BEST - Bmag

ISSUE 239 07 AUGUST 2012 

www.bmag.com.au 

cHILDcARE 

cENTRES 

FAcING 

cLOSURE 

IS SOLAR FUTURE 

STILL BRIGHT? 

WhAT YOU need TO knOW 

+ GeT A free 

cOnSUmer GUide 

LOOKING FOR MR GREY 

Book sparks rush for 

erotic workshops 

Ikin 

DANcE 

THE SUPERSTAR WHO cAN HELP YOU 

GET YOUR GROOVE ON 

DELIVERED TO 420,000+ 

HOMES EVERY FORTNIGHT 

FREE 

LOOKING FOR 

MR GREY 

Book sparks 

rush for erotic 

workshops 

BEST OF 

EKKA 

WHAT NOT 

TO MISS 

WIN 

WHALE 

WATcHING 

GETAWAY 

FLY A 

LIGHT PLANE 

+ fAShiOn i fOOd i LiVinG i TrAVeL i enTerTAinmenT + mOre

02 bmag.com.au I Read Brisbane’s Best

Read Brisbane’s Best I bmag.com.au 03

Editor 

Heather McWhinnie 

Journalists 

Laura Nolan 

Katrina Scott 

Motoring WritEr 

Chris Nixon 

Contributors 

Steve Haddan 

Kerry Heaney 

Chris Herden 

Spencer Howson 

Emily Jade 

Gary Johnson 

Jody Rigby 

Jeremy Ryland 

Laura Stead 

Rachel Syers 

salEs dirECtor 

Philip Reid – 0418 752 700 

businEss dEvElopMEnt ManagEr 

Chris May – 0401 312 312 

agEnCy aCCount ManagErs 

Matt Robertson – 0414 675 977 

Kellie Green – 0424 000 977 

autoMotivE ManagEr 

Esala Roqica – 0448 648 699 

aCCount ManagErs 

Leanne Tate – 0401 350 915 

Melissa Batchelor – 0418 730 107 

Jennifer Harrison – 0437 558 784 

Shelley Maxwell – 0411 643 147 

Antonia Bewley – 0459 090 459 

Sharon de Pasquale – 0468 635 815 

Kerry-Anne Oliver - 0418 730 120 

adMinistration 

Deborah Ferguson 

Tarah McShea 

dEsign & produCtion 

Rachelle Lockwood 

Kate Guy 

Svetlana Musson 

bulK distribution 

John Willis 

print & dirECt to HoME distribution 

PMP Limited 

publisHErs 

McQueenJones Pty Ltd 

PO Box 600, Albion 4010 

Phone: 07 3868 6222 Email: b@bmag.com.au 

www.bmag.com.au 

CoMpEtition EntriEs 

PO Box 477 Albion QLD 4010 or www.bmag.com.au 

CirCulation 

Delivered direct to over 420,000 homes 

bmag incorporating Best Car Buys 

Also bulk dropped to 1,000 outlets 

© 2012 McQueenJones Pty Ltd. 

Advertising: All advertisements in bmag/Best Car Buys are the 

responsibility of advertisers. Advertising is accepted on the 

understanding that it does not contravene the Trade Practices 

Act. Responsibility is not accepted by bmag/Best Car Buys for 

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expressed. While every effort is made to avoid errors, some 

information contained in the publication may be superseded. 

IN EVERY ISSUE 

6. Upfront 

bmag turns the spotlight on… 

7. 5 of the best 

Ekka highlights 

8. Our town 

Where to go, what to do and 

what you need to know… 

52. Best Car Buys 

Skoda expands 

FEATURES 

10. Childcare centres 

face closure 

Parents pay the price 

12. Looking for Mr Grey 

Book sparks a rush on 

erotic workshops 

26 

17. Art on high 

A new festival showcases 

innovative installations 

18. Brisbane Person of the Year 

The young actor in demand 

21. Don’t think you can dance? 

Anthony Ikin can show 

you how 

23. Strange baggage 

You won’t believe what some 

travellers try to get onboard 

COLUMNISTS 

13. Lord Mayor Graham Quirk 

City meets bush at Ekka 

15. Premier Campbell Newman 

Win for people power 

16. Spencer Howson 

Life from the other side of 

the street 

20. Steve Haddan 

Paralympian has 

champion spirit 

24. Emily Jade 

To smack or not to smack? 

FASHION, BEAUTY 

& HEALTH 

34 

25. Top gear 

Best and brightest coming to 

Mercedes-Benz Fashion 

Festival 

26. Gucci comes to town 

The deluxe shopping precinct 

in the city just gets bigger 

28. Fashion files 

Spring pastels 

29. Beauty bar 

New season makeup 

30. What are you afraid of? 

The long-term effects 

of phobias 

LIVING 

33. Through the glass 

Intricate artwork on glass 

34. How to work with patterns 

Interior designer’s tips to 

rev up your home 

36. Jody Rigby 

A modern native garden 

design 

38. Is solar future 

still bright? 

What the latest changes 

mean for homeowners 

TRAVEL 

ContEnts 

45 

42. Wet and wild 

A thrillseeker weekend on 

the Gold Coast 

ENTERTAINMENT 

44. Page turners 

New books to read 

45. Best in show 

What to see on stage 

46. bseen 

People at events 

about town 

FOOD 

48. Restaurant review 

‘Gastro’ pub in the city 

49. Kitchen wiz 

Appliances for the 

master chef 

50. Tasty bits 

Foodie news 

51. Recipe 

Black Forest biscuits 

COVER 

pagE 21 

Anthony Ikin 

36 48 

Photography: Josh Kelly 


Editor’s INBOX 

A 

s the spotlight dims on our local heroes 

competing at the greatest sporting show 

on earth, hordes of unsung heroes are 

starting to feel the nerves in their belly as they 

prepare for an entirely different competition, but a 

no less daunting one for them. 

Cattle breeders, cooks, cat lovers, wood 

choppers, horsemen and women, sheep shearers, 

goat herders, quilt makers, pisciculturists and 

poultry farmers have been preparing all year to 

try to nab a trophy or winner’s ribbon at the Ekka, 

Brisbane’s favourite family show, which opens 

with a bang on 9 August followed by nine days 

of rigorous competition, and sheer delight for the 

400,000 spectators who pass through the gate. 

You’re not likely to recognise any of the 

competitors taking part in this arena but there 

are records at stake, prize money up for grabs – 

there’s a total prize pool of almost $500,000 – and 

family pride to uphold. 

there are veterans to watch, like Edna 

o’Neil who has been baking for the cookery 

competition for 44 years; and there are rookies 

rising to the challenge in age-old activities, like 

15-year-old Chloe Maxwell from Kenmore who 

follows her parents shayne and Emma Maxwell’s 

footsteps in wood chopping. 

All up there are about 23,000 entries at this 

year’s Ekka, more than 10,000 animals being put 

through their paces – if you don’t know what a 

Gypsy Cob or a Xoloitzcuintle is, then this is the 

time to find out – some shows are guaranteed 

to put a smile on your face, like dances with 

dogs (in the new royal international Convention 

Centre), while others test the mettle of young and 

old (competitors range in age from 5 to 85). 

so get ready to dump the remote, dust off the 

jeans, grab a hat and get a whiff of country air 

without leaving town – see five of the best things 

to catch at Ekka opposite... 

We welcome your feedback on the stories 

in bmag or about issues affecting your 

community. Send your letters to the editor to 

yoursay@bmag.com.au or post to The Editor, 

bmag, PO Box 600, Albion 4010. 

06 bmag.com.au i read Brisbane’s Best 

binformed 

UPFRONTCompiled by Katrina Scott 

bmag turns the spotlight on... 

Secret to 

successful retailing 

Amidst the doom and gloom facing the retail 

industry, when each week brings news of 

iconic retailers such as Darrell Lea closing 

down, 22-year-old Stephanie Tam, a sales 

manager with Brisbane-based Lorna Jane, 

has some sage advice. Tam was named 

national Retailer of the Year last week from 

100 entrants and claims the secret to success 

in retailing is good old-fashioned values. “You 

have to be able to be 110 per cent customercentric; 

you’ve got to consider the fact that 

you yourself are a customer and think about 

the experience the customer is having. I think 

a lot of people stray from their true course,” 

she said after her win. 

It certainly seems to be working for 

her employer; the Lorna Jane fitness retail 

business has grown 60 per cent in the past four 

years and now includes 126 stores worldwide, 

1000 employees and generates an estimated 

annual turnover of $100million. 

Have a heart 

Heart disease kills one Australian every 24 

minutes and this year the Heart Foundation 

wants to recruit 28,000 volunteers in 

Queensland to help raise at least $1million 

through its annual doorknock appeal from 

3 to 19 September. If you can help in your 

area contact the Heart Foundation Doorknock 

Hotline on 1800 55 22 55 or register at 

www.heartfoundation.org.au/doorknock. 

Boundary wars 

Residents in the Hills District, north west of the city, are divided about which side of the 

local government boundary they want to be on, prompting the state Electoral Commission to 

call for community submissions to decide whether Ferny Hills, Arana Hills and Everton Hills 

should stay with the Moreton Bay super council or join the Brisbane City Council. 

Ratepayers Action Group South Pine branch chairperson Geoff McKay believes the area, 

which is 11 kilometres from the CBD, should be part of Brisbane City Council while Ferny 

Hills Progress Association secretary Bill Stomfay is opposed, saying he doesn’t “see any 

particular advantages”. 

Moreton Bay councillor Brian Battersby also opposes a move but says it’s time for 

residents to put pen to paper. Written 

submissions marked Hills District must 

be made to the ECQ Queensland Change 

Commission before 5pm Monday 20 August. 

Find out how at www.ecq.qld.gov.au. 

Residents in Redcliffe also aren’t happy 

campers within Moreton Bay Regional 

Council since the monster amalgamation in 

2008 and local Member for Redcliffe Scott 

Driscoll has set up a petition for residents to 

have their say about ‘de-amalgamation’ by 22 

August. Residents living in the old Redcliffe 

City Council area can sign the petition online 

at www.parliament.qld.gov.au or at Driscoll’s 

office at Bluewater Square Shopping Centre. 

bmag POLL RESULTS 

Should fuel prices be regulated? 

q 88% said YES 

88% 

12% 

redcliffe 

image: tourism Queensland 

YES 

NO

Test drive top green cars 

It appears motorists are finally switching on to the benefits 

of green cars with more hybrid vehicles sold in Queensland 

in the first six months of this year than during the whole of 

2010. RACQ manager for sustainable transport Genevieve 

Graves says fuel-efficient cars (hybrid, diesel or electric) can 

save about six litres of fuel per 100 kilometres compared to 

a medium-sized car, which translates to cost savings at the 

bowser. Some of the world’s best fuel-efficient cars will be 

available to test drive at the GreenZone Drive, Royal Pines 

Resort on the Gold Coast from 10 to 13 August. 

Cars available to drive include the Audi A1 Sportback 

1.6 TDI Attraction S tronic (pictured above); Audi A4 Sedan 

1.8 TFSI multitronic; BMW 5 Series ActiveHybrid 5; Honda 

Civic Hybrid: CVT; Honda CR-Z Luxury: CVT; Nissan LEAF; 

Renault Fluence Z.E; Renault Megane Diesel; Toyota Camry 

Hyrid Luxury: CVT; Toyota Prius c i-tech: CVT; Volvo C30 

DRIVe and the Volvo V60 D3 Teknik. 

OF THE 

BEST 

Ekka highlights 

Compiled by Ashleigh Wilson 

2 

Rock the Ekka � 

Eskimo Joe will take 

a break from writing 

their new album to 

rock out the TripleM 

concert series at 

Ekka in what is 

likely to be their 

only Queensland 

appearance 

this year. At the 

Commonwealth 

Bank Auditorium, 

doors open 7pm, 

show starts 8.30pm, 

18 August. Free entry 

with Ekka ticket; 

$26 for adults. 

4 Big bang app � 

Want more bang for your buck? Ekka fireworks will 

be bigger (and last longer) than ever this year but 

visitors will be able to orchestrate their own app 

generated fireworks extravaganza which then will 

be seen on a big screen at the pop-up Ekka at King 

George Square in the city on 3 August and at RNA 

showgrounds on 15 August. See www.ekka.com.au. 

1 

� Bag a bargain 

This year 66 new showbags 

add to the temptation for 

Ekka visitors to part with their 

pocket money, ranging in 

price from $1 to $25. Hillier’s 

Flip The Tree Frog Bag will 

join Blinky Bill as one of the cheapest buys at $1 each 

while young sophisticates will be lining up for the Junior 

MasterChef showbag with apron and hat inside for $18, 

and princesses will see the value in the ModelCo bag 

(above) with $233 worth of beauty products for $25. 

� Have a bat 

3 

Cricket fans will have the chance 

to meet sporting heroes 

including Adam Gilchrist 

and Glenn McGrath 

(left), and to play alongside them at 

the Suncorp Celebrity Cricket Match 

from 4.30pm on 18 August at the 

Energex Community Arena. 

Survivor Ekka � 

No power or water and only emergency rations 

– this will be the world for six entertainers 

isolated in a glass room for three days and 

nights each in Ekka’s new survival challenge. 

The Survive3 Project starts 9 

August and Brisbane comedian 

Lindsay Webb (pictured right) will 

be in the second team up. Find 

it at the EMQ-NRMA Insurance 

storm season display and 

follow on Facebook (‘like’ 

survive3) and Twitter 

(‘follow’@qldses). 

5 


T 

hey’re called the gentle giants of the 

sea and they put on quite a show 

during their migration up and down the 

coast until the end of October. Now you can 

make whale watching part of a getaway to 

the Gold Coast and we have a great family 

trip to give away. Prize includes: 

• Half day whale watching tour with Whale 

Watching Gold Coast for 2 adults and 2 

children 

• Accommodation for 2 adults and 2 

children in a King Suite or interconnecting 

rooms in the QT Gold Coast hotel 

Total value $716 

WIN 

whAle 

wATChing 

FAmily geTAwAy 

To read more about a thrillseeking adventure 

on the Gold Coast see Laura Nolan’s story 

on page 42. For more great offers on Gold 

Coast accommodation, attractions and 

dining visit www.YourCoast.com. 

How to enter 

Simply enter online at www.bmag.com.au or send 

your name, address and daytime telephone details 

on the back of an envelope to Whales, bmag, PO 

Box 477,Albion, 4010. Competition closes 5pm Friday 

17 August 2012. Whale watching prize valid for travel 

until 31/10/12; accommodation valid until 30/11/12. 

Entrants agree to receive promotional offers from bmag. 

08 bmag.com.au I Read Brisbane’s Best 

binformed 

Our Town 

Compiled by Ashleigh wilson 

where to go, what to do and what you need to know… 

Lowlands environment festival 

The Lowlands Festival celebrates the 

environment on 26 August at the Osprey 

House Environment Centre, Dohles Rocks 

Road, Griffin. Activities include a jumping 

castle and face painting for kids as well as 

Indigenous dancers and a barbecue and 

there’s a home solar system to win. See 

www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au for details or 

call 0417 627 039. 

Go bush 

If you want more from a basic bushwalk, go 

with experienced leaders who will be hosting a 

variety of bushwalks and other activities as part 

of the Great Queensland Bushwalk on 25 and 

26 August. The walks include historical trails 

and bird watching, while mountain bike riding 

and rainforest yoga are also available. Register 

at www.gqb.org.au; for more information call 

3367 0878 or email admin@npaq.org.au. 

Outback art 

The work of outback painter Lyn Barnes and opal jeweller Alan Thomson will be on show at 

the Graydon Gallery, New Farm from 9 to 19 August. During the exhibition a special event 

aims to encourage young people to learn about art and spend time with their parents at 

Mother & Me on 14 August from 5pm. Entry $10. RSVP by 10 August, call 0427 900 021. 

Diamond celebration 

Peter Byrne and the Queensland Pops Orchestra will recreate the sounds of Neil Diamond’s 

iconic performance at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, 40 years ago which resulted in one 

of the most popular live albums of all time – Hot August Night. Diamond classics such as 

Sweet Caroline, I am I said and more will be on the playlist. At the Concert Hall, QPAC, on 10 

August, 8pm, adult tickets $79 plus booking fees, see www.qpac.com.au. 

� Picture perfect 

Leading landscape photographer Ken Duncan 

will share his secrets for great shots at a workshop 

to help beginners and more experienced 

photographers improve their skills. Participants 

will learn about taking the picture and postproduction 

from 8.30am to 5pm on 11 August at 

the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. 

Tickets $220 including coffee and food. Call (02) 

4307 8409 or email rdandy@kenduncan.com. 

Big Brother is watching � 

Big Brother is back and hot tickets for the 

launch show on 12 August and two live 

specials on 14 and 19 August at Dreamworld 

are selling fast. Tickets from $15, or just $5 for 

Dreamworld Unlimited World Pass Holders. 

See www.dreamworld.com.au/bigbrother.

Take flight 

For anyone who’s dreamed of flying high, 

the Aviation Careers Expo 2012 shows how 

to turn the passion into reality. See what it’s 

like to fly a plane in the free flight simulator, 

hear from industry experts and look behind 

the scenes of Queensland’s state-of-the-art 

aviation training facilities. On 25 August from 

10am to 4pm at the Brisbane International 

Airport precinct. For more information see 

www.aviationaustralia.aero. 

Doodle it 

Grab a pen and make your way to the Royal 

on the Park in the city for the Royal Doodle 

Do to help raise funds for Motor Neurone 

Disease research. Be prepared to get creative 

over a gala dinner! From 6.30pm on 25 

August, tickets $140 per person. Call 3646 

7588 or go to www.rbwhfoundation.com.au. 

CSI Brisbane � 

Get lessons on forensics and examine a 

crime scene before searching Queen Street 

Mall for clues to whodunit? This is just one 

of the great activities going on around the 

city to celebrate National Science Week 

from 11 to 19 August. Take part in shows, 

demonstrations, hands-on activities and 

more, some free and ticketed events, see 

www.scienceweek.net.au. 

Ekka race day 

Four music stages will showcase big names 

and local favourites, including headliners 

Bombs Away, at the Brisbane Racing Club’s 

Exhibition Wednesday Races on the Ekka 

Peoples Day. DJ Ruby Rose will be a special 

guest and entertainment includes BMX and 

skateboarder stunt riding. Gates open 10am, 

15 August, general admission $28 plus fee, 

available online at www.ticketek.com.au. 

� Cupcakes for a cause 

Help abandoned and abused animals in 

Queensland by hosting an RSPCA Cupcake party. 

Registration is free and hosts will receive a host 

kit and the opportunity to bake and eat cupcakes. 

Each $10 raised provides a cat toy while $200 

helps an RSPCA inspector fight cruelty. More 

information at www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au. 

A weekend of poetry 

Australian poet Robert Adamson and awardwinning 

singer-songwriter Holly Throsby will 

be among performers from around the world 

at the Queensland Poetry Festival from 24 to 

26 August. Opening night entry from $15, free 

entry for the rest of the festival at the Judith 

Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Fortitude 

Valley. See www.queenslandpoetryfestival.com 

for details. 


T 

wIn 

AviAtion Expo 

triAl Flight 

he only careers expo dedicated to 

aviation will be on again on 25 August 

at Aviation Australia’s state-of-the-art 

facilities at the Brisbane International 

Airport precinct. More than 20 exhibitors 

will come together under one roof and 

include education providers, industry 

leaders and government organisations. 

The expo will include a static aircraft 

display and a flight simulator. 

If you’ve ever dreamed of a career in 

aviation, let your dream take flight at the 

expo with a great prize from Archerfieldbased 

Daedalus Aviation and bmag. 

Win a one-hour introductory trial flight 

in a Cessna 172, with a chance to use 

the controls under the supervision of an 

instructor. 

The Aviation Careers Expo is on 

Saturday 25 August 2012,10am to 4pm. 

Free entry. 

How to enter 

Simply enter online at www.bmag.com.au 

or send your name, address and daytime 

telephone details on the back of an envelope 

to Aviation Expo, bmag, PO Box 477, Albion, 

4010. Entrants must be over 16 years of age. 

Competition closes 5pm Friday 17 August 2012. 

Entrants agree to receive future promotional 

offers from bmag. 


binformed 

Childcare centres face axe 

Funding cuts threaten community childcare and parents 

will pay the price. Katrina Scott reports 

Hundreds of Brisbane families will be 

forced to pay more for childcare next 

year with the Queensland government 

cutting funding to six metropolitan occasional 

care programs from the end of this year, including 

The Community Place Limited Hours Child Care 

at Wooloowin. 

The centre, on state government-owned 

land at Warilda Park, has been dealt a double 

blow after staff were told the lease also will not 

be renewed beyond December 2013, which 

will impact the broader community. “The 

limited hours childcare funding helped pay for 

operational costs of the rest of the community 

centre so we now have to find other revenues to 

make up for that, so that might mean a loss of 

resources in general for the community,” says 

manager Kylie Woodruff. 

In an effort to remain open Woodruff says 

The Community Place decided to introduce a 

kindergarten program next year but now both 

are at risk. The centre will also increase its 

fees next year and will have to use fundraising 

money reserved for children’s resources to cover 

maintenance and operational costs. 

In 2010 Kevin Rudd’s federal government 

cut the $12.6million allocated over four years 

for occasional childcare centres in Australia – 

just over $500,000 per annum was allocated to 

Queensland. From July 2010 the state government 

covered the gap but in June 2012 the Department 

of Education, Training and Employment 

announced it would cut funding to its Limited 

Hours Care program, meaning 14 Queensland 

centres would not receive funding past 31 

December and next year only 21 occasional 

centres across the state will receive funding with 

none located in Brisbane. 

Funding cuts forced three occasional care 

centres to close in December 2011 and without 

community support others may be forced to do 

the same. 

The Kitchener Road Children’s Centre at 

Ascot is another of the Brisbane centres to lose 

its limited hours funding. Stay-at-home-mum 

Diana Grima currently travels 15 minutes to and 

from her Northgate home to the Kitchener Road 

centre three days a week because of the flexible 

and nurturing learning environment it provides 

for her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Sara. 

However, next year the Grimas and the centre’s 

60 other families will pay more and while Grima 

does not intend to remove her child from limited 

hours care she admits other families may not have 

a choice. 

Kitchener Road Children’s Centre president 

Emily Zeitoun says the centre will trial higher 

fees for 12 months but the cost will equal that of 

a long day care centre while only operating for 

half the time. Limited hours centres provide care 

for up to 30 children at a time for up to 20 hours 

per week or four hours per day, while a long day 

care centre can operate for 10 hours per day and 

families may be eligible for the state government’s 

childcare benefit and childcare rebate. 

By putting a stop to the funding Zeitoun says 

the government is taking away a family’s right 

to choose how they want to educate their child. 

“Long day care isn’t the be-all and end-all of 

childcare; I think that’s what the government 

is saying by removing the funding. It’s not (the 

only option) and it doesn’t suit every child and it 

doesn’t suit every family, so it’s really important 

to have services that provide different needs.” 

Occasional Childcare Australia secretary 

Carla Yeates says the Queensland government’s 

decision could see the Sunshine State follow 

Victoria’s lead – when its funding was cut last 

year 80 per cent of Victorian occasional care 

centres closed with another 10 per cent due to 

shut this year. 

“The funding cut forces families into more of a 

financial burden if they need to pay for full hours 

care when they only need a few hours.” Yeates 

says the cut may discourage parents from sending 

their children to childcare altogether, which could 

affect their early educational development. 

Federal Member for Brisbane Teresa Gambaro 

has been fighting for limited hours centres 

since the federal cuts were announced and is 

seeking emergency funding until the end of 

2013. “Given the already increasing cost of living, 

this is a pressure that families do not need and 

cannot afford. Occasional childcare will become 

unaffordable for many parents in my electorate 

and will result in the viability of these centres 

being threatened.” 

Other Brisbane centres to lose their funding at 

the end of this year are Hawthorne Limited Hours 

Care; Gaythorne Community Limited Hours Care; 

Kyabra Limited Hours Child Care, Sunnybank and 

St David’s Uniting Church Neighbourhood Centre 

Limited Hours Care, Coopers Plains. 

To join Teresa Gambaro’s petition to reinstate the federal 

Limited Hours Care Program see teresagambaro.com.


informed 

Women seduced by Grey 

The bestseller that’s reignited book clubs and inspired Bedroom Goddess 

workshops. Katrina Scott reports 

It’s the phenomenon that’s sweeping the world 

faster than Usain Bolt can run 100metres – 

Fifty Shades of Grey is leaping off bookstore 

shelves with one copy sold every four seconds 

in Australia. According to Australian publisher 

Random House, E. L. James’ first novel has been 

at the top of the bestseller list for 11 weeks and 

all three books in the trilogy have held the top 

three positions for the last nine weeks. In just 12 

weeks 1.56 million copies of the trilogy have sold 

in Australia with more than 187,000 books now in 

Queensland homes. 

In case you haven’t heard the buzz about 

the book, Fifty Shades of Grey tells the story of 

innocent university graduate Anastasia Steele who 

falls head over heels for millionaire businessman 

Christian Grey. On the outside he’s all swagger 

and charm but on the inside he hides a dark secret 

that takes Anastasia on an erotic journey she 

didn’t expect. 

Random House Australia head of publicity 

Karen Reid says women have fallen in love with 


the main character Christian 

because they see him as ‘the 

quintessential man’. “(Fifty 

Shades) is a sexy fun read, a 

lot of women are saying it has 

given them their mojo back,” 

she says. 

Hamilton-based life 

intimacy coach Kim Gillespie, 

from Savvy Inspired Women, 

agrees and says she receives 

at least four enquiries each 

week from women wanting to spice up their 

love life. “I think anything that improves the sex 

lives of women and brings men and women in a 

relationship together again has to be a good thing. 

It’s improving relationships.” 

Gillespie believes women have embraced the 

book because they want someone to take charge 

in the bedroom and, through her workshops, she 

teaches women about body image, confidence, 

fantasy play and how to discover their 50 shades 

of pleasure. It’s about 

teaching women a little bit 

more about themselves 

and their own bodies 

and what turns them on. 

Occasionally it’s nice to 

spice things up, which is 

what ladies are doing after 

reading this book.” 

Gillespie will host a 

one-day Bedroom Goddess 

workshop to help women 

“release their inner 50 shades of grey” on 19 

August. See www.savvyinspiredwomen.com for 

details and to book. 

There’s no doubt Fifty Shades of Grey has 

got everyone talking, even in the most unusual 

places. “I was at the traffic lights crossing the road 

and there were four ladies in their 70s talking 

about the book, they were having a lovely little 

giggle and a chat about it,” Gillespie says. 

It seems Brisbane has been inspired with the 

Intimacy coach Kim Gillespie 

novel becoming the focal point for a number 

of book clubs and discussions. Writer and Avid 

Reader book store event organiser Krissy Kneen 

said people wanted to know more about the book 

so they decided to host a More Than 50 Shades of 

Erotica panel recently with 90 people (including 

about 10 brave men) joining the lively and 

humorous discussion at the West End store. 

Kneen says while erotic fiction can change 

the way society is structured E. L. James’ trilogy 

has done little to challenge our views. “It plays 

into the stereotypes that we are supposed to be 

comfortable with in society – women falling in 

love and doing whatever their man wants. It’s the 

Cinderella story all over again.” 

Meanwhile Riverbend Books and Teahouse 

will host a More Than Fifty Shades of Grey event 

on Wednesday 22 August. The panel will include 

University of Queensland lecturer Stuart Glover, 

authors Krissy Kneen and Susan Johnson and sex 

fiction academic Naomi Stekelenberg. Call 3899 

8555 to book or see www.riverbendbooks.com.au.

City meets bush at Ekka 

The annual ‘Exhibition’ shows just how far we’ve come, 

writes Lord Mayor Graham Quirk 

When the westerly winds start 

whistling through the city streets 

you know it’s Ekka time. It’s an 

undeniable institution in this city that brings 

visitors from far and wide and an economic 

boost to match. 

Personally, I’ve always loved the Ekka’s 

‘bush meets city’ experience. Among many 

things, it’s become a telling example of how 

Brisbane has been able to grow from a big 

country town into an innovative new world 

city while still keeping the friendly values 

and community feel we’re renowned for. And 

this year is no exception, with Brisbane City 

Council’s stand at Ekka (from 9 to 18 August) 

allowing visitors to map our city’s journey on 

an interactive timeline. 

While you’re there you can also find out 

how to take a free, real-life tour of Brisbane’s 

history through our Brisbane Greeters 

program. 

There’s also the chance to drive a CityCat 

up the Brisbane River or run out onto the 

Gabba sportsground with a Brisbane Lion 

using our new virtual reality displays. 

As Lord Mayor of Brisbane I’m always 

keen to hear what residents have to say about 

Brisbane and the Ekka is no exception, with a 

‘Your Say’ booth also located at the stand. 

Even if you only have eyes for the famous 

strawberry ice creams or show bags, I 

encourage you to get along to the Ekka if 

you can and make 2012 the best one yet. 

Hopefully I’ll you see you there! 

Mall celebrates 

The big events continue this week with the 

Queen Street Mall in the city celebrating its 

30th birthday! Opened back in 1982 ahead 

of the Commonwealth Games, the Mall has 

continued to grow as our premier shopping 

district and one of the central city’s biggest 

tourist attractions. 

It’s become such an important part of our 

everyday lives it’s amazing to think there was 

a time when Brisbane didn’t have the Queen 

Street Mall at our convenience. I bet there 

are many people nowadays who wouldn’t 

even know that you could once drive down 

this famous strip of shops. 

So come on down and help us pay 

homage to this fantastic icon this month, 

there’s always something going on in the 

Mall whether you’re after food, fun or fashion 

and it’s important for the city’s economy we 

continue to support it. 

100+ Club 

Speaking of birthdays, I thought I’d give a 

quick shout out to everybody in the 100+ 

Club! Recently I visited the club and its 

members to have a piece of cake and a cuppa 

and it was great catching up with such a 

vibrant group. They certainly have some 

wonderful stories and achievements to share! 

Therefore I’d just like to again say thank you 

GRAHAM 

QUIRK 

Lord Mayor 

of Brisbane 

to everybody for having me along and wish 

all those who couldn’t be there the best of 

health! 

It’s an important service that makes sure 

people who’ve been lucky enough to pass 100 

know that they’re not alone and supports my 

vision for an accessible and inclusive city. 

This Brisbane-based club is the only 

known one of its kind in the world and 

now has nearly 150 members from across 

Australia and the world – even Her Majesty 

the late Queen Mother was a member. 

If you’re 100 years or over or know 

somebody who isn’t a member of the club 

let me know by emailing me at the address 

below and I’ll put you in touch. I’d love to 

hear your story. 

Got a problem in your suburb that 

needs fixing? Email me at 

lordmayor@bmag.com.au. 



informed 

Win for people power 

Premier of 

Queensland 

Energy tariffs stay down but the state looks for more support on 

a disability insurance scheme, writes Premier Campbell Newman 

We recently had a bit of a win with 

Origin Energy on electricity tariffs. As 

a result of people power, they have 

actually dropped their electricity price. It’s no 

secret I was an outspoken critic of Origin after 

the electricity supplier sent letters to customers 

notifying them of imminent price hikes which 

would add about $400 to the average annual 

power bill. I met with the Origin CEO Grant 

King and told him that my family would be 

changing providers and that government MPs 

would also mount a campaign to encourage 

people to “shop around” for a better deal. 

I welcome the decision by Origin to wind 

back their proposed price increases for 

Queenslanders on market contracts. It is a win 

for common sense and a win for cutting the cost 

of living for Queensland families. 

We need a National Disability 

Insurance Scheme for all 

Like all Australians, I want to see a better quality 

of life provided for people with disabilities, and 

I know personally the challenges families face 

in caring for a loved one with a disability. 

Reforming disability services also means 

reforming the lives of, and support for, our 

nation’s most vulnerable people. 

That’s why my government is – and always 

has been – a strong supporter of the National 

Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). We are 

encouraged by what a NDIS could mean for 

people with a disability – greater choice and 

control, flexibility across states and a genuinely 

national coherent system. 

We want to be part of this national disability 

reform, but to make this national scheme 

work it must be funded by the Commonwealth 

government. In its final report, the Productivity 

Commission made it quite clear that “the 

Australian government should be the single 

funder of the NDIS”. 

Queensland already spends about 

$930million a year in disability funding, 

compared to the Commonwealth’s contribution 

of around $255million. Would we like to spend 

more? Of course we would. And once we get 

the budget back into surplus in 2014/15 we will 

consider how we will be able to fund better 

disability services. 

The absence of a long-term funding plan 

from the Commonwealth government just 

creates more uncertainty for people with a 

disability, their families and their carers. I 

urge the Prime Minister to reconsider her 

position so we can deliver a great service for all 

Australians with a disability. 

Nominate a Queenslander 

you admire 

Queenslanders have until 31 August to 

nominate an inspiring person for the 

prestigious 2013 Australian of the Year Awards. 

Each year, as a nation we celebrate the 

achievements and contributions of Australians 

through the Australian of the Year Awards. I’m 

Campbell 

NeWmaN 

encouraging all Queenslanders to get behind 

this worthy program and let us know who 

deserves recognition for the outstanding work 

they are doing. 

You can nominate your local hero, a friend, 

family member or even someone famous – any 

Queenslander who you believe makes your 

community a better place to live. 

Nominations close on Friday 31 August 

2012. Queensland state finalists will be 

announced in November, before progressing 

to the national Australian of the Year Awards 

ceremony in Canberra on Australia Day eve. 

The Australian of the Year Awards is a National 

Australia Day Council program and is proudly 

supported by the Queensland government. 

For more information call 3405 5215 or see 

www.australianoftheyear.org.au. 

Have you got something to say 

about issues affecting Brisbane? 

Email me at premier@bmag.com.au 



binformed 

Holiday in the ’burbs 

Spencer Howson sees life from a 

different side of the street 

One of the little luxuries Nikki and I 

(and our 12-year-old son Jack) enjoy is 

treating ourselves to a weekend in the 

city, being a tourist in our own town. We do this 

about three times a year, always in a different 

hotel and always eating at different cafés and 

restaurants. 

If pressed for my favourite location, I’d have 

to say I am partial to a view of the city from 

South Bank but, wherever we stay, I just love the 

extravagance and slight ludicrousness of being 

half-an-hour from home yet mentally a million 

miles away! 

Well, now the Howsons have taken the 

‘tourist in our own town’ concept to a new 

extreme! We’re currently spending two weeks 

staying in our own street in Indooroopilly – 

literally 200 metres from home – and paying 

$950 a week for the privilege! 

Let me explain. 

Every day for the past three years, I’ve 

driven past this gated community of serviced 

apartments with a sign on the gate spruiking 

“weekly relocation accommodation”. Being a 

curious chap, I’ve often wondered who would 

stay here in the ’burbs, rather than in town. I 

imagined folk who had just moved to Brisbane, 

but beyond that I was stuck. 

And so, when we came to having some 

renovations done at home, and with the builder 

suggesting he could work faster without us 

being there, I knew exactly where I wanted to 

bring the family for a couple of weeks! 

It would be close to home in case the builder 

had questions for me, but mainly I would get to 

find out who has a holiday in Indooroopilly! 

Yes, the managers told me on day one, folk 

moving to Brisbane rent here until they’re 

familiar with the city. Often they book in for 

three months to give themselves time to have a 

good look around. 

So who else? Well, the families of several 

overseas students have arrived while we’ve 

been staying. I guess that makes sense when 

you consider the university is just a stone’s 

throw away. 

But what’s completely surprised me is 

the number of other families here from 

Indooroopilly and neighbouring Chapel Hill, 

all doing exactly the same as us – yes, they too 

are reno refugees! 

Looks like the people who built this 

complex knew exactly what they were doing. 

There certainly is a market for accommodation 

in the ’burbs! 

And you know what? Whilst we don’t have 

a view of the CBD and we’ve still had to go to 

school or work each day, it truly has felt like 

we’ve been on holiday. Luxurious long deep 

baths (knowing you’ve already paid for the 

water), no chores other than cooking and 

washing, beds and towels are changed every 

few days and unlimited, free use of the pool 

and gym – it almost makes me want to come 

back here sometime! 

Only one thing has caused us distress, 

a moral dilemma on the first night. Our 

internet devices all picked up unsecured wi-fi, 

presumably from a nearby house. Knowing we 

were going to be here for a couple of weeks, it 

SPENCER 

HOWSON 

Breakfast presenter 

612 ABC Brisbane 

was tempting to leech away. But was it safe and 

was it right? I turned to my Twitter followers for 

advice and here are some of the responses... 

@mjcj1971 said: “Just do it”. 

@Karawr agreed: “If there’s no password, go 

for it!” 

@Fionawb went further, egging me on: “Do 

it. Do it. Do it. (Consider me a little devil on 

your shoulder)”. 

@Australianne responded with: “Wrong. 

You could take someone over their data 

allowance and it’s very expensive after that. It’s 

stealing.” 

@Amy_Remeikis suggested it was probably 

unlocked deliberately: “If you haven’t locked 

your wi-fi in 2012, you are okay with people 

using it”. 

@Ricky_Elias has an open-door policy 

at his place: “I have an unlocked wi-fi with 

‘guest’ in the name and don’t mind our 

neighbours using it”. 

What would you have done? In the end, this 

comment from @EvanontheGC decided it: “It’s 

always fun to see what files I can find on other 

computers on an unsecured network”. Click 

[disconnect wi-fi]. 

With that moral burden lifted and with only 

a few days left in our suburban holiday home, I 

shall channel the Golgafrincham Ark-B Captain 

from The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and 

declare: “Just time for another bath!” 

Got an interesting story to share? 

Email spencer@bmag.com.au

Art on high 

Brisbane Airport will host a new art festival. 

Laura Nolan reports 

Think of the Brisbane 

Airport and images 

of aeroplanes, taxi 

queues and luggage carts 

might come to mind. 

However, new art festival 

Art with Altitude aims to 

change that vision, providing 

a platform for the local 

community to explore 

sculptures and interactive art 

installations. 

Design consultancy 

Urban Art Projects (UAP) has 

joined forces with Brisbane 

Airport Corporation (BAC) 

to create the festival which 

will run from 24 August to 

2 September at the Brisbane Airport Village. 

Brisbane artist and co-curator Megan Cope says 

it was the BAC’s dedication to the development 

of public art in the precinct that motivated them 

to create a contemporary exhibition to showcase 

great emerging Australian artists. 

Alongside UAP’s Natasha Smith, Cope 

searched for artists across the state and the 

country who would use their unique styles 

and media to create their personal take on the 

festival’s theme ‘Land to Sky and Beyond’. “We 

wanted to have a diverse selection [of artists] but 

at the same time have all of their works combine 

to form that narrative of interaction, connectivity 

and journey, so we did look for artists who had 

that interest and quality in their work already.” 

The festival will feature six artists: Keg 

De Souza, Inkahoots design studio, Michael 

Candy, Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre, Nicole 

Voevodin-Cash and Sue-Ching Lascelles. 

The sculptural works of each artist will be 

scattered throughout the Airport Village precinct, 

from the DFO car park, through the Village 

‘spine’ to the Novotel. 

Art with Altitude will also feature free 

workshops and entertainment, including the 

In-Flight children’s art workshops, led by artists 

Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Queensland 

Theatre Company’s performance of Stradbroke 

Dreamtime and live music from local bands such 

as Bandito Folk. 

West End kinetic artist Michael Candy 

merges nature and technology in his piece 

Terrarium. Inspired while watching a branch 

moving in the breeze, the 21-year-old QUT 

student used rusty steel rods and cement blocks 

to create the two-metre tall solar-powered 

structure that mimics the movement of a 

swaying tree branch and holds a small plant in 

a glass terrarium. Using a special sensor, the 

sculpture even leans away from people who 

come too close to protect the plant. 

Candy has always had an affinity with 

Sue-Ching Lascelles’ work for 

Art with Altitude 

mechanics. “I’ve always been 

a tinkerer really, just taking 

things apart and seeing how 

they work. It’s just trial and 

error of deconstruction and 

reconstruction,” he says. 

The blending of the 

natural world and man-made 

machines has always been 

an important influence on 

his work. “I look at how they 

influence each other,” he says. 

Candy has been exhibiting 

his kinetic work since 2010 at 

galleries around Brisbane and 

interstate, including a solo 

exhibition at the Witch Meat 

ARI this year, group exhibitions 

at Brisbane Powerhouse and Jugglers Art Space 

and light installations at the Woodford Folk 

Festival and Harvest Festival. 

Meanwhile, 33-year-old Brisbane city 

resident Sue-Ching Lascelles was motivated by 

the magical appeal of fireworks to create her 

festival piece Falling for Fireworks. The work is an 

eight-metre by three-metre suspended canopy 

created from brightly-coloured nylon string that 

will hang supported between two buildings and 

allow viewers to walk underneath. She explored 

traditional techniques like macramé, handweaving 

and knotting to create the modernlooking 

structure. “The concept behind it is 

that feeling that you get when you’re standing 

underneath fireworks and they’re exploding 

above you and you’re getting showered,” 

she says. “It’s also incorporating the ideas of 

mapping and navigation using the stars.” 

It has taken more than six weeks and daily 

sessions of painstaking weaving and knotting 

to create the piece, but Lascelles says it’s worth 

it because Falling for Fireworks the largest 

project she has ever taken on and her first time 

exhibiting in an outdoor space. 

Lascelles credits her country upbringing and 

family arts and crafts time as her beginnings into 

working with textiles. “My mum used to sew our 

own clothes and I even used to print our own 

fabrics and things when I was a child,” she says. 

Lascelles balances her job as a graphic 

designer with her artwork which she has 

exhibited in Brisbane galleries such as Metro 

Arts, Jugglers Art Gallery and Artisan. 

The new works will join the pre-existing 

permanent sculptures around the Airport 

Village precinct, including Belinda Smith’s giant 

dandelion creation Lightness of Air, Magpie Geese 

wall mural by Dennis Nona and Lena Yarinkura’s 

small silver Camp Dogs sculptures. 

Find out how to vote for the People’s Choice Award 

during the Art with Altitude Festival to win prizes in the 

next issue of bmag, delivered from 21 August. 


BRISBANE PERSON OF 

THE YEAR CANDIDATE Anna Mcgahan 

Emerging 

star 

Chris Herden 

interviews the 

young Brisbane 

actor in demand 


Since her extraordinary Logie-nominated 

performance as the young gangster moll 

Nellie Cameron in Underbelly:Razor, 

Anna McGahan has affirmed herself as one of 

Australia’s most promising young actors. 

Her stage and screen career barely extends 

beyond two years and yet she has rocketed 

to the top of Australian film and television 

producers’ casting lists, winning an IF Award 

for her Underbelly work and for her role as the 

over-zealous dental technician Penelope in 

Spirited. LA-based industry body Australians 

in Film awarded McGahan the highly-prized 

Heath Ledger Scholarship in June and, after 

the Olympic Games broadcast, she will be 

seen on the Nine Network once again in the 

new series House Husbands. 

Surprisingly, acting wasn’t the first career 

choice for the former Brisbane Girls Grammar 

student; from a young age McGahan has been 

a keen playwright. 

“I developed a different understanding 

of acting after I finished high school,” she 

says. “I started watching more cinema and 

realised you didn’t have to be a clown or be 

funny to do acting but that it was about being 

honest, truthful and connecting with people. 

I love both acting and writing, to me they are 

a perfect pairing of interests because if my 

head or emotions are too deep into one, I then 

excorcise it through the other. It’s one of those 

existential things I couldn’t shake off if I tried. 

I’m continually writing stuff down, it’s a way of 

processing information.” 

McGahan always has her notebook on 

hand. During filming breaks on the set of 

House Husbands, the 24-year-old is writing the 

script for her next project, a short comedy film 

called Gingers. 

“We put out this ridiculous casting call for 

about 15 redheads. It’s about a young man 

who gets brutally dumped by his redheaded 

girlfriend and, in his grief, he starts to see 

redheads everywhere.” 

McGahan and her work is being seen 

everywhere too. She was a recipient of 

the Queensland Theatre Company Young 

Playwright’s Award in both 2009 and 2010 and

she was shortlisted for last year’s Queensland 

Premier’s Drama Award. Her first staged 

production He’s Seeing Other People Now 

(which had a performance season at Metro Arts 

in the city in July) is a dark doomsday piece 

about a future Brisbane controlled by an ironfisted 

totalitarian regime. 

“It’s had mixed reactions but it’s better to 

have people talking rather than be a kind of 

non-event. I’m glad that it’s provocative; it 

wasn’t going to push everyone’s buttons in the 

same way.” 

Dianne Eden, senior lecturer and head of 

acting at QUT, remembers her former student 

as being clever, irresistible, easy to cast and 

someone who clearly understood that she was 

training for a lifetime career. 

“They call it the ‘X factor’ because there is 

no clearer term for it,” Eden says. “She is utterly 

beautiful, yes, but that is not the leading edge 

to Anna McGahan. It’s the way she brings 

honesty and generosity to her work. She was 

the standout in over 400 applicants, showed 

a fervent willingness to learn and she went 

straight into the industry, which is a difficult 

thing to do.” 

Immediately following her QUT graduation 

in 2010 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) 

McGahan hit the ground running with a 

featured guest role in the TV series Rescue 

Special Ops. When casting her as the 

pivotal heroine Portia in Julius Caesar, La 

Boite Theatre Company’s first mainstage 

production for 2011, artistic director David 

Berthold thought the redheaded beauty from 

Coorparoo had not only the technical skills 

but a certain charisma and cultural awareness 

instilled in her due to her love of writing. 

“When doing your first professional role 

outside of drama school training it can be a 

really testing thing because suddenly you are 

in a room with actors not your same age and 

experience,” Berthold says. “I saw her grow 

into the role during rehearsals and watching 

Anna McGahan as prostitute Nellie 

Cameron and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor 

as gangster Norman Bruhn in the hit 

mini-series Underbelly Razor 

her adjust her performances during the fiveweek 

run was terrific. She would change it 

significantly because she was astutely listening 

to what the audience was telling her.” 

McGahan stars in two films: the ‘comedy 

of horrors’ 100 Bloody Acres Melb intl film 

festival and [due out this year] The Mystery 

of a Hansom Cab, which is based on a classic 

murder mystery published in Melbourne in 

1886. She returns to the Brisbane stage in 

October to play the glamorous model girlfriend 

of a cross-dressing AFL player in the world 

premiere of David Williamson’s Managing 

Carmen, a Queensland Theatre Company and 

Black Swan Theatre Company joint production. 

McGahan is in no rush to jet across to the 

Bevan 

US to enjoy the spoils of her Heath Ledger 

Scholarship win which includes a cash prize, Brew 

air fare, a generous publicity package and 

Peter 

coaching at the prestigious Stella Adler acting 

page: 

studio. 

“There is still a lot of inspiring work for me 

opposite 

Anna McGahan as Lucy in upcoming Nine here in Australia and so America will happen 

Network series House Husbands when there is time.” 

Image 


informed 

Sport 

True Queenslander 

A brave Brisbane Paralympian is making the most of a 

cruel twist of fate, writes Steve Haddan 

On 12 December 1995 a rough and 

tumble kid from the bush near 

Beaudesert, just a year out of school, 

was getting ready for work. “Young and 

bulletproof”, Tige Simmons had grown up 

on acreage surrounded by his father’s bikes 

and heavy earthmoving equipment, but this 

morning he was having trouble getting his 

Honda MSR 250 started. His mum offered to 

give him a lift, but by the time she returned 

with the car keys he was off down the Mt 

Lindesay Highway. 

At a set of traffic lights in Park Ridge a 

truck turned in front of him. He hit the bull 

bar and was cannoned through a guard rail 

and the chain wire, ending up in a ditch by 

the side of the road. 

“I felt a numbness in my legs and 

couldn’t move,” he remembers. “I’d done my 

7, 8, 9 and10 vertebrae, snapped my spinal 

cord. The driver didn’t see me coming. My 

boss called Mum to say I hadn’t arrived for 


work. She said ‘don’t worry, he’s had bike 

problems, I’ll drive by, pick him up and drop 

him off’. I just remember seeing her appear 

over the edge of the ditch and burst into 

tears. I said ‘it’s alright, don’t worry’.” 

Seventeen years later Simmons can still 

recall the diagnosis he received from the 

director of the Spinal Unit at the Princess 

Alexandra Hospital, Dr Vernon Hill. “He said 

‘you’ve done a good job, you’ve shattered 

your back and won’t walk again’.” 

The 18-year-old’s first reaction was shock 

and denial, but two weeks after the accident 

he says he “had a moment of clarity and 

thought ‘this is what’s happened, make the 

most of it’”. But that was easier said than 

done. “The first day they got me out of bed 

and into a wheelchair, with Mum and Dad 

there for me, I just lost it. It was real now, 

there was no going back. This was my life.” 

Simmons set about getting an education. 

He studied tourism at the Queensland 

Travel Academy and landed a job at 

Tourism Queensland where he still works 

and where he met his partner Kersty. The 

couple share a house at Fairfield, which was 

completely submerged in the 2011 floods. 

They say those who face adversity are better 

equipped to deal with it when it returns. 

“He’s just a good bloke,” Kersty says. 

“He’s the most determined, friendly, 

helpful, funny person you’ll ever meet. 

Loving him has never been a challenge in 

any way at all.” 

Simmons was 20 when a stranger 

approached him at the Garden City 

Shopping Centre and suggested he take up 

wheelchair basketball. “I went along the 

following weekend, jumped in the chair 

and within 30 seconds was flat on my face. I 

thought ‘I like this’.” 

The rest, as they say, is history. Tige 

is one of 28 Queenslanders in Australia’s 

biggest ever contingent of 161 athletes 

STEVE 

HADDAN 

Sports writer and 

public speaker 

heading to the 2012 Paralympics in London 

from 29 August to 9 September. After topping 

the medal count in Sydney, there are high 

expectations to finish in the top five of the 74 

nations who compete across 22 sports. 

The only Queenslander on the basketball 

team, Tige is hoping to repeat his gold medal 

performance in Beijing. “Our first game is 

against South Africa on 30 August. I reckon 

we’ll play either Canada or the US in the 

final on 9 September. 

“I’m determined and passionate and have 

tried to turn my anger and frustration into 

something positive. Sure I’d love to go down 

to the beach and have a surf but that’s not 

possible, so I put everything into what I am 

able to do. Life is short, make your mind up 

and get stuck in. Queenslander.” 

Got a sports story idea? Email me 

at steveh@bmag.com.au

Don’t think you 

can dance? 

Dance star Anthony Ikin aims to 

show you can, writes Laura Nolan 

It was apparent from an early age 

that Anthony Ikin was never going 

to be a rugby league 

footballer like his brother 

Ben. “My position was 

on the wing and because 

the ball never came out 

there that much I would 

be practising handstands 

and cartwheels while the 

game was happening in 

the middle of the field,” 

laughs the 31-year-old 

Paddington resident. 

“It would have been 

mortifying for my father 

on the sidelines!” 

So while his older 

brother went on to make 

his mark in football 

playing with the Broncos 

and in State of Origin, the 

junior Ikin’s incredible 

gymnastic ability, 

dedication to his craft 

and infectiously positive 

attitude catapulted him 

to stardom and forged his 

days on the small screen died down, Ikin has 

been content to teach the next generation of 

dancers at his own studios in Sydney 

and the Gold Coast, where he runs 

part-time and elite full-time classes 

for children and teenagers in styles 

from hip hop and breakdancing to 

jazz, ballet and even cheerleading. 

However, in the coming months 

he will leap into the spotlight once 

again, coming out of competitive 

retirement to take part in the 

mixed pairs at the World Aerobics 

Championships in the Netherlands 

in October. And he will again bring 

his passion for dance to the screen 

in September when he releases Ikin 

Shake It – a dance fitness program 

on DVD. While it is designed for 

adults with no dance experience, the 

routine is challenging and targets 

memory recall. Viewers are guided 

through sections individually before 

putting it all together at the end 

in a film clip-style “performance”, 

complete with pumping music and 

costumed extras on screen. 

The two-disc set includes two 

reputation as one of the 

best aerobic athletes and 

Anthony Ikin will show others 

how to Shake It! 

30-minute workouts which have 

been years in the making according 

dancers in the country. 

to Ikin, who says they were initially 

By the time he reached the top 10 in the first inspired by the enthusiastic mums and dads 

series of So You Think You Can Dance in 2008, who would watch eagerly from the sidelines 

he was already five-time Australian Elite 

at their children’s dance classes. He first 

Aerobics Champion and a one-time soloist launched Ikin Shake It adult dance classes 

at the iconic cabaret Moulin Rouge in Paris. at his studio in 2009 but realised there was a 

He has worked with some of Australia’s most much wider audience he wanted to reach. 

popular singers including Ricki Lee, Jessica 

“I thought, what about all the people who 

Mauboy, Darren Hayes, Tina Arena and the don’t go to the gym, or who are embarrassed 

dance teacher and choreographer has been to actually come and participate in the class 

booked to share his skills at studios around with all the mirrors and other people there?” 

the world. 

he says. “[With] the home DVD, you can just 

His natural talent was obvious even 

be absolutely crazy within the comfort of your 

as a child when he taught himself to do a own home with no one watching.” 

backflip at four years old. “I couldn’t sit at the The Ikins are a close family, all living 

dinner table without doing handstands and within kilometres of each other’s front doors 

cartwheels; I couldn’t finish one meal.” 

in Paddington which means Anthony still 

He went on to train as an elite aerobic gets to take advantage of his mum’s fantastic 

athlete and gymnast and when, at 17, he 

cooking. Ikin is a vocal advocate for healthy 

was told by judges at the World Aerobics 

eating and promoting fitness from a young 

Championships to take dance classes to 

age through his studios and he continues to 

improve his technique he followed their 

train from two to five hours every day, but his 

advice and immediately loved it. From there greatest satisfaction comes from knowing he 

he performed at the Sydney Olympic Games has helped spread his love of dance. “It’s nice 

Opening Ceremony, Grease – the Arena 

now to give back. I get more enjoyment out 

Spectacular and became a favourite on So You of seeing other people perform and teaching 

Think You Can Dance. While the buzz of his others everything I’ve learnt.” 


OVER 50s 


informed 

Strange baggage 

You’d be surprised what some travellers put in their 

luggage, and what they leave behind. Leonie Briggs reports 

An urn of human ashes is an unexpected 

find in a busy passenger terminal, but 

dealing with mislaid belongings, from the 

unusual to the mundane, is all in a day’s work for 

lost property staff at Brisbane Airport’s domestic 

and international terminals. 

Happily, urn and ashes were reunited with 

family members in Australia, but not all cases 

end so well. Other memorable items left behind 

in recent years include a prosthetic leg and a set 

of false teeth. Somewhat understandably, these 

items were never reclaimed, but lost property 

manager Jenni Greaves – who believes she 

has seen it all in her 10 years on the job – still 

wonders how the owners managed the next stage 

of their journey. 

While most belongings are misplaced by 

absent-minded or harried passengers, some are 

discarded, like ironing boards, clothes airers and 

even a microwave oven. You might wonder why 

these items accompanied their owners to the 

airport in the first place. However, Greaves puts it 

down to budget-conscious students unaware of 

excess baggage costs. And the intrigue continues 

when owners leave their unwanted property 

next to bins, creating a security issue when they 

have to be checked to make sure they contain 

nothing harmful. 

Greaves says every effort is made to reunite 

owners with misplaced sunglasses, mobile 

phones, computer laptops and jewellery – on 

a scale that would fill a warehouse or two – but 

only about half is reclaimed. The remainder 

is kept for two months and then given to the 

Salvation Army or sold at auction and the 

proceeds distributed to nominated charities. 

Where an item is misplaced has a bearing on 

who people should contact. For instance, if an 

item is left on an aircraft, the airline is the one to 

call first. And Greaves warns women should take 

particular care of their rings when they go to the 

bathroom. “Women often lose rings when they 

take them off to wash their hands.” She recalls 

one woman “sobbing on the phone” over the 

loss of an $18,000 engagement ring. Another was 

more lucky and her ring was returned. “She was 

over the moon and she sent us a lovely bunch of 

flowers and a big box of chocolates.” 

Greaves also runs the airport’s Ambassador 

Program and says these roving volunteers, 

identified by royal blue shirts with a yellow, 

italicised i (for information) emblem on the 

back, are the first point of contact for passengers 

who have lost something, need directions or 

some other help. 

Australian Customs and Border Protection 

Service personnel also get to “see it all” when 

dealing with the travelling public’s deliberate 

or unwitting attempts to bring banned goods 

into Australia. A spokesman says customs staff 

recently chased down two frogs that jumped 

from a passenger’s bag in the baggage area. 

He advises travellers to check the Customs 

website to be aware of banned items such as 

bee-bee guns, often sold overseas as children’s 

toys, and goods made from animal bone or skin. 

According to a ‘handler’ with the Department 

of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Cameron 

Rae, rising international travel and cargo levels 

are creating greater challenges for biosecurity 

detector dogs and their handlers, and teams 

uncover myriad items in their pursuit of banned 

food and plant material. 

In response there is a greater focus on 

screening higher-risk passengers and expanding 

the ranks of detector dogs to include labradors, 

which, due to their size, can be used in more 

locations than the traditionally-used beagles. For 

example, labradors are better suited to screening 

cargo which requires jumping onto high 

conveyor belts and the ability to reach big boxes. 

A dog’s training starts at about two years of 

age and, following an initial 12-week training 

program, dog and handler start work. But it 

takes a year before the dogs become proficient. 

Department figures show that over a working life 

of about seven to eight years a dog averages 3000 

to 3500 product ‘seizures’. 


informed 

Family 

To smack or not to smack 

When one mother is caught smacking, Emily Jade 

discovers what other punishment mothers use 

At my mothers’ group a few weeks 

ago the subject of discipline was 

discussed after the TV program 60 

Minutes aired a story on smacking. I’m pretty 

sure every mothers’ group discussed the 

exact same thing that day because the story 

was both disturbing yet heart-breaking. 

In case you didn’t see it, the story showed 

a single mother in Brisbane repeatedly 

smacking her four children and she 

defended her right to discipline them that 

way because she was their mother. 

Many saw her as an abuser; I saw a 

stressed-out single mum who needed a 

loving helping hand, and quite possibly a 

few hours of peace and quiet. 

Around a hot thermos of tea at the Roma 

Street Parklands we started discussing our 

methods of discipline for our kids. Me? With 

a child only nine months old I’m still in the 

denial stage that my sweet Millie Valentine 

will ever disobey me, but who am I kidding? 


The reality is that one day she will and so I 

listened intently to the mothers who have 

gone before me for some tips. 

Most agreed that confiscating a favourite 

toy was a lot more scary to a child than a 

swift smack on the backside, and sitting in 

the naughty corner was a good way to calm 

both the child and the parent before sitting 

down quietly to discuss the naughty action 

and the reason for the punishment. All 

agreed that the amount of time in the corner 

should be relevant to the age of the child 

and the same for how long a beloved toy is 

taken away. But the real key to the discipline 

was to address the behaviour and how it 

made you feel, such as “that was a naughty 

thing you did. When you do that it makes me 

sad/angry/scared” instead of comments like 

“you are very naughty!” or “why are you so 

naughty?” 

My friend Kristy, who works in 

therapeutic behaviour, insists the latter 

type of comment is more damaging to the 

child’s self-esteem and that praising good 

behaviour immediately and constantly is the 

most important thing to remember to do. 

For most children praising can be 

as small as smiles, kisses and words of 

encouragement or you can take it a step 

further with a marble jar to fill with a marble 

every time your child does something good. 

When it is full your child receives a treat of 

their choice. It’s equally good as a method of 

punishment, a marble may be taken out for 

bad behaviour, as long as it can be won back 

with an apology or better choices next time. 

However, all the mothers admitted that 

they were not immune from lashing out 

with the odd smack here or there, but in 

the end the only person it really hurt was 

them, as they felt terrible afterwards. Then 

one mum shared her dear old nana’s tip on 

smacking: if you are going to smack, always 

use a utensil like a wooden spoon and not 

EMILY 

JADE 

New mum and 

media personality 

your hand; that way the child associates the 

painful punishment with the stick and not 

the hand which is attached to the person they 

love most. 

I’m quite happy to leave the wooden 

spoon method in the ’70s where it belongs 

and let Millie associate cooking utensils 

with gleefully banging my Tupperware, 

and instead take advice from my mother 

who raised five children and now works 

in childcare. Establish what is willful 

disobedience over plain curiosity first 

because, let’s face it, we mainly discipline 

kids to keep them from harm’s way. Then, 

whatever your method, remember when 

punishing a child just bend their will a little 

but never break their spirit. 

Do you have a parenting question, 

topic or story to share? Email me at 

emilyjade@bmag.com.au

gorgeous 

FASHION + BEAUTY + HEALTH 

Top gear 

Brisbane’s fashion festival will showcase some of the nation’s 

best and brightest talent. Laura Nolan reports 

More than 50 big-name and emerging 

labels, retailers and designers will 

converge on Queens Park in the 

city to showcase their latest spring/summer 

collections over nine group shows at Mercedes- 

Benz Fashion Festival (MBFF) from 25 to 31 

August. Last year around 20,000 people attended 

the festival and, as a result, the designers 

involved enjoyed a communal revenue spike of 

$1.6million. 

The festival has been hailed as a great 

platform to promote and support local talent 

and boasts a fantastic mix of emerging and 

experienced designers – some have taken part 

since the first festival in 2006. 

Loyal stalwarts Julie Tengdahl, Easton 

Pearson, Sacha Drake, Paul Hunt, Maiocchi and 

Pia Du Pradal all will be making their seventh 

appearance at the festival, an event not to be 

missed according to Lydia Pearson of Easton 

Pearson. “It’s Brisbane and it’s where we’re 

based and we want to show support for the local 

industry and we’ve had our whole professional 

lives here – so if we can’t support it who can?” 

Pearson and her design partner Pamela 

Easton are gearing up to show off two new 

ranges from their main collection as well as their 

youth collection, EP by Easton Pearson, both 

inspired by a modern, bright and “James-Bond 

looking” 1960s themed villa off the coast of 

France where the designers once stayed. 

There is also plenty of new talent at this 

year’s festival, which has crossed the river from 

South Bank to an official marquee in Queens 

Park hosted by Treasury Casino and Hotel. 

Making their MBFF debut are labels including 

Wil Valor, Ginger and Smart, Begitta, Molly and 

Polly Swimwear, Urbbana and Trelise Cooper. 

At almost two metres tall (six foot five 

inches), former National Basketball League 

player Mark Ferguson is the man behind tailormade 

menswear label Wil Valor. Milton-based 

Ferguson turned to fashion designing seven 

years ago out of necessity, after struggling to 

find clothing that fitted him and looked good. 

He’s hoping the fashion festival will help 

take the name Wil Valor to a wider audience 

after relying on word-of-mouth so far to drive 

business from his single studio outlet. “It’s 

time for us to get out and let people know 

about us,” he says. “[The collection] is very 

bold, it’s bright, it might not be everyone’s style 

but it’s a bit more of a catwalk style and a little 

bit more flamboyant.” 

Easton Pearson’s collections (examples 

pictured above) will feature at both group 

shows on 25 August starting 6.30pm and 

8pm. Wil Valor will appear on 25 August at 

the group show starting 8pm. For program 

and tickets see www.mbff.com.au 


gorgeous 

Fashion 

Imperial Red Bengal stretch u 

dress with belt $2640; high heel 

studded t-strap sandals $840 


Gucci 

comes to 

town 

From humble beginnings more than 90 years ago as a 

leathergoods maker to the contemporary designs by current 

creative director Frida Giannini, the Gucci label has always 

turned heads and it will continue to do that for passers-by along 

Edward Street now that its first store has opened in Brisbane. 

Demonstrating her versatility and talent as a designer 

Giannini, whose career at Gucci began with accessories, also 

created the concept for the city store. Blending the mixed 

textures of rosewood and marble with polished gold, smoked 

mirrors and glass the boutique reflects the elegance of an Art 

Deco era with a 21st century sophistication. 

Meanwhile the collection has become a favourite with 

new-gen Hollywood stars on the red carpet, including Anne 

Hathaway, Blake Lively, and smart chaps such as Andrew 

Garfield and RPatz, and the new collection in store, hot off the 

runway for the northern autumn/winter season, is perfectly suited 

to this city’s fashion mavens. 

Women’s ready-to-wear, menswear and childrenswear, 

luggage, accessories – including fabulous studded high heels, 

jewellery and watches – and fragrances are in 

store now. 

All fashion from Gucci, now at 190 Edward Street, city. 

t Black matt satin one-shoulder 

gown $4655; high heel sandal 

with crystal ankle strap in 

python $950

t Printed georgette dress $2690; 

high heel studded heel in python $1525 

t Printed shirt $1140; Spring Rose 

pleated pant $1025; clutch $1955; 

high heel studded t-strap sandals $840 

t Raspberry stretch flannel 

dress $1555; high heel sandal 

with studded heel $720 


Perfectly pastel 

Temt’s latest collection blends pretty 

floral patterns with block candy tones 

in yellows, pinks and blues. Get the 

look (above) with Lemon Custard 

cardigan (RRP$24.95), Cream Lace 

blouse (RRP$19.95), Spring Flower 

skirt (RRP$19.95) and Pastel Mix bag 

(RRP$29.95). See www.temt.com.au 

for stockists. 


bgorgeous 

Fashion and beauty 

FASHION FILES 

Compiled by Laura Nolan 

� Glam high tea 

Dynamic fashion duo George Gross 

Swimwear unveiled � 

and Harry Who will unveil the fresh 

While the swimwear is still under wraps, 

colours, feminine styles and spring- 

the latest kaftan designs from Camilla 

garden florals of their spring/summer 

Frank are just a teaser of what is to 

collections at the High 

come in her new collection of swim and 

Fashion High Tea 

beachwear to be unveiled at the Treasury 

event on 23 August 

Hotel and Casino’s charity lunch event on17 

at the Emporium 

August from 12pm in Stephen’s Lane, city. 

Hotel cocktail 

Highlights of the collection include pieces 

bar. George 

embellished with Swarovski crystal. The event 

Gross will host 

is raising funds for the Queensland Eye Institute. 

the event, 

Tickets $140 per person, call 1800 506 889 to book. 

which includes Shoe-in � 

fashion show, 

Step lightly in Cotton On’s Rubi Shoes 

champagne and designed to complement outfits in 

morning tea treats. soft hues, such as (from left, above) 

Tickets $55 per 

Puffin Platform (RRP$49.95), Oxford 

person, call 3253 6999 Heel (RRP$49.95) and Venus Point 

to book. 

(RRP$39.95). See www.cottonon.com/ 

rubi to find stockists. 

� Colette loves candy 

Collette Dinnigan is one of our best-known fashion superstars, but another Colette is creating buzz in 

the local fashion scene. Colette Hayman, who founded the Diva stores, has moved on to grow her next 

venture, accessories label Colette, into yet another success story. She loves candy-inspired colours 

which star in her new collection, which includes (from left, above) Chloe clutch RRP$39.95, Structured 

Crossbody bag RRP$29.95, Metallic Knot bag RRP$29.95. See www.colettehayman.com.au for stores. 

Spring pastels

Bring sexy back u 

Laura Mercier brings sexy back 

with its new Lingerie Colour 

Collection Limited Edition 

makeup. The look is soft and 

subtle to reflect the pastel trends 

in fashion and includes coral 

tones for lips and creamy peach 

cheeks. Individual products from 

RRP$39; available at David Jones 

QueensPlaza, city or online at 

www.lauramercier.com. 

BEAUTY BAR 

Compiled by Ashleigh Wilson 

Spring makeup 

t Exotic India 

The Clarins Enchanted Summer 

Collection is inspired by the colours of 

India and includes a limited edition eye 

colour and liner palette, a revamped 

version of its kohl pencil and two new 

limited edition shades of lip balm. 

Products from RRP$34 at Myer, David 

Jones and selected pharmacies. 

Mix it up p 

Dior’s Summer Mix is a capsule collection of four 

pop colours for lips and nails. Dior Vernis Gloss 

(RRP$39) for nails can be mixed not matched for 

supercharged style effect with Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss 

(RRP$49). Colours go wild on nails in cranberry pink, 

pomegranate red, acid yellow and curacao blue while 

lips glisten in shades of gold, orange, rose and red. 

For stockists call (02) 9695 4800. 

Get Naked 

Nude tones and rich gold shimmer in Illamasqua’s 

new collection Naked Strangers. The range 

includes daring nail colours, lip-gloss and 

blushers. Products from RRP$33 at Myer, city. 

t Gold rocks 

Shimmering gold, copper and bronze multitonal 

bronzing rocks from UK brand 

MeMeMe Cosmetics gives an all-over 

instant glow. Goddess Rocks can 

be applied across the body, on the 

eyelids for a smoky metallic look, 

swept across cheeks for a natural 

flush or mixed with gloss for a 

metallic lip tint. RRP$36.95 online at 

www.mememecosmetics.com.au. 


healthy 

What are you afraid of? 

Serious fears can turn into long-term mental health 

problems if left untreated. Katrina Scott reports 

Spiders, darkness, thunderstorms, even 

costume characters can make the world a 

scary place for a child. While it’s normal 

for children to experience certain fears, when 

those fears develop into phobias the effects can 

be long-lasting. 

Dr Allison Waters, associate professor at 

the School of Applied Psychology, Griffith 

University, is half way through a study looking 

into the deepest fears of children. She says fears 

are common in children and they come and go 

with time, but there are cases when they just 

don’t grow out of them. “Approximately 80 per 

cent of adult phobias develop in childhood and 

about 12 per cent of all children develop some 

kind of phobia,” she says. 

According to Dr Waters, fears and phobias 

are one of the most common mental health 

problems affecting children and can increase 

the risk of other mental health problems 

later in development, such as other anxiety 

problems and depression, if left untreated. 


Bob*, now in his 60s, developed Social 

Anxiety Disorder as a 12-year-old. At times he 

believed people were going to eat him and in 

2005 he had a nervous breakdown, reigniting 

his condition. “I couldn’t do anything, I 

couldn’t leave the house, I couldn’t drive a car, 

I was very sick. The sickness wouldn’t go away.” 

The not-for-profit organisation beyondblue 

explains that people with social phobias try to 

avoid situations in which they fear they may act 

in a way that is humiliating or embarrassing. 

Through the help of the Southside Anxiety 

Disorder Group and his family, Bob has got 

back behind the wheel and, a year after his 

breakdown, he was able to fly to Sydney for 

the NRL grand final. Bob admits he will never 

be fully cured but he has learnt to manage his 

condition and now he helps others through the 

support group. 

Dr Waters and her team began the Griffith 

University Childhood Fears and Phobias study 

earlier this year with the aim to help children 

overcome their phobias. “Our major goal is 

to test the effectiveness of short, intensive 

treatments. We are also examining whether 

two novel additions to this single session of 

exposure therapy can help improve outcomes 

even further,” she says. 

Common phobias for children include 

darkness, animals, heights, thunderstorms 

and fear of costume characters or balloons. Dr 

Waters says fears of certain situations such as 

darkness can be quite debilitating for children, 

often in their own home. “Going to bed can 

be a very difficult time for families. This also 

results in problems with other things including 

sleepovers and school camps,” she says. 

Griffith University is recruiting children for its Childhood 

Fears and Phobias study, which runs until December, 

at both the Brisbane and Gold Coast campuses. 

Interested families can phone 3735 3349 or email 

cadrp@griffith.edu.au for more information. If you or 

someone you know is experiencing serious fears or 

phobias contact the beyondblue info line on 1300 224 

636 or see www.beyondblue.org.au. 

AUSTRALIA’S 10 moST 

common phobIAS 

1. Arachnophobia: fear of spiders; tends to 

affect women more than men. 

2. Ophidiophobia: fear of snakes; often 

attributed to evolutionary causes, personal 

experiences, or cultural influences. 

3. Acrophobia: fear of heights; can lead to 

anxiety attacks and avoidance of high places. 

4. Agoraphobia: fear of situations in which 

escape is difficult. This may include crowded 

areas, open spaces, or situations that are likely 

to trigger a panic attack. 

5. Cynophobia: fear of dogs; often associated 

with specific personal experiences. 

6. Astraphobia: fear of thunder and lightning, 

also known as Brontophobia, Tonitrophobia, or 

Ceraunophobia. 

7. Trypanophobia: fear of injections. 

8. Social phobias: fear of social situations; can 

become so severe that people avoid events, 

places and people that are likely to trigger an 

anxiety attack. 

9. Pteromerhanophobia: fear of flying; often 

treated using exposure therapy in which the 

client is gradually and progressively introduced 

to flying. 

10. Mysophobia: fear of germs or dirt; may be 

related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

Source: Anxiety Disorders Association of Victoria 

(ADAVIC) 

*Name changed for privacy

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living 

interiorS + outdoorS + home deSign 

Through the glass 

An exhibition of unusual and intricate glass sculpture is coming 

to Brisbane. Laura Stead reports 

At first glance, the works of artist Kayo 

Yokoyama are beautiful, peaceful 

and delicate. Formed predominantly 

around glass bowls and etched with intricate, 

wistful detail that invite a closer look, many 

pieces contain miniature wooden chairs, a 

metaphor for the Japanese-born, Sydneybased 

artist’s search for a homeland. 

“The chair represents where I belong and 

the homeland is a place I search for. While I 

am sitting among trees, I am in my homeland,” 

she says. The indistinct trees are open to 

interpretation but are inspired by the gum 

trees visible from her backyard in the Blue 

Mountains. 

Yokoyama found home-away-from-home 

at 16 on her first trip abroad when she spent 

a year on student exchange to America. She 

returned to Japan, but only for a few years, 

completing a degree in economics before the 

draw to the West called once again. She spent 

more time travelling around America, adopted 

western culture as her own, and further travels 

brought her eventually to settle in Australia 

with her husband and two children. Once here 

she embarked on a new path, studying at the 

Sydney College of Art. 

“I fitted in right away when I came to 

Australia. “It’s the lifestyle, the people, the 

landscape, everything. It’s so large and open 

and if you put your mind to it you can do 

anything here.” 

For Yokoyama that means being an artist 

who uses glass as her canvas and over a 

decade she has earned a reputation for her 

unique personal perspective, with pieces 

ranging in size from just five centimeters 

high to more than 40 centimetres, and 

Red Hill Gallery will host the artist’s 

first solo exhibition in Brisbane which 

opens this week. Almost 70 pieces will 

be on display and for sale at prices 

ranging from $110 to more than 

$3000, with many in the $300 to 

$500 range. 

Yokoyama doesn’t blow all the 

vases and bowls herself, but she 

does spend many labour-intensive 

hours engraving the delicate pieces 

with her diamond-tipped tools in a 

technique that harks back to ancient 

Roman and Egyptian cultures. 

“Glass is such a beautiful material 

and it’s such a hard material as well, 

you need a lot of technique to work 

with it. The engraving is very timeconsuming. 

It depends on the size, but 

one piece takes anywhere from two to 

three hours up to weeks for me to complete 

and nobody can claim that time in the cost 

of their works, so not many people do it 

these days. 

“All I want is for people to look at them 

and say ‘I want that’. They can take it home 

and be happy, with a smile on their face.” 

Kayo Yokoyama’s exhibition is at Red Hill Gallery on 

10 to 29 August. See www.redhillgallery.com.au 

Standing Together, 

one of Kayo Yokoyama 

glass artworks 

at Red Hill Gallery 




A dry creek bed has 

been created to help 

manage water flow 


bliving 

Outdoors 

Shades of grey 

Jody Rigby discovers a native garden in Red Hill 

with a modern twist 

When landscape designer Paul Stein 

first stepped onto the 1500-squaremetre 

Red Hill property featured on 

these pages he was faced with a few challenges. 

“There were overland flow issues and a 

stormwater easement to maintain,” he recalls. 

A rock-lined swale (or ditch) was needed to 

control the water flow and Stein found the 

solution in creating a dry creek bed to meander 

through the space, just like any natural low 

contours you’d see in nature, but with a twist. 

“The building has many grey tones and a strong 

contemporary feel so angular bluestone was 

used for a contemporary dry creek bed instead 

of trying to make it look completely natural,” 

says Stein, who heads Paddington-based Seed 

Landscape Design. 

But more was needed to manage the 

water flow and Stein also installed gabion 

walls (cages filled with bluestone) to slow 

the movement of water down the block and 

help stabilise the soil. They also redirect and 

disperse the flow so there is no pooling or 

flooding in heavy rainfalls. Gabion walls are 

ideal for sloping blocks that need retaining 

and can be pre-fabricated into curves. 

The homeowners at the Red Hill property 

also had given Stein a brief for the work to 

be environmentally-friendly so the bluestone 

came from local quarries, recycled railway 

sleepers were reused, native and indigenous 

plantings were used, turf and plants were 

chosen to be drought-tolerant (to reduce 

water usage) and trees were planted to the 

west to maximise the natural cooling of 

the building. 

With a young family at home turf (also 

drought-tolerant) was also a big priority and a 

sandpit was included for play. 

With such a modern façade to the rear 

of the property, with its geometric blocks 

of white and charcoal, the informal native 

garden softens the space and materials were 

selected to complement the exterior, like 

weathered timber cladding. 

Pool fencing continues the theme with the 

same timber used for the sides of the pool, 

which conceals a sweeping driveway on one 

side. Frameless glass pool fencing on the lawn 

side extends views from the indoors to the 

plants and garden beyond. 

Hard surfaces follow the same themes of 

colour and texture with grey granite pavers 

around the pool and weathered hardwood 

railway sleepers used as steppers throughout 

the garden, sunk in to ground level, and to 

retain the sand in the children’s sandpit. They 

were also used to make a rustic ‘bridge’. 

Plants were selected for similar water 

and sun requirements, and with fibrous 

roots to help soil binding and avoid erosion, 

but foliage colour and texture were also 

important. Grey foliage was used throughout 

with shrubs such as Westringia ‘Zena’, 

Coast Rosemary and sprawling native grass 

Themeda ‘Mingo’. Another colour which

Recycled pavers 

These are some of my favourite natives 

that can be used to create your own 

bush garden: 

• Ivory curl tree (Buckinghamia 

celsissima) – more flowers than 

anything you’ve seen; 

• Grevillea ‘Golden Lyre’ – a gorgeous 

shade of honey yellow flowers 

throughout winter; 

• Fan flower (Scaevola aemula) – a 

carpet of mauve flowers and good 

weed suppressant; 

Plant colour themes complement the home 

Create a bush garden 

• Banksia ‘Giant Candles’ – bang for 

your buck on this compact sprawling 

shrub; 

• Honey myrtle (Melaleuca incana) – 

soft, cascading grey foliage; 

• Lemon-scented myrtle (Backhousea) 

– leaves smell like fresh citrus; 

• Australian fan palm (Licuala 

ramsayi) – bold foliage adding class 

to any garden; 

• Dianella ‘Little Rev’ – the perfect low 

blue-grey border grass. 

was used as an accent was lush tropical 

green with plants including Cunjevoi 

Alocasia brisbanensis, the tufted foliage 

of Isolepis nodosa, Knobby Club Rush and 

Anigozanthus spp ‘Kangaroo Paw’. 

Feature plants and trees are carefully 

positioned throughout and one of my 

favourite trees is a stand-out, the semideciduous 

Illawarra flame tree (Brachychiton 

acerifolius). Named for its maple-like foliage, 

this upright conical tree is ideal for medium 

to larger yards and has large glossy foliage 

for most of the year, revealing a blaze of 

fire-engine red flowers in spring and summer 

before the leaves return. It’s certainly a 

jody 

rigby 

Author and 

horticulturist 

breathtaking sight and just happens to flower 

at the same time as the Silky Oak (Grevillea 

robusta) and the Jacaranda (Jacaranda 

mimosifolia ), so if they’re planted near each 

other it’s a beautiful collection of colours. 

One of the more slow-growing plants 

onsite is also one of the more prized. The 

Grass Tree (Xanthorroea sp) grows only 

around a centimetre each year so you may 

find they’re on the pricey side to buy a 

mature metre-high specimen like the one 

positioned at the top of the drive in this 

Red Hill garden. I particularly like how the 

blackened trunk works with the colours 

of the house and the lemon yellow of the 

Kangaroo Paws. 

Brisbane City Council has a fantastic free native 

plants program so check out their website for 

more information on participating nurseries online 

at www.brisbane.qld.gov.au. 

Jody Rigby is director of Jody Rigby Horticultural Services. 


living 

Home 

Is solar future 

still bright? 

The solar landscape is 

changing but there are still 

benefits to householders, 

writes Laura Stead 


The financial incentive to install solar power 

may have changed since rebates and tariffs 

were slashed last month but that shouldn’t 

be a turn-off for homeowners, say the experts. 

Energex is currently processing 70,000 

applications, which will add to 148,000 customers 

already connected to solar power in South East 

Queensland alone. However, the number of 

applications is predicted to slow since the decrease 

in benefit earned by households exporting power 

back to the electricity grid dropped from 44 cents 

per kilowatt hour to 8 cents on 9 July. 

The state government rebate on new system 

installations also was scrapped in July. However, 

under the federal government Solar Credits 

Program, people buying a new solar photovoltaic 

(PV) solar system still receive an upfront discount 

on their purchase. 

The amount of Renewable Energy Credits 

(REC) new customers are entitled to varies by 

region and among suppliers, but the first 1.5kW 

of any system still attracts double credits on any 

agreement. However, this will drop back to single 

credits in July next year. 

According to renewable energy expert Trevor 

Berrill, this means customers can expect to receive 

around $1800 rebate currently on a 1.5kW system. 

“Don’t stress out that you’ve missed out (if 

you didn’t lodge an application for a new solar 

connection before 9 July),” says Berrill. “Solar is 

still affordable. It’s a very competitive industry, 

too, so we’ll likely see the prices come down again 

with technology developments.” 

A long-standing advocate of solar power, both 

for sustainability and financial reasons, Berrill 

retrofitted solar panels to his home around 10 

years ago and was one of the first in Queensland 

to connect to the grid. He added more panels last 

year to increase the size of his system to a total 

3kW, at a cost of $10,000, and now lives with his 

wife entirely off the power generated by their 

home system, as well as earning around $1000 

each year in rebates by feeding their excess power 

back to the grid. 

“We only need 1.5kW for our day-to-day 

use, so the extra 1.5kW affects our income from 

the system,” he says. “The average Australian 

household uses around 22 units per day; we use 

three to four. When I tell people that they think 

we must live in the dark and have warm beer, but

that’s not the case at all. Energy efficiency doesn’t 

have to mean making sacrifices in lifestyle.” 

However, Michelle Arthur, from Smartt Group 

Solar Systems, cautions homeowners about 

purchasing a larger solar power system than they 

need with the aim to make a profit by selling 

excess power back to the grid because it no longer 

offers the same financial rewards as in the past. 

While the current Queensland Solar Bonus 

Scheme feed-in tariff (FIT) is 8c/kWh, some 

suppliers are offering up to double that amount to 

stand out in the market. For example, AGL offers 

16 cents per kWh, while Origin and True Energy 

electricity customers are being offered 14 cents. 

“What people need to be looking at is their 

current energy usage and have someone do an 

audit and advise them about the correct system 

for their needs,” Arthur says. “Gone are the days 

where everybody was getting big systems installed 

to make money back.” 

But, she says the drop in FIT rates shouldn’t 

distract people from installing solar power, noting 

electricity prices are set to continue to rise for 

some time. “Electricity’s only going to be going up, 

so why not generate our own?” 

Installing a solar PV system is a complex 

decision and an important one to get right, says 

Sunelec’s Karen Marks, particularly in terms of 

the quality of the system. 

“What surprises me is the amount of people 

who don’t know about the product they’re 

buying,” she says. Making a decision based only 

on price can be dangerous, she claims, as people 

can be caught with an inferior product. 

With the rush to install thousands of solar 

systems after the recent flood of applications, 

Marks says it’s vital to deal with a reputable 

company certified by the governing authority, the 

Clean Energy Council. “If someone goes out of 

business, the product they’re sold no longer holds 

a warranty and it’s hard to find a company who 

will honour the warranty,” she says. 

“It’s very important to use suppliers for both 

the system and the inverter that are based here 

in Australia, which includes Aurora, Conergy and 

SMA Solar. 

“Quality of installation is also vital – when 

people are shopping around they do need to get 

a pre-installation inspection done and work out 

how their installer is going to work around their 

roof tiles. We take the tile off then put it back on 

to fit securely whereas some installers are drilling 

through the tile which can crack and break them.” 

Whether you’re running solar power or not, 

the biggest impact you can make on your energy 

costs is to conserve as much as possible, says 

Trevor Berrill, who is also the author of the 

Solar Electricity Consumer Guide, published by 

Which Energy. 

“Look to efficient lighting systems like 

compact and strip fluorescents and LED lamps 

and just make progressive improvements,” he 

says. “I replaced the 200-watt bulb in my bedside 

table lamp with a 5-watt LED bulb and I get just as 

much light out of that. 

“In the home we also use laptops which are 

designed to run on batteries, they use a third 

of the power of a desktop computer. My advice 

is when buying new appliances, buy the most 

efficient you can afford. That progressively 

reduces your power demand, lowering your costs 

significantly over time.” 

For a free copy of Solar Electricity Consumer Guide 

published by Which Energy see www.bmag.com.au or 

call 1300 642 447. 

Top Tips 

• As a general guide, a 1.5kW will suit 

low-use homes, 3kW is for use up 

to 15 units or 15kWh per day which 

would provide 30 to 60 per cent 

of the home’s electricity demand, 

while 20 units per day usage 

requires a 4kW to 5kW unit 

• Always look to combine solar 

power with energy conservation 

measures such as low consumption 

appliances and lighting 

• Solar PV units add to the resale 

value of a home 

• You must apply to your electricity 

retailer for a feed-in-tariff (FIT) 

when you purchase a PV system 

and have a FIT metre fitted to your 

system in order to claim the feed-in 

tariff from your supplier 

• Shop around for the highest price 

for your exported electricity and 

ensure that is matched with a low 

price for imported electricity 

• Check your household insurance 

covers the cost of replacement of 

your PV system 

• Find out more online at 

www.cleanenergycouncil.com.au 


Education, training & SkillS 


ExcEllEncE in aviation training 

A career in aviation can bring you 

prestige, security and financial 

reward, but to be sure your career 

gets off to a flying start, you need 

the sort of professional training 

that ensures your qualifications are 

internationally respected. 

Aviation Australia’s team of 

lecturers and instructors is made 

up of highly experienced people 

from every area of the international 

aviation and aerospace industries, 

so students can be confident 

they’ll graduate with a level of skill 

and knowledge that is up-to-date, 

relevant and a great advantage 

when seeking employment. 

Their modern training facility 

is located within the operational 

precinct of the Brisbane International 

and Domestic Airport, providing 

students a real world learning 

environment. With access to a range 

of fixed and rotary wing aircraft, 

cabin simulators and authentic 

simulated operational environments, 

students gain practical, hands-on 

training that’s challenging, exciting 

and interesting. 

Aviation Australia is a complete 

learning and lifestyle experience 

from which students emerge well 

qualified and well equipped to begin 

a career where the sky is the limit. 

“The training was excellent. I would 

highly recommend Aviation Australia 

to anyone who was thinking about 

pursuing a career in Aviation.” 

- Melinda Ralph, Graduate 

www.aviationauStralia.aEro 

phonE (07) 3860 0900

nudgEE collEgE opEnS itS doorS 

As a Catholic school 

in the Edmund Rice 

Tradition, St Joseph’s 

Nudgee College 

encourages students 

to become Signum 

Fidei – Signs of 

Faith – for the world 

and is committed 

to preparing them 

for life beyond the 

College gates. 

Whether a 

student’s interest lies 

in the academic, 

community, cultural, 

faith, sporting, 

or vocational 

arena, Nudgee College’s holistic 

approach to education ensures the 

opportunities offered to, and the 

principles instilled in, him during his 

time at the College will help to set 

him up for when he leaves. 

Visitors can experience this 

environment for themselves on 

Tuesday August 14 when Nudgee 

College holds its final Open Day for 

2012. With Year 7 officially becoming 

part of high school in 2015, and 

Nudgee College commencing the 

process at an academic level from 

icEntrE at Mount alvErnia collEgE 

In response to the changing needs of 

learners, the Mount Alvernia library has 

journeyed from traditional resource 

provision to connecting our learners with 

the skills, tools and information necessary 

in a digital age. This journey involved the 

development of the iCentre website where 

learners can access information, keep 

up to date with emerging technologies, 

fiction publications and learning tools. The 

use of Facebook and Twitter engages our 

learners with push technologies. These, 

and other social media tools such as 

Goodreads, give students the opportunity 

of developing a positive, digital footprint 

which is such an important aspect of 

citizenship in the 21st century. 

The iCentre supports our whole 

community. Parents can keep up to 

date with the changing information 

landscape, join our parent book club, 

and keep informed about cybersafety 

issues. Teachers can use the iCentre 

website as an important component of 

their professional learning network, and 

students can access and contribute to 

this dynamic space at school or online. 

We live in exciting times, and the iCentre 

takes full advantage of the new ways 

we connect and collaborate with our 

learners. 

This project was acknowledged by 

next year, families who are interested 

in commencing in 2014, 2015 or 2016 

are encouraged to come along. 

For details and to RSVP visit 

www.nudgee.com. 

Families who are unable to attend 

the Open Day but who would like to 

find out what Nudgee College can 

offer their son, should also visit 

www.nudgee.com. 

www.nudgEE.coM 

phonE (07) 3865 0555 

the School Library Association of Qld as 

exemplary in embedding information 

literacy skills into the curriculum. You can 

find our website by going to 

http://www.mta-icentre.mta.qld.edu.au/. 

Follow us on Twitter and ‘Like us’ on 

Facebook and join the conversation. 

www.Mta.qld.Edu.au 

phonE (07) 3357 6000 

Education, training & SkillS 

Mount Alvernia College is committed to a holistic education 

providing a wide range of academic, cultural, sporting and outreach 

programmes. Visit our website for more information on our College. 

Contact Jodi Walsh, Enrolments Secretary, for more information 

on 3632 8508. 



Climbing high above Q1 

btravel 

Wet and wild 

Laura Nolan finds her heart pounding as she tries 

out some of the Gold Coast’s most thrilling activities 

While Hervey Bay is well-known 

as a whale-spotting destination, 

closer to home the Gold 

Coast is emerging as another top spot 

to glimpse the annual Humpback whale 

migration. The whale-watching season is 

well underway, as they make the 5000km 

journey from Antarctica to warmer waters 

off the Great Barrier Reef to give birth 

and mate, and continues until November 

when they travel back down the coast. 

Although Brisbane born and raised 

I’ve never seen a whale in the wild before, 

so I was excited to set off on a morning 

whale-watching tour with Tallship Island 

Adventures, boarding the luxurious 

32 metre high speed catamaran that 

would take us from the calm waters of 

the marina on Seaworld Drive out to the 

“whale sanctuary”. 

It’s a bit of a bumpy ride once we 

emerge from the Gold Coast Seaway and 

hit the rougher open ocean but half the 

fun is braving the motions of the boat 

while straining to see the wildlife as we 

whiz down the coast towards Burleigh. 

I was glad I’d taken motion-sickness 

tablets before leaving (a good tip to follow 

whether you get seasick or not). Better 

safe than sorry. 

There’s soon a competition on board 

to see who can spot the first whale. 

When we do finally spot them, they 

move with surprising grace through the 

water. Another three Humpbacks make 

an appearance, their renowned bumpybacks 

bobbing rhythmically out of the 

waves. One even raises its tail into the air, 

waving at us. 

Back on shore there are more thrills 

in store for adrenalin junkies on the 

SkyPoint Climb on top of the Gold Coast’s 

tallest building, the iconic Q1. You won’t 

get a better view of the Coast, even behind 

glass on the observation deck. The climb 

officially opened in January this year and 

takes small groups of around 10 people 

to the top of the tower four times a day. 

Q1 is a staggering 322.5 metres tall and 

97 metres of this is the metal spire at the 

top of the building. The SkyPoint Climb 

takes the group to a viewing platform 

270 metres above the ground outside the 

tower and part way up the spire. 

I take the climb at twilight and once 

my group is strapped snuggly into our 

harnesses, we travel up 77 floors before 

heading out a glass air-locked room to 

start the climb. The climb itself is only 

about 30 metres of steps but underfoot it’s 

a clear vertical drop. At a point close to 

the top we are invited to let go of the rails, 

put our full weight into our harness and

Shaken and stirred 

on the Broadwater 

lean right over the side. I’m not normally 

scared of heights but even I had visions 

of falling splat on the footpath far below 

which made me hesitate...just for a 

moment...before I leaned out, heart 

pounding, buffeted by the wind while I 

had my picture taken. 

It’s a clear night and we can see all 

the way to Stradbroke Island and past 

the New South Wales border. Some 

climbers have even spotted whales 

from up here. As the sun sets over the 

mountains of the Gold Coast hinterland, 

the city really starts to glitter and the 

skyscrapers come to life in bright lights. 

New Zealand may have once 

cornered the tourist market for jet 

boating but now it’s another adventure 

that takes off from Mariner’s Cove 

on Seaworld Drive with Paradise Jet 

Boating. The hour-long trip twists, slides 

and spins its way around Broadwater, up 

to Sovereign Island and back down past 

South Stradbroke Island. It’s seriously 

fun as we dart quickly through the waves 

and we skirt centimetres away from the 

shore and cut so close to buoys and signs 

that we surely will crash into them, but 

the powerful engine shoots us around 

without any problem. You get absolutely 

soaking wet, even with spray jackets 

provided, so it’s best not to take your 

best sunglasses or wear mascara (which I 

found out the 

hard way). 

It’s enough to work up an appetite 

and the best place to satisfy that is QT 

Bazaar inside the funky new QT hotel – 

hands down the best buffet on the Coast. 

The only problem here is that you may 

overeat! Every night there are more than 

100 dishes across 13 themed sections 

from roasts and salads to seafood and 

Asian flavours. The food lives up to the 

brilliance of the restaurant’s vibe and the 

service is uncanny – staff seem to know 

what you want even before you ask for it. 

After all the buzz, it was a relief to 

return to my home for the night – a 

luxury one bedroom suite (bigger than 

my apartment in Brisbane) at Peppers 

Broadbeach, one of the newest five-star 

high-rise resort hotels on the Gold Coast. 

I only stopped briefly at the minibar (why 

not treat myself?) before jumping straight 

in the extra-large bath to soak. Ahhh, 

sometimes the simplest pleasures are just 

as thrilling! 

For your chance to win a whale 

WIN watching holiday on the Gold Coast 

for a family of 4, see page 8 


entertained 

Books and shows 

eArLS reVeALS 

whAT’S normAL 

When Brisbane author Nick Earls 

discovered there was a town in the 

US called Normal he was intrigued 

and immediately inspired to make it the theme 

of his latest book Welcome to Normal. “I thought 

if there’s a town called Normal there must be 

roads leading into that town and as you’re 

driving along that road the sign says Welcome 

to Normal and that kind of amused me.” 

What Earls produced is a collection of eight 

intimate short stories “about people leading 

normal lives or lives that look normal on the 

surface,” he says. 

There is the odd reference to Brisbane 

with characters such as workmates Craig and 


Martin in the title story who travel to the US 

for a business conference and then decide to 

take a detour to Normal. Earls didn’t go as far 

as travelling there himself but, in the world of a 

new age author, he clicked on to Google Earth to 

“drive around the streets of Normal and see what 

it was all like”. 

But not all the stories are set in Normal. Earls 

admits he found inspiration for another story by 

‘people watching’ as he waited for his coffee tins 

to be refilled at the local Merlo Torrefazione in 

Brisbane. From an Australian winemaker trying 

to crack the market in Taiwan to holidaymakers 

in Spain, Earls’ stories peel back the layers of lives 

less ordinary. RRP$29.95, Random House. 

PAGE TurnerS 

Say You’re Sorry 

This latest chiller thriller from the master crime writer Michael Robotham 

sees the return of clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin teaming up once 

more with the tough but warm-hearted ex-cop Vincent Ruiz as they attempt 

to uncover the truth about two missing girls and two brutal murders. Early 

reviews describe it as confronting and harrowing but defintely a pageturner. 

Out 14 August, RRP$29.99, Sphere. 

After 

From the author who is best-known for his hilarious junior fiction comes 

the final instalment in a more heartfelt series Once, Then, Now and After. In 

Morris Gleitzman’s latest novel, set in World War II, Jewish boy Felix faces 

his toughest challenge to find hope in Nazi-occupied Poland when he’s lost 

almost everything, including his parents. RRP$19.99, Penguin. 

Fit, Fifty and Fired Up 

The latest book by Nigel Marsh (the bestselling author of Fat, Forty and 

Fired and Overworked and Underlaid) will have you laughing out loud as 

the father-of-four ponders a number of life’s big questions in the next stage 

of his life. Marsh continues his memoir 10 years on as he grapples with the 

challenges of raising a family and earning a living. RRP$29.99, Allen and 

Unwin. 

The Marmalade Files 

With a combined 40 years experience in political journalism Steve Lewis 

and Chris Uhlmann have joined forces to create this thriller filled with 

intrigue, scandal and larger than life characters. The Marmalade Files show 

the sticky side to politics as seasoned newshound Harry Dunkley is slipped 

a compromising photograph and must negotiate the deadly corridors of 

power in search of the scoop. RRP$29.99, HarperCollins. 

Compiled by Katrina Scott

BEST IN SHOW 

The Harbinger 

A sell-out at La Boite Indie 2011 this is a refreshed version of an adult 

fairytale by the Dead Puppet Society, which merges live performance, 

animation, staged illusions and a giant three-metre high old man 

puppet. From 10 August to 1 September at La Boite. Tickets from $22 

(students) to $52. Book at www.laboite.com.au or call 3007 8600. 

1984 

Big Brother is back in this electric stage adaptation of the George 

Orwell classic from Shake & Stir Theatre. Oceania is a nation 

perpetually at war, cameras watch every move and the ‘thought 

police’ are patrolling the streets. From 16 August to 1 September at 

Cremorne Theatre, QPAC. Tickets $30 to $46 plus fee. Call 136 246 

or book online at www.qpac.com.au. 

The Crucible 

This QUT student production of the Arthur Miller play gives Miller’s 

original critique of 1950s McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials 

a fresh connection to Occupy Wall Street, the Greek riots and 

other events of the 21st Century. From 13 to 18 August at Gardens 

Theatre, QUT. Tickets $15 to $25. Call 3138 4455 or book online at 

www.gardenstheatre.qut.edu.au. 

Pam Ann 

The world’s most outrageous airline hostess and gossip queen 

flies into Australia for her first live performances here since 

leaving her home turf in 2008. She is glamorous, hilarious and 

loves to wear Pucci. Fasten your seatbelts. From 12 to 14 August 

at Brisbane Powerhouse. Tickets $45 to $50. Call 3358 8600 or see 

www.brisbanepowerhouse.org to book. 

Compiled by Chris Herden 

CelebratINg 

lIFe ON eartH 

Sir David Attenborough is the 

quintessential intrepid world traveller 

who has introduced people the world 

over to the extraordinary wonders of wildlife. 

With a distinguished career in broadcasting 

that has spanned nearly six decades, the much 

loved naturalist and presenter is renowned as 

the face and voice of natural history. 

For more than 30 years he has been 

compiling a comprehensive survey of all life 

on the planet beginning in 1979 with Life on 

Earth, a benchmark in quality to a generation 

of documentary film-makers, and which has 

been seen by an estimated 500 million people 

around the world. 

Next week he will be in Brisbane for his live 

discourse, Sir David Attenborough – A Life on 

Earth, which will take audiences on a journey 

through his extraordinary life. He gives his 

behind-the-scenes observations regarding 

the evolution of filming techniques and his 

passion for bringing us closer to nature. “I’m so 

much looking forward to coming to Brisbane. 

I’ll be talking about some of the wonderful 

adventures I’ve had, but there will be a few 

stories I haven’t told.” 

Share Sir David’s experiences with the great 

man in person. Monday 13 August, Concert Hall, 

QPAC. Tickets from $95 plus fee. Call 136 246 or 

book online at www.qpac.com.au. 



bseen 

Chris Durling and Kat Hoyos 

Amy Remeikis 

Lisa Adam and 

Anthony Harkin 

Tim Hartwig and Alida Davis 

JERSEY BEAT 

The cast of Jersey Boys joined guests 

of the show to launch the Seabreeze 

Lounge where special themed cocktails 

and the Jersey beat grooves on during 

the Brisbane season of the hit musical 

Ryan Hynes and Jessica Lawes 

Graham Foote and Emily Cascarino 

Keri and Viki 

Backer 

Hayley Quinn and Dean Pitt 

Photography by Marc Grimwade 

Michelle Smitheram and Cameron McDonald

Photography by Jaime Dormer 

Samantha Hallett, Courtney Elsemore and Ashleigh Dodt 

AwArds 

just swell 

Surf Life Saving Queensland 

announced its annual awards 

at Victoria Park Golf Complex 

David Cox, Sharon Dibb and Mary Caldwell 

Photography by Adele Rowlands-Dealey 

Ricky Raba and Bethany Probst 

Stacey Ferreira and Gary Ferreira 

Sarah Hesse, Bec Turner and Cairetin Knight 

Peter Albury and Lucas Burnham 

CHArITY 

CABARet 

Draculas on the Gold Coast 

hosted a charity night to raise 

funds for gay and lesbian 

youth suicide prevention 

Erin Gibson and Teisha Towner 

Melinda Peters and Dylan Peters 

Carmen Taykett 


delicious 

Restaurant review 

The Villager, city 

Pub food isn’t what it used to be, 

as Jeremy Ryland discovers 

The “gastropub” originated in 

the UK in the early 1990s as a 

place to get quality food in a 

relaxed atmosphere, reinvigorating 

both pub culture and British dining, 

although it has occasionally attracted 

criticism for potentially removing the 

character of traditional pubs. 

The Villager, in the CBD, calls 

itself a “Gastrobar” – and is indeed 

a traditional pub-style bar with a 

dining area attached, serving classic 

comfort pub food with a modern 

twist and some Asian variants. 

The dinner menu includes a 

duck breast with braised lentils and 

English spinach ($28), a very tender 

beef rib, slow-cooked and served 

with truffle mash ($29) and a classic 

eye fillet with truffle polenta and 

sautéed mushrooms ($35) – which we 

teamed with excellent fresh hand-cut 


chips ($9) and a roasted walnut, pear, 

pecorino and roquette salad ($9). 

Finish with an English pub classic 

“Eton Mess” – a mess of meringue, 

strawberries, cream and crème 

anglaise ($13), a chocolate gateau 

($13) or perhaps a cheese board with 

a selection of cheeses ($21). 

Each dish has a recommended 

wine to match it – and there is a good 

range of wines by the glass as well as 

bottled wine, cocktails and beers. 

The Villager is open for breakfast 

from 7am to 10.30am on weekdays 

and from 8am until noon on 

Saturdays serving toast, muffins, 

poached eggs and omelettes, through 

to the classic “Big Breakfast”. 

There are some lighter selections 

for lunch such as a vegetarian 

quesadilla ($16) and a Wagyu burger 

($18) and a range of sharing tapas 

style dishes ($8 to $15) for all-day 

snacking. Vegetarians and are well 

catered for and gluten-free dishes 

are also available. 

The restored building has several 

dining areas, including balcony 

dining on level one and a supper 

club on the top floor available for 

private dining. 

The service is friendly, personal 

and relaxed – although perhaps a 

touch slow. The atmosphere is a 

little noisy with exposed brick walls 

and wooden floors, but also cosy 

with antique leather armchairs. 

The Villager is reminiscent of the 

old fashioned village pub – a place 

to meet, relax, take things slowly 

and enjoy good food and wine 

while watching the world go by. 

Professor Jeremy Ryland is a Master of 

Gastronomy and food scientist 

NEED 

To 

KNoW 

CHEF: 

Chris Sharpe 

ADDRESS: 

185 George Street, city 

TELEPHoNE: 

3211 1300 

oNLINE: 

www.thevillager.com.au 

LICENSED/byo: 

Fully Licensed 

PRICES: 

Breakfast $4.50 to $18; 

lunch $16 to $19; 

dinner, mains $22 to $35, 

desserts $9 to $21 

oPEN TIMES: 

From 7am until late 

Monday to Friday; from 

8am until midnight 

Saturday 

SCoRE: 1 3 /20 

All visits are undisclosed and all meals are paid for in full

Ergonomic design 

The award-winning German designers 

of the NEFF Slide and Hide oven studied 

the way people cook to streamline 

features that free the mind for culinary 

creativity. As well as the space saving 

‘slide and hide’ oven door, an ergonomic 

handle eliminates awkward wrist 

movements to make opening the oven 

door easier and is particularly helpful 

for cooks with weak wrists or arthritis. 

It has 14 functions including settings 

for making pizza and bread, and for 

defrosting, roasting and steaming. 

Model B46W74NOGB RRP$2999. 

KITCHEN WIZ 

Colour clout u 

The green stainless steel gas cooktop 

is part of a collection designed for 

Smeg by Australian-born and 

internationally-renowned Marc 

Newson. Includes five gas burners, 

integral automatic ignition and 

flame failure safety cut-out. Also 

available in black, yellow, blue, white 

and silver. Model P755SV, RRP$1890. 

t Family 

practicality 

Blanco’s Dual Fuel 

Freestanding Cooker 

is a fusion of robust 

construction with 

attractive European 

design. The tripleglazed 

door makes it cooler to touch for family safety and the 

removable inner glass door makes cleaning easy. There are five 

shelf positions for cooking versatility in the large capacity oven, 

and central fish and wok burner. Model FD9085FX, RRP$3699. 

p Master chef’s delight 

Gaggenau’s classic EB388-110 has stood the test of time and 

is still a favourite of top chefs 20 years after it was launched. 

Built almost entirely by hand it’s made for entertaining with 

space for three to four joints, large-sized game or a small lamb; 

top and bottom heat control for finishing off a roast, or when 

baking or making gratins; and an automatic core temperature 

probe switches off the oven when a roast or fish has reached 

the desired temperature. It has 11 cooking methods and 

accessories include rotisserie, baking stone and automatic 

self-cleaning. RRP$14,999. 

t Tepanyaki star 

Cook Tepanyaki at home on the Ilve 

Quadra Series upright cooker with five-gas 

burner cooktop which includes a stainless 

steel hot plate and double electric oven 

with commercial-style control panel and 

knobs, and digital programmer. Available 

in stainless steel, bright white or gloss 

black. Model PD90FWMP/I, RRP$7749. 

Send kitchen gadget news to 

kitchenwiz@bmag.com.au. 


White picnic 

International pop-up picnic phenomenon, 

Le Dîner en Blanc (white dinner), will 

debut in Australia on Saturday 1 September 

in Brisbane. The event started in Paris 24 

years ago and now takes place in secret 

locations outdoors in 15 cities across five 

continents from Singapore to New York. 

Guests dress entirely in white and bring 

their picnic basket of food, fine china and 

silverware, white table and chairs to a 

rallying location and from there they will 

be taken to the dinner’s secret location. To 

attend the dinner you first have to register 

online by 17 August and join a waiting list as 

numbers are limited and, if selected, tickets 

cost about $30 each. For information and to 

register see brisbane.dinerenblanc.info. 


bdelicious 

TASTY BITS 

Ekka feast u 

Chefs joining Dominique Rizzo on the stage for the Royal 

Queensland Food and Wine Show Stage at Ekka from 9 

to 18 August include Adam Herbert from Cove, Moda’s 

Javier Codina and Bryant Wells of Tukka. More highlights 

include scone baking demonstrations by the CWA ladies, 

sausage and sourdough master classes, beer information 

sessions and tips from King of Cakes. But Ekka is also 

about the competition and award-winning producers of 

beef, lamb, wine, ice-cream, chocolate, cheese and beer will 

be centre stage. See www.ekka.com.au for the program. 

t Urban chef workshops 

Learn how to cook simple but stunning everyday 

recipes at monthly cooking workshops hosted by 

Hotel Urban’s executive chef Darren Clements (left). 

The themed sessions are held in the hotel’s new 

Green Room and include a line-up of easy, delicious 

recipes to be shared around the table along with a 

glass of bubbles. The theme of the next workshop 

will be How To Cater The Perfect Cocktail Party on 23 

August from 11am to 1pm followed by Lazy Sunday 

Breakfast on 27 September and a Summer Gourmet 

BBQ on 25 October. Each workshop costs $60 per 

person. Call 3831 6177 for bookings. 

KERRY 

HEANEY 

Foodie blogger 

New bistro on James Street p 

The brothers behind Valley night spot 

Laruche and West End’s Lychee Lounge, 

have opened a new hot spot in the newly 

buzzing James Street precinct. Gerard’s 

Bistro is tucked in behind Bucci on the 

corner of James and McLachlan Streets, a 

cool and contemporary eatery from owners 

Elie, Johnny and Mel Moubarak with head 

chef Ben Williamson in charge of the kitchen 

and serving up food inspired by southern 

Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa 

and designed with sharing in mind. Open for 

lunch (from 12noon) and dinner Tuesday to 

Sunday. Call 3852 3822 for bookings. 

Send your hot tips or foodie news 

to kerryh@bmag.com.au.

Black Forest 

biscuits 

GARY 

JOHNSON 

bmag’s guest chef 

Home-made biscuits are a treat at any tea party. 

Gary Johnson adds the rich decadence of dark 

chocolate and cherries 

INGREdIENTS 

Makes about 20 

130g butter, softened 

110g castor sugar 

75g brown sugar 

½ tspn vanilla essence 

1 egg beaten lightly 

200g plain flour, sifted 

50g dutch process cocoa powder, sifted 

½ tspn bi-carb soda, sifted 

½ tspn salt, sifted 

70g 70% dark chocolate, chopped 

90g dried sour cherries, chopped 

(available at delicatessens) 

METHOd 

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Beat butter and both 

sugars together with an electric mixer for 2-3 

minutes until light and fluffy. Add vanilla 

and egg and beat to combine well. Add 

sifted flour, cocoa, bi-carb soda and salt to 

mixture and mix well – the mixture will be 

pretty thick by this stage. Finally, add dark 

chocolate and dried sour cherries and mix in. 

Make rough shaped balls of mixture 

about 20g each and place on tray lined 

with baking powder. Make sure they 

have enough space to spread. 

Flatten slightly with the 

back of a fork. 

Bake for around 9 minutes until they have 

puffed up a little. Remove from oven and 

allow to cool slightly on the tray then move 

to wire rack to cool totally. They will flatten 

slightly as cooling. 

WINE 

Wines from gold 

medal winemakers 

to drink while 

watching the 

Olympic Games 

01 02 03 

01 Brygon Reserve The Bruce 

Chardonnay 2009, Margaret River 

A gold medal winner at the Margaret River 

Wine Show 2010, this Chardonnay’s fresh taste 

comes from being fermented in stainless steel 

tanks with the absence of oak. Crisp flavours 

of citrus and lime intensify the palate. Cool 

fermented until crystal clear. Made to drink 

now but will cellar up to 2019 in premium 

conditions. Match with warm tuna salad. 

RRP$19.99; online $12.99. 

02 Cape Geographe Cabernet 

Merlot 2010, Margaret River 

With fruit sourced from across the region, gold 

medal wine producer and judge Mark Warren 

has created a blend that is bright cherry black 

in colour, has cool, fragrant small berry aromas 

with a depth hinting of far more than simple 

fruits on the palate and ripe full flavours. This 

is a wine to enjoy now or cellar for up to three 

years. Match with wild mushroom risotto or 

lasagne. RRP$19.99; online $9.99. 

03 Third Wheel Reserve Cabernet Shiraz 

Merlot 2009, Margaret River 

A trophy winner in Best Red Blend categories at 

the Qantas Wine Show WA 2010 and the Sydney 

Royal Wine Show 2011, this wine displays 

rich fruit and red berry flavours with oaky 

characters, a full-flavoured palate of raspberry, 

currant and plum with a touch of spice and its 

warm tannins leave a soft finish. Match with 

pizza or pasta. RRP$19.99; online $14.99. 

See www.getwinesdirect.com or call 1300 559 463. 


Little engine that roars 

Skoda’s success sees range expand. 

Chris Nixon reports 

Skoda is like The Little Engine That 

Could. Once underrated as a gawky 

curiosity from the far side of the Iron 

Curtain, it’s become a successful division 

of Europe’s biggest automotive group, 

Volkswagen. And the Little Engine analogy is 

accurate, because at the heart of the make’s 

drive into Australian showrooms is a motor 

of just 1200cc. 

This little gem, called 77TSI, produces 

an energetic yet supremely economical 

77 kiloWatts of power for the Skoda Fabia, 

Yeti and Roomster small cars. 

The Fabia range, until now just two 

versions of a 1.2 manual hatchback, has 

just been expanded with the options of 


seven-speed automatic transmission, a high 

performance RS version (1.4 litre motor) and 

a station wagon in both standard and 

RS guise. 

The base Fabia manual hatchback is 

priced at $18,990 plus on-roads. The wagon 

is an extra $2000 and automatic $2300 more. 

The RS, boosted to 132kW by a turbocharger 

and a supercharger, is priced from $27,990. 

Skoda also has returned the Roomster 

to its line-up, this wagon having been part 

of the make’s introduction here in 2007 

and subsequently dropped. It also uses 

the 1.2TSI engine, while the bodywork and 

interior have been updated. 

The $22,490 Roomster has an appealing 

character and extremely versatile interior. It’s 

an economical family five-seater but, with 

the rear seats removed, can carry almost 1800 

litres of cargo. 

VolkSwageN amarok 

Skoda Fabia RS Wagon 

The new Skodas are welcome additions 

to the small-car market, where the choices 

for station wagon or performance models 

are few. 

Volkswagen, Skoda’s big brother in the multi- traction at low, off-road speeds and quieter, 

brand VW group, has added some valuable cheaper highway running. To satisfy trade and 

upgrades to its Amarok utility. Leading the commercial users, the Amarok is now available 

upgrades is, at last, the addition of an automatic with a single-cab body and the option of a 

transmission option. It’s a class-leading 

cab-chassis configuration to allow the fitment 

eight-speeder and comes with a new 420 of an aluminium trayback. 

Newtonmetre version of the 2.0 litre diesel engine, The single-cab with standard ute tub has 

but it’s available only for dual-cab models. impressive load capacity – a 2205mm-long 

The wide spread of gears delivers improved floor able to take two standard pallets. 

Prices quoted do not include statutory and dealer on-road charges unless otherwise stated







incorporating

informed 

Strange baggage 

You’d be surprised what some travellers put in their 

luggage, and what they leave behind. Leonie Briggs reports 

An urn of human ashes is an unexpected 

find in a busy passenger terminal, but 

dealing with mislaid belongings, from the 

unusual to the mundane, is all in a day’s work for 

lost property staff at Brisbane Airport’s domestic 

and international terminals. 

Happily, urn and ashes were reunited with 

family members in Australia, but not all cases 

end so well. Other memorable items left behind 

in recent years include a prosthetic leg and a set 

of false teeth. Somewhat understandably, these 

items were never reclaimed, but lost property 

manager Jenni Greaves – who believes she 

has seen it all in her 10 years on the job – still 

wonders how the owners managed the next stage 

of their journey. 

While most belongings are misplaced by 

absent-minded or harried passengers, some are 

discarded, like ironing boards, clothes airers and 

even a microwave oven. You might wonder why 

these items accompanied their owners to the 

airport in the first place. However, Greaves puts it 

down to budget-conscious students unaware of 

excess baggage costs. And the intrigue continues 

when owners leave their unwanted property 

next to bins, creating a security issue when they 

have to be checked to make sure they contain 

nothing harmful. 

Greaves says every effort is made to reunite 

owners with misplaced sunglasses, mobile 

phones, computer laptops and jewellery – on 

a scale that would fill a warehouse or two – but 

only about half is reclaimed. The remainder 

is kept for two months and then given to the 

Salvation Army or sold at auction and the 

proceeds distributed to nominated charities. 

Where an item is misplaced has a bearing on 

who people should contact. For instance, if an 

item is left on an aircraft, the airline is the one to 

call first. And Greaves warns women should take 

particular care of their rings when they go to the 

bathroom. “Women often lose rings when they 

take them off to wash their hands.” She recalls 

one woman “sobbing on the phone” over the 

loss of an $18,000 engagement ring. Another was 

more lucky and her ring was returned. “She was 

over the moon and she sent us a lovely bunch of 

flowers and a big box of chocolates.” 

Greaves also runs the airport’s Ambassador 

Program and says these roving volunteers, 

identified by royal blue shirts with a yellow, 

italicised i (for information) emblem on the 

back, are the first point of contact for passengers 

who have lost something, need directions or 

some other help. 

Australian Customs and Border Protection 

Service personnel also get to “see it all” when 

dealing with the travelling public’s deliberate 

or unwitting attempts to bring banned goods 

into Australia. A spokesman says customs staff 

recently chased down two frogs that jumped 

from a passenger’s bag in the baggage area. 

He advises travellers to check the Customs 

website to be aware of banned items such as 

bee-bee guns, often sold overseas as children’s 

toys, and goods made from animal bone or skin. 

According to a ‘handler’ with the Department 

of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Cameron 

Rae, rising international travel and cargo levels 

are creating greater challenges for biosecurity 

detector dogs and their handlers, and teams 

uncover myriad items in their pursuit of banned 

food and plant material. 

In response there is a greater focus on 

screening higher-risk passengers and expanding 

the ranks of detector dogs to include labradors, 

which, due to their size, can be used in more 

locations than the traditionally-used beagles. For 

example, labradors are better suited to screening 

cargo which requires jumping onto high 

conveyor belts and the ability to reach big boxes. 

A dog’s training starts at about two years of 

age and, following an initial 12-week training 

program, dog and handler start work. But it 

takes a year before the dogs become proficient. 

Department figures show that over a working life 

of about seven to eight years a dog averages 3000 

to 3500 product ‘seizures’.

BEST - Bmag

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