Murray to Moyne: Riding from the Murray River to the ocean for a noble cause.

Little did I know when I bought my Vivente World Randonneur touring bike in early February, that a mere nine weeks later I would be taking part in a 536km relay bike ride. With the endorphins still buzzing through my body as I type this, I am proud to say: last weekend I rode with the Kerang District Health (KDH) Team and over 1200 other riders in the 27^th annual Murray to Moyne Bike Ride.

A charity ride that has raised millions of dollars for hospitals and health services across Victoria, the Murray to Moyne begins at Mildura, Swan Hill and Echuca, and all riders stop overnight in Hamilton before continuing on to Port Fairy. It is in memory of well-known Port Fairy long-distance cyclist Graham Woodrup, who was tragically killed while training in 1992.

My riding buddy, Trish, encouraged me to join her and the rest of the Kerang District Health Team for the 2013 ride – assuring me, I could easily maintain the 22km per hour average speed needed to do the ride…

Trish and I arrived in Kerang at 7.30am Saturday and met the rest of the team before loading our bikes onto the very impressive custom-made bike trailer and heading to Swan Hill for the start of the ride. The KDH Team is organised by Rob Mason and Heather Mortlock and sponsored by Scott Wishart’s Kerang Custom Joinery. This year’s riders were: Scott Wishart, Sarah Archard, Margy and Max Christian, Colin O’Brien, Judy Reiffel, Rob McPhail, Jerzy Chaberka, Clinton Hancock, Michael Coldham, Merril Stuijfzand, Trish Kinsey and myself. Our support crew were bus drivers, John Archard, Bruce Laity and John Rumbold along with massage therapy students, Zali and Shelly from the Murray College in Echuca.

The first thing I learnt upon arrival in Swan Hill was, I had been training with flat tyres… I thought they were okay but apparently my 700x35c tyres only had about 20psi in them instead of 60 - 80psi. It was a good training technique I decided; suddenly I was finding my bike easier to pedal and a whole lot faster.

The team was split into three groups depending on cycling strength/speed for the relay ride; one group would ride while the other two groups rested on the buses. Trish and I were in the middle group with Margy, Michael and Sarah. Our first leg was 30km and we maintained an average speed of 28km/hr (I thought you told me I only had to do 22km/hr Trish?!).

Our next stint was 33km with poor Margy coming off second best midway along at a dangerous railway crossing at Wycheproof – skinny racing tyres and railway tracks do not mix and Margy ended up with a nasty cut above her right eye and numerous bruises necessitating a trip back to Birchip Hospital for five stiches before she was able to join up with us again at Horsham.

After the heat of the afternoon and fast pace, Trish and I decided to drop down to the slower group for the third leg; a 20km night ride south of Horsham. I really enjoyed the night riding, the road was beautifully quiet apart from other bike teams and support vehicles coming past us and we had a tailwind making things pretty cruisy.

Back on the bus for a rest until Cavendish, I got my second wind and offered to tackle the final 27km into Hamilton (and I really wanted to see if I could ride 100km). All I can say is, “Thank God it was dark and I couldn’t see the hills!” I set off with “power rider” Max, Sarah and Michael. We zoomed along at a fair pace and by the time we arrived at Hamilton after 10pm, I had clocked up 110km for the day… and that night, slept very well in my swag on the floor at the Hamilton Showgrounds.

The next day we headed off around 7.30am for the final 96km stretch from Hamilton to the finish in Port Fairy. There was no relay, you could either ride the whole way or have a rest on the support bus for part of the way.

I decided to see what it would be like to cycle the whole way… and I discovered it was hard, damn hard with hills and a headwind. Still I learnt about using my gears more effectively and after a while, discovered the joys of “drafting”.

The rest of my team were way ahead or riding behind me or having a rest on the support bus and I was chugging away at a steady 23km/hr average speed by myself until a big group of riders from the Children’s Cancer Centre Foundation went around me and shouted to “hook on”. I was amazed at the difference it made, riding in the slipstream of the rider in front of me. Drafting can easily save you about 30% of the energy needed to maintain speed and will literally “pull” you up hills, suddenly I was averaging over 28km/hr with very little effort. I rode with them for about 20km, until they stopped for a rest and then I was back to chugging on my own. Later I rode with two blokes from Melbourne, by drafting they helped me up and down hills and into the headwind for about 15km until I couldn’t keep up with them any longer.

Our support bus stopped 17km out of Port Fairy and Trish, Judy, Merril and Rob joined me for the final ride towards Port Fairy. The rest of our team had already arrived at the finish; they rode back to meet us and we all rode the last kilometre together.

Over the two days I rode 206km, raised money for Kerang District Health (overall our team raised in excess of $14,000), learnt a lot more about bike riding (and tyre pressure), and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the sense of achievement I felt at the end.

Easter Camping at Barham

Camping, when the weather is perfect is truly magical and this year’s Easter at Barham was no exception. Good Friday saw the boys and I loading up the Trusty Nissan with our swags and eskys of food to join our friends at the annual “Oster Easter Camp” on the bank of the Murray River.

Max, Sam and Henry, along with Max White, in true Huckleberry Finn style, loaded up the tinny with tackle boxes, fishing rods and the family dog and motored up the river to meet me at our camping destination.

The two Maxes helped us to observe the Christian Easter tradition of eating fish on Good Friday by reeling in a 61cm Murray Cod late in the afternoon. Max Barr cooked it to perfection on the barbeque and it went down nicely with some hot chips (also cooked to perfection) from the Riverside Café.

The number of campers at this year’s Oster Easter Camp totalled around forty children and adults, mainly surviving on a subsistence diet of hot cross buns, bacon and eggs and chocolate. People travelled from far-flung places like Mount Martha, Koondrook and the outer suburbs of Barham to attend the four days of festivities and relaxation.

When it comes to relaxing, a camping trip is hard to beat; once you’ve set up your camp you can please yourself as to how you’d like to spend your time. The evenings were spent sitting around the enormous campfire and yarning, staring into the hypnotic flames of the campfire or looking up and admiring the spectacular night sky. The children organised games of “spotlight tiggy” that kept them entertained until they were ready to crawl into their swags later in the night.

There were no shortage of activities to choose from during the day; the river provided fishing, knee-boarding behind the jetski, scenic barbie-boat rides and mud-sliding down the banks. While at the campsite there were skipping rope competitions, clay-target shooting, walks along the riverbank and tours to Mardie and Glen Gray’s 12 Good Eggs free-range chook farm next door.

Camp ovens and barbeques got a thorough workout during the four-day break and Pete Hird’s loaf of bread cooked in a camp oven was a taste sensation and crowd favourite… almost proving man could live on bread alone...

The camp itself was the venue of the hotly contested competition – “My Camp Kitchen Rules”. Five teams pitted their culinary skills against one another, producing entrees, main meals or desserts that were assessed by the four impartial judges. Ellie, Caitlin and Ruby were the eventual winners with their outstanding “Easter Egg Surprise” – a magnificent creation of Easter eggs buried in a rich chocolate fudge filling and encased in a sweet biscuit crust (I wish I’d thought of that).

The mythical rabbit paid a visit on Easter Sunday with foil covered chocolate eggs and rabbits causing blood sugar and energy levels to peak. Later that afternoon as the sun was going down behind the Murray River red gums, I sat in my deckchair and couldn’t help but think how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful part of the world.

Sadly all good things must come to an end and by Monday we were all doing the big pack up… followed by the big unpack and endless washing at home that follows all great camping adventures…

A Week in Broome

Last Thursday I headed off with my intrepid travelling companion, Ilka, for an excellent adventure to Broome to celebrate our friend Sal’s 50^th birthday. For many Australians, including myself, Broome is one of those enticing destinations you dream of visiting at least once in your lifetime. Established as a port for the pearling industry in 1883, Broome is 2,200km north of Perth in Western Australia.

Our QantasLink plane touched down just after 6pm Broome time (9pm Barham time), walking down the steps of the plane we were enveloped by the hot, humid air of tropical northern Australia; it felt as though I was breathing in warm bath water… I don’t think tropical climates would have suited me prior to the invention of refrigerated air-conditioning.

Dave Shannon’s relly, Marita met us at the airport and delivered us to the Blue Seas Resort near Cable Beach where we would stay for the next week. Barham’s well-known international jetsetter, Jen Cox and her friend Sharna from Perth, joined us the next day.

Our week in Broome was at the tail end of the wet season and cyclone season, which luckily for us meant very affordable accommodation and no crowds. However, on the down side it was still in “stinger season” and this meant no swimming at the iconic Cable Beach. From November to May people are warned to avoid swimming anywhere near Broome because of the deadly box jellyfish and the tiny Irukandji jellyfish. Tempting though the crystal clear turquoise waters were, the paragraph I read amongst some Broome information (see below), kept us out of the water:

“Because of the potential for life threatening complications it is a good idea to take the patient to a hospital as quickly as possible. (The victim will probably be screaming for morphine anyway...)”

Thanks to the three-hour time difference between Barham and Broome, we had no trouble bouncing out of our beds at 5.30am each morning for a sunrise walk along Cable Beach.

The beach was named in 1889 after the undersea telegraph cable that stretched from there to Java, effectively linking communication between Australia and the rest of the world.

We celebrated Sal’s big day with an hour long camel ride along Cable Beach as the sun disappeared behind the Indian Ocean.

Marita and her family and their friends Nick (Broome Visitor Centre Manager) and his family joined us that night for an entertaining evening beside the pool. Ilka cooked up a feast on the barbeque of the freshest and most delicious threadfin salmon and barramundi (thanks to Garry the fisherman from Kimberley Seafoods) and Marita’s husband Scott, their daughters Meg and Nellie baked two sensational chocolate birthday cakes (because what is a birthday without chocolate cake?).

On Sunday we drove ourselves out to the Willie Creek Pearl Farm and spent a fascinating few hours learning about the pearling industry (and melting our credit cards in their showroom). Thanks to my raucous travelling buddies, I was “volunteered” from the audience to extract a pearl from underneath the gonad of a live oyster (every girl’s dream really). That night Ilka and I watched “Silver Linings Playbook” from our deckchairs under the stars at the Sun Picture Theatre in Broome.

Monday morning Sal, Jen and I boarded a seaplane and flew to Talbot Bay in the Buccaneer Archipelago north of Derby to see the Horizontal Falls. Described by David Attenborough as "one of the greatest natural wonders of the world" the Horizontal Falls are caused by massive tidal flows being drawn through two narrow gaps in the McLarty Ranges that surround the bay.

At Talbot Bay we all enjoyed a swim in the shark/crocodile cages on the pontoon and got up close and personal with some of the large local sharks. From there we hopped aboard the very fast jetstream boat (powered by two 300hp outboard motors). The highly experienced, knowledgeable and very modest “I’m the best boat operator in the world” Captain Adrian piloted us around the bay, including several adrenalin-producing passes through the falls, before it was time to load onto the seaplane once more. The scenic flight home took us over the top of Cape Leveque, Willie Creek and down the length of Cable Beach.

All the good food and adventuring finally took its toll so our final day was spent getting massages at the Bali Hai Resort… wish you were here.

The Producers Picnic

Eating out of doors or alfresco dining, is a simple pleasure enjoyed the world over. Back in the 1600s the French (who introduced us to such culinary delights as baguettes and croissants) were enjoying the pique-nique; a social gathering held outdoors where attendees brought food to share. By the 1800s the English had gotten in on the act and were packing a basket of food, grabbing a rug to sit on and picnicking regularly. (And so ends your somewhat brief etymology lesson for the week…)

Last Saturday the 16^th March, the boys and I along with some of our extended family and friends, converged on the lawns overlooking the Murray River at the Barham Lakes Complex for the inaugural “Producers Picnic”. Hosted by our energetic foodies, The Red Gum Food Group, the Producers Picnic was part of the annual Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.

Some of us opted for the pre-booked hamper box for four people and we weren’t disappointed. Each of the hessian lined timber hamper boxes were packed full with a picnic rug, wine glasses, napkins and cutlery and plenty of locally produced goodies: sour dough bread, ham, wine, avocado, pork pies, cheese, quince paste, walnuts, honey, dried figs, chocolates and delicious dessert muffins. Other members of our picnic party went for the “graze as you go” option of buying directly from the ten or so local stallholders. Epicurean delights included Dorper kebabs, Angus beef burgers, cheese platters, Vietnamese fried rice, Japanese savoury pancakes, chutneys and other condiments, wine, coffee, hot chocolate and desserts to die for… lemon tarts, pavlovas and chocolate mud cake and cream (my favourite).

The Barham Lakes Complex provided the perfect setting with lots of lovely lawn between the gum trees along the riverbank to lay picnic rugs and set up deck chairs. Our talented local musos, The Curlew Brothers and Sean McConnell played and sang all afternoon and were very much appreciated by the crowd of two hundred plus people attending the picnic.

Our love affair with food continues to grow, pushed along with high rating television cooking shows and glossy food magazines. The demand for food tourism is increasing, beneficially lifting the profile of rural Australia and drawing more visitors to our country towns. With less than two years under their belt, the Red Gum Food Group has already held a number of highly successful showcase events in addition to their popular monthly farmers market in Koondrook. Last year’s “World’s Longest Lunch” and last weekend’s “Producers Picnic” gave locals and visitors a delicious and entertaining introduction to the many fine foods and wines grown and produced around our region.

National Ride2School Day 2013

Next week on Friday, 22^nd March is National Ride2School Day. Launched six years ago in 2007 by Bicycle Network Australia, the day is aimed at encouraging as many school children as possible to enjoy the benefits of physical exercise by making their way to school under their own steam either by biking, scooting or walking.

Riding to school either on a bicycle or pony, or just plain walking, used to be the norm for most Australian children in days gone by. You only have to read our editor, Pete’s popular “A Chat With…” column, recounting the earlier lives of our older residents to realise just how cushy our modern lives have become.

Growing up over towards Albury in the 1920s and 30s local identity, Edgar Pickles rode a pony with his brother and sister, four and a half miles one-way (7.2km) to the little Morebringer Primary School (between Balldale and Howlong) and later by bicycle, thirteen miles one-way (21km) to the Corowa High School. These days some people would almost consider it child abuse.

While we congratulate ourselves on all our amazing technological advances and inventions designed to make our lives easier, I can’t help thinking we are going backwards in a physical sense. Obesity levels, mental illness and type II diabetes are just a number of symptoms and “lifestyle” diseases that are dramatically on the rise in Australia and other western societies where physical activity has declined and consumption of highly processed and less nutritious food has increased. 

The Ride2School Day is aiming to make physically active travel a normal part of the school day for families across the country. Not only will it reduce traffic congestion around schools, the benefits to children are significant. Students who ride or walk to school arrive alert and are more attentive in class.  Importantly, the responsibility of getting themselves to school develops essential life skills such as time management, builds confidence and increases resilience within each child.

Today and tomorrow of this week local police lady, Senior Constable Jane, will be visiting Barham Primary School in the lead up to next week’s Ride2School Day. In our somewhat idyllic and slower paced country lifestyle here in Barham/Koondrook, we can become complacent regarding traffic awareness, believing cars and trucks will just stop for us. Jane will be talking with the students and reminding them about the importance of road safety and traffic awareness as well as advising the children on basic bike maintenance, correctly fitting helmets and how they can become responsible road users.

Many children today have far less freedom and therefore, less responsibility than previous generations. We bubble wrap our children in a misguided effort to keep them safe. We either don’t realise or have forgotten how capable our children actually are. Children need opportunities to grow both physically and mentally; hopping on their bikes and riding to the local park for unsupervised play with other children, is good for them. No matter how well meaning we may be as parents, by chauffeuring our children to and from school when it is within easy walking distance, we are ultimately doing our children a disservice. 

It's All About The Bike

In January I recklessly typed in Behind the Barr that completing this year’s Great Victorian Bike Ride (GVBR) was one of my major goals for 2013. There’s nothing like quietly announcing a goal to a thousand or so people to motivate you into doing something towards achieving it…

Although I loved my old mountain bike I’d bought way back in 1989, I decided it was time to upgrade to a newer (and hopefully faster) bike for the GVBR. One night in late January I embarked upon some serious internet Google research into the world of cycling.

The bicycle is continually evolving and has certainly come a long way since the German civil servant, Baron Karl von Drais presented the world with the first commercially produced bicycle (known as the velocipede – a Latin word meaning “fast foot”) in 1817.

Choosing what type of bike I wanted from the bewildering array of different styles available was my first dilemma. There are literally dozens of different types of bikes to choose from. The three main ones that I knew about were the mountain bike, racing bike and hybrid bike. Mountain bikes have fantastic gears and are purpose built for off-road cycling but they aren’t all that fast or built for serious long distance riding. Racing or road bikes are built for speed however, their skinny, speedy tyres are only suited to good, sealed roads and I imagined just looking at my gravel driveway would be enough to puncture them. A hybrid bike as you would expect is a compromise between a road bike and a mountain bike but I didn’t think it was what I was after either…

After reading reams of internet pages on bikes and bike reviews, I discovered the Vivente World Randonneur (VWR) a purpose built touring bike designed by Australian Noel McFarlane. Randonneur bikes are built for long distance riding and touring; they come with the drop bars of a racing bike, tyres that are slim enough for speed but sturdy enough to be undaunted by dirt or gravel roads and a range of gears that would enable me to pedal up a mountain… (or the Otway Ranges in November). I was so impressed by the independent reviews, photos and the components used in the VWR that I emailed Noel directly to ask a few more questions. 

A few emails later in early February, I was headed down to Bendigo to meet Peter, the owner of Moronis Bikes and Mark, a bike mechanic and resident touring bike expert. They had a Vivente World Randonneur on the showroom floor that just happened to be the right size for me. Five hours after walking into Moronis Bikes and lots of discussion later, I left with my shiny new VWR fitted out with panniers (just in case I wanted to tackle the Nullarbor Plain… or cycle down to IGA or Foodworks for my groceries), clipless pedals, lights, mudguards, bike computer (for the time, distance travelled, speed etc) drink bottles, tool kit, helmet, cycling shorts and shirt.

My research has paid off and I am loving my new bike. In the last few weeks I’ve clocked up over 450km cycling around the Barham/Koondrook area and rediscovered the fun and freedom of bike riding… I’ve also discovered when riding with cleats it pays to remember to unclip your shoes before you actually want to stop (stopping whilst still attached to the pedals is not fun nor good for one’s dignity).

The Danger of a Childhood Game We've All Played

Swimming and having fun in the water is part of summer in Australia for many of us. Besides being a great way to cool down on a hot day, swimming is an excellent all-over body workout for people of any age; it tones and strengthens muscles, builds endurance and cardiovascular fitness, improves flexibility, helps us to maintain a healthy weight and reduces mental stress.

Teaching our children to swim is a high priority life skill for most parents and I well remember the sense of relief when all three of my boys achieved a competent level in the water.

Last month on the 29^th January in Wollongong, twelve year old Jack MacMillan drowned in a metre of water in his family’s backyard pool. Jack was a very capable swimmer who loved being in the pool; at the time he was swimming under the supervision of his mother. What could possibly have gone so wrong?

Jack had been enjoying a game most of us have participated in either as children or adults; seeing how many laps he could do while holding his breath and swimming underwater. His mum noticed he had stopped swimming and was lying motionless on the bottom of the pool. Initially thinking he was just mucking around, she quickly realised the situation was much more serious but by then it was too late.

Jack MacMillan died from shallow water hypoxia also known as shallow water blackout (SWB).

Shallow water blackout occurs when the swimmer loses consciousness due to a severe lack of oxygen to the brain. Under normal circumstances our natural inclination to breathe is caused not from a lack of oxygen but from an increase in the levels of carbon dioxide in our bloodstream.

Prolonged or repetitive breath-holding or hyperventilating decreases the amount of carbon dioxide circulating through the bloodstream, slowing down the body’s natural urge to breathe. With a decreased desire to breathe, the underwater swimmer mistakenly believes they are able to hold their breath longer than they safely can. Starved of oxygen, the swimmer loses consciousness without warning and drifts towards the bottom of the pool. With the loss of consciousness the body reacts automatically and recommences breathing, filling the lungs with water. Quietly, without fuss or drawing attention to themselves, the swimmer very quickly drowns.

Prior to hearing the news story on the MacMillan family’s tragic loss of their son Jack, I had never heard of shallow water blackout.

While today may be the official end to summer, locally our warm climate can see us enjoying our swimming well into April. Take the time to talk about shallow water blackout with your family and friends and raise the awareness of the danger of prolonged or repetitive breath-holding in water. One lap down the pool holding your breath might not do you any harm but ongoing laps holding your breath underwater increases your chances of suffering from a potentially fatal shallow water blackout.

More information can be found on the website: www.shallowwaterblackout.org

Black Caviar Returns

Farmer Bill has been a member of the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) at Flemington since 1972 and still loves a day the races. Knowing how much both my parents enjoy watching a good horse race, chauffeuring them down to Melbourne for a day of metropolitan racing was on my list of goals for 2013. When Black Caviar’s trainer, Peter Moody announced she would be racing in Melbourne on the 16^th February I started planning a day trip to Victoria’s capital.

Black Caviar is a brown six-year-old thoroughbred mare; winning every race she has ever entered and has become an Australian equine heroine, following in the hoofsteps of legendary horses like Carbine, Phar Lap, Kingston Town and Makybe Diva.

She was famously flown to England last year to race in front of Queen Elizabeth II at Royal Ascot in June. I’d been lucky enough to be there that day as Black Caviar battled it out to win (in a heart-stopping moment) by the smallest of margins in the 1200m Diamond Jubilee Stakes. She appeared tired and worn out afterwards and like many other people, I thought her racing days were over and I had witnessed her final race.

Last Saturday she made her spectacular return to the racing world and Farmer Bill, Granny and I along with over 27,000 other race goers, made our way to Melbourne’s Flemington Race Course to watch a moment of history unfold. She was entered to run in The Black Caviar Lightning Stakes, a straight race of one thousand metres, renamed in 2012 in her honour.

Her transformation on Saturday was nothing short of miraculous as she entered the Mounting Yard looking relaxed and supremely fit. Her well-muscled frame is 16.2 hands high or 164.6cm to the top of her shoulder and she looked every bit the champion.

Watching thoroughbred horses on the final leg of a racetrack is a sight to behold, each one straining to outrun the other and every muscle fully stretched. Black Caviar made it look easy as she glided down the straight. Her enormous strides seemed effortless and she passed the winning post two and a half lengths clear of her closest rival in a time of 55.42 seconds, breaking a course record that had stood since the mare, Special had won the Lightning Stakes in 1988.

 

Black Caviar has become the first horse in history to win the race three years in a row since its inception in 1955 and it took her phenomenal racing career to twenty-three wins from twenty-three starts. Rising seven years in August, my only wish is that when she does retire, she retires uninjured and undefeated.

Bureaucrats and Birthday Cakes: How germs keep us healthy.

Last week it seemed to me that the fun police at the helm of our nanny state had gone into overdrive when I heard a news story about banning birthday cake candle blowing at childcare centres. Who were the mental giants behind this and were my taxes funding them? I wondered. After some brief research I discovered the original news story had been somewhat sensationalised. (Who’d have thought?!)

It turns out, Australia’s peak body for supporting health and medical research and developing health advice for the Australian community, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) have released some new guidelines. (Bear in mind the NHMRC’s mission statement is: Working to build a healthy Australia…)

Their new guidelines, titled “Staying Healthy”, are aimed at preventing the spread of viruses and diseases among children in early childhood education and childcare services. One of the guidelines (see below) suggests to avoid spreading germs, children should not blow out candles on a birthday cake to be shared with friends.

1.2.2            Celebration cakes and blowing out candles

Many children like to bring a cake to share with their friends on their birthday. Children love to blow out their candles while their friends are singing ‘happy birthday’. Cakes and candles may also be brought into the education and care service for other special occasions. To prevent the spread of germs when the child blows out the candles, parents should either:

•            provide a separate cupcake (with a candle if they wish) for the birthday child and enough cupcakes for all the other children

•            provide a separate cupcake (with a candle if they wish) for the birthday child and a large cake that can be cut and shared.

It was at about this point I ran screaming from the room and wondered how the human race was going to survive for another generation.

No parent likes it when their child is ill. Not only is it upsetting and worrying to see your child unwell, it causes considerable inconvenience to the working parent. However, childhood illnesses are a fact of life and I believe, play an important role in a person’s long-term health.

From the moment we are born we are exposed to disease causing viruses and bacteria. Our immune systems are constantly put to work identifying the various strains of diseases and then working out how best to overcome any current illness (if we have one) and protect our bodies from future attack. Once children start attending childcare or school, their exposure to illnesses increases and quite naturally, in the early years, they often have increased periods of being sick.

While it is frustrating and upsetting for parents, not to mention miserable for the child, these periods of relatively minor illnesses are strengthening the child’s developing immune system.

I suspect our immune system operates under a “use it or lose it” arrangement. If we are over-protected against minor germs (like those that might lurk in the icing of a delicious chocolate birthday cake that’s just had the candles blown out by some random three year old), we will have little or no defense against more serious germs.

If the NHMRC is serious about working to build a healthy Australia, then I would hope their focus would be on building strong immune systems as well as minimising infectious diseases.

- Annie Barr

I don't know about you but there's a risk I'm willing to take!

A Trip to Melbourne to see War Horse

Last Wednesday as we began the final week of the summer school holidays, the boys and I enjoyed a day trip to Melbourne to see the National Theatre of Great Britain’s production of War Horse. This colossal theatrical production is currently being shown at the State Theatre in Melbourne’s Arts Centre.

Motoring through city traffic is not my idea of fun so we drove as far as Bendigo and then caught the train to Melbourne. By happy coincidence as the boys and I entered the second carriage we ran into former district local, Susie Wood, also on her way to Melbourne. Susie and I talked nonstop and the two-hour train ride passed quickly.

A short walk and tram ride transported the boys and I into the middle of the city for a quick, early lunch before the show. I’m always amazed at the sheer number and variety of food outlets in the city; how do they all survive? We covered French, Italian and Japanese cuisines with Henry having a toasted croissant, Max and Sam choosing focaccias and I opted for sushi.

From the city we caught a tram on Swanston Street, across the Princess Bridge spanning the Yarra River, to the Arts Centre. Trams have been operating in Melbourne since 1885 and are a quick and easy form of public transport to get around the city.

The State Theatre is underground at the Arts Centre and opened to the public in 1984. It has seating for 2,085 people and one of the largest stages in the world. Once we’d found our very comfortable velvety seats in Row J of the stalls and sat down, I turned to the lady next to me and asked if she was from Melbourne? No, as it turned out she wasn’t. Her name was Mary and she lived on a dairy farm at Cohuna… proving yet again, just how tiny the world is.

For the next few hours we sat enthralled, watching the enormous production of War Horse with its actors, life-sized horse puppets and puppeteers. Based on Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 novel, the story was adapted to theatre and premiered in London in October 2007 as well as being turned into a blockbuster movie directed by Steven Spielberg and released in December 2011.

War Horse tells the story of friendship and the extraordinary connection between a horse named Joey who is raised on a farm in the English county of Devon and his owner, farm boy, Albert Narracott.

At the outbreak of the First World War Albert’s father Ted sells Joey to the army where he becomes the mount for cavalry officer Nicholls. After Captain Nicholls is killed in action, Albert, still distraught at losing his horse, becomes determined to join the army, to find Joey and bring him home. Albert enlists underage and at sixteen, he descends into the hell of WWI trench warfare.

Theatre combines storytelling with 3D at its best. The story is portrayed vividly with spectacular sound and lighting. The puppeteers made the life-sized horse puppets move so realistically, we in the audience almost forgot the horses were puppets.

After the show it was time to catch the train back to Bendigo and then drive home to Barham. A big day out we all thoroughly enjoyed.