princes Street, is all but empty. The glare of the international spotlight has dimmed for now - and sees Edinburgh able to catch some much needed shut-eye.

Though with five hours of daylight during winter, you wouldn’t figure that to be too difficult.

Tourists have shuffled on home, residents are reclaiming their seats at local pubs and us inbetweeners are

left wondering how much colder it is actually going to get. Yet no matter where we stand in this crazy world or how much we sniffle and shiver, we each find ourselves facing the untainted canvas that is 2013.

For some, this represents the perfect opportunity to set about creating something wonderful and new, for others it is merely one more stroke of the brush. If I were to place myself somewhere in this misguided art metaphor, then consider me the guy who throws a splash of paint over a seagull in hope that someone more intelligent than I will come along and explain why the act was so damn brilliant. But until that day comes, I will write and as yet another person more intelligent than I once said (already these people are adding up) “the beginning is the best place to start”.

For me, 2013 will be dedicated to documenting my experiences as an expat living in the Scottish capital, and what better time to start than January - the beginning.

Now pick up a pen because here is the first of many reflections to come - that Hogmanay thing I was talking about earlier, well it’s a lot like haggis in that it is a beloved tradition throughout Scotland and is most fun because it contains a bit of everything.

Oh, and floss regularly.

New members welcomed to Australian Business in London

n EP&T Global, Lord’s Cricket Ground and Martech Social introduced at Australian Business’s BA5 networking event.

Members of the London based Australian Business organisation welcomed three new companies at the first Business After 5 (BA5) event of 2013.

The premier UK/Australian networking event this time took place at the plush Sofitel London St James on Tuesday 22 January. It was also the first in the series boasting the new sponsorship arrangement with Qantas.

Following a live sung rendition of ‘I Still Call Australia Home’, Qantas’s Head of Marketing Nick Crabb invited EP&T Global’s CEO Keith Gunaratne, Lord’s Cricket Ground’s Senior Hospitality Executive Hayley Wood, and Martech Social’s

Marketing Manager Freya Longhurst to take the stage and briefly introduce their business to members.

The Members Introductions is a new segment for the event. At each BA5 in 2013 three more members will have the opportunity to take the stage.

Qantas also celebrated the start of their new partnership with Emirates by giving away return flights for two to Australia.

For details on membership and the next BA5 event, go to AustralianBusiness.co.uk

Food & Wine | 5

AustralianTimes.co.uk

Coffee Cult visits:

OZONE

I’m about to say something quite controversial. One of my favourite cafes in London is not Antipodean.

It’s the Turkish café at the end of my street. There’s no arty wall decals, no distressed wooden share tables with ceramic bowls of raw sugar cubes, no organic ingredients listed on a menu presented on a clipboard, and then served on an antique breadboard.

No, instead it has practical matching chairs, 1980s photos of Sultanahmet on the wall, and a laminated four page menu, with multiple variations of a big breakfast which comes out as a loaded plate with the lot, and then some.

It also has terrible coffee, but then again, it also never makes any promises.

There’s no blurb about the years spent perfecting a particular roasting technique. No roasting machine taking up half the floor space, virtually slapping the customer across the face with the guarantee of a superior cup. And definitely no carefully drawn coffee leaf on its milky face.

Which gets me, in a roundabout way, to Ozone Coffee Roasters.

The Craic Ozone is full of promises. A welcoming two-leveled café in the back streets of Old Street. Cosy booths line one wall where friends can debrief in comfortable privacy the morning after. There are long bench spaces for a private perusal of the morning papers, and a big square table in its own room downstairs that would be perfect for a birthday breakfast, if one had enough friends to fill the space. Combined with a giant roaster and mood setting sacks of beans, the overall vibe is one of slick superiority in the brunching department.

The Crucials It is therefore with reluctance that I have to say, my coffee was not that good. Slightly bitter, and a bit burnt.

And it didn’t improve on the second cup. Though still better than my local, it was just two beans short of the heady promise Ozone made me when I walked through the door.

Ditto, the food. Perhaps this was my fault, maybe I ordered wrong.

Other people were being delivered plates of creamy scrambled eggs and big omelettes stuffed full of things. I succumbed to my bad habit of always picking poached eggs, no matter what they come with, and ended up with two rather lonely looking globules sitting forlornly atop their small potato hills amongst an expansive plain of porcelain. Of course, I could have ordered extras, but at £3.50 each it would have pushed what was already

Run Rabbit, Run

n Maze Grill’s Head Chef Chris Arkadieff has recently added wild rabbit to the menu, with great success. Here he shows us his favourite rabbit recipe, served up with healthy Puy lentils.

chris’s

kitchen

> CHRIS ARKadieff

Wild rabbit is a new addition to my menu at Maze Grill and has become one of my most popular

a midrange breakfast into the realms of fancy la-di-da prices, and, well, Coffee Cult is just not that rich. All our money goes towards supporting our black liquid gold habit you see.

dishes. The UK with its lush green pastures is perfect for producing excellent quality game, especially wild rabbit.

Wild rabbit is meaty with subtle gamey flavours, best from late January through to August. A medium rabbit will comfortably feed 3 people if roasted whole, or you

can purchase it jointed from your butcher.

The legs of a rabbit are perfect for slow cooking in a casserole served with delicious pappardelle pasta.

For a recipe involving the saddle of the rabbit, try my recipe for wild rabbit with Puy lentils and smoked pancetta.

Wild rabbit with Puy lentils & smoked pancetta

The Connection Ozone first opened as coffee roasters in 1998 in London, having started life back in New Zealand supplying beans to more than 200 NZ cafes. The current incarnation of café and roasting house was opened in March 2012 by New Zealander Craig Macfarlane in partnership with UK based partners.

The Conclusion Ozone - it’s not you, it’s me. You’re an attractive package, and you have a lot of potential which you seem to live up to most of the time, mainly when it’s other people ordering from you. It’s my fault, I expected too much. I thought you were an extras included kind of place, and I should have known better. I think we’ll be better off as friends.

Ozone 11 Leonard Street London, EC2A 4AQ

What you need

• 1 saddle of wild rabbit • 1 small onion finely diced • 1 carrot finely diced • 1 stick celery finely diced • 1 clove of garlic • 1 bay leaf • 6 sprigs of fresh thyme • 250g Puy Lentils • 100g diced pancetta • 1 cup of water • 1 sprig of rosemary • 700ml of beef stock • 150ml red wine

What to do

• In a small saucepan sauté the vegetables until soft and aromatic. Add the lentils, rosemary, garlic, and pancetta and mix together.

• Deglaze with red wine and cook until liquid is reduced.

• Add the beef stock and the cup of water and cook for 20 minutes or until the lentils are al dente. The lentils should be a rich moist risotto like consistency before serving.

• Take a small frying pan and place on a medium heat.

• Add a splash of oil and season the saddle with salt and pepper.

• Place the saddle in the pan and brown all over before placing on a baking tray. Add the thyme and place in the oven for 8 minutes.

• Remove from the oven. Check the centre of the saddle, which should be slightly pink.

• Allow to rest before serving.

• Place the lentils in a bowl and place the saddle on top. Add cracked black pepper and enjoy!

CLAPHAM COMMON

SIX NATIONS RUGBY KICK OFF FEB 2nd 2013 EVERY THURSDAY LIMITED SPACES TO BOOK NOW VISIT

VISIT WWW.THEUNDERDOGBAR.CO.UK

6 | Entertainment

A pint with a past

n London

29 January - 4 February 2013

COMING from a relatively young country like Australia, it is often hard to comprehend being completely surrounded by the past while drinking in your local watering hole. British culture has traditionally revolved around the local pub for centuries, and as such many of the city’s older watering holes are crammed full of history. You could be drinking at the same table as Hemingway, or tapping your finger on a bar where 17th century pirates once spilled their ales.

Here are five historical London pubs that could tell a few salacious stories if the walls could talk.

Street is all but abandoned it easy to imagine the eeriness of a 19th century London ravaged by poverty, prostitution and cholera.

The final canonical Ripper victim, Mary Kelly, lived a short walk from The Ten Bells and it is believed that she drank at this pub shortly before being butchered in her own home. Briefly renamed ‘The Jack the Ripper’ during the commercialisation of the 1980s, The Ten Bells ultimately returned to its original name and remains a favourite for amateur Ripperologists and those intrigued by the Victorian era in which they took place.

is a city of living history – of historic sights, Anchor Bankside famous figures and hidden stories. It is a history present in 34 Park Str, Southwark SE1 9EF everyday life, from the streets we walk to the pubs we drink in. Situated a stone’s throw from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and PAUL BLEAKLEY discovers five of London’s best pubs with a overlooking the Thames, the Anchor Bankside is one of London’s best past – where you can get a pint, and a history lesson. preserved riverside pubs. The Anchor

has existed in some form for over 800 years, despite being burned down in 1750 and 1876. The first of these fires occurred during the 1780 Gordon Riots, in which anti-Catholic rioters used the pub as a headquarters before razing the nearby Clink Prison to the ground. Historian and writer Samuel Pepys watched the Great Fire of London burn through the City of London in 1666 from the Anchor, and compiler of the English dictionary Samuel Johnson was an Anchor regular. The Anchor Bankside currently boasts a multilevel venue that is renowned amongst locals for its high quality fish and chips.

The Dove

19 Upper Mall, Hammersmith W6 9TA Another quaint riverside location, the Georgian façade of this pub has stood the test of time and remains a favourite with the local residents of Hammersmith. You do not have to try hard to imagine 18th century poet James Thomson crafting the words to the Rule Britannia in a corner of the bar, or Ernest Hemingway brooding over a pint of bitter. Rumour has it that King Charles II used the Dove as a place to escape the restrictions of the royal court to romance his actress mistress Nell Gwynne. The Dove is in a perfect location for the annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race and truly shines on a summer’s day.

The Ten Bells

84 Commercial Str, Spitalfields E1 6LY Situated opposite the historic Spitalfields Markets, The Ten Bells is a remnant of Victorian London and has a strong connection to the Jack the Ripper murders that plagued the East End during those brutal few months in 1888. On a dark night when Commercial

The Blind Beggar 337 Whitechapel Road, Bethnal Green E1 1BU

The Blind Beggar stands as a stalwart reflection of Cockney East London amidst the increasingly multicultural area of Tower Hamlets. The pub, built in 1894, is situated across from the Royal London Hospital, which served as home to the Elephant Man Joseph Merrick after he was rescued from a nearby ‘freak show’ on Whitechapel Road. The Blind Beggar was the location chosen for the first sermon of William Booth, who founded the Salvation Army in the bar, and was later associated with the murder of South London gangster George Cornell in 1966.

Cornell was sitting in the saloon bar of The Blind Beggar when infamous East End figure Ronnie Kray walked into the pub and shot him at close range, before casually strolling out with the assurance that fear of the Kray family would prevent any witnesses from testifying against him.

The pub maintains the warm feel of an East End ‘local boozer’ and provides the opportunity to take a glimpse into the fascinating history of the area.

The Town of Ramsgate 62 Wapping High Street, Wapping E1W 2PN

Claiming to be the oldest pub along the riverside, The Town of Ramsgate has been a haven for privateers and pirates for over 500 years. The Town of Ramsgate was a traditional meeting point for those going to nearby Execution Dock to see the hanging of pirates including the infamous Captain Kidd in 1701.

The pub is notable as the location for the arrest of ‘Hanging’ Judge George Jeffreys in 1688. The judge had become infamous for sentencing three hundred men to execution in the aftermath of a rebellion against King James II, and was arrested during the Glorious Revolution after being recognised while disguised as a sailor and attempting to flee the United Kingdom.

The pub was also the location where Captain William Bligh examined the HMS Bounty before its ill-fated voyage to Tahiti, and drank with soon-to-be mutineer Fletcher Christian at the Town of Ramsgate shortly before their departure. The Town of Ramsgate is a “local” pub that holds many of the secrets of maritime London and is waiting to be explored by anyone who dreamed of being a pirate as a child.

Entertainment | 7

AustralianTimes.co.uk

What’s On Rolf Harris 8 February @ Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre The Australian Pink Floyd Show 25 February @ London 02 Arena The Rubens 27 February @ Scala Olivia Newton-John 13 March @ Royal Albert Hall Tommy Emmanuel 16 March @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire The Jezabels 22 March @Barfly Camden Pam Ann 28-29 March @ Hammersmith Apollo Sarah Blasko 11 April @Barbican Centre Tame Impala 25 June @ Hammersmith Apollo

For full details... ...and more Aussie gigs go to: AustralianTimes.co.uk/entertainment

See what we are following this week on #Hottest100 @marcfennell Now if you’ll excuse me... I’m off to pop some tags @ashmaher @chrisbenno RT @dansm1th Remember when Pretty Fly for a White Guy came in at #1? And didn’t show on the CD? @triplej @triplejmornings Boyf just said “it’s perfect that they came in at #3 cos they love triangles”. LOL. #AltJ #Hottest100 @triplejtheking Thank u #hottest100 voters. I liked the way u just put Not Giving In after Clair De Lune. You vote well AND with great segues in mind too @MrJoshEarl Guys, I’ve missed most of the #hottest100 what number did The Coles ad “Down Down (prices are down)” get? @illyal I predict exactly 10% of the #hottest100 2013 will be either strictly or loosely “Australian hiphop”. And they said it would never last. Ha! @TomCBallard Prepping for the #Hottest100.

How do you pronounce it?

GangNIM? Ganagam?

Follow us on Twitter @AustralianTimes

Sarah Blasko to perform ‘I Awake’ at Barbican Hall WITH an art installation accompanying the Sydney release, and an orchestral tour planned to showcase it to European audiences, fans of Sarah Blasko can be rest assured her new album I Awake will not disappoint.

The UK release is scheduled for 8 April 2013, and Sarah has planned an accompanying tour that will highlight the beauty and depth of the soulful album.

Recorded and mixed in Stockholm, Sweden, it is backed by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra. Sarah has said she was attracted to the idea of recording with this orchestra because of Bulgarian ancestry on her father’s side.

Sarah has said about I Awake: “I wanted to go all the way with this record - it seemed right. I spent the first half of 2011 in a house in Brighton in England alone with my thoughts and memories. Haunted and unsettled.

“But that’s the kind of thing you choose - I chose to produce it myself.

I chose an orchestra. An avalanche of sound, soaring and shrieking, simple and striking to send you tumbling. I do hope it makes you feel something.”

The album also features the unique talents of a number of artists on traditional instruments, such as drums and guitar, as well as the non-traditional including ukulele and harp.

Sarah Blasko is a renowned singer and songwriter in Australia, having won two ARIAs for Best Female and Best Pop Album, as well as Triple J’s J Award for Australian Album of the Year.

Her fourth album I Awake is sure to live up to the Platinum expectations earned by her previous albums, including What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have and As Day Follows Night.

And, when Sarah brings the album to life on stage at the Barbican in London on 11 April 2013, it will be a night not to be missed for any Australian fan. Sarah will be joined by her band and a string section, and will be performing songs from her previous repertoire, as well as introducing the new album to her audience.

Sarah Blasko will perform at Barbican Centre on Thursday 11 April. See thebarbican.org.

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE London celebrates Australia Day

Well, there it is. The party is over for another year. The green and gold has gone, and London has returned to its usual grey. The last stragglers have fallen out of Walkabout Shepherd’s Bush, the blow-up kangaroos have been deflated, and the Aussie beer specials are over. Across the city, thousands of Australians gathered on 26 January to acknowledge our nation and pay tribute to our history.

Well, some of them did. Others just used it as an excuse to eat as many vegemite sandwiches as possible and make the most of specials on jugs of Snakebites, all to a soundtrack of Triple J Hottest 100 in the background. Pubs all over London helped Aussies celebrate in style, hosting Australia Day parties that kicked off early in the morning (8am in the case of Walkabout Shepherd’s Bush) and lasted well into the night.

Over at the Larrik Inn in Fulham, festivities kicked off at 11am, with a traditional Aussie BBQ keeping the masses fed, and Aussie beer

specials keeping them well watered.

As sponsors of the Putney Magpies AFL team, the boys were there in full force, participating in Larrik’s annual vegemite eating competition with gusto.

The Underdog at Clapham Common hosted an epic party, with a £50 bar tab being won by the ‘best dressed icon’ of the day. All the proceeds from the £5 entry went to the Australian Bush Fires Appeal.

Back in Hammersmith, the boys from Bogan Bingo hosted The Castle Quote Along film event, so successful we’re sure it will become an Australia Day in London institution. With the dress code ‘Kerrigan Chic’, there were more flannies, stonewashed jeans and big hair than a typical Saturday night in Dalston Junction.

The after party at the Distillers helped the festivities continue, with the Bogan boys adding their own touch of class at the DJ decks.

Comedy was also on the menu this Australia Day, with some of Australia’s best comedians warming up the crowd at Clapham Grand’s Comedy Carnival. Featuring a broad range of comedic styles, sharp oneliners and unconventional comedic

delivery were the order of the day.

Another successful Australia Day in the UK. Let us know your Australia Day stories at australiantimes.co.uk It wouldn’t be Australia Day without the Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown. With a record 1.5 million votes being submitted, the nation spoke.

1: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Thrift Shop {Ft.Wanz} 2: Of Monsters And Men – Little Talks 3: alt-J – Breezeblocks 4: Flume – Holdin On 5: Mumford & Sons – I Will Wait 6: Major Lazer – Get Free {Ft. Amber Coffman} 7: Tame Impala – Elephant 8: Frank Ocean – Lost 9: Tame Impala – Feels Like We Only Go Backwards 10: The Rubens – My Gun

travel

8 | Travel

29 January - 4 February 2013

n With

a five day tour of the Scottish Highlands so full of highlights it couldn’t all be featured in one article, LEE CROSSLEY is back to present days 4-5 of his definitive run down of the amazing sights and sounds of Scotland. With Edinburgh only two hours from London by plane, what’s stopping you?

SCOTLAND was something of a mystery to me. I’d been to Edinburgh a couple of times but never ventured beyond the capital. This all changed when I embarked on a five-day Skye and Highlands Fling with Macbackpackers. In days 1-3 I was introduced to glorious glens and glistening lochs as we made our way through vast open spaces from Edinburgh to Inverness, and onwards to the Isle of Skye. With a five day tour packed so full of highlights I couldn’t feature it all in one go, days 4-5 again delivered amazing scenery, fascinating historical sights, as well as great food, and even better craic.

Day 4 – Kyleakin to Oban

You could hire a car and drive from Kyleakin to Oban in three hours, no worries. But you’d miss the good bits! That’s why you’d be mad not

to do it with Macbackpackers, which take the best part of a day to show you the main sites in between.

Our first stop is Glenfinnan Monument, an 18m column that honours ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ and the 18th century Jacobite uprising.

Atop the 59-foot tower, which you can climb for panoramic views of Loch Shiel, stands a statue of Charlie.

Interestingly, it was recently discovered that the monument is leaning to one side by about 27cm, sparking national media attention.

This got the Scots terribly excited, but the hype soon subsided with a National Trust spokesperson declaring: “They all love to hear the story of our leaning tower, although it’s not quite on par with Pisa.”

Across the road there’s a hill with walking tracks, where there are good views of the huge railway bridge featured in the Harry Potter films.

Earlier in the day, we were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the steam train used in the films, which still runs.

Our lunch stop, Fort William, is the second-largest city in the Highlands and known as Britain’s Outdoor Capital. Its proximity to Ben Nevis, the UK’s tallest mountain, makes it a mecca for mountain climbers, mountain bikers and thrill seekers. For me, the drawcard of Fort

William has to be the Hog Roast Company in the main mall. For £3 you get roast pork and apple sauce and crackling in a fresh roll. I’m still salivating.

Fort William also signifies the end point of the West Highland Way, a 96-mile track that stretches to outside Glasgow and attracts some 50,000 people annually. Each year there is a race with a simple objective: start at Milngavie Railway Station, seven miles north of Glasgow, at 1am on 23 June and run/jog/walk to Fort William Leisure Centre by noon the next day.

That’s 35 hours to cover 150km, including 4500m of ascent. The website’s conditions state that you must have two assistants within reach of a phone and a car to help find you if you’re lost in the dark.

Not for the faint hearted!

Our next stop is Glencoe, site of the Glencoe Massacre of 1692 when more than 70 members of the MacDonald clan were murdered by the Argyll Regiment, made up largely by members of the Campbell clan.

Despite a long-running feud between the Campbells and the MacDonalds, the Campbells were billeted to stay with the MacDonalds in the hospitable tradition of the Highlands. Days later orders were given to turn on the MacDonalds and slaughter them all. The massacre stands as the worst example of treachery in Highlands history and played a part in the Jacobite uprising and re-ignited support for the exiled James VII. Glencoe boasts some of the most vibrant greenery you’re likely to see in the Highlands. Walking through the Glen, there is an eerie feeling, knowing that in centuries gone by many MacDonalds took refuge in the hills, only to perish in the freezing conditions.

From Glencoe, we headed along the Argyll coast to Oban. Blasting from the speakers comes tunes from the Peat Bog Fairies, Red Hot Chilli

Pipers and the Corries. Oban is the Seafood Capital of Scotland and boasts arguably the country’s finest seafood restaurant, Ee-usk, where a main will set you back about £20. I settled for Fish’n’Chips down on the main drag, which was more suited a backpacker’s budget. Marvellous!

Oh, and don’t forget to pay Oban Distillery a visit. The staff there are some of the most helpful you’re likely to meet in the Scotch Whisky community, members of whom can sometimes stare down their noses at the novice Scotch drinker. They have informative displays on different varieties and tasting notes on each.

Our night in Oban was spent tearing up the dancefloor at the Skippinish Ceilidh House, which puts on special Ceilidh nights. Ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering where Gaelic folk music is played.

Venue owners Andrew Stevenson and Phil McPhail play the bulk of the music and are part of a wellknown Scottish band Skippenish.

A cracking night was had with the locals and tourists alike enjoying one of Scotland’s oldest traditions.

Day 5 – Oban to Edinburgh

Hungover and a tad sad and sorry for myself, I drag myself out of bed to the bus for an 8am departure from Oban.

Table chatter around the excellent breakfast at Oban Backpackers goes in one ear and out the other as my vice-like grip on a 2L bottle of Evian only tightens.

Our first stop is Kilmartin, one of Scotland’s richest prehistoric

landscapes. Dotted throughout Kilmartin Glen lie ancient large standing stones which hold clues to life in the area as far back as the Bronze Age (3000BC). More than 350 ancient monuments lie within a 10km radius of Kilmartin Village. In the village itself, there is an impressive museum that explains each of the sites and their significance.

From here, we’re off to Dunadd Hill Fort. From ground level, it just looks like a small hill. But when you climb it and see the rock carvings that still exist from 500AD, you can see why it’s regarded as one of Scotland’s most important hill forts.

From the top, you can easily see Jura in the distance, home to the famous Jura Whisky distillery and the isle where George Orwell wrote 1984.

On the way to Edinburgh we pass through Lochgilphead, a blink-andyou’d-miss-it town which wouldn’t get a mention except for one eightyear-old girl who make international headlines recently. Martha Payne, a student at the local primary school, started a blog about the poor standard of the school meals and it went viral. The attention generated by the

Travel | 9

AustralianTimes.co.uk

Did you know?

Scotland is surrounded by more than 11,000 miles of coastline and has 900 islands near it, making it perfect for diving and seafood – if you can brave the icy waters.

Lee travelled with MacBackpackers on their 5 Day Skye and Highland Fling tour which runs all year round. For more information check them out at macbackpackers.com.

Ski Trips Austria

UP TO

20%

Favourite Big Tour Operator Favourite Ski/Winter Operator Favourite Tour Operator in Western Europe

Plus loads more online!

OFF

18 DAY Winter Getaway

1973

2013

Dep. 2 & 9 Feb 2013

Includes Paris, Rome, Salzburg, Prague, plus more!

£399

EBR

WAS £1250 NOW

What’s Included:

Snow bike pub crawl, traditional Austrian Xmas Dinner on Xmas week, PLUS MORE!

£1147

A

RS

Dep Weekly Jan-March

FROM

TOPDECK EuroClub

8 DAY Ski Austria

AT I N G 4 0 Y E

Includes £220 food fund

Festivals in Europe £189

No one throws a party like the Irish – and there is no better time to experience this than on St Patrick’s Day! The streets of Dublin are filled with music, street theatre, comedy and more, “Cead mile failte” (A thousand welcomes).

17-20 Mar 2013

8-11 Feb 2013

£189

NOW

15-18 Mar 2013

4 DAY Las Fallas Valencia, Spain

4 DAY Venice Carnival Venice, Italy NOW

4 DAY St Patrick’s Day Dublin, Ireland NOW

endeared in verse and music cling nearer around our hearts.”

And then it’s on to Edinburgh. As we pull into Castle Rock Hostel, we say our final goodbyes to Duncan and the group. The bus is unloaded and we all head in various directions.

Five days of education, sightseeing, culture and experiences. I am exhausted yet exhilarated.

And to think I nearly didn’t come to Scotland at all. I could not speak highly enough of the Macbackpackers Highland Fling.

You could hire a car and do it, but not nearly as well. Thanks to Duncan and the gang for making it one of my travel highlights of my two-year UK adventure.

One day when I am older I will return to Scotland. Visits to distilleries, golf and salmon fishing will no doubt feature. I would do it next week if I could but I’m back in Australia, 16,000 miles away. If you’re reading this in London right now, you’re less than two hours from Scotland by plane. You could be there next week. What’s stopping you?

Winter Europe

CEL

blog led to Martha giving the proceeds from donations to improve the dinners to a global charity which provides food for starving people in thirdworld countries. She’s raised over £100,000 since the blog was launched in April this year.

Our last stop is the Wallace Monument at Stirling. The monument is one of Scotland’s most visited attractions, thanks largely to Mel Gibson. That’s right, Gibson’s Braveheart was a roaring success in 1995, increasing visitor numbers to the monument from 40,000 to 1 million in the next year alone.

The monument itself is well worth a look, a 67-metre sandstone tower from where panoramic views overlooking Stirling can be enjoyed.

At the various levels are rooms with the Wallace story and other interesting Scottish History tidbits.

Mention is made of the other Wallace monuments around the world, including one in Ballarat.

I quite liked the ‘Boasting Room’ which laid out all the things Scottish people have apparently given the world, including the decimal point, postcards, gas masks, insulin and the bowling green (among others). If you didn’t know it already, you leave here in no doubt the Scots are a clever lot whom have contributed much to our world. Some of the busts that line the walls in the monument include Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Adam Smith, Robert the Bruce, amongst others. It’s basically a national tribute to Scotland.

One quotation that resonates is one from famous author Robert Louis Stevenson, who said: “The happiest lot in the world is to be born a Scotsman. You must pay for it in many ways … but somehow life is warmer and closer; the hearth burns more readily, the very names

ANZAC

£169

The people of Valencia celebrate their patron saint’s day and the passing of winter with a fiery party of ferocious proportions. Over 400 spectacular effigies are constructed for one reason – to be burnt to a cinder to welcome in the new Spring.

Be enchanted by the mystery of Venice as the locals don elaborate masks while celebrating the festivities of Carnival.

The famous canals come alive with street parties, costumes and celebrations during this unique festival.

5 DAY ANZAC Patrol 22-26 Apr 2013

£285

Visits Istanbul & Gallipoli.

Get More Travel

AustralianTimes.co.uk/travel

3 DAY ANZAC Western Front 23-25 Apr 2013

£319

Visits Ypres, Lille, The Somme, Villers-Bretonneux & Amiens.

4 DAY ANZAC Raid 23-26 Apr 2013

£240

Visits Istanbul & Gallipoli.

8 DAY ANZAC Sortie 19-26 Apr 2013

£450

Visits Istanbul, Bursa, Kusadasi, Ephesus, Pergamon, Bergama, Troy and Gallipoli.

14 DAY ANZAC Expedition 13-26 Apr 2013

£660

Visits Istanbul, Ankara, Cappadocia, Konya, Antalya, Saklikent Gorge, Fethiye, Pamukkale, Kusadasi, Ephesus, Pergamon, Bergama, Troy and Gallipoli.

North America Sale Save 10% on all trips!

Hurry Ends 31st Jan!

www.topdeck.travel/times L8291 / Y2992

Call 0845 257 5411 Open 8am-9pm

*Terms and conditions apply. Prices quoted are for specific departures only. All trips subject to availability. Discounts are off the base trip price only, and do not apply to food funds and local payments. Exchange rates correct at time of printing, and subject to currency fluctuations, depending when payment is made. Offer subject to availability. The 10% book and pay in full by 31st January offer for North America trips is valid for new confirmed bookings made from 1 January 2013 and paid in full by 31 January 2013. This 10% discount applies exclusively to all North America trips listed in Topdeck’s 2013 North America brochure. This discount can be combined up to a maximum of 20% using one standard brochure discount with the exception of the ‘Early Payment Option’. Please contact our friendly team for further details. The discount does not apply to Food Fund or pre/post accommodation. Normal cancellation conditions apply. Topdeck reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time. See online for full terms and conditions.

10 | Jobs & Money

29 January - 4 February 2013

Self-motivate, start and succeed > SEPI ROSHAN

Getting stuff done can be hard.

When you are not motivated it can cause you grief. Sometimes, the right motivators are not present or they no longer work. External motivators are subject to change without notice and fade quickly, which means the search starts again. Relying on others to motivate us means we are subject to their whims and decisions. Selfmotivation, however, lasts a lifetime and can make getting things done easier, and much more enjoyable.

In both professional and personal contexts, external motivators generally take two forms. We are rewarded when we do something well. We are punished when we do not perform. While there is debate about the merit of the traditional “reward-punish” system, it seems to work, even if only in the short term. But we know from our own experience that no-one can really make us do something if we do not want to. For example, money is a great external motivator. However, after a certain point when our basic monetary needs are met, more money does not mean more effort. Nor does the task get easier to perform.

Here are three tips to help you find your own internal motivation and get things done.

Understand what needs to be done

When a task or its purpose is unclear, we may not know where to begin. Our motivation to act is low when we feel overwhelmed. It is easier to pull the doona over your head and go back to sleep or grab that tenth cup of coffee.

If you are your own boss, it can mean hours wasted in front of daytime TV. When tempted to do everything “later” clarify the task and why you need to do it. Always ask questions (e.g. What outcome am I trying to get? How

Start with the parts you enjoy

We are motivated when our innate needs and desires are fulfilled. Make it a game to find the most enjoyable aspect of the task. Is it the challenge of making the spreadsheet balance? Or maybe the research required to put the position paper together? When we focus on the enjoyment factor, we experience the task differently. Enjoyment can also come from the way you perform the task. For example, doing it to music or quietly humming along as you work (yes, I have done this in the office). This signals to your brain is that the task is not so bad – an instant motivator.

Give yourself a break

Do not confuse this with procrastinating. Accept that with all those deadlines, meetings and functions, you sometimes need to take time out. Adrenaline junkies who are constantly on the go can get burnt out.

It seems paradoxical, but taking time out can get you motivated to do more.

It gives your mind and body time to rest, recuperate and re-engage.

Everyone is motivated by different things. When there is no-one to inspire us into action, it is left to us to ensure that we get ourselves going.

Take charge. Strengthen your internal motivator and get things done – your way.

Dollar Review

Aussie weakens on inflation data release

By Ruth Laatz-Reineke WHILE the overall AUD and USD rates continued declining last week as precious metals prices weakened and Australia reported lower than expected economic data, the Australian Dollar has remained within recent ranges against to its US counterpart.

The AUD/USD pair hit last week’s high of 1.0577 on Tuesday as the US reported a lower than expected Existing Home Sales number.

Whilst so much of the Aussie’s direction has been dictated by offshore happenings, inflationary data remained key for the higher yielding asset with a stronger than expected reading likely to provide some solid support above the 1.0550 level.

However, Thursday saw the Aussie fall after data showed Australia’s fourth-quarter consumer prices were lower than forecast, increasing prospects for an interest-rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia at a

meeting on 5 February While the Australian currency initially fell against most of its major counterparts, it remained within forecast range and there was still plenty of support on the downside just above 1.0530.

“The Aussie hasn’t been the same since a report this week showed domestic consumer inflation fell short of expectations,” Joe Manimbo of Western Union Business Solutions said, reported Bloomberg.

The Australian Dollar closed out the week with investors selling out of long AUD positions, finding a weekly low of 1.0402 US Dollars.

This week, eyes will be on the latest PPI data due on Friday.

Exchange rates GBP/AUD: 1.5099 EUR/AUD: 1.2912 USD/AUD: 1.0409 NZD/AUD: 1.2471 07:56 GMT, 28 January 2013

Note: The above exchange rates are based on “interbank” rates. If you want to transfer money to or from Australia then please register/login on our website, or call us on 0808 141 2335 for a live dealing rate. Make use of a Rate Notifier to send you alert when the Australian exchange rate reaches levels you are looking for.

Sepi Roshan is Business Editor of Australian Times, and Director of Astute Coaching & Development, helping Professionals become fearless presenters and leaders.

Find out more at www.astutecd.com

GAIN A PROFESSIONAL EDGE FOR YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS Sable offers an impressive portfolio of professional services. We have over 25 years of experience advising individuals, contractors and small businesses who have international interests and connections.

Get More Jobs & Money

AustralianTimes.co.uk/jobs-money

sable services Accounting Tax Wealth OFFSHORE Foreign Exchange Law Immigration

Sable Group

Castlewood House 77/91 New Oxford Street London WC1A 1DG t: +44 (0) 845 094 3990 info@sable-group.com www.sable-group.com

Sable is a group of professional service companies.

Sable Accounting Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 03517738.

Sable Private Wealth Management Limited is registered in England & Wales, number 04305265, Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Visit: AustralianTimes.co.uk/move-to-australia

In association with 44057

an astute aussie in london

does this fit into the bigger picture?).

Understanding takes away fear and uncertainty, and gives you a starting point for action. When we can see and feel what is going on, the pieces of the puzzle fit and we feel motivated to act.

www.sable-group.com

Sport | 11

AustralianTimes.co.uk

Aussies in English football surprises ‘Punters still on board’, Continued from p12... the world of his age.

Ironically, it was a fellow Australian that helped seal Oldham’s fate with Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Jones conceding three goals, including one howler as he made a mess of a simple cross.

Wesolowski, 25, is playing for his sixth English club since joining

Leicester City from NSL side Northern Spirit in 2002.

He, Bouzanis, Meredith and Good are representative of almost 40 Australians plying their trade in England’s lower leagues, below the likes of Premier League stars Mark Schwarzer, Brett Holman and Federici.

Wesolowski had more than one reason to celebrate the win, revealing on Twitter he had also secured the shirt of Liverpool

striker Luis Suarez after the win.

“So proud off the boys and staff today. What a result.

Boundary park atmosphere was unbelievable!” he tweeted.

“Same again against Everton???

“Suarez shirt as well today! What a day! #framed.”

Oldham will host Everton in the fifth round on 16-17 February.

Bradford face Swansea in the League Cup final at Wembley on 24 February.

Test success not enough to earn top spot, says coach Continued from p12... that’s been missing from England for a little while.”

Anderson said Australia had considered cancelling the tour because of the number of injuries to key players.

The team also lost captain Natalie von Bertouch before last Sunday’s first Test with a recurring finger injury.

“We might have seen a different result if we’d had Nat,” the coach said.

The Diamonds started strongly on Saturday but the home side rallied and then overran the world champions in the second half to win by seven.

The attacking Sasha Corbin led

the resurgence for England as the Diamonds’ early precise passing went astray.

Mayes was delighted with her team’s performance all week that included a 58-53 win in Bath and a 51-49 victory at Wembley.

“These guys have worked relentlessly - not just the last couple of weeks but the last 18 months,” Mayes told Sky News after the final buzzer.

“They’ve been on the cusp of being able to pit our performance against the number one and two in the world and I think this belief is now instilled in them.”

England are third in the world just ahead of Jamaica.

Anderson said the Australian

players were devastated they hadn’t been able to win on Australia Day but were remaining positive.

“They know they’ve got to learn and do things better,” she said, adding it was great for youngsters such as Kim Ravaillion, Chanel Gomes and Saturday night Test debutant April Letton to get valuable court time.

The coach said the UK tour also proved the world champions needed to do more strength and conditioning work if they were to match England’s toughness.

Rangy British defender Eboni Beckford-Chambers was named player of the series.

By Julian Drape

Aussie duo clinch mixed doubles crown WHAT started out as some fun for local duo Matthew Ebden and Jarmila Gajdosova turned into an Australian Open mixed doubles grand slam title.

Playing in their first tournament together the Australians clinched the crown on Rod Laver Arena with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak.

It was the first win by an allAustralian pair since Scott Draper and Samantha Stosur triumphed in 2005.

Mark Woodforde and Nicole Bradtke (nee Provis) are the only other local team to triumph at their home grand slam, back in 1992.

Despite their wildcard status South African-born Ebden and Slovakianborn Gajdosova looked the stronger pair early on and then locked in an early break in the second set.

The unseeded Czech duo fought back but the Australians broke

Hradecka to lead 6-5 with Gajdosova serving out the match.

Ebden said he “chased down” Gajdosova late last year, despite her poor record of eight appearances in the Australian Open singles without a victory.

She did reach the semi-finals of the French Open mixed tournament in 2011.

Describing her as one of the best players on the women’s tour, Ebden’s confidence and calming influence allowed the erratic 25-year-old Victorian to play some of her best tennis, holding her own with her serve and power-packed groundstrokes.

“We had a lot of fun and it worked out amazingly,” said West Australian Ebden, also 25.

“We went out there to enjoy it from the first round and give our best and fight hard - but enjoy it as much as

says Tour race director Continued from p12...

rather than weeks.

But the Adelaide Tour was just what the sport needed - great racing, healthy crowds and plenty of strong storylines.

Dutch rider Tom-Jelte Slagter was an outstanding champion and Simon Gerrans provided the local highlight with a brilliant ride to take out the pivotal fifth stage.

Lotto-Belisol and their German ace Andre Greipel completely dominated the sprint finishes.

Race director Mike Turtur said the race was in good health, despite the Armstrong controversy.

“I took careful consideration along the road, every day, about where I know the crowds are and where they should be,” he said.

“To me, this was equal to whatever we’ve had previously.

“It tells me clearly that the punters are still on board because they realise these guys are not part of that business.

“Once the season started with the first race, we’ve got to get on with it.

“It (doping fallout) will still be analysed and regurgitated ... but I’m glad the season has started.”

TOUR VICTOR: Tom Jelte Slagter of the Netherlands is the 2013 Aussie Tour champion.

(AAP Image/Benjamin Macmahon) Likewise, Australian veteran Stuart O’Grady said it was a welcome return to racing.

“Like we’ve said, no one person is bigger than the sport,” he said.

“All sports move on, we have moved on and the support we’ve had out here this week has been absolutely top-notch.

“Besides the Tour de France, these are the biggest crowds I’ve seen.”

By Roger Vaughan

Get More Sport

AustralianTimes.co.uk/sport

RUGBY LEAGUE ON YOUR DOORSTEP

anything.

“As it got towards the quarterfinals, semi-finals, it became a bit more serious as we went and got a chance for a grand slam.

“You never know how many chances you’ll get to play a grand slam final so to come out with a win in our first final and get a title straightaway and to become grand slam champions is an amazing feeling and something we’ll always have.”

Gajdosova said their personalities and playing styles gelled better than they could have hoped.

“We use each other’s weapons we have and kind of cover up the weaknesses we have,” she said.

“So it was really good, and I hope this is not our last win and we get to play again.”

By Melissa Woods

Love in the time of Tag Rugby Now that the big freeze is over and all the snow has melted away in London, it’s time for some serious Tag Rugby action.

With the winter leagues heading into week three this week, the spring competition registrations have now opened. The spring leagues commence on 3 March and will take place at the following venues: Balham, Barnes, Bermondsey, Borough, Finsbury Park, Highbury, Shoreditch Park, Rotherhithe, Southfields, Tooting Bec and White City.

The weather should be warmer and teams which have taken a break over the colder months will be back in full force. The 2013 spring season has more venues than ever before, and last year’s record of 94 teams is expected to be broken yet again.

Playing Tag Rugby has always been a fun, friendly, social outlet for

players where many new friendships and relationships have blossomed. This year Try Tag Rugby will be introducing a new concept of an all singles match just in time for Valentine’s Day. The Try Tag Rugby Valentine’s day challenge will be played at Bermondsey on 14 February at 6:45pm. Registrations will only be open for 10 single male and 10 single female players. After the fixture, there will be an after match social at St James Tavern with champagne on offer for all the singles that are ready to mingle. If you’re single and you’ve got no plans on Valentine’s Day, what have you got to lose? You could win your match and also win over someone’s heart!

New team and individual registrations are welcome for Try Tag Rugby, and it is a great chance to develop a network of friends if you are new to London.

Broncos

he #Backt

v WIDNES VIKINGS Mixed Tag Rugby is a great way to make friends this Valentine’s Day If you would like to register for a spring league or for the Try Tag Rugby Valentine’s Day challenge match, go to www.trytagrugby.com or email info@trytagrugby.com for more details.

Sunday February 3rd, kick-off 3:00pm at the Twickenham Stoop, TW2 7SX londonbroncosrl.com

@LondonBroncosRL facebook.com/LondonBroncosRL

Widnes Press Ad 191x101mm Aus Times.indd 1

25/01/2013 10:22

LOVE TAG RUGBY? Tag Rugby to host Valentine’s Day singles match P11

n

Usually outshone by their star compatriots in the Premier League, a host of lesser-known Australians are enjoying their moment in the sun in English cup football.

AUSSIES STAR IN CUP FAIRY TALES

By Liam Fitzgibbon

OLDHAM ATHLETIC duo Dean Bouzanis and James Wesolowski became the latest Australians to feature in a cup fairy tale, as the third-tier League One outfit shocked Liverpool 3-2 on Sunday to reach the FA Cup fifth round.

It was a particularly sweet

victory for promising goalkeeper Bouzanis, who left Liverpool in 2011 to pursue first team football.

“Wow, wow, wow what a feeling!

You can’t beat days like these,” the 22-year-old tweeted after the victory.

It continued a feel-good run for Australians in cup competitions, with defenders James Meredith and

Curtis Good featuring in Bradford City’s remarkable journey to next month’s League Cup final.

Bouzanis and Wesolowski will be joined by a host of other Australians in the FA Cup fifth round.

Millwall’s Shane Lowry, Reading’s Adam Federici and Middlesbrough’s Rhys Williams

and Scott McDonald are also set to figure after their sides had fourthround wins.

Bouzanis spent four years coming through the ranks at Liverpool and at 16 was declared by former coach Rafa Benitez as the best `keeper in

...continued on p11

Tour Down Under survives spotlight A big, murky cloud hung over the Tour Down Under, even though the cycling race enjoyed perfect Adelaide weather.

Lance Armstrong’s muchpublicised confession came only two days before the racing started.

It ensured doping would be a massive sub-plot throughout the race as the sport continues to grapple with how to confront its past and secure a cleaner future.

Local cycling is nervously awaiting the first findings from an Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) investigation that was commissioned late last year because of the Armstrong scandal.

There appears little doubt ASADA will put some big Australian cycling names under an uncomfortable spotlight.

The common feeling is that the first ASADA findings will be made public in a matter of days, ...continued on p11

Aussie Day loss for Diamonds

GRAND SLAM CHAMPS Aussie wildcards claim surprise Open mixed doubles crown | P11 CHAMPION PAIR: Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden win the Australian Open Mixed Doubles title on Sunday. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)

Australian coach Lisa Alexander says her English counterpart needs a reality check if she thinks the British team are right up there with the top two nations of world netball.

Alexander’s comments came after England completed a threeTest series whitewash against the depleted Diamonds with a 58-51 victory in Birmingham on Saturday night.

She acknowledged the Brits under coach Anna Mayes were much closer to the No.1-ranked Australians and New Zealand.

“But I think Anna also has to have a reality check in terms of we’ve got seven starting players out of our line-up,” Alexander told AAP. “You’ve got to be a little bit circumspect.

“But certainly they are competitive and they’re hungry and they want it - and that’s something ...continued on p11