Cosmic energy and the importance of Vitamin D

When it comes to improving my mood and sense of wellbeing, nothing works quite so easily as spending some time outdoors, soaking up a spot of cosmic energy in the form of sunshine. Either walking around the Barham Lake, digging in the vegetable garden, kayaking down the river or just sitting outside on my deckchair eating lunch, I find time outside is time well spent.

Last weekend’s beautiful weather along with our annual Barham Koondrook Show on Friday evening and all day Saturday and the monthly Koondrook Barham Farmers Market on the bank of the Murray River Sunday morning, proved a magnificent combination and a good excuse to get out into the fresh air.

After decades of being warned how bad the sun was for us and how we must “slip, slop, slap” we are now being warned of the dangers of vitamin D deficiency, of covering up too much and wearing excessive amounts sunscreen.

Vitamin D combined with calcium and exercise is essential for strong healthy bones, teeth and muscles. Calcium cannot be fully absorbed by the body without vitamin D. With many Australians these days spending more time inside than out, our overall levels of vitamin D have fallen to such a degree that a Deakin University study involving 11,000 people from around Australia, indicated nearly one third of the population may be suffering from vitamin D deficiency.

Bone and muscle pain, weak bones (osteoporosis), and a compromised immune system leading to an increased risk of some cancers, heart disease, type two diabetes, infections and depression are all possible outcomes of vitamin D deficiency. Not good news for our aging population residing inside nursing homes, the large percentage of the workforce who spend their entire working day indoors or our computer and electrical gadget addicted children (playing an Xbox will not increase your vitamin D levels…)

Vitamin D is found in small quantities in a few foods (eg fatty fish - salmon, herring, mackerel, liver, eggs, fortified foods). However adequate vitamin D levels are unlikely to be achieved through diet alone.

Luckily, for most of us it is relatively easy to obtain an ample amount of vitamin D by exposing our skin to sunlight while maintaining a sensible balance between sun exposure and protection against skin cancer. We just need to make it a regular habit.

During summer months when the UV radiation is highest, a mere five to ten minutes a day of sunshine on our bare un-sunscreened arms, hands and face (around 15% of our body’s surface), is enough. When UV radiation is lower during the winter months you need longer in the sun (as do people with darker skins) but even then, a quick ten to fifteen minutes each day or thirty minutes three times a week, will stand you in good stead.

Daily outdoor exercise (as well as my personal favourite: al fresco dining) can assist with the body’s production of vitamin D… bring on summer and the backyard barbeque I say.

The up side of change

“Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.” – Sydney J. Harris (1917 -1986)

When I read this quote by the late American journalist and columnist, Sydney J. Harris, I felt as though it had been personally written for me. My resistance to change is a source of amusement for my family and friends. Just last week my Tuesday night dinner buddy, Emma turned up with a bottle of wine, an apologetic look on her face… and an iPhone in her hand.

Prior to Tuesday last week Emma and I had prided ourselves with our resistance to “smart phones”, clinging faithfully to our identical Nokia 6120 mobile phones. They made phone calls and sent text messages and in our opinion had a better range than any of the newer mobile phones, so why change?

The week before I was due to fly to England my little Nokia 6120 started making buzzy static-y noises when I was speaking to people and then switching itself off at random moments during the day – not a good thing when it’s your work phone and you run your own business. The thought of buying a new phone and having to learn how to use it, days before flying away on an excellent adventure filled me with dread.

Very quickly I found a solution that would involve minimal change. Another friend (also named Em) had already crossed over to the dark side; she’d bought an iPhone a few months earlier but still held a significant collection of Nokia 6120s. By that evening I had my new secondhand Nokia and spent nearly an hour or so transferring all the contacts, wallpaper and even my Creedence Clearwater Revival ringtone from my old phone to the new one.

You have no idea how relieved I was to have my almost identical replacement phone to accompany me to England… they say a change is as good as a holiday but I say, a holiday is preferable to a change.

Like everyone else since the dawn of time, my life is constantly filled with change. Many changes are subtle and happen almost subconsciously with minimal resistance on my part. Big life changes that feel forced upon me out of left field are the ones I resist the most; a battle of wills I inevitably lose.

Paradoxically these big life changes that feel out of my control, are often the ones that in retrospect have propelled my life forward and opened up incredible opportunities and experiences I hadn’t dreamt of. They have, (dare I say it?), made my life better.

Change is scary; it involves leaving what you know and what feels safe, for the unknown. In my experience, when I want to move forward and have a richer, more interesting life, then I need to push the boundaries and spend at least some of my time outside my comfort zone.

The Red Carpet Evening 2012

Not all that long ago I read an interesting bit of trivia that said many people fear public speaking more than death itself. How ridiculous I thought… but then I discovered something I feared more than death itself or public speaking. Dancing in public.

What seemed like a fun idea and noble cause back in early September is now looming as my greatest fear to date (excluding snakes; I hate snakes).

Slipping down the street after work one day, I had headed into Purple Patch Skate and Surf to see Sharon and purchase some new school shoes for Sam. We chatted while I paid for the shoes and then Sharon asked me if I would agree to be one of the dancers for the Red Carpet Evening.

The major fundraiser for the Barham and District Medical Centre, the annual Red Carpet Evening is an excellent evening out at clubBarham Golf and Sports. The evening includes the hotly contested Dancing with the Stars, a dance competition where four couples battle it out on the dance floor for the ultimate prize… the mirror ball trophy.

Having absolutely no experience whatsoever when it comes to dancing, I suggested Sharon ask someone else. Unfortunately she already had but was still one dancer short. With the official practice due to start the following night the clock was ticking. Reluctantly I agreed, comforted by the fact that there was still eight weeks until Saturday 27^th October; plenty of time for dancing practice and miracles I hoped.

Dancing is definitely not my forté. When it comes to dancing, coordination and rhythm you’ve either got it or you haven’t and sadly, I haven’t. Although our talented and lovely dance instructor, Courtney praises us with words of encouragement each week and my fellow dancers all seem to be improving rapidly, I remain dubious of my actual progress.

As the days and weeks evaporate my anxiety levels have increased to the point I have now commenced Operation Desperation otherwise known as the “Look Like a Salsa Goddess by the 27^th October” Diet and Exercise Plan. My self-styled regime includes making healthy food choices, increasing my fruit and vegetable juice intake, minimizing adult drink consumption and attending Ilka’s Enthusio Fitness classes in a last ditch effort to attain some level of coordination.

Previously I had shunned all forms of gym workouts and anything remotely resembling a fitness class. It wasn’t my “thing” and why would anyone ever want to do that? I had wondered. I am pleased to report I now have a few classes under my belt and I’m loving my morning Enthusio sessions. Namely because my fellow Enthusio devotees are all shapes and sizes, all levels of fitness and all have an excellent sense of humour. My coordination still has a long way to go but at least I’m having fun, laughing and getting a lot fitter.

One other key component of the Dancing With the Stars competition is the money jars that can be found at various locations around the town. One dollar equals one vote and the most votes per couple is a significant factor in deciding the overall winner, even despite their dancing ability on the night (a small fact that is giving me a lot of comfort).

So in a blatant example of self-promotion, please find the tins that have Shane Ricketts from Murray River Meats and Annie Barr from Rosedale Health and Wellbeing on or visit www.redcarpetevening.com and donate to us! …Or better still, support our Barham and District Medical Centre; buy a ticket for Saturday 27^th October and come along in two week’s time for an evening of fashion, food, excellent company and questionable dancing.

Deni Ute Muster 2012

Early last Friday the boys and I set out on an excellent (mini) adventure for the school holidays. Curiosity had finally got the better of me; I wanted to find out why thousands of people converge on Deniliquin every year for the Deni Ute Muster.

What began as an idea in 1999 to hold the world record for the largest parade of legally registered utes in one location has grown into a huge two-day event that injects a serious amount of money into the Deniliquin local economy.

We teamed up with experienced Deni Ute Muster attendees Leanne and Danny Gleeson and their family to camp at this year’s Muster. With our trusty Nissan packed to the hilt with swags, a couple of tents, eskys and other camping essentials, we convoyed over to Deniliquin.

The weather deteriorated as we approached the town and by the time we’d entered the family camping area at the Deni Ute Muster site the temperature had plummeted, the winds had become cyclonic and rain was forecast.  

The boys had brought Henry’s new tent he’d been given for his birthday and I was looking forward to testing out my little Tarptent that I had recently purchased.

The Tarptent lived up to its reviews that suggested I could safely pitch it on the side of a mountain during a blizzard. Standing firm despite the gale force winds that were blowing… sadly we couldn’t say the same for the boys’ tent. Within a matter of moments it was reduced to a twisted mess of shattered fibreglass poles and ripped fabric. Luckily the forecasted rain didn’t eventuate and they all enjoyed sleeping out under the stars in their swags. (Henry hedged his bets by rolling out his swag under the Nissan.)

There was certainly no shortage of entertainment for our two days of camping at the Muster. The bands and singers included amongst others: The Living End, John Williamson, Lee Kernaghan, Daryl Braithwaite, McAlister Kemp, The McClymonts, Travis Collins, US country music star Joe Nichols and former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson was the headline act.

Dust and nostalgia washed over me as we sat watching the Australian National Circle Work Championships and I thought fondly of my first vehicle; a 1979 HZ V8 Kingswood ute with its twin exhausts and extractors that I’d told my Dad were for fuel efficiency… (sigh) I loved that ute.

The overall winner and crowd favourite in both the circle work and ute barrel racing was a plain, little yellow Datsun 1200 ute. It seemed quite comical next to the B&S styled utes that were adorned with five post roo bars, numerous aerials, roll bars, spotlights and stickers.

Besides music and circle work, we also enjoyed watching the rodeo with its bull riding; ventured out into the ute section (known as the feral area) to watch the tractor pull; admired the spectacular aerobatics display by the ShowTime FMX motorcross bike riders; watched the ute barrel racing competition; enjoyed a glass of Don and Jo Hearn’s medal winning Semillon at the Restdown Wine Bar; Tom, Sam and Henry joined the blue singlet brigade for the official blue singlet count (1667 this year); watched the AFL Grand Final on the big screen near the huge main stage; Justin from Port Fairy bet Henry five dollars that he couldn’t ride the mechanical bull for the full eight seconds… Henry lasted for twelve seconds and collected his money; toasted marshmallows on the campfire after dinner each evening and generally had a great time. 

The Deni Ute Muster’s biggest year to date was 2010 when Australian rock legends Cold Chisel were the headline act. That year the number of utes totalled 10,152 with over 25,000 people in attendance.

This year numbers were down and no doubt the weather kept some people away, still there was an impressive total of 5,015 utes gathered in the ute paddock and we along with 15,000 other people enjoyed a fantastic weekend.

AFL and loving country footy

In 2010 as we entered our second year in Barham, Sam announced he’d like to have a go at playing AFL for the Koondrook Barham River Raiders Under 11s. Apart from a few Friday night Auskick sessions in Hay when he was small, Sam hadn’t much experience with football.

Previously the only football I’d ever taken any interest in was rugby union… possibly a genetic thing as my mother is a New Zealander. Up at Hay we enjoyed the Saturday afternoon rugby union and followed local club, the Hay Cutters.

I encouraged Sam to attend the training on a Wednesday night in Barham but I am slightly embarrassed to say that I was not so secretly hoping he wouldn’t want to play on a Saturday… I didn’t think weekend sport commitments would be my “thing” so to speak. Nevertheless after a mere two training nights Sam had me handing over his registration money, friends had given him some hand-me-down boots and I was headed to C and Gs for the obligatory footy shorts and socks.

Not long after this was “Jumper Presentation Night” where the players were presented with their team jumpers. I heard, “Sam Barr, number twenty eight.”

“Twenty eight?!” I thought, “Poor kid, he must be on the bench.”

In rugby union the number on the back of the jumper corresponds with a position on the field, ie: number one is loosehead prop in the front row and number fifteen is fullback. I had wrongly assumed it would be the same in AFL so I was quite happy when a fellow parent later informed me that the numbers just identified the player and were irrelevant with regard to their position on the field.

Before long I was loving Saturday morning football as much as the boys, even though I had no idea of the rules and used to come home and “Google” every position Sam played, hoping to have a better idea by the following week. By the end of Sam’s first season with the Raiders Under 11s he’d won the Most Improved trophy and I was missing our Saturday morning outings and wished there’d been another month of games to watch.

These days I have both Sam and Henry strapping on their boots for the Raiders and Max is easing into the idea by training with the Under 15s on a Wednesday night.

Last Saturday was the first day of the September school holidays. With Max and his fellow cattle enthusiasts from Barham High down at the Melbourne Show; Sam, Henry and I decided to head over to Swan Hill and watch both the Raiders Under 17s and Under 15s in their respective grand finals.

Driving over on our own, I hoped we wouldn’t have any trouble locating where to go once we got to the oval… I needn’t have worried. All we could see upon arrival was a massive crowd in front of the grandstand in the Raiders colours of blue, red and gold, waving huge Raiders flags. It seemed to me that over half the population of our little towns of Barham and Koondrook had made the eighty odd kilometre trip to support the boys. The atmosphere was incredible and it was a very impressive example of the Barham Koondrook community spirit at work.

For two hours we yelled “GO RAIDERS!” and watched the likes of Wazza Lolicato (the human equivalent of an M4 Sherman Tank) demolish the Kerang opposition in the Under 17s grand final. The hard fought and exciting game ended with the Raiders victorious taking home the flag and back to back wins, having won the grand final against Lake Boga in 2011.

We then shifted to the next oval to cheer on the Under 15s. Despite having a minimum sized team all year and only one extra player for the bench, they still made it to the grand final. The younger Raiders put in a mighty effort but went down to a much larger Cohuna team who enjoyed the luxury of an additional seven players on their bench. Regardless of the end result, it was still a great experience for the boys to play in a grand final.

Country footy, you’ve got to love it – GO RAIDERS!

R U OK Day and suicide

“A conversation could change a life.” – R U OK? Day

Last Thursday (13^th September) was the fourth annual R U OK? Day. Launched in 2009, the day aims to reduce social isolation and the incidence of suicide in our society. Held nationally on the second Thursday in September, R U OK? Day was the brainchild of the late marketing executive Gavin Larkin (1968-2011) who sadly died of cancer only two short years after launching R U OK? Day and television producer Janina Nearn.

In 1995 Gavin’s father committed suicide; it had a devastating effect on his family and everyone who knew him. A highly intelligent, successful businessman, Barry had a wife and three sons and everything to live for.

Years later, Gavin found himself heading into the darkness that is depression. Outwardly successful with family, friends and a thriving career, he was confused as to why he felt so empty inside. At a friend’s suggestion he attended a self-improvement communications course and found it very beneficial. Part of the course was to develop a project that inspired him and also benefited his community. Gavin chose suicide prevention.

A great many people are directly affected by suicide through the death of a family member, friend or acquaintance. They are left shattered, bewildered and wondering what went wrong and what they could have done to help that person. You cannot step into someone else’s mind and see what is going on but you can reach out and ask them how they are going? Are they okay?

Most people don’t openly share their feelings, particularly if they’re struggling. A friend or acquaintance asking a well-timed question such as “Are you okay?” can make all the difference.

Life is constantly changing; it is filled with emotional ups and downs. These ups and downs are a normal part of everyone’s life no matter what age we are or who we are. We rile against the down times and can sometimes feel as though we are not normal, that we are the only person who isn’t coping and that these dark feelings and thoughts will go on forever. They don’t.

When life or circumstances seem overwhelming it can be helpful to remind yourself that any challenge no matter how big or difficult it may seem, can be broken into tiny manageable sections and tackled one step at a time or even one hour at a time.

R U OK? Day is a brilliant marketing campaign and an excellent way to raise the public’s awareness for suicide prevention and reducing social isolation but don’t just wait for that 2^nd Thursday in September. By regularly reaching out to one another and having open and honest conversations, we can all help build a more connected community and reduce our country’s suicide rate.

Suicide is an uncomfortable and difficult topic and one that I feel strongly about. I really struggled to write about it and somewhat ironically I found myself in a ball of anxiety, wondering if my “R U OK? Day” column was in fact, okay?

The best thing we can all do, is regularly talk to the people we care about - regardless of whether they are at risk - because connection is good for us all. For people who are struggling with their emotions and feel unable or unwilling to talk with their family or friends, sometimes talking with a stranger such as a trained counselor can be very beneficial.

For help or information for young people aged between 5 and 25 visit www.kidshelp.com.au or call Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800. For adults check out www.beyondblue.org.au or call Lifeline on 131 114.

140th Annual Hay Show

Last weekend with our junior football commitments over (sadly) for another year, the boys and I travelled the two short hours north to my hometown of Hay for the 140^th Annual Hay Show. A few months had past since my last trip and it was great to be back in the town where I was born and the district I grew up in.

Having missed last year’s Hay Show as well as the Hay Races in November, it had been quite some time since I had enjoyed a good catch up with my Hay friends. Like many rural areas in Australia, there are often only a handful of events throughout a year where the majority of people all come together for a catch up and there is nothing quite like a district’s annual agricultural show to draw an entire local community together.

As a child growing up on my parent’s sheep station 55km out of town during the 1970s and ‘80s, social outings were few and far between with the annual agricultural show at Hay being the highlight of our social calendar. Like all good parents, Father Bill and Mother made good use of emotional blackmail in the days and weeks leading up to the show each year. Our bedrooms were cleaned, chores were completed, all vegetables were eaten and good manners were in abundance lest the highly anticipated outing be cancelled.

There were several occasions over the years when excited anticipation turned to despair as rain began either the day before or in the early hours of show day morning. The Red Hill Station homestead is thirteen kilometres off the Sturt Highway and our family chariot back then was a 1972 Datsun 240c, which unfortunately was no match against the heavy black clay driveway once the rain came down.

This year we arrived at the show just before lunchtime on Saturday. The boys quickly vanishing down Sideshow Alley in search of “Dagwood Dogs”, fairy floss and dodgem cars with their cousins Kate and Will. Henry used a good portion of his “show money” on a plastic sub-machine gun that was almost bigger than he was and looked as though it would need a car battery to power it.

I paired up with Sam for a ride in a dodgem car; we pitted ourselves against Henry and Cousin Kate and their questionable driving skills… by the time the music had stopped I almost felt as though I needed chiropractic adjustment.

The main pavilion held a visual feast of cookery, garden produce, Merino fleeces, artwork, needlework, the primary school’s handwriting competition and an impressive photographic display by the “Hay Shutterbugs” local photography club. The CWA ladies did a roaring trade with their freshly baked scones with jam and cream and the Hay War Memorial High School’s Cook-Off drew a crowd of people to watch the finalists battle it out for gastronomic supremacy.

The rest of our day was filled in with catching up with friends while watching the equestrian events, working dog display and Sheepdog High Jump. That evening Hay’s own pyrotechnics guru “Slats” put on a spectacular and lengthy fireworks display that we all felt rivalled Sydney’s New Year’s Eve efforts.

The whole weekend reminded me once again of the importance of rural communities and that sense of belonging that we all crave. It also reminded me that there is now only five weeks to go until our own Barham Show – starting Friday night 19^th and all day Saturday 20^th October.

It’s time for all of us in the Barham – Koondrook district to study the Show Schedule, dust off cookery books, hunt for garden produce and long gum leaves, print photographs and tap into our own community spirit.

Koondrook Barham Farmers Market one year on

Next weekend (September 15^th – 16^th) our enthusiastic and progressive foodies of the Red Gum Food Group will be celebrating the first anniversary of the increasingly popular Koondrook Barham Farmers Market (KBFM). Just over our historic 1904 lift span bridge on the Victorian side of the Murray River, sits the picturesque James Park in Koondrook; home to the local farmers market on the third Sunday of every month.

What began as an idea a little over a year ago between Katrina Myers (Barham Avocados) and Lauren Mathers (Bundarra Berkshires), has grown into a thriving market that enables local producers to promote and sell their products directly to the public.

Importantly for our future, these farmers and stallholders are raising the profile of the Barham/Koondrook district as an area that produces high quality food products and puts our region squarely on the food map as a destination. This in turn, boosts our local economy through ever-increasing visitor numbers as well as promoting local industries such as rice and citrus, to the wider world.

In the past twelve months the KBFM has grown from an initial group of less than ten local producers and interested locals to a stallholder base of thirty-three and growing. It’s great to see our local schools involved with both Koondrook and Barham Primary Schools manning their school garden produce stalls every month and Barham High School students setting up an impressive (and hard to resist) cupcake stall at regular intervals throughout the year.

A number of individual producers have won awards in the past twelve months for their products. Ones that I am aware of include:

Pacdon Park – Gold Medal for their Haggis at the 2011 ABC Delicious Awards.

Restdown Wines – Bronze Medal for their 2011 Semillon at the NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show.

Barham Avocados – Medallist at the 2012 ABC Delicious Produce Awards “From the Earth” section.

Bundarra Berkshires – Gold Medal for their pork schnitzel in the “Quick and Easy” pork section at the 2012 Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards and a finalist at the 2012 ABC Delicious Produce Awards.

Star attraction at next weekend’s KBFM anniversary celebrations is Yorkshire born, now Melbourne based celebrity chef and patron of Victorian Farmers Market Association (VFMA), Matt Wilkinson. Matt has worked in a number of award-winning restaurants in Australia, made guest appearances on TV’s MasterChef, written a fabulous cookbook titled “Mr Wilkinson’s Favourite Vegetables” and is the co-owner/chef at the Pope Joan café in Melbourne’s East Brunswick.

An extremely strong advocate of farmers markets, local and seasonal produce and dealing directly with farmers, Matt will be conducting an adult’s seasonal food shopping class in addition to hosting this month’s children’s cooking class at the market. Aiming to highlight how we can shop more efficiently with seasonal produce and at the same time minimise the amount of food we waste on a weekly basis… (I’m sure I’m not the only one who has discovered new and interesting life forms in the refrigerator and then lamented the waste of good food gone bad?)

Establishing and growing an event like our local farmers market is similar to getting a profitable business up and running. Keeping passionate and staying committed during the early formative years can be a hard road to travel but those people and communities who stay the course will reap the rewards in the long term.

Henry turns 10 and birthday cake disasters

The pressure was on in our home last week; the youngest member of the House of Barr, Henry was turning ten. Despite valiant efforts on my part to dissuade Henry from the idea of having a party, by 3.30pm last Thursday the river bank at Willow Bend was overtaken by a dozen or more ten year old boys and girls packing “nerf” guns and various other weapons…

The day before I had pulled my late 1960s model Kenwood Chef mixer out of the cupboard, opened up my “Women’s Weekly Original Cookbook” and commenced Operation Chocolate Cake. In our house (for the last thirteen years), a birthday means chocolate cake.

Once (and only once) upon a time, way back in 1999 in our home, a child’s birthday meant sponge cake. Triple-sifted flour and delicately combined ingredients were to produce a light as a feather, fluffy as a cloud, sponge cake… well that was my intention.

In May 1999 Max was turning one and as any parent knows, the first birthday is a significant milestone. As one half of a team of super parents, I wanted Max’s first birthday cake to be perfect; so I phoned my Mother for advice. Mother, a domestic goddess from way back, recommended a plain sponge cake with strawberry jam and cream. Even though I had never baked a sponge cake before, it all sounded so simple… so I left it until the last possible moment to begin my culinary masterpiece.

I selected a sponge cake recipe from my extensive cookbook collection and set about recreating the delicious looking cake photographed next to the recipe. It was all going along beautifully up until the moment I walked towards the pre-heated oven with my cake tin full of mixture. A little voice inside my head said, “Hang on a minute, did you remember to add the baking powder to the flour before sifting it three times?”

I muttered merde in English and my inner Julia Child evaporated as I realised I was out of time to start again. Upending a half-teaspoon of baking powder over the top of the cake mixture, I stirred vigorously before slamming it into the oven. Unsurprisingly I produced a circular cake of brick-like consistency, which I was forced to disguise under a mountain of whipped cream and chocolate Freddo Frogs. Although it looked suitably impressive in the photographs the only member of the family that actually ate it was Spook, the kelpie sheepdog and even she wasn’t that enthusiastic. I haven’t made a sponge cake since.

These days I begin preparations the day before. I dedicate an hour to amassing copious amounts of flour, cocoa powder, black coffee, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla essence, sour cream, salt and bi-carbonate of soda. Then pour (most of) the (sensationally delicious) raw mixture into a big, square cake tin and place it into the oven for a further two and a bit hours at 160 °C. The end result is a double sized, Women’s Weekly Dark Chocolate Cake that could feed a small African nation or a horde of Barham Primary School children and their parents. Add a small bucket load of mocha icing, handfuls of Smarties, Strawberries & Cream and Natural Confectionary Co. dinosaur shaped jellies and the gastronomic, diabetes-inducing masterpiece is complete.

With the addition of a platter or two of fairy bread and a few chip sandwiches; plenty of outdoor spaces to run around on with nerf guns and you have the perfect setting for a birthday party. Happy 10^th birthday Henry.

Inaugural Bendigo Writer's Festival

Just the other day I discovered a whole new world; the literary nirvana of attending my first ever writer’s festival.  At a friend’s suggestion, on Sunday 12^th August, I went along to the final day of the inaugural Bendigo Writer’s Festival at the Capital Theatre in Vine Street, Bendigo.

Leaving early on the Sunday morning I drove to Kerang and car-pooled south with creative genius and Your Community Cares legend Jane Ogden.

The three-day event had brought together writers, readers, speakers and word lovers from all over Australia. With four or more sessions running concurrently at each timeslot it was an astrological nightmare for Librans like myself… how to choose between so many enticing topics?

Jane and I headed in different directions for the first two hours as Jane went to listen to Australian playwright and screenwriter Katherine Thomson speak about writing for theatre and the importance of telling your own stories on stage. While I headed into a panel session entitled “What makes a hero?” to hear Hanifa Deen, Ian Jones, Gideon Haigh and Janine Burke talk with Emma Robertson about who we admire, why and the writer’s role in creating legends.

Australian historian and writer Michael McKernan from Canberra came and sat in the seat next to me. Before the panel session began we had an interesting chat about interviewing war veterans. He was particularly interested to hear about Edgar and his trip to England, visiting the Bomber Command Memorial and attending the 550 Squadron Reunion. Michael has written numerous books including “Gallipoli: A Short History”. In April 1990 he travelled with a group of World War I Gallipoli veterans back to Turkey for the 75^th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing.

Jane and I reunited at lunchtime to hear Roger Sworder, Harry Oldmeadow and Brian Coman discuss “The Uses and Abuses of Philosophy” with Tom McWilliam. It was by this stage after 12pm and I was feeling a bit peckish but with no scheduled lunchbreak I had to contend with consuming my chicken, cheese and spinach focaccia in the front row of the philosophy talk. I felt rather self-conscious as I tried in vain to quietly remove the paper wrapping. Wishing I could absorb the focaccia through osmosis, I wondered anxiously if I would be evicted from the audience for eating (thankfully, I wasn’t).

Later in the afternoon talk-show hostess Gena McLean interviewed John Holton and Lauren Mitchell, both of whom write weekly columns for the Bendigo Advertiser. They spoke of the ongoing challenge of writing non-stop non-fiction to a weekly deadline. 

Speaking briefly with Lauren after the interview I learnt that she is a regular weekend visitor to Barham and enjoys escaping up here to her family’s holiday house.

Other sessions I attended during the day included a talk from various small, independent publishers and a discussion on the difference in writing styles between male and female writers.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of attending a writer’s festival, (especially one as close and accessible as Bendigo) and I will be looking forward to putting it onto my “To Do” list for next year. Listening to and talking with people who are interested in what you are interested in, is good for the soul.