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Tackers is a Yachting Australia program aimed at getting kids aged 7-12 into sailing. TACKERS INTRO - $40 per session. TACKERS 1 - $300 Program includes: • 20 hrs tuition • All equipment provided • Tackers Kit & Certificate Tackers Intro Friday 20 January 9am-12pm & 1pm-4pm Tackers 1 - Having Fun Sundays 9am-12pm From 29 January through to 18 March For bookings & enquiries contact Yachting Queensland: Phone 3393 6788 Email: office@qldyachting.org.au 18 bmag.com.au I Read Brisbane’s Best LT0389_225 binformed Sky watch SPENCER HOWSON Breakfast presenter 612 ABC Brisbane #1 at breakfast There’s an event in 2012 Spencer Howson has had in his diary for nearly 10 years and it’s one he is definitely not going to miss We live in an era of short-term goals, from politicians always eyeing off the next poll to our general inability to plan ahead (“Where will I meet you?” “Text me when you get there”). This year, Queensland will host an event billions of years in the making. I’ve known about it – and been looking forward to it – since 2002, but astronomers have had 14 November 2012 circled on their calendars for generations. I’m talking about a total eclipse of the sun. Total solar eclipses occur somewhere on earth every 18 months or so, but they’re not always easily accessible – I had to fly in a 747 to see one over Antarctica in 2003 – and getting to view one from Queensland is rare. The next one is in 2037. Brisbane Planetarium curator Mark Rigby has seen seven, from Australia, PNG, the Libyan desert, Siberia, the mountains of China and remote Easter Island. “It is unlike any other experience in life. Time goes by in a flash as one senses, as does wildlife, that something unstoppable is in progress, a ballet set in motion billions of years ago,” he says. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon blocks out the sun. Day turns to night and for the period known as “totality”, it is safe to look at the sun with the naked eye. Our nearest star appears as a golden ring (its outer atmosphere) with a deep black centre (the moon). The length of totality depends on the eclipse and your location. This November, totality will last around two minutes. Seen from Cairns, first contact (where the moon first kisses the edge of the sun) is at 5.44am, totality from 6.38am to 6.40am, and second contact (where the moon leaves the sun) at 7.40am. At my first total eclipse in Ceduna, South Australia in 2002, I enjoyed a mere 32 seconds of totality but that was enough to light my eclipse evangelism! I haven’t stopped talking about them since! Mark Rigby explains his addiction: “No two are the same. I find that I am only ever absorbing part of what is going on. You are left with a thirst for more. And it’s a good excuse to see places one might not otherwise visit! The appearance of the diamond ring effect (the last vestige of sunlight piercing through a valley on the limb or edge of the moon) is amazing and then follows totality looking like a circular hole of the blackest black surrounded by the pearly corona (outer atmosphere) of the sun. Then another diamond ring and totality is over. I feel on both a high and low simultaneously – it’s over. And then people talk of the next one!” Some people say the total solar eclipse experience is like looking into the eye of God. It certainly gives you a deep connection with the universe. After all, as Rigby explains, they won’t occur forever. “The moon is drifting from the earth at 3.8cm per year. Around 600 FREE COUNCIL APPROVAL* Decks Patios Sunroofs MODULAR DECKING See picture gallery on our website million years from now, the moon will be too distant to block out the disc of the sun – no more total solar eclipses. We are lucky!” Rigby says most people will view the eclipse from areas around Cairns, from Innisfail to Port Douglas. He says the sun will be low in the eastern sky so you’ll need a fairly flat, unobstructed eastern horizon. Find somewhere that also has a view of the west-northwest and you’ll see the moon’s dark shadow racing towards you. But, if you can’t get there yourself, Mark Rigby and I will broadcast the spectacle live during my breakfast show on 612 ABC. If you are planning a trip, consider booking a vehicle so you can get away from bad weather. That said, Mark Rigby cautions: “It is sometimes the case that people have moved and would have been better off staying put. In the end, it is probably a case of que sera sera – whatever will be, will be!” Finally, you will need special eclipse glasses or #14 welding goggles before and after totality – you are looking at the sun, after all. Just make sure you remove them as soon as totality begins, something I didn’t realise for valuable seconds in Ceduna (and which Mark Rigby has never let me forget!) See you in Cairns! Got an interesting story to share? Email spencer@bmag.com.au Including BSA Insurance, Engineering & Drafting • 25 years industry experience For a FREE scale drawing and quote at initial consultation call... ph: 3300 0507 See picture gallery on our website www.premiumlifestyles.com.au *Offer valid for one month from quote date Premium Lifestyles Patios & Decks Pty Ltd BSA 1096323 MS0309_223
Hot property in 2012 After a dark year for property sales, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Margaret de Silva reports You don’t have to be a sales guru to know that 2011 was a bad year for Brisbane’s property sector. The flood in January left thousands scrambling for temporary accommodation and battered buyer confidence, while higher interest rates, cuts to the first-home buyer boost, and the State Government’s plans to abolish concessional stamp duty put further dampeners on an already struggling market. However, there is some good news. RP Data analyst Cameron Kusher says although Once you get a series of interest rate cuts the lag effect takes a few months market conditions were poor in 2011, some Brisbane suburbs still performed very well – and there are more good things to come. RP Data’s Best of the Best 2011 report named the south-eastern suburb of Chandler as having the highest median sale price for houses ($1.3million). There was good news too for inner-city suburbs such as New Farm ($1.25million), which ranked second, and Newstead, Hamilton, St Lucia, Pullenvale, Ascot, Bulimba, Clayfield and Spring Hill rounding out the top 10. New Farm also claimed the greatest 12-month increase in median sale prices for houses (13.6 per cent), followed by Indooroopilly, Spring Hill, Sherwood and Yeerongpilly. Nearby Newstead also had the highest median weekly advertised rent for houses, at $895. Ray White chairman Brian White is not surprised by the good results for the inner-city and says prices generally kept up in the inner-ring – a pattern he sees continuing. He is optimistic there will be more activity in the outer suburbs from first-home buyers and investors after two successive interest rate cuts. “It’s not quite gloom to boom but it is gloom to confidence,” he says. Andrew Clough from Professionals New Farm says higher-end properties (over $2million) did suffer due to a lack of buyers in 2011, with many sold at equal or less than three or four years ago, but there was plenty of activity in the mid-range ($500,000 to $2million), even as banks tightened lending. Clough has already noticed an increase in values over the past three months and believes successive interest rate cuts will boost consumer confidence. “I think it’s going to be a great year for property with interest rates coming down, it’s going to give avenues for people getting into property all the way through from the low end to the higher end,” he says. The Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s managing director Dan Molloy agrees that 2012 is showing much-needed signs of improvement. While inner-city suburbs, such as New Farm, generally maintained buyer interest last year, high-end properties dipped in value and rental demand soared thanks to the combination of the January flood, fewer investors providing supply, and would- be first-home buyers continuing to rent. Even people looking to upgrade stayed on the sidelines after the State Government announced plans to abolish the concessional rate of stamp duty for the principle place of residence. “The property market, looking at the year in total, probably fared worse than was expected,” Molloy says. But the September quarter showed an increase in sales and Molloy says agents are reporting higher enquiry rates. He believes a further interest rate cut in February is needed to deliver a confidence boost to the market. “One interest rate cut by itself people take in their stride but I think once you get a series of cuts the lag effect takes a few months,” he explains, adding that a third cut in February could result in recovery up to June. Molloy names the “middle ring” suburbs, between five and 15 kilometres from the CBD, as hot spots for 2012 – particularly near infrastructure such as Airport Link, Legacy Way, and major shopping centres. “People who are looking at identifying buying opportunities now at the bottom of the cycle should be looking very carefully at accessibility to that infrastructure because it’s going to become vital,” he says. Andrew Clough agrees and says anywhere within five kilometres of the CBD will “hot up” in 2012. “There has already been a massive push through Ashgrove, The Gap, Camp Hill, Coorparoo, Holland Park and Morningside.” Renters should also experience relief if supply increases from investors and first-home buyers move into the sales market. Clough says rental enquiries skyrocket when people aren’t buying and after the peak period of January to March it will be easier to tell whether vacancies are likely to increase this year. Make 10 journeys then travel free. Hop to it. Make ten go card journeys in a week (Monday to Sunday) and travel free for the rest of the week. Call 13 12 30 or visit translink.com.au your link to saving more with go card. TRL3772 Read Brisbane’s Best I bmag.com.au 19 TRL3772_Bmag_HP Vertical_298x128mm v2.indd 1 4/01/12 9:31 AM
Page 1 and 2: ISSUE 225 10 JanuaRy 2012 www.bmag.
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