Pittwater Life September 2019 Issue

The Local Voice Since 1991 

SEPTEMBER 2019 

FREE 

pittwaterlife 

CAN AN ENQUIRY FIX OUR HOSPITAL? 

WRITE STUFF – ABC TV NEWS BOSS TIM AYLIFFE ON HIS ‘NOVEL’ MOVE 

MEET OUR FIRST FEMALE FERRY MASTER / BUNGAN CASTLE TURNS 100 

PLUS: SEARCHING FOR PITTWATER TIME CAPSULES / THE MEZCALTONES

Editorial 

‘Critical’ conditions discussed 

So it’s one hearing of the 

Parliamentary Inquiry into 

the operation and management 

at the new Northern Beaches 

Hospital down... three to go. 

As you might expect, 

with operator Healthscope, 

NSW Health, plus outraged 

community and union groups 

gathered in the same place, not 

everyone was singing from the 

same song sheet on Day One 

(see coverage page 6) 

Healthscope offered a 

comprehensive ‘mea culpa’ but 

submitted that changes have 

already been made to ensure 

problems do not re-occur. 

However the Save Mona Vale 

Hospital group submitted that 

Northern Beaches residents 

should not have to put up with 

ongoing teething problems 

and called for a return of 

emergency services and acute 

care at Mona Vale Hospital. 

Perhaps it’s unavoidable that 

the first hearing had moments 

of ‘naming and shaming’, given 

parties have their own agendas. 

Somewhere between those 

agendas lies the solution. Let’s 

hope that when complete, 

the Inquiry helps cure any 

lingering ills (and doubt), 

so that the hospital can get 

on with the job of providing 

professional health services 

and care that our community 

can embrace with confidence. 

* * * 

Thanks to all the readers 

who contacted us with kind 

words about our feature article 

on local ‘larrikin spirit’ Damien 

Lovelock last month. 

His sudden passing in early 

August came as a huge shock 

to the community and indeed 

to us here at Pittwater Life, 

given we had been talking with 

Damien about his ‘Life Story’ 

article just days before the 

news broke with the magazine 

in print. 

He will be missed; and he 

probably underestimated his 

reach and connection with so 

many locals. – Nigel Wall 


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Vol 29 No 2 

Celebrating 28 years 


SEPTEMBER 2019 

FREE 

pittwaterlife 

CAN AN ENQUIRY FIX OUR HOSPITAL? 

WRITE STUFF – ABC TV NEWS BOSS TIM AYLIFFE ON HIS ‘NOVEL’ MOVE 

MEET OUR FIRST FEMALE FERRY MASTER / BUNGAN CASTLE TURNS 100 

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thislife 

COVER: Recommendations from the parliamentary inquiry 

into problems at the new Northern Beaches Hospital must 

be acted upon (p6); precious Littoral rainforest at Newport 

has been saved from the bulldozer (p10); the controversial 

offleash dog trial at Station Beach gets the green light (p11); 

meet Ella Woolcott, Pittwater’s first female ferry Master 

(p12); it’s a fond farewell to Mona Vale PS Principal Greg 

Jones (p14); read about the new way to order fresh food from 

your favourite local suppliers and have it delivered to your 

door (p22); and we chat with home-grown boss of ABC News 

and author, Tim Ayliffe (p34). COVER IMAGE: Sharon Green 

also this month 

Editorial 3 

Pittwater Local News 6-33 

Life Stories: ABC News boss Tim Ayliffe 34-37 

Art Life 38-40 

Surfing Life 42-43 

Health & Wellbeing; Hair & Beauty 44-49 

Money & Finance 50-52 

Law 53-55 

Trades & Services Guide 56-58 

Showtime; Clubs & Pubs 60-63 

Food & Recipes 64-66 

Crossword 67 

Gardening 70-72 

Travel 73-74 

the goodlife 

Restaurants, food, gigs, travel and gardening. 

Also find our regular features on beauty, health, surfing, 

art, local history, our guide to trades and services, money, 

law and our essential maps. 

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4 SEPTEMBER 2019 

The Local Voice Since 1991

Inquiry to cure ‘ills’ 

News 

Given the years of emotion surrounding 

the conception, construction 

and delivery of the new 

Northern Beaches Hospital, it would 

be easy to understand if the current Parliamentary 

Inquiry into the operational 

issues at the facility developed into a 

naming and shaming exercise. 

Certainly there was more than a hint 

of that at the first hearing at Parliament 

House in Sydney on August 26. 

However, the inquiry has a more 

crucial role: helping to cure the 488-bed 

hospital of any identifiable lingering 

ills, so that it might function as was 

intended, and as it should – providing 

professional health services and care 

that the community on the Northern 

Beaches can embrace with confidence. 

The inquiry comprises four hearings, 

with future dates of September 23, 

October 1 and November 5. 

It was triggered in June when Opposition 

spokesman Walt Secord’s motion to 

examine the privately operated (Healthscope-owned) 

hospital was successful 

in the upper house; Secord claimed the 

hospital had “lurched from crisis to 

crisis” since it opened in 2018. 

In the lead-up to the first hearing, 

227 online submissions were received. 

Among them were allegations of medical 

errors, poor patient care, staff shortages, 

lack of essential supplies as well 

as systems failures. 

Dozens of submissions called for 

Mona Vale Hospital to be ‘saved’ (reopened 

with emergency and acute services). 

A handful of complaints focused 

on the design of the building, fire and 

other building concerns, plus parking 

charges and the hospital food. 

Save Mona Vale Hospital chair Parry 

Thomas told the Inquiry that “... the 

problems plaguing NBH are not unusual 

for Public-Private partnerships”. 

He pointed out that in recent decades 

governments had to buy back three 

similarly run hospitals, including Port 

Macquarie which was set up in the early 

1990s, despite opposition from community 

groups and unions, and bought 

back in 2005. 

He added that Port Macquarie also 

suffered ‘teething problems’ – similar to 

those documented at NBH – which happened 

to last over a decade. 

“The Northern Beaches community 

should not have to endure years of 

‘teething problems’ as occurred at Port 

Macquarie,” he said. “Given the size of 

NBH compared to the 160 beds at Port 

Macquarie, even more dramatic and 

rapid action is needed. 

“We believe the NSW Government 

should... take over the Northern Beaches 

Hospital now and return acute services 

to Mona Vale Hospital.” 

But Healthscope Interim CEO Richard 

Royle refuted claims of ongoing systemic 

and operational failures, submitting 

that improvement had been clearly demonstrated 

by the feedback from patients 

cared for over the past nine months and 

the clinical outcome data that they were 

now able to publish on their website, in 

line with Healthscope’s Clinical Governance 

Framework. 

“We take ownership of the past and 

restate our commitment to ongoing 

improvement and high-quality patient 

outcomes,” Mr Royle said. “We do not 

seek to deflect responsibility, and we 

acknowledge mistakes have been made. 

At the same time, we point to the significant 

achievements that the NBH team 

has made to rectify those mistakes. 



WHAT WENT 

WRONG?: 

NB Hospital. 

“We also understand that, regardless 

of the apportionment of blame, there 

was a failure in the early days of the 

Hospital where it did not meet the community’s 

or our own high expectations. 

For that, we apologise, and since the 

initial period we have directed all our 

efforts into putting things right, with a 

focus on continuous improvement.” 

NSW Health’s Dr Nigel Lyons submitted 

that after operational issues arose 

following the opening, his department 

acted to support Healthscope’s resolution 

of these matters. Examples included 

Junior Medical Officer (JMO) staffing (including 

staffing levels; clinical handover; 

workload; and rostering practices). 

“In response to the findings... 

Healthscope together with NSW Health... 

implemented a suite of interventions 

including enhancing staffing levels and 

after-hours rostering to improve workload 

distribution and support the JMO 

workforce,” he said. 

Patient flow and supply and logistics 

were also identified as areas of concern. 

“NSW Health made a senior nurse 

manager available to work on site with 

NBH Emergency Department staff for 

four weeks to review and improve flow 

processes,” Dr Lyons said. 

“Concerns were raised about stock 

levels for high volume items and the 

availability of specific items... NSW 

Health offered assistance to Healthscope 

to enhance the supply chain and 

support NBH with ordering and logistics 

arrangements.” 

But the General Secretary of the NSW 

Nurses and Midwives Association, Brett 

Holmes, submitted that ongoing issues 

remained. 

“The level of care and services 

currently being provided at NBH are 

generally seen as being less than that 

provided previously at Manly and Mona 

Vale Hospitals, both qualitatively in the 

view of members and statistically based 

on data available from the Bureau of 

Health Information,” he said. 

“Staffing was and remains a critical 

issue. A lack of staffing, poor skills 

mix, and a disproportionate reliance 

on casual and agency staff is causing 

significant issues, impacting on clinical 

care and the provision of a safe working 

environment for nurses and midwives.” 

Many of the submissions received 

were from patients who related their 

first-hand experiences, with 13 individuals 

praising the hospital and its staff. 

Mrs Marilyn Smith wrote she had been 

to the hospital six times since it opened; 

her conclusion being: “... once the staff 

issues and organisation in the wards 

comes up to standard, I will have no hesitation 

in going to the Northern Beaches 

hospital for a long or short stay.” 

The Inquiry resumes on September 23. 

– Nigel Wall 

News 



News 

Council not ‘sitting 

on hands’ on climate 

Northern Beaches Council says it has no 

immediate plan to join the growing 

list of local governments in NSW that 

have declared or recognised ‘Climate Change 

Emergencies’ over the past year – but assures 

residents and ratepayers it is not “sitting on its 

hands” over the issue. 

Last month, Wollongong and Lismore Councils 

declared the community was in a state of 

‘climate change emergency’ requiring “urgent 

action by all levels of government”. 

It brought the tally of NSW Councils to adopt 

the position to 14, with a total of 31 Councils 

across Australia. 

In October, Byron Shire Council became 

the first local government in NSW to issue a 

declaration; it has since been joined by Upper 

Hunter, Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Bellingen, 

Clarence Valley, Randwick, Inner West, 

Newcastle, Ryde, Sydney City, Wagga Wagga 

(later rescinded due to backlash to councillors), 

North Sydney, Wollongong and Lismore. 

Mayor Michael Regan said he would be 

happy to consider the Climate Change Emergency 

petition and what impact a declaration 

could have if more Councils across Australia 

continued to follow suit. 

“Local government can certainly play a part 

but we are a small cog in a much larger wheel – 

we must all apply pressure for action,” he said. 

“Scientists are now saying that climate 

change is an emergency. It’s extremely disappointing 

that we don’t have national leadership 

to address it. The fact that local groups 

have to approach local government for action 

is sad reflection on how little faith many have 

in our state and national leaders on this issue.” 

Mayor Regan said local government had 

been dealing with the issue for decades. 

“The impacts we are seeing more regularly 

now are more frequent – for example, damaging 

East Coast Lows,” he said. 

“We have to prepare, and we have to repair 

after the storms. But at the end of the day, we 

need national leadership. 

“To be clear, Council is not sitting on its 

hands. We are currently drafting a Climate 

Change Action Plan and have a heap of initiatives 

which are driving down carbon emissions 

already, including a new fleet of electric 

vehicles, installing more solar panels on 

Council buildings and replacing old mercuryfilled 

street lights with energy-efficient LED 

ones across the Northern Beaches. 

“We are also in the final stages of developing 

Council’s draft Environment and Climate 

Change Strategy for community feedback, 

which will include ambitious emissions reduction 

targets and further actions to help us 

achieve them.” 

Other Council initiatives included: upgrading 

sportsgrounds with energy-efficient lighting; 

entering into a long-term agreement to 

purchase up to 30% of electricity requirements 

from renewable sources; partnering with the 

Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership 

and making five climate change pledges; 

supporting innovation with the installation 

of SOURCE water hydropanels at Currawong 

Holiday Cottages; and committing to becoming 

plastic free, working with local businesses 

to reduce their plastic use. 


* STOP PRESS: As Pittwater Life went to print, 

Councillors were voting on a motion to declare 

a ‘Climate Change Emergency’. 

Electric 

cars boost 

Council’s vehicle fleet has 

been boosted by a series 

of electric cars with the aim 

of reducing costs and cutting 

carbon emissions. 

Four Hyundai Ioniq cars 

are the first of six batterypowered 

electric vehicles 

for Council. They will be 

matched with six plug-in 

hybrid battery Mitsubishi 

Outlanders. 

Mayor Michael Regan 

said the introduction of the 

electric vehicle fleet demonstrated 

Council’s commitment 

to the environment 

and innovation. 

“Electric vehicles are the 

way of the future. They are 

growing in popularity with 

10 car brands expected to 

launch electric vehicles in 

Australia in the next two 

years,” he said. 

“That’s because in general 

they are cheaper to run, 

cheaper to maintain, better 

for the environment plus 

have all the latest in safety 

technology.” 

Mayor Regan added transport 

emissions contributed 

around 29 per cent of the 

Northern Beaches’ carbon 

emissions. 

“As sustainability leaders, 

it’s important we do our bit 

to drive emissions down 

and invest in technology 

that will provide the best 

benefits for our community,” 

he said. 

“We will assess the new 

vehicles to evaluate their 

impact on emissions and 

see how they compare to 

others in our fleet on running 

costs.’’ 



News 

Newport rainforest saved from bulldozer 

After months of negotiations it’s official: 

more than 10,000 square metres 

of Littoral rainforest on the Newport 

hinterland will be preserved as public 

open space thanks to a $4.6 million joint 

investment by the NSW Government and 

Northern Beaches Council. 

Confirming the purchase late last 

month, local MP and Planning and Public 

Spaces Minister Rob Stokes said the 

acquisition of the developer-owned land, 

which was slated to be sub-divided for 

housing, would ensure the pristine ecological 

area was preserved for the next 

generation. 

The land, known as 62 and 85 Hillside 

Rd, is a corridor extension to other 

important local habitat- and biodiversityrich 

areas, containing a significant 

littoral rainforest and adjoins the Bilgola 

Escarpment which comprises Councilowned 

land including Attunga Reserve, 

Hewitt Park, Hamilton Estate and Porter 

Reserve. 

It contains significant Littoral Rainforest 

which is listed as an Endangered 

Ecologically Community under NSW Legislation 

and Critically Endangered under 

Commonwealth Legislation. 

In closing the deal, Mr Stokes made 

good on his pre-election promise to work 

with Northern Beaches Council to help 

WIN: Pittwater Natural Heritage Association’s 

Marita MacRae, Michael Regan and Rob Stokes. 

secure the site under the NSW Government’s 

$340 million Open Spaces and 

Greener Sydney package. 

The purchase had the support of local 

groups, including the Newport Residents 

Association. 

“Our government is committed to ensuring 

the people of NSW have access to 

great public open space,” Mr Stokes told 

Pittwater Life. “Local residents and community 

groups correctly identified the 

importance of this area and the reasons 

it should be retained and preserved. 

“I am delighted we have been able to 

preserve endangered rainforest, while 

protecting an important wildlife corridor 

and increasing green space in the Sydney 

basin.” 

Northern Beaches Mayor Michael 

Regan said the purchase was a huge win 

for the local community. 

“Despite its high environmental value, 

this land on Hillside Road had been 

slated for sub-division and significant 

development, so it’s great we’ve been able 

to partner with the State Government to 

save it and bring it into public hands,” 

Mayor Regan said. 

“We know people in our community 

love spending time outdoors, in our local 

parks and reserves and exploring our 

magnificent environment. This purchase 

will go a long way to maintaining and 

improving this lifestyle. 

A natural creek runs through the 

Hillside Road property, supporting native 

vegetation and animals including 

palms, ferns, birds, frogs, water dragons, 

lizards and much more flora and fauna. 

Its dense vegetation makes it particularly 

valuable for small birds such as the 

Spotted Pardalote, Superb Blue Wren, 

Grey Fantail and Blackfaced Monarch 

and larger birds such as Australia’s 

largest owl, the Powerful Owl, which is 

regularly sighted by locals and is listed 

as vulnerable. 

The site will now be transferred to 

Northern Beaches Council for ongoing 

care and management. – Nigel Wall 



Green light for dog trial 

After lengthy consideration, Northern 

Beaches Council staff have given the 

controversial offleash dog trial at Station 

Beach the green light, subject to adoption 

of recommendations in the independent 

Review of Environmental Factors. 

At the top of the staff’s 

list are these yellow marker 

buoys; three of them will 

be spaced apart along the 

shoreline, to serve as an 

indicator to owners that 

their dogs must stay within 

the line of the buoys. 

The buoys will be 

moored/chained to the 

sand, three metres on the 

shore side of sea grass, 

which will create a buffer 

zone between the dogs and 

the grass. 

Also, there will be an 

increased Ranger presence; 

currently Rangers visit Palm Beach at least 

three times a week at varying days and 

times between 6am and 7pm. Additional 

patrols to be conducted at the commencement 

of the trial and at random days and 

times thereafter. 

Two large entry signs with a map of 

the off-leash area, conditions of use and 

environmental information including about 

sea grass will be installed, as well as two 

smaller information signs and two dog bag 

dispensers and bags. 

It has emerged that of the 2880 responses 

from people who lived 

on Northern Beaches, a 

whopping 86.9 per cent 

supported the trial at the 

proposed location. 

Further breakdown 

showed 1694 respondents 

were from Palm Beach, 

Whale Beach, Avalon, 

Avalon Beach and Newport 

– the suburbs closest to 

the trial area. 

Groups that supported 

the trial included Pittwater 

Unleashed, Manly 

Dogs, Palm Beach Golf 

Club, the Palm Beach & 

Whale Beach Association, and the Boat Owners 

Association. 

Groups opposed to the trial included Protect 

Palm Beach and the Newport Residents 

Association. 

Council was expected to endorse the trial 

at its August meeting. – Nigel Wall 

News 



MASTER OF ALL 

SHE SURVEYS: 

Ella Woolcott is 

blazing a trail for 

women on the water. 

News 

Maiden Voyage 

Ella Woolcott is the first female to skipper a ferry on Pittwater – and she’s only 19. Pittwater Life 

talked to arguably the Northern Beaches’ hardest working teenager… Story by Rob Pegley 

At an age when even the 

most diligent 19-yearolds 

are getting their Ps 

and working at Maccas, while 

studying at Uni, Ella Woolcott 

is doing a 40-hour week 

skippering ferries between 

Palm Beach and The Basin. 

At the same time, she’s also 

studying for a BA in Business 

Administration at Macquarie 

Uni. And she assures us 

that she still has a normal 

social life like her friends. 

Intelligent, ambitious, but 

humble and down to earth; to 

say that Ella is an impressive 

young woman is very much 

an understatement. 

Born and bred on the 

Northern Beaches, Ella 

was something of a water 

baby. She grew up on 

Pittwater and her parents 

have always been involved 

in the marina business; they 

now own and run Careel 

Bay Marina. Ella started as 

a – slightly nervous – tender 

driver at the age of 14. 

“It was hard at first when 

I was 14. I refused to come 

into the harbour and dock 

the tenders,” Ella laughs. “But 

gradually I grew in confidence 

and I worked tenders until 

I was 17. Next I became a 

weekend manager and then 

I became inspired to have a 

crack at ferries.” 



Rather like learning to 

drive, you have to get your 

hours up – and there are a 

lot of hours: 120 days on a 

commercial vehicle, when a 

day is classed as seven and 

a half hours. Having got a 

job as a deckhand with local 

Fantasea Cruises in March 

2018, she went about building 

those hours. She achieved her 

Master 5 qualification and 

Engineering 3 ticket earlier 

this year, and qualified to be 

Master of a vessel. 

In late July she started 

skippering Fantasea’s elegant 

1985 timber ferry, Myra, 

between Palm Beach and The 

Basin. 

“It was a little nervewracking 

at first,” admits Ella, 

“It’s a lot of responsibility. 

But I got used to it pretty 

quickly. Pittwater is pretty 

quiet at this time of year – a 

few tourists and residents of 

Mackerel [Beach] – and I’ve 

had no issues yet. Summer 

will be chaos!” She adds with 

a laugh. 

Calm before the storm 

you might say, figuratively. 

Although Ella has already 

experienced storms in a 

literal sense: “Last week [early 

August] there were gusts of 

30 or 40 knots and I had to 

put the ferry on its mooring at 

8.30pm in the pitch black. My 

mooring hook broke and so I 

had to do a few spins to dock.” 

“It was a good learning 

experience,” Ella adds 

casually. It sounds absolutely 

terrifying to this middle-aged 

journalist with years of life 

experience. And when Ella 

talks about “single screw 

trans thruster engines, or 

twin-screw props”, she seems 

well beyond her years. Which 

is obviously a good thing, 

because she’s responsible for 

a vessel that can carry 148 

passengers plus crew. 

Ella’s ambitions involve 

staying on the water. She 

wants to complete her Uni 

degree and build a career 

in the maritime industry. 

Continue as a Master to 

start with; perhaps on the 

bigger Ettalong ferry (which 

she still does shifts on as a 

deckhand). And then end up 

on Sydney Harbour. 

“It’s really competitive on 

the Harbour though,” Ella 

explains. “It’s hard to even 

get selected for interviews. 

There are also more female 

deckhands and skippers 

in the City, as it’s more of 

a known thing. Here on 

Pittwater it’s been far more 

male-dominated.” 

Stuart Bicknell, General 

Manager – Fantasea Cruising, 

said his company was lucky 

to have Ella as one of its ferry 

Masters and paid tribute to 

her professionalism, attention 

to detail and great rapport 

with passengers. 

“As a Pittwater local, I 

think Ella will become a great 

ambassador for our muchloved 

Palm Beach service,” he 

said. “The local community 

was really proud, yet hardly 

surprised at her latest 

achievement and I feel that 

she has a great future ahead 

of her.” 

Having talked to Ella at 

length, one suspects that 

those ambitions are relatively 

small though, in comparison 

to her abilities. She’s clearly a 

massively talented and driven 

young lady who can no doubt 

achieve anything she puts her 

mind to. 

“Everyone has been great 

and very supportive,” says 

Ella. “Friends think it’s 

impressive and my parents 

are super proud of me.” 

And so they all should be. 

New Patonga trial 

Locals looking to lunch offshore will be among those 

thrilled to hear Palm Beach & Hawkesbury River Cruises 

is trialling a new timetable of ferries to Patonga Beach, 

commencing September 28. 

The new service, operating on weekends, school holidays 

and public holidays only, will leave Palm Beach Wharf at 

9am, 10.10am, 11.20am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.45pm. 

Return ferries will depart Patonga at 9.30am, 10.40am, 

11.50am, 2pm, 3pm and 4.15pm. 

More info palmbeachrivercruises.com.au 

News 



It’s a matter of Pr 

News 

He may be recently 

retired, but former 

Mona Vale Public 

School Principal Greg Jones’ 

experience as an educator 

will not be lost to the local 

community, with the 61-yearold 

planning to consult on the 

development of the proposed 

performance space at the 

school. 

Mr Jones left the Bungan 

Street campus at the end of 

July after a lifelong association 

and 40-year teaching career 

that went full circle; he 

started as a pupil at Mona 

Vale in 1969, took up his first 

teacher’s posting there in 

1979, then was hand-picked to 

head the school in 2011. 

Education has always been 

in his blood. 

“I probably followed the 

path of my father, who was 

the inspector of schools in 

this area, so I saw what a good 

life he had as a family man 

being able to have holidays 

and be with me and my 

brother,” he said. 

“I was playing for the 

Manly Sea Eagles [he played 

123 games as a winger and 

fullback] and I had a lot to do 

with youngsters at the time, 

and I thought it would be a 

great career to go into.” 

Mr Jones oversaw arguably 

the biggest change in the 

school’s history, including its 

adoption of digital devices. 

He saw enrolments increase 

from 830 to around 1200 

and says he is proud to have 

helped put Mona Vale PS back 

on the map. 

“Probably in 2011 there 

was a bit of under-confidence 

in the school,” he said. 

“It had gone through a 

bit of a difficult time in 

terms of its leadership and 

its relationship with the 

community and there was 

a significant turn-around 

in that we had a group 

of parents and teachers 

working together to re-set 

the direction of the school. 

Our growth was largely due 

to parents seeing Mona Vale 

again as the school of choice 

in the area.” 

He also initiated a shift 

towards new technology and 

able learning. 

“We started by 

reinvigorating the interactive 

white boards in classrooms 

and moved the school to 

a ‘bring your own device’ 

model,” Mr Jones said. 

“We looked at using the 

world wide web as a resource 

and were teaching kids 

the skills of analysing and 

interpreting that data… I 

likened it to going to a library 

to look at the encyclopedias 

for research – we just replaced 

the encyclopedias with tablets 

and the internet.” 

Maintenance and aesthetic 

issues were also worked 

through, thanks to input from 

parents and the community. 

“The school was always a 

diamond – we just polished it 

a bit,” he said. 

Mr Jones says the teacherparent 

dynamic changed 

markedly during his career. 

“When I started, teachers 

were held in very high esteem 

and parents were mostly 

happy to accept what a teacher 

said around the education of 

their child,” he said. 

“With today’s levels of 

technology, parents feel they 

are far more able to challenge, 

or they want to know very 

specifically the reasons why 

something is happening to 

their child. 

“I have no issue with that 

– we should be transparent – 

but I would say that while it 

is always great to challenge 

and ask questions of people 

working with your children, 



incipal... 

at the end of the day they are 

the professionals.” 

Mr Jones is proud of many 

achievements, including 

founding the Peninsula 

Community of Schools 

comprising 15 schools on the 

Northern Beaches, including 

four high schools. 

“We did that to ensure 

our schools would be viable 

because 10 years ago many of 

our primary school students 

were leaving public education 

at Year Six and heading to 

independent schools.” 

In 2011, he received the 

director general’s award for 

excellent service to public 

education – “They only give 

one of those a year in the 

department and there are two 

and a half thousand schools, 

so I was very proud.” 

Also, he received 

the Primary Principals 

Association’s professional 

award in 2017. 

He says he’ll miss the 

camaraderie with his 

colleagues but is heartened 

by the kind words he receives 

from past students. 

“I have been blessed to have 

many students come back over 

the years and thank me for not 

giving up on them,” he said. 

And the future? 

“I am working one day a 

week with the department 

on a package of support for 

principals who are in crisis 

situations,” he said. 

“People say you are a long 

time retired but I am content 

with what I have done. 

“I am enjoying helping 

look after my grandsons. 

Where I have given to other 

people’s children for many 

years, it’s time to give my 

family the sort of attention 

that I have given other 

people’s children. 

“And I am content with my 

career.” – Nigel Wall 

FAMILY TIME: Now-retired Greg Jones with grandsons Bede and Emerson. 

News 



CENTENARY: 

Pauline and John 

Webeck at their 

Bungan Castle 

home; and workers 

taking a break 

from construction 

in 1919 (left). 

7THINGS 

THIS MONTH 

News 

Iconic castle 

turning 100 

The ‘keepers’ of Bungan Castle are in party 

planning mode, set to celebrate the iconic 

landmark’s 100th anniversary before the end 

of the year. 

John Webeck and his wife Pauline are also 

commemorating 50 years living in the castle, 

which was built out of local sandstone by 

John’s great uncle, Adolph Albers, in 1919. 

The pair say they are still focused on reestablishing 

the old section of the castle for 

individuals and groups to pursue artistic pursuits, 

something integral to Bungan Castle’s 

character and history given his great uncle 

Adolph was an international art dealer. 

In the future, it’s their hope that people will 

be able to attend courses run by an expert on 

engraving, etching, lino cutting, jewellery and 

painting. There are two bedrooms in the old 

part of the castle, so they plan to have artists 

in residence, too. 

John says he’s been busy removing soil from 

the front of the property, so that it might accommodate 

20 cars off-street. 

He’s currently looking into applying for 

grants that may help them achieve their dream. 

“More than that it’s important that we share 

what we have and our information with young 

people in the area,” John said. 

He added they hoped to schedule an exhibition 

by the end of the year, by appointment. 

The castle not only has a local government 

heritage order on it, but is listed on the Register 

of the National Estate. 

“As we’ve always said, we never feel that we 

own the castle – we’re just here looking after 

it.” 

– NW 

Parenting teens. If you want 

to learn more about teens and 

how to stay connected you may 

find answers at this day-long 

community workshop featuring 

an impressive line-up of expert 

speakers on Sat 7 from 10am- 

4pm at Manly Golf Club. Cost 

$120; bookings essential at 

parentingteens.com.au 

Check out the CEC. 

Everyone’s invited to The Coastal 

Environment Centre’s open 

day to celebrate biodiversity 

month with workshops, native 

animals, hands-on activities and 

giveaways on Sat 7 from 10am- 

1pm. 

Full Moon Market. Barrenjoey 

High School Full Moon Market is 

back for another year with rides, 

stalls, music, food, fireworks and 

a spooky forest on Fri 13 from 

5-9pm. 

Gardening 101. Learn how to 

grow your own plants from seeds 

and cuttings on Sun 1 from 

10am-1pm and/or how to start a 

vegie garden on Fri 13 or Sun 15 

at Kimbriki Eco House & Garden, 

Ingleside. Cost $30 per session 

at ecohouseandgarden.com.au 

or 9486 3512. 

Spring flower show. Enjoy 

a colourful display of flowers, 

vegetables, herbs and floral art 

and pick up a plant, second 

hand goods or a delcious cake 

on sale at the Mona Vale Garden 

Club’s 48th Spring Flower Show 

on Sat 28 from 10am-3pm at Ted 

Blackwood Hall, Warriewood. 

Admission adults $2 kids free. 

Nipper rego. Visit local Surf 

Life Saving Club websites for 

Nippers info and registration 

days during September and get 

set for the 2019/20 Season which 

starts Sunday October 13. 

Save the date. Celebrate 

Newport Surf Life Saving Club’s 

110th anniversary on Saturday 

October 19 from 6pm. Theme 

is ‘dress to impress’ so start 

shopping! Early bird tickets 

(buy through the website 

newportsurfclub.com before 

October 1) are $35 and cover 

entertainment, canapés and 

grazing tables. Drinks will be 

available for purchase. 



News 

Narrabeen sets sails again 

In the early 1900s, Narrabeen 

locals George Sneesby, Willis 

Douglas and Don McLean 

would push their 16-foot sailing 

boats out of their boatsheds on 

the shore of Narrabeen Lagoon 

and spend the days coaxing the 

wind into their sails. 

Now, almost 120 years later, 

their legacy continues. 

Narrabeen Lakes Sailing 

Club has taken many forms 

since those early days when 

it was just three young men. 

Membership would ebb and 

flow depending on the community 

of the day, and the depth 

of the water in the lake. 

Marj Belessis reported in 

her 1985 article published in 

Modern Boating that during 

World War II, the defence 

authorities officially disbanded 

the club and ordered 

the boats to be locked up. But, 

each weekend the members 

simply unlocked them, went 

sailing and locked them back 

up at the end of the day. 

BEAMING: Juniors compete on Narrabeen Lake. 

The club reached its peak 

in the 1970s when more than 

100 dinghies would take to the 

water every weekend, reported 

Marj. They sailed Moths, Herons, 

Sailfish, Lasers, Cherubs, 

Lasers, NS14s and a host of 

other dinghies 

Life Member and current 

club coach Rhys Llewellyn 

was aged four when his family 

joined the club in 1976. 

“I started sailing Herons 

as a small kid with my dad 

and have sailed many classes 

of dinghies at the club,” says 

Rhys. “Through sailing I have 

been fortunate enough to 

travel all around Australia 

competing in National Championships 

with Herons and World 

Championships in Windsurfers 

and Tasers.” 

But travelling the country to 

participate in the sport he loves 

comes second to the joy he gets 

out of sailing with his daughter 

Georgia. He introduced her to 

Narrabeen Lakes Sailing Club 

BONDING: 

Father and 

daughter Rhys 

and Georgia 

Llewellyn. 

when she was barely out of 

nappies. 

“The biggest and best memories 

of sailing at the club have 

been spending real quality 

time with my daughter,” he 

said. “Being able to use sailing 

to teach her life skills and then 

develop a true bond with her. 

“The club has always been a 

huge part of my life. I grew up 

at this club and I cherish the 

time I still spend now with lifelong 

sailing friends, watching 

my daughter develop into an 

amazing sailor and leader, and 

helping people discover how 

much fun sailing is.” 

Georgia, now 20 and a Junior 

National champion herself, 

echoes her father’s sentiment. 

“Sailing at Narrabeen with 

my dad from such a young 

age has had such a significant 

impact on myself and my life,” 

she says. 

“It’s a connection with my father 

that wouldn’t have formed 

anywhere else. It’s been a lot of 

hours out on the water just us, 

a lot of time to bond.” 

Today, the club hosts several 

fleets including Herons, Lasers, 

Windsurfers, Sabots, Optimists 

and Open Bics. 

“We pride ourselves on being 

the family friendly club, so we 

intentionally sail boats that are 

crewed by adults and youth,” 

says Commodore John Veale. 

“I have been sailing with my 

grandson in our Heron for the 

past three years.” 

The club begins its sailing 

season on Father’s Day every 

year and runs most Sundays 

throughout Spring and Summer 

until Easter. 

Each club day begins with 

young beginners taking to 



the water in the Learn to Sail 

program, and our emerging 

and intermediate sailors (youth 

and adults) finessing their boat 

handling and racing skills in 

the Development Squad. 

After lunch, the Race Committee 

sets the buoys for the 

afternoon racing. 

“What I love most about 

racing in the afternoons is the 

camaraderie and laughs on 

the water,” says a club spokeswoman. 

“Many of our sailors are very 

competent – having sailed for 

30+ years – and national and 

state champions, so the racing 

and boat handling skills are 

of a very high quality. But we 

foster a strong learning and 

team environment, so everyone 

helps each other out on 

the water and provides tips to 

improve.” 

Other highlights in the 

Narrabeen Lakes Sailing Club 

calendar include: 

Hosting the youth from 

Sydney Legacy for their annual 

sailing day; 

Heron Youth State Titles; and 

Ladies, Marathon and Fun 

Race days, along with a Champagne 

Breakfast at Christmas 

and a special visit from Santa 

– by boat. 

Visit narrabeenlakessailingclub.com 

for membership and 

sailing calendar; contact Aymeric 

at membership_officer@ 

narrabeenlakessailingclub.com 

for more info, or follow them 

on Facebook. 

Learn to Sail starts Sunday 

October 13; bookings essential. 

– Pam Johnston 

Stepping back in time 

The discovery and unearthing of a centuryold 

time capsule at Freshwater last month 

has shone the spotlight on other historical mementos 

that are hidden across Pittwater – both 

known and unknown. 

Council workers removed the Freshwater 

capsule, from 1918, from behind a plaque at the 

Harbord Literary Institute after a resident read 

about its existence in a discarded history book 

and contacted local historians. 

President of the Avalon Beach Historical 

Society Geoff Searl said there were several time 

capsules that had been recovered in recent 

years across Pittwater, as well as others that 

had been put in the ground to be recovered by 

future generations. 

He said it was important to document their 

existence and locations, to 

avoid the possibility of their 

being forgotten or overlooked. 

For example, Bilgola 

Plateau Public School Principal 

Cindy Gardner said 

a time capsule from 1988 

unearthed in the school’s 

50th anniversary year in 

2015 was only found after 

20 hours of digging and 

excavation that cost $1000 

– because the location of the capsule did not 

marry to its plaque. 

Further, she said another capsule, dating 

from the 1970s, was supposed to be within the 

school grounds. 

“But it’s all hearsay… there’s no evidence and 

no marker,” she said. 

Geoff Searl said local history books reveal 

a ‘memento bottle’ lies under the foundation 

stone of Barrenjoey Lighthouse; inserted and 

laid in 1880, it contains newspapers including 

The Sydney Morning Herald, a medallion of 

MEMENTO: The Freshwater time capsule. 

Queen Victoria, as well as several coins of the 

day. 

Retired Mona Vale Public School Principal 

Greg Jones said a time capsule was placed under 

sandstone under the school’s 112-year-old 

bell to mark the school’s centenary in 2012; it 

has an opening date of 2062. 

“It contains school uniforms, a letter to the 

principal in the future, plus letters from then 

Federal MP Bronwyn Bishop and Pittwater MP 

Rob Stokes to their counterparts, letters from 

students, a USB containing schoolwork and 

some photos of the school,” he said. 

He added a previous time capsule, believed 

to have been from the 1950s, had been found 

in 2012 after tapping on the mortar next to 

the sandstone gate entrance off Waratah street 

revealed a hollow render. 

After chipping away at the 

concrete an A4-sized lead 

envelope was discovered; it 

contained photos, student 

pins and examples of writing. 

In 2013, Pittwater High 

School recovered a time 

capsule laid in 1988; it contained 

letters from school 

captains of the day to their 

counterparts in 2013 and 

detailed issues including the environment and 

cleaning up the beaches – subjects similarly addressed 

by the school’s 2013 captains in their 

new capsule which currently sleeps in the brick 

wall in the quadrangle. 

And in a poignant link, now-retired teacher 

Peter Myers was on staff and remembers the 

1988 capsule being laid – as well as its recovery 

in 2013 and the new capsule’s installation. 


* Do you have a story about a time capsule in 

Pittwater? Contact readers@pittwaterlife.com.au 

News 



News 

Hospital kiosk celebrates move 

The volunteer-led Kiosk at Mona Vale Hospital 

has moved into its new home adjacent to the 

Urgent Care Centre – and they’re marking the occasion 

with a special 2-for-1 deal on their freshly 

brewed in-house coffee. 

Local MP Rob Stokes visited the kiosk last 

month and praised the Auxiliary members for 

the valuable and selfless job they do. 

“It’s fantastic they have a brand new kiosk 

now… they deserve it as they do an amazing 

job,” he said. 

“There are almost 400 staff employed at Mona 

Vale Hospital plus patients, visitors and multiple 

construction crews working on the new hospital 

buildings – so there’s plenty of activity. 

“And the kiosk’s new position at the front of 

the hospital campus means it’s now even more 

accessible. 

“Proceeds are reinvested back into the hospital 

by the Auxiliary – so it’s a great place to grab 

a coffee.” 

As well as coffee, visitors and workers can 

purchase a variety of hot and cold drinks, ice 

creams, hot pies and rolls to fresh wraps and 

sandwiches. 

Find them at 18 Coronation Street (next to the 

Urgent Care Centre). They’re open 8.30am – 3pm 

Monday to Saturday. 

Barrenjoey 

Headland 

stays back 

on agenda 

T 

hree years after a 

proposal to introduce 

low-impact commercial 

enterprise on Barrenjoey 

Headland was abandoned, 

National Parks and Wildlife 

have floated the idea again, 

with an invitation for the 

community to have their 

say by September 15. 

In 2016, a lack of community 

support for the 

NPWS concept plan, which 

included the potential 

adaptive re-use of the lighthouse 

keeper’s cottage and 

other buildings for shortstay 

accommodation, plus 

toilets and a kiosk, saw the 

idea shelved. 

NPWS is charged with encouraging 

increased visitation 

to its parks on off-peak 

days and making best use 

of facilities throughout the 

year. 

Last month Ku-ring-gai 

Chase National Park was 

ranked third most popular 

National Park in NSW with 

3.9 million visits annually. 

Pittwater MP Rob Stokes 

said given it had been 

17 years since the plan 

of management was last 

updated, it was appropriate 

to consider what’s changed 

and ask the community 

about their vision. 

“With over three million 

visits to the park each year, 

it’s encouraging that the 

NPWS is consulting widely 

on the issues that will 

inform the creation of a 

new plan of management,” 

he said. 

“Our park rangers do an 

outstanding job preserving 

the environmental and 

heritage characteristics of 

Ku-ring-gai Chase and ensuring 

safe and enjoyable 

visitor experiences.” 

Mr Stokes added that millions 

of dollars had recently 

been invested in visitor 

improvements at Barrenjoey 

Headland and further works 

would soon commence in 

response to feedback from 

community groups. – NW 



A fresh local approach 

to food home delivery 

News 

During a year off from 

work, while spending 

more time being a dad 

and helping his wife grow her 

local business, Matt Russell 

struck upon an idea that is set 

to revolutionise the way fresh 

food is home-delivered across 

Pittwater and the Beaches. 

Introducing ‘Bundlfresh’ – a 

cooperative network of small, 

local, family owned and operated 

food businesses which 

allows customers to create 

their perfect marketplace, with 

wonderful produce ordered 

online for next-day delivery. 

“I love food that has a story,” 

said Matt, who has 20 years’ 

experience heading up major 

retail. “Where the quality of the 

produce is reflected in the care 

and passion of the fresh food 

operators that take such pride 

in what they do.” 

TO YOUR DOOR: Bundlfresh partners 

with local providores. 

Whilst studying at uni, Matt 

began a career in retail, first 

working for Crown of the Hill 

Cellars. In 2000, he travelled to 

the UK as part of the management 

team training for ALDI’s 

start-up in Australia. In 2005 

he left ALDI to join Australian 

food manufacturer Green’s 

Foods, which he led from 2008 

as Group General Manager. In 

2016 Greens was sold, so Matt 

left and took a year off. 

As well as helping with the 

housework, he assisted his 

wife Anna with her successful 

local fresh seafood business 

‘Prawn Pod’ – and in early 2018 

the idea for Bundlfresh formed 

and the decision to build a local 

fresh food network and customer 

community was made. 

Matt explained Bundlfresh 

connects you to your favourite 

Northern Beaches local, fresh 

food providores and producers. 

“I have a deep admiration 

for the hardworking owners 

who go to the markets every 

morning to source the freshest 

and best produce… the 

artisans who bake incredible 

fare… the coffee roasters who 

strive to make a better coffee 

experience… the butchers who 

are always supporters of local 

sporting clubs,” he said. 

“What’s great about the little 

operators is that their range 

of products are incredibly 

interesting and often unique. 

Every large supermarket has 

the same sausages – but every 

local butcher has their own 

signature sausage! The same 

goes for the bakers and coffee 

roasters; when it’s not massproduced, 

you’re very rarely 

disappointed. 

“These local foodies make 

our communities more interesting 

and connected – Bundlfresh 

was born out of a desire 

to connect more people more 

often with these incredible 

food businesses.” 

Matt said that while helping 

Anna with Prawn Pod, some 

customers would ask about 

online ordering and home 

delivery. 

“But for a small or medium 



sized food business, trying 

to do this on your own is not 

commercially viable,” he said. 

“This is where the idea of a 

cooperative network for the 

smaller local food operators 

sprung from. 

“As more people choose the 

convenience of shopping online, 

we wanted to ensure that 

small local fresh food businesses 

aren’t left behind. 

“A lot of people who love 

these local businesses, can’t 

always get to them. That’s 

where Bundlfresh comes in. We 

overlay the trust and quality 

that comes with small local 

with a new convenience.” 

Matt said Bundlfresh currently 

had around 30 Northern 

Beaches food businesses on its 

platform (Bundlfresh.com.au), 

with more joining all the time. 

“We have several butchers, 

bakers, delis, greengrocers, coffee 

roasters and what we like 

to call ‘Interesting Others’,” he 

said. “You select your chosen 

category supplier to create a 

personalised marketplace to 

combine your shopping in a 

single bundle.” 

He added customers could 

delivery. 

“There’s no additional packaging, 

as we use reusable crates 

and deliver during a specific 

timeslot nominated by the customer, 

to ensure the meat gets 

straight in the fridge!” 

Matt said among those 

who would see benefit from 

Bundlfresh were busy mums 

and dads who cared about their 

food choices but couldn’t shop 

with these local vendors easily. 

“Whether it’s families where 

both parents work or households 

with newborns and 

toddlers where trips to the 

shop can be really challenging, 

Bundlfresh provides the possibility 

to access local favourites 

anywhere, anytime, easily. 

“The thing that makes 

me proudest is that we have 

customers who order from as 

many as 10 Northern Beaches 

food businesses to complete 

their bundle – that’s supporting 

local in big way.” 

To use Bundlfresh all you 

need to do is visit the website, 

create your personalised market 

by selecting your preferred 

vendor in each category, the 

date and time you want your 

CONNECTED: Matt Russell has 20 years’ experience heading up major retail. order up to 10pm for next-day 

Continued on page 24 

News 



Continued from page 23 

News 

delivery – and then you are 

ready to start bundling! 

“On the morning of the delivery 

day your trusted butcher 

prepares your order, not us,” 

said Matt. “We just collect the 

parts and combine them into 

each customers’ bundle. We deliver 

across the entire Northern 

Beaches Monday to Saturday 

between midday and 8pm.” 

Vendor partners include Devitt 

Wholesale Meats, The Meat 

Emporium, Mrs Jones the Baker, 

Berkelo, The Fruitful Boxes, 

Coffee Brothers, Mrs Toddy’s 

Tonic, The Raw Treat Canteen, 

Momma Kombucha, Danes 

Coffee, Only Fresh Products, 

Organic Avenues, Prawn Pod, 

Eat Organic Yoghurt, Quattro 

Coffee, Northern Beaches Green 

Grocer, Choc et Moi, Gumnut 

Chocolates and Biscuits. 

“And we also have an impressive 

pipeline of other food businesses 

soon to be available.” 

Visit Bundlfresh.com.au 


* Any Northern Beaches food 

businesses interested in finding 

out more should contact Matt 

via the website. 

SEEN… 

The seal colony on the rocks on Barrenjoey 

Headland (above) has grown markedly since the 

beginning of the year; yachties and fishermen 

used to be able to count them on one hand 

but the seals now number more than 20. 

Macquarie University has gained permission 

from National Parks and Wildlife to study the 

seals in September, with the crew from Living 

Ocean working alongside them. The results 

should be known in coming months. Meantime, 

Living Ocean representatives, alarmed at the 

number of jet-skiers and paddlers getting up 

close to the seals, are reminding sightseers 

of the potential dangers they face if the seals 

feel they are being threatened. Also, this from 

the ORCA website: “Improper interaction with 

marine mammals is not only a criminal offence, 

you could hurt or distress the marine mammal 

and even put yourself in harm’s way. These 

mammals are wild, dangerous and highly 

unpredictable. They may also carry diseases. 

Finally, please exercise extreme caution when 

around any marine mammal and keep at least 

40 metres away.” 

Photo: Peter Lubrano 



HEARD… ABSURD..? 

Following pressure from Mackellar MP 

Jason Falinski, Northern Beaches Council 

has approved Telstra’s application to 

build a phone tower at the RSL War Vets 

site at Collaroy Plateau. Initially Council 

intended to block Telstra’s DA to build 

the phone tower. They had approached 

Telstra and encouraged them to withdraw 

their application, citing visual concerns. 

But Mr Falinski said he immediately 

thought of the hundreds 

of residents who were in 

desperate need of phone 

reception. “Considering 

the age demographic of 

residents, even something 

as simple as a fall, can prove 

fatal. Being able to call for 

help on a phone is vital,” he 

said. Mr Falinski created an 

online petition which quickly 

grew to just under 300 local 

signatories. Subsequently 

Council removed the DA 

from the planning committee 

agenda where it was 

scheduled to be rejected and 

agreed to meet with Telstra 

to revisit the proposal. 

Following this meeting 

Council decided to approve 

Telstra’s development 

application. 

We had hoped to deliver readers a good 

news story this month about Council 

relinquishing its grip on 14 rarely used 

car parking spaces in the Park Street car 

park adjacent to the Council Chambers 

and the Mona Vale Memorial Hall (pictured, 

under trees). You know the ones; they’re 

the spaces reserved for Council staff but 

since amalgamation and a rationalisation 

of resources, there has been reduced 

demand on them due to fewer transient 

consultants requiring to pull in and park. 

So much so that by our observation, 

collectively they have an occupancy of 

less than 10 per cent. Pittwater Life has 

been approached by several annoyed 

readers who have been fined after parking 

in the spaces on weekdays recently. So 

we thought it would be a no-brainer for 

Council to act swiftly to increase parking 

availability for shoppers in a recognised 

choke point. And we were buoyed by 

initial feedback – but alas, 

nothing’s happening any 

time soon. The official 

word from Dee Why is: 

“Council understands 

the pressures on parking 

at Mona Vale, especially 

since the introduction 

of the B-line. We will be 

reviewing the future use 

of this space taking into 

consideration the planned 

new creative arts space 

and customer service 

centre improvements. We 

are constantly reviewing 

parking arrangements 

across Mona Vale to 

provide more parking 

opportunities for 

commuters, visitors and 

the local community.” 

Don’t say we didn’t try. 

News 



News 

Pittwater News 

Daryl’s quickthinking 

heroics 

recognised 

Local firefighter Daryl 

Meppem’s heroicism saw 

him presented with a High 

Commendation bravery 

award at a special ceremony 

hosted by Royal Life 

Saving NSW last month. In 

August 2018, Mr Meppem 

was driving on Mona Vale 

Road at Terrey Hills, when 

he became aware that the 

driver of the vehicle ahead 

of him was in distress. The 

driver stopped her car in the 

roadway at which point Mr 

Meppem pulled his vehicle in 

behind her and went to see 

if he could lend assistance. 

It quickly became apparent 

that the driver’s three-yearold 

daughter was choking, 

turning blue and struggling 

to breathe. Mr Meppem 

gave the driver his phone 

and asked her to call an 

ambulance. He removed the 

choking child from the car, 

laid her on the ground and 

managed to clear her airway. 

The child had swallowed 

a bottle top; she was then 

able to breathe for herself. 

While the ambulance was 

no longer needed the child 

was taken by her mother 

to Mona Vale Hospital for 

assessment. She was told that 

intervention by Mr Meppem 

undoubtedly saved the life 

of her daughter. Mr Meppem 

received his award from NSW 

Governor Margaret Beazley. 

Probus news 

Pittwater Probus Club 

member Gordon Anderson, 

who was born in New Zealand 

but who spent most of his life 

in Australia as well as PNG 

and the Solomon Islands, is 

the speaker at the Club’s next 

meeting at Mona Vale Golf 

Club on Tuesday September 

10. Gordon will talk about his 

time working with aircraft 

and, in particular, helicopters 

as a maintenance engineer 

and pilot. Gordon will tell 

of his many exploits around 

the Pacific. Meeting starts 

10am; all welcome. More info 

0437 274 074. Meanwhile 

members of Palm Beach 

Probus are looking forward 

to a presentation by former 

Detective Sergeant David 

Walton (now Councillor 

David Walton) at their next 

meeting at Club Palm Beach 

on Wednesday September 

18. Titled ‘Manly Underbelly 

– The Inside Story’, it 

relates to an investigation 

the Northern Beaches, the 

corruption by five detectives 

attached to the Manly Police 

Station from 1999 to 2000, 

and the importance to 

combating corruption both in 

government and in business. 

Meeting commences 9.30am, 

ending noon. All welcome; 

more info 9973 1247. 

Cormann for dinner 

The federal Minister for 

Finance, Mathias Cormann, 

is the guest speaker at this 

year’s spring dinner hosted by 

the Palm Beach branch of the 

Liberal Party at Moby Dicks, 

Whale Beach, on September 5. 

Mackellar MP Jason Falinski 

will also be in attendance. 

Starts 6.30pm; tickets $150 

each (12 per table). Bookings 

on 8356 0300. 

Dog baiting warning 

Local authorities have 

warned pet owners to 

remain vigilant after several 

incidents of attempted 

into organised crime on Continued on page 28 



Grace’s 

Secrets 

Louise Park 

Berbay Publishing 

$19.99 

Rats! Warringah fall short 

It was a case of close but no cigar for the Warringah Rats 

and their ‘Hillbilly’ supporters after the green-and-whites 

were defeated 21-16 by Sydney University in the Grand 

Final of this year’s Shute Shield on August 24. 

It was a particularly bitter defeat for the team to swallow 

in captain Hamish Angus’ final game before retirement 

– they led 16-nil 10 minutes into the second half before 

their opponents dominated to score three tries including a 

penalty try. 

The turning point came in the 62nd minute when Rats 

second-rower Sam Thomson was sin-binned and Uni was 

controversially awarded a penalty try. 

That took some of the wind out of the Rats’ sails and 

the rampaging students sealed victory with a five-pointer 

from a driving maul with 10 minutes remaining. 

Despite the disappointment teammates paid tribute to 

their skipper Angus, who won the 2019 Ken Catchpole 

Medal for the competition’s best player. 

When Beachside first 

opened, local author 

Louise Park had just 

published her Harriet 

Clare series. Quickly 

we discovered she had 

tapped the elusive 

demographic of 

younger readers who 

struggled to get into 

reading... until they 

found Harriet Clare. 

Her brand-new middle-fiction series, launching 

this month with Grace’s Secrets is the perfect followon 

for these readers. Grace and her mother move from 

Australia to a quaint lifestyle village in Scotland to run 

the grand hotel. The hotel is full of secrets, the most 

exciting being a portal Grace finds, allowing her to travel 

back in time. 

While playing ode to favourite childhood stories and 

authors (don’t be surprised if your reader wants a copy 

of Alice in Wonderland next), Park’s new book taps 

into common themes of friendship, and growing up. 

Beautifully illustrated in full colour, this is a guaranteed 

keepsake to be treasured. – Libby Armstrong 

News 



News 

Mackerel barge mishap 

NSW Maritime and the Australian Maritime Safety 

Authority are continuing to investigate what caused an 

18-metre barge and truck carrying up to 10,000 litres of 

sewage to sink in around five metres of water off Great 

Mackerel Beach late last month. 

The commercial barge carrying the truck had four men 

on board when it listed heavily before it overturned. The 

men were rescued by local residents who witnessed the 

incident, with one man taken to hospital for observation. 

Local Fire & Rescue and Hazmat crews placed special 

booms around the submerged truck and the upturned 

barge to prevent the spread of diesel and hydraulic fluid. 

NSW Maritime Executive Director Mark Hutchings 

described the recovery operation as complex and 

challenging. 

*Anyone who has footage of the incident may be able to 

assist with the investigation; contact maritimeincidents@ 

rms.nsw.gov.au 



poisoning of dogs in recent 

months. 

Rat-bait-laced sausages have 

been found on the western 

side of Mona Vale and several 

animals have been taken 

to veterinary clinics with 

suspected poisoning. 

Vets advise anyone who 

thinks their pet has ingested 

a bait to attend a veterinary 

clinic as soon as possible. 

Rat bait leads to internal 

bleeding and can be fatal. 

A blood test can determine 

whether any rat bait has been 

ingested within the last few 

days and an antidote can be 

started. 

The public is urged to report 

suspected dog baiting to 

police. 

Spring into Mona Vale 

An exciting dinosaur-themed 

stage show for families 

and their children will be a 

highlight of the ‘Picnic in the 

Park’ at Village Park, Mona 

Vale on Saturday September 

7, along with other fun kids’ 

activities. The event is part 

of a plan between Council 

and local businesses to bring 

a great calendar of events 

and promotional offers to 

visitors to the village during 

September. Other events 

across the month include: 

Weekly Organic Market; the 

Northern Beaches Sport and 

Lifestyle Expo; a four-week 

yoga course for men; Spring 

story times for 3- to 5-yearolds; 

a downsizing Workshop; 

Aussie Night Markets; Charity 

Brunch & Bubbles; Chocolate 

making demonstrations; 

a brewery tour (including 

sampling); Moto GP race 

action on the big screen; 

and a Dive Spear and Sport 

Launch Party. More info 

northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au 

Spark Tank brings 

youth ideas to life 

Clever groups of Northern 

Beaches young people are 

working together to create 

inventions, apps, new 



usinesses or community 

services in time for a 

September 23 deadline. They 

will present their ‘pitches’ 

live at a Shark Tank®-like 

event in Avalon in October 

for a shot at over $4000 cash 

and 10 weeks of business 

start-up coaching, provided 

by a crack panel of local 

entrepreneurs and business 

consultants. The business 

pitch event, ‘Spark Tank’, is 

hosted by Share the Spark, 

a new Northern Beaches 

charity that empowers young 

people to make life affirming 

choices. “The Spark Tank 

event is an amazing 

opportunity for young 

people between 8 – 23 to 

get together and bring their 

ideas to life!” said Kimberly 

Clouthier, Director of Share 

the Spark. “Every entry we 

receive gets professional 

feedback with specific ways 

to move their idea ahead.” 

Download entry forms from 

the Spark Tank Event tab at 

SharetheSpark.org.au. 

Gut health and 

its link to ADHD 

The expert speaker at 

ADHD Support Australia’s 

next meeting on September 

24 will be Helen Padarin, 

who will be talking about 

Gut Health and its link to 

ADHD, raising awareness 

and providing practical 

treatment options. Helen 

will be speaking about 

the importance of good 

nutrition and lifestyle as it 

relates to various immune, 

digestive and neurological 

disorders such as ADHD. 

Helen has been a practising 

naturopath, nutritionist 

and medical herbalist since 

2001 and is the founder 

of Padarin Health and a 

MINDD Ambassador. “My 

mission is to educate and 

promote awareness about 

a truly nourishing diet and 

lifestyle for everyone” Helen 

said. Meeting starts 6.45pm; 

tickets $15 ($5 from each 

ticket will be donated to 

Hope for Health, a charity 

which engages in a two-way 

education program with 

Indigenous communities to 

promote positive nutritional 

and lifestyle habits for 

better healthy living). 

ADHD Support Australia 

is also launching its new 

membership platform 

through Patreon, which 

will allow people to access 

footage from all current 

events online for a small 

monthly fee. More info 

adhdsupportaustralia.com.au 

Beaches flushed with 

‘Saltwater’ creativity 

The combined creativity of 24 

Northern Beaches writers and 

artists is the focus of a unique 

new collection of illustrated 

stories celebrating the theme 

‘Saltwater’ to be launched 

at Manly Library from 6pm 

on Thursday September 12. 

The ‘Saltwater’ anthology 

is being hailed as a magical 

community collaboration 

involving short-story writers 


News 



News 



and poets, artists, local 

Libraries and the Manly 

Art Gallery & Museum, all 

working under the guidance 

of the award-winning author 

Zena Shapter. Zena believes 

the importance of such an 

anthology is found in the 

community’s ability to reflect 

on and exchange creative 

thoughts critically. In the 

lead up to this year’s Manly 

Art Festival, local writers and 

poets were invited to write 

original literary responses 

to the theme ‘Saltwater’ 

with a specially selected 

group of 12 artists creating 

visual responses. Individual 

artworks from the anthology 

will also be shown across the 

Northern Beaches Library 

network as a highlight of this 

year’s Manly Art Festival. 

Copies of the anthology 

available at the Libraries ($20); 

the paintings, photographs 

and mixed media artworks 

will be for sale and displayed 

on a 24-hour digital screen 

at the Manly Art Gallery. 

Admission free. 

Start digging for 

beach treasure, 

me hearties! 

The Rotary Club of Upper 

Northern Beaches’ second 

annual Big Dig Treasure 

Hunt fundraiser, an exciting 

day of pirate-themed family 

fun, will be held at Newport 

Beach on Sunday September 

Narrabeen gymnasts 

in 1-2 podium finish 

The Gymnastics NSW State Championships, comprising 160 

of the best athletes in the state, were held last month, with 

the North Narrabeen Academy of Gymnastics (located inside of 

Pittwater Sports Centre in Narrabeen), represented by 14 athletes 

who qualified to compete. A special competition within the State 

Championships (City vs Country) saw three NNAOG gymnasts 

selected to compete for the level 5 city girls’ team which emerged 

victorious. Two stand-out athletes from NNAOG were Kate 

Partridge and Maya Atkinson (both level 6 – pictured). Kate 

received level 6 Runner Up Overall State Champion and Maya 

received level 6 Overall State Champion (also vault champion and 

runner-up for bars/beam). Other incredible level 6 achievements 

came from Zoe Berriman (bars champion), Ruby McGoldrick 

(floor runner-up) and Halle Dickinson (third on beam). 



continues until 3pm, with 

prize digging scheduled 

by age group. A tasty BBQ 

breakfast and lunch will be 

available. More info 0412 007 

068 or the Club website. 

15. The beach will be divided 

into age-specific areas, 

with each zone containing 

numerous tokens hidden in 

the sand. For an entry fee, 

kids can “dig for treasure” 

and trade the tokens they 

find for prizes. There will 

be something for adults as 

well, with the opportunity 

for “grown-up” pirates to win 

a prize with a ‘Message in a 

Bottle’. Other attractions will 

be set up around Newport’s 

Bert Payne Park next to the 

beach – games, crafts and 

food, with more prizes to 

be won. The event will also 

feature a sand sculpture 

workshop and competition 

conducted by noted sand 

artist Newton Bishop. 

Families are encouraged 

to wear their best pirate 

gear and there’ll be prizes 

for the Best Dressed Pirate. 

Prices to participate are 

$10 for children for the Big 

Dig (everyone gets a prize); 

$25 for ‘Message in a Bottle’ 

and $25 per team for the 

sand sculpture competition. 

Tickets can be purchased 

on the day, or in advance 

at trybooking.com (search 

events for ‘Big Dig’). Entry to 

the site is free. Registration 

starts 9.30am and the fun 

Bayfields tops $3m 

for Children’s Cancer 

Institute Family-run 

Bayfield Hotels raised a 

record $214,656 for the 

Children’s Cancer Institute at 

its annual Charity Luncheon 

at the Belrose Hotel last 

month. The CCI is a charity 

close to Bayfields’ heart, 

having pledged the role of 

benefactor when publican 

and CEO Wayne Bayfield 

was first introduced to the 

charity in 2000. Since then 

they have raised $3,088,811 

for CCI, the only independent 

medical research institute in 

Australia wholly dedicated to 

childhood cancer. 

Funding boost for 

Christian School 

Students at Northern 

Beaches Christian School 

in Terrey Hills will benefit 

from new outdoor learning 

and playground spaces 

with member for Mackellar 

Jason Falinski announcing 

the Australian Government 

would provide $250,000 

towards the project at the 

K-12 school through the 

Capital Grants Program. 

“Students and teachers 

thrive when their schools 

have modern and up-todate 

facilities – that’s why 

we are proud of the Capital 


News 



News 



Grants Program, which 

has benefited thousands 

of schools across the 

nation,” Mr Falinski said. 

“The Government has 

committed $703 million 

until 2022, which provides 

funding for non-government 

schools to improve capital 

infrastructure. These 

upgrades will help advance 

Northern Beaches Christian 

School and ensure our 

classrooms have modern 

facilities.” Schools that 

want to learn more about 

the Capital Grants Program 

can visit education.gov. 

au/capital-grants-nongovernment-schools. 

Jane Caro for 

Zonta Club dinner 

The Zonta Club of Northern 

Beaches will host its annual 

Advocacy Dinner on Monday 

October 21 at the Dee Why 

RSL Club with Jane Caro 

as guest speaker. Ms Caro 

was appointed a Member of 

the Order of Australia (AM) 

in the 2019 Queen›s Birthday 

Honours in recognition of 

her “significant service 

to the broadcast media 

as a journalist, social 

commentator and author”. 

The dinner is a fundraiser 

to support Zonta projects 

for local women in need. 

The Zonta Club of Northern 

Beaches is a member of 

the Northern Beaches 

Domestic Violence Network, 

which brings together local 

organisations to develop 

strategies regarding local 

issues relating to domestic 

violence. The Club also 

supports the local ‘Women’s 

Refuge and Shelter’, provides 

study grants at tertiary level 

to local women in financial 

difficulty and several high 

school girls are supported 

with grants to enable them to 

have the same opportunities 

as their fellow students. 

Dinner bookings close 

October 7; cost $80pp with 

an early bird special of 

$75pp until September 21. 

More info 0416 182 393. 

Shaping the future 

of volunteering 

Individuals and 

organisations can help shape 

the future of volunteering 

in NSW by having their say 

in developing the third 

NSW Volunteering Strategy. 

Anyone interested in 

volunteering is urged to take 

part in a public consultation 

survey aimed towards 

boosting volunteerism. The 

NSW Volunteering Strategy 

will support the 2.1 million 

volunteers across the state 

and will be guided by the 

views and ideas expressed 

through the online 

consultation. It will build 

on the work of the previous 

strategy and provide the 

blueprint for work in the 

sector over the next decade. 

Volunteers in NSW contribute 

a combined 240 million 

hours of their time each year. 

Responses to the surveys will 

directly help government to 

develop the next strategy, 

and influence how it invests 

in and supports volunteers. 

The online surveys close on 

Friday September 6. More 

info volunteering.nsw.gov.au 

Social lawn bowls 

Pittwater Bowling Club, 

a registered sub-club of 

Pittwater RSL, is putting the 

call-out for new recruits, 

with anyone aged 12 to 90 

welcome to try lawn bowls 

on their three beautifully 

manicured greens adjacent 

to the Club. The Bowling 

Club, which has been going 

for 55 years, offers social 

bowling events on most days 

for men and women of all 

abilities. More competitive 

opportunities are available, 

with interclub events 

weekdays and weekends. 

‘Roll-ups’ can take place 

any day from 3pm, with 

visitors warmly welcomed 

and free coaching available 

for beginners (including 

equipment). And if you 

would like to organise a 

function, they cater for 

barefoot bowls, from groups 

of eight up to 100 or more. 

For more information call 

9997 5943. 



Brides-to-be are spoilt for choice 

Northern Beaches Weddings 

& Events is the place couples 

start when planning or 

considering a wedding on 

the picturesque Northern 

Beaches of Sydney. 

The NBWE website 

features local and popular 

Northern Beaches wedding 

suppliers, including venues, 

photographers, bridal 

wear and accessories, 

entertainment and more. 

NBWE also specialise 

in hosting unique local 

wedding events that 

showcase NBWE members 

and the Northern Beaches 

as a wedding destination. 

All events are free to attend 

and are a great day out for 

couples and bridal parties. 

The next and final 

intimate wedding showcase 

for 2019 – ‘Brides Who 

Brunch’ – will take place at 

Beachside DOJO Manly on 

Sunday September 8. Brides 

and their guests will mingle 

with an array of Northern 

Beaches Art Prize 

winners crowned 

Locals Jackson Davies and 

Jennifer Everett took out the 

top prizes in General and 

Small Sculptures categories 

respectively in the highly 

coveted 2019 Northern 

Beaches Art Prize which this 

year attracted almost 900 

entrants across the multiple 

award categories. It’s the 

Beaches Wedding Specialists 

whilst being spoilt for a day 

of fabulous wedding ideas 

and inspiration. 

To register visit nbwe.com. 

au. (Also, suppliers looking 

to promote their business 

through the website or at 

upcoming events can do 

so on the website or by 

emailing liz@nbwe.com.au.) 

* Waterfront wedding 

reception venue Metro 

Mirage Hotel Newport has 

region’s most prestigious 

art competition, having 

begun as the Warringah Art 

Prize in 1955. The General 

Category included original 

paintings or drawings in 

any medium; printmaking 

and collage – the winner 

was Mona Vale’s Jackson 

Davies (interview p40) with 

honourable mentions for 

Katika Schultz and Alison 

won the 2019 Brides Choice 

Award for the most popular 

wedding venue on the 

Northern Beaches. It was 

not only named a finalist 

in three separate categories 

across all service aspects of 

wedding event delivery, but 

also named ‘Best of the Best’ 

across all service categories 

for the Northern Beaches, 

as voted by brides who have 

had a wedding in the last 12 

months. 

Billing, while Guy Morgan 

received an encouragement 

award. Winner of the Small 

Sculpture Category was 

Jennifer Everett, with an 

Honourable Mention to Henry 

Evans and an Encouragement 

Award to Nina Reynolds. 

Prizes in the Waste-to-Art 

and Youth Categories were 

scheduled to be announced 

on August 29. 

Vet 

on 

call 

with 

Dr Ben Brown 

In the past 3 months there 

has been an outbreak 

of an often-fatal disease 

called Leptospirosis in 

dogs in Sydney, with six 

confirmed cases as of late 

August. Leptospirosis is a 

serious infectious disease. 

Importantly, Leptospirosis is 

also a zoonotic disease which 

means that it can be spread 

from animals to humans. The 

World Health Organisation has 

recognised Leptospirosis as 

a re-emerging communicable 

disease requiring surveillance. 

The source of the current 

outbreak in Sydney is thought 

to be rats that have been 

disturbed due to underground 

infrastructure works in the 

inner city, where most of the 

cases have been diagnosed. 

These rats are thought to have 

contaminated stagnant water 

in areas where domestic dogs 

frequent (such as dog parks) 

thus allowing transmission 

to otherwise healthy pets. 

Once infected, dogs usually 

become ill within seven days 

and show symptoms such as 

vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, 

reduced appetite and lethargy. 

Some dogs can remain ‘silent 

shedders’ of the disease whilst 

others can be fatally infected. 

Treatment of Leptospirosis 

includes administration of 

antibiotics in order to prevent 

or minimise organ damage. 

The best way to prevent 

Leptospirosis is to limit 

contact between our pets 

and sources of infection such 

as rats and stagnant water 

such as ponds, lakes and 

puddles. Vaccination is also 

an effective and safe means to 

protect dogs with 2 doses of 

vaccine required 2 to 4 weeks 

apart to facilitate immunity. 

Annual boosters are required 

and can be given with your 

dog’s normal vaccinations. 

For further information 

about Leptospirosis or to 

arrange vaccination for your 

dog, please call one of our 

hospitals at either Avalon or 

Newport. 

News 



Write 

here, 

write 

now… 

Life Stories 

Ex-Barrenjoey High School 

graduate (and Pittwater Life 

intern) Tim Ayliffe is making 

news – both literally and on 

the literary scene... 

Story by Rob Pegley 

A 

good-looking surfer from the 

Northern Beaches, who is head of 

TV news for the ABC; Tim Ayliffe 

sounds like he should be the hero of a 

thrilling crime novel. But instead, he 

writes them… 

“Do you know, ” begins Tim Ayliffe, as 

we sit at an Avalon cafe, in the winter 

sun, “my first job in journalism was in 

my late teens with Pittwater Life?” He 

then adds with a smile: “I even used to 

help deliver them off the back of a Ute!” 

You couldn’t make it up. 

And yet that’s exactly what Tim 

does these days: make things up. His 

second novel State of Fear was released 

in August, following the success of 

his debut, The Greater Good. The third 

book of the series is already finished 

as a first draft, with the working title 

‘Nowhere Man’. Books four and five are 

already loosely planned in his head. 

Realising a teenage dream of having 

a book published has certainly not 

diminished his appetite for writing. 

“I love writing. And I know how 

privileged I am to have a contract to 

write novels,” says Tim. “I know that 

99% of books don’t get published; some 

really good books. But I’ve realised a 

dream and I’m so lucky.” 

Like many authors though, it’s been 

a fairly circuitous journey via years in 

journalism to realise that dream. Many 

crime writers like Michael Robotham, 

Michael Connolly and Carl Hiasson 

cut their teeth on the news desk of 

newspapers, and Tim has had a similar 

route. 

The Barrenjoey High School student 

headed to London in 2001 as a 22-yearold 

and struggled to break into the 

media. He spent his time working bar 

jobs and doing promotions gigs to 

get by, until he snagged a job script 

running for Sky News. His progression 

then took off quickly: Within a couple 

of months he was writing for their 

websites; after a year Sky offered to 

sponsor him; and four years in, he was 

producing and reporting. 

Tim returned to Australia in 2005 

and after a brief stint with Channel 7, 

ended up in Melbourne with the ABC 

where he helped launch the ABC News 

Breakfast show. After eight years he 

returned to Sydney where he’s now 

Head of Television News for the ABC; 

he oversees the 7pm News, all video 

and digital output, and the ABC News 

Channel. 

With a job like that and two young 

children, it makes me wonder how he 

ever found time to write a novel in the 

first place – but it turns out that the 

novel became an escape, rather than 

additional work. 

“I was working really long days at 

work and feeling burnt out to some 

extent,” Tim shares, “and I felt like I 

needed something else. One day I was 

at work and I got up and took myself to 

a cafe around the corner for an hour, 

and just wrote. It started there.” 

From that first visit to the cafe 

around the corner, it took Tim three 

and a half years to finish The Greater 

Good. The first draft took two years, 



CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Launching the ABC News Breakfast show in 

Melbourne in 2008 holds a special place in Tim’s heart; with Publisher Fiona 

Henderson on the promo trail; inside The White House press room in 2012 while 

on a US State Department Leadership scholarship; surfing at Stanwell Park on 

the south coast with his favourite HaydenShapes board. 


writing a couple of evenings a week 

and a day at the weekend. He then had 

18 months doing rewrites. 

“I used to get home from work, 

help with the kids and then start at 

and do my writing early in the morning 

– starting at 5am. I go to work buzzing 

rather than to bed”. 

The second novel took two years from 

start to finish, while the third novel 

A voracious reader, Tim devoured 

anything from Roald Dahl to Stephen 

King in his early years, before tackling 

the American literary greats such 

as Norman Mailer and Philip Roth. 

about 8.30pm on the evenings I wrote. has taken only a year. Tim feels he has Latterly he has enjoyed crime thrillers – 

It would take a couple of hours to learnt so much in that time – not least, especially Don Winslow’s Cartel Trilogy. 

immerse myself and get back in my the style of writing that suits him best. 

He’s also a fan of Avalon’s Robotham. 

stride, but then I’d lose myself and be “I have a book and a half in a drawer 

Tim’s wife Justine has also been a 

massive influence on his writing. “I 

writing until 1am.” 

at home that’s just no good. I tried 

couldn’t have done it without her. She’s 

That presented its own problems writing in a more literary style, but it 

been a great reader of my stuff. She’s 

though… “I’d get into bed and my just didn’t work. Somebody pointed 

also allowed me a day every weekend to 

mind would be racing with ideas. I out that I wrote the more action-based 

write, which is really hard with young 

just couldn’t sleep! So for the next two scenes really well though, and I decided 

kids.” 

books I’ve turned things on their head I should maybe concentrate on those.” 






As if his life isn’t busy enough, Tim 

coaches his son’s footy team. “Yeah, I 

get up early at the weekend, write from 

5am, then take the kids to footy and 

cook them pancakes. Then I do a few 

more hours.” 

One wonders if the day job will ever 

have to go, given he has set himself 

such a punishing schedule? 

“You have to sell a lot of books 

to become a full-time author,” says 

Tim. “And besides, I love my job. I’m 

essentially researching my books every 

day on some level!” he laughs. 

The reason Tim says that, is that his 

novels are rooted very much in modern 

day news issues: The Greater Good 

tackles the tensions between the US and 

China; State of Fear is based around 

terrorism. We talk for an hour over 

coffee in the August sun and discuss 

everything from Trump, Brexit and the 

rise of the far right, to ‘fake news’ and 

the misused power of shock jocks. Tim 

is passionate about social justice and 

the role of the news, and saddened by 

how patriotism has been used to fuel 

nationalism and in turn racism. 

A lot of Tim’s values shine through 

in his lead character John Bailey. And 

indeed, building the characters was 

the most important part of the writing 

process. 

“None of the characters are based 

on any one person, but they’re an 

amalgamation of people I’ve worked 

with over the years,” he reveals. 

“Bailey is an old school journalist – 

to some extent he’s buried his head 

in the sand when it comes to social 

media and the like, but he’s dogged 

in his pursuit of the truth. He’s selfdestructive 

and flawed, but obsessive 

about his work.” 

Bailey’s Editor Gerald Summers 

and CIA veteran Ronnie Johnson are 

convincingly conceived. And Bailey’s 

relationship with the strong female 

character of Sharon Dexter is at the 

heart of Tim’s novels. Dexter was 

hardened by her time as a rookie cop 

in 1980s Kings Cross, surrounded by 

Boys Club corruption. 

Closer to home a number of strong 

females have been most prominent 

in helping Tim to become published. 

His wife Justine as already mentioned, 

along with Fiona Henderson, the 

Publishing Director at Simon & 

Schuster who believed passionately 

in Tim’s work. So much so that he 

went with her first offer, rather than 

get in a bidding war. And also Tim’s 

agent Jeanne Ryckmans. Jeanne was 

a respected small publisher who Tim 

actually encouraged to become an 

agent and take him on as her first 

client; which she did. Tim didn’t as 

much find a literary agent as create one 

for himself. 

“Myself along with Blanche 

(d’Alpuget) and Bob (Hawke) were 

her first clients,” he laughs. “Not bad 

company!” 

Away from writing, Tim loves to surf. 

His 40th birthday present to himself 

was a Hypto Crypto board made by 

Palmy locals HaydenShapes. It’s in 

the car ready to catch waves when our 

interview is done. Tim loves the Wedge 

at Whale Beach or having North Palmy 

to himself. Indeed, Palm Beach forms 

a dramatic backdrop to some crucial 

moments in The Greater Good. His 

parents and brothers are still on the 

Beaches and Tim would love to live 

nearer the ocean. 

For now, Tim lives in the inner West, 

close to his job at the ABC. There he 

can help combat the rise of fake news, 

by helping develop young journalists 

in the right way. I cheekily ask him 

whether a raid on the ABC might figure 

in one of his future books. “Actually, 

in the next book, one of Bailey’s 

cases catches up with him and the 

importance of freedom of speech is 

played out. Often you need fiction to 

tackle the truth. Watch this space…” 

Watch this space indeed – there is 

plenty more to come from Tim Ayliffe. 



ABOVE: Tim (third left) with the original ABC News Breakfast Team in 2008. 

BELOW: Maida Vale was home during his stint in London from 2001-05. 




Art Life 


A ‘Flame-boyant’ display 

An energetic expression of fire 

and light, the handcrafted 

pieces in Silver Plus Studio’s 2019 

exhibition convey a strong personality: 

Voluminous rings, necklaces with 

robust form and texture, and sculpted 

earrings to 

be worn with 

confidence. 

‘Flame-boyant’ 

showcases new 

work by Silver Plus 

Studio members 

in sterling silver, 

precious metals 

and stones. The 

annual exhibition 

featuring 12 

makers has 

become a popular 

fixture for many 

on the peninsula. 

“Visitors comment 

that they feel 

spoilt for choice 

with more than 

150 pieces of 

jewellery and 

metalwork on 

display,” said 

member Susan 

Peacock. 

Taking a direct 

interpretation 

of the theme, 

Heidi Francis has 

experimented 

with torchcolouring 

copper 

to create iridescent earrings. Irene 

Garran and Barbara Simon feature 

pieces with handmade glass beads 

in a multitude of patterns and hues. 

The translucent enamel work of new 

member Micaela Nathan also falls very 

neatly with the flame reference. 

The heat of the flame allows 

makers to bend and twist the metal 

in unusual ways. Hanne Kambro’s 

scandi-inspired designs won a fistful 

of awards at this years’ Sydney Royal 

Easter Show. Gail Jenner, Cilla Cross 

and new member Celia Harper, forge 

and form sterling 

sheet and wire 

into organic 

chains, pendants 

and rings. 

The work of 

Susan Peacock 

and Margot Ryan 

features etched 

and rollerprinted 

designs. 

Christine 

Sadler has also 

continued to 

experiment 

with texturing 

sterling silver 

with delicate 

crochet, and 

Brenda Coleman 

incorporates 

exquisite 

castings of shells 

and other natural 

forms with 

precious stones, 

each piece an 

instant heirloom. 

The exhibition 

features as 

a part of Manly 

Arts Festival and 

will be open over 

one weekend (7/8 September) at the 

stunning Silver Plus Studio at Ingleside 

(Granma’s Refuge, 4 Tumburra Street). 

Open 10am-4pm both days; launch at 

11am on Saturday with morning tea 

EXQUISITE: Sterling Silver, freshwater pearl and 

agate necklace (Christine Sadler); Oxidised Sterling 

Silver and gold foil earrings (Barbara Simon). 

provided. 

– NW 

* More info call 0405 561 718 or 

silverplusstudio.weebly.com 

A space short 

of abstraction 

Born in Poland, Joanna Gambotto – the Spring 

feature artist at Eye Doctors Mona Vale 

– has completed several Artist-In-Residence 

programs recently, including a three-month 

residency in Penang, Malaysia, a one-year 

Artist-in-Residence Program at Curwoods Lawyers 

in Australia Square and a one-month Hill 

End Artist-In-Residence program. 

Resting somewhere in between representation 

and abstraction, Joanna’s paintings 

aim to evoke a sense of space rather than to 

render an accurate copy of one. 

She says the laborious process of adding 

paint, scraping and carving, results in a sensuous 

surface, rich in texture, pattern and layers 

and becomes a metaphor of how a place can 

be filled with emotions, memories and history. 

Joanna moved to Australia in 2007 where in 

2013 she completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts 

Degree at the National Art School in Sydney. 

Since then, she has participated in numerous 

group exhibitions and has held several 

solo shows in Australia and abroad. Joanna is 

the winner of 2013 Hornsby Art Prize as well 

as 2014 Clyde & Co Art Award. 

She is also the recipient of 2014 Saatchi & 

Saatchi Exhibition Award and the winner of 

2016 Northbridge Art Prize. – NW 

* View Joanna’s work at Eye Doctors Mona 

Vale, Suite 303, 20 Bungan St, from September 

through November; Mon-Fri 9am – 

5pm. Also visit joannagambotto.com.au 



Save the date for 

local Artists Trail 

Artists on the Pittwater Artists 

Trail are busy getting 

their studios ready for the first 

Open Weekend of the new 

season (October 19-20). 

The Trail evolves every year 

as new members join and others 

leave. This year, 21 artists 

will be showcasing their work 

to the public when they open 

their doors. An array of mediums 

and styles are available 

to view and purchase, from 

contemporary oil painting to 

functional ceramics to glass 

sculpture. 

Save the dates – you’ll be 

able to explore the artists’ 

work environment and chat to 

them about their inspiration 

and process. 

New Trail member Jennifer 

Everett won The Northern 

Beaches Art Prize for Small 

Sculpture last month and the 

Trail was well represented at 

the event with five members 

featuring in the finals selection. 

– NW 

* View the artists’ profiles 

and Trail map at pittwaterartiststrail.com 


25 years of beaches creativity 

The Manly Arts Festival, celebrating its silver anniversary in 

2019, will usher in an exciting program of exhibitions, live 

performances, and artist open houses when it launches on 

September 6. 

The Festival is well-known for its eclectic mix of stimulating, 

thought-provoking events featuring prominent musicians, 

performers and visual artists in venues including Manly Art 

Gallery & Museum, the Creative Space at North Curl Curl and 

Glen Street Theatre. 

With a theme of ‘See, Hear and Play’, the Festival kicks off 

with a launch party on Friday 6 September from 6-8pm at the 

Manly Art Gallery and Museum. 

MAG&M’s festival exhibitions are Wendy Sharpe: 

‘Wanderlust’ and Mick Glasheen: ‘Garigal Country, Drawing 

on the Land’, while at Glen Street Theatre, Spiegelesque is 

back in the form of Spiegelesque Too after last year’s sell-out 

performances. 

Manly Arts Festival began in 1994 and has since grown into 

one of the State’s leading community-based arts festivals, 

attracting over 15,000 visitors each year. 

– NW 

* More info NB Council website. 





Jackson’s talent 

runs in the family 

Jackson Davies was destined 

to become an artist – his 

great great grandfather was a 

miniaturist for Queen Victoria 

and his great grandfather was a 

portrait painter too. 

“I suppose the artistic 

inclination is in the family,” the 

26-year-old from Mona Vale 

tells Pittwater Life. 

But he says winning this 

year’s Northern Beaches Art 

Prize (General Section) was 

beyond his wildest dreams. 

“I have never won anything 

before – I was completely 

surprised!” Jackson said after 

his brooding oil painting ‘Wer 

mich liebet, der wird mein Wort 

halten’ (The one who loves 

me will keep my promise) was 

awarded the $6000 first prize. 

Jackson started art classes at 

age 10. 

“I have been fortunate to 

have had some very passionate 

teachers encourage me along 

the way,” he said. “I lived in 

Paris for a while, and I tried to 

soak up as much art history as I 

could – I am particularly fond of 

the Old Masters painters.” 

However, he finds it difficult 

to pigeon-hole his style. 

“I am definitely a figurative 

painter, the portrait and nude 

are great subjects for oil painting,” 

he said. “Oil paint gives an 

artist the capacity to physically 

mimic flesh on the canvas. 

“On the other hand, oil paint 

can be applied impasto, which 

can be used to model, almost 

sculpt a figure on the canvas. I 

like to be realistic, but I certainly 

do not want to be photorealistic 

– it is always interesting 

to see an artist who has 

wrestled and engaged with the 

painting, rather than a precise 

reproduction of a photo.” 

He spent two months work- 

ing on his wining artwork. 

“It took quite a while... I usually 

start a painting with great 

enthusiasm, and I think that it 

won’t take long to paint,” he 

said. 

“Yet it always drags on for 

weeks... I make changes, or 

try to refine passages. I finish 

working on it one day satisfied, 

then the following morning I 

want to throw it away! I feel like 

a painting is only complete after 

I have sufficiently slaved over 

it for a couple of months.” 

He said the painting title 

comes from a Bach cantata; (“I 

prefer to leave it open for interpretation. 

I enjoy listening to 

people’s take on it.”) 

EYES ON THE 

PRIZE: Mona Vale’s 

Jackson Davies. 

Jackson hopes to make a living 

out of his art. 

“It is the only thing I want to 

do, everything else gets in the 

way,” he said. “It is great having 

time to paint but usually financial 

reality hits at some point 

and interrupts painting, which is 

a pain, but life I suppose. 

“I want to keep developing 

my painting; more complex 

compositions, more refinement 

of technique, greater understanding 

of art history. The 

challenge of the next painting is 

always exciting.” 

And the one portrait subject 

he’d like to paint? 

“The Queen of course, for 

royal patronage.” – Nigel Wall 



Surfing Life 

Tech = God: does nature 

still call shots in surfing? 

We think surfing is a ‘natural high’, but is it? 

with Nick Carroll 

Surfing Life 

So dear reader, recently I got 

an Apple Watch. “That’s 

great!” you think, but also 

wonder, “So what? You’re not so 

special! Many people have an 

Apple Watch.” 

Ah yes but the VERY DAY I got 

the Apple Watch, surfline.com, 

the world’s biggest and most 

visited surf site*, revealed its 

latest innovation. 

This is called Surfline 

Sessions, and it’s almost 

frightening. It works like this: 

if you’re a premium subscriber 

and you have an Apple Watch, 

and you go surfing at a spot 

with a surfline.com surf cam 

focused on it, the camera and 

the watch will somehow bond. 

The software behind the camera 

will know when you stand up 

on your board, thanks to the 

watch’s sensing devices, and 

will clip out the ride and put 

it together with all your other 

rides, and deliver it to your 

inbox like a little gift. 

So you will be able to head 

home after your surf and see a 

movie of your surf session. 

Man! Technology. It’s the real 

story in surfing, the story of the 

century as it were. 

Trouble is, it threatens to 

invert our idea of what surfing 

actually is. 

A short digression. Recently 

I got an advance copy of Nat 

TALENT: A meeting with Duke Kahanamoku changed the course of Tom 

Blake’s life, and also surfing’s as he essentially re-invented surfboards. 

Young’s new book, ‘Church Of 

The Open Sky’. It’s not super 

long; it is poignant, intelligent, 

and pretty wonderful really. 

Strongly recommended. 

Anyway, Nat devotes a lot of 

the front end narrating his 

encounter with the man who 

coined the term in the book’s 

title, American surfer Tom 

Blake. 

There never was a surfer 

like Blake, not until Blake came 

along, that is. Tom Blake was 

born in Wisconsin in March 

1902, into a family rapidly 

shattered by the death of his 

mother a year later from TB, 

and he knew little or nothing 

of the surf. Then he met Duke 

Kahanamoku in Detroit in 1920, 

on one of Duke’s post-Olympic 

promotional tours. The meeting 

entirely changed the course 

of his life. Blake headed first 

to California, then to Hawaii, 

scrounging a thin living as 

a lifeguard and swimming 

demonstrator, before essentially 

re-inventing the surfboard, 

first as a hollow lightweight 

paddleboard, then as a 

sailboard, then attaching a fin, 

then as a fold-away inflatable 

board that weighed just four 

kilos. 

Blake’s board designs were 

published in the great emerging 

magazine, Popular Mechanics, 

and were copied around 

the world, including by surf 

lifesavers here in Australia. This 

was in 1932. Early tech, you 

might say. 

Blake surfed for 65 years, all 

through the Depression, World 

War II, the Cold War, the Baby 

Boom, the lot. At the end of it 

all, having moved all the way 

back to Wisconsin, he sat down 

and wrote a short book called 

‘Nature = God: Voice Of The 

Atom’, in which he laid out an 

intensely romantic, Thoreaustyle 

vision of the world, 

based purely on his surfing 

experiences. 

To Tom, the human spirit 

could only be liberated through 



NICK’S SEPTEMBER SURF FORECAST 

Well August was quiet as a mouse wasn’t it? Then — ooooo! Big 

wind, cold snap, the sense of a weather shift. I have no rational 

reason to be thinking this, but I’m rolling the dice and saying 

September is going to be a bit unsettled. OK there is some rationale; 

the storm belt in the Southern Ocean has been fiercely active and 

sending cooler air way up toward the tropics pretty much all around 

the world. This may begin a trend of circulating air that will swing 

winds “vertical”, ie northerly one day, southerly the next, bringing 

moisture from warmer northern waters into conflict with cool 

southern air. If that unfolds, you’ll see a cloudy September with some 

real weather changes and regional instability, leading to messier surf 

than we’ve been used to, and also possibly a bit of rain! Argh. Watch 

for surprise swell events here and there, a lot of smaller days, and 

probably an increase in baitfish and sea life generally as the whales 

begin to show up again on their way south. 

Nick Carroll 

deep contact with the natural 

world. That’s his “church of the 

open sky”. 

It’s as close as surfing has 

ever come to a theology, and 

Nat is a complete believer. (He 

almost called his book, ‘Surfing 

Is Not A Sport’.) I bet most of us 

would like to believe it a little 

bit too. 

But how does it sit in relation 

to our actual surfing lives? 

Blake died in 1994, just as the 

surfing industry took off into 

the stratosphere. By 2000, the 

surfboards he’d once made by 

hand out of wood were being 

cut from hardened poly foam by 

computer-aided machines. This 

year, fully automated surfboard 

production lines are being used 

for the first time. Your next 

board might not be touched by 

human hands, till it’s put it into 

a warehouse rack, awaiting your 

order. 

Around the same time, 

1994, accurate surf forecasting 

began to migrate online. This 

was soon followed by surf-cam 

networks, allowing people to 

check the waves on demand 

from remote locations, then by 

constantly updated software 

pushing forecast limits out 

to a week or more. Today, 

machine learning programs 

are being applied to surf-cam 

vision, preparing for a day soon 

enough when you’ll get an alert 

sent to your phone (or watch!) 

telling you when the wind’s 

swung offshore at your spot, 

or when the crowd’s dropped 

below 20 people. 

The year after Blake died, in 

1995, a major pro surfing event 

was held in a remote jungle 


location – Grajagan, in SE Java, 

Indonesia – for the first time. 

The event’s media office had to 

construct an intricate human 

chain, from a motorbike guy 

in the jungle camp to a pilot 

in Singapore, in order to get 

videotapes of each day’s action 

to the satellite broadcaster 

in Hong Kong, where maybe 

they’d be picked up by a news 

program somewhere. Today, 

entire world tour events are 

broadcast live and direct from 

pretty much anywhere on 

earth, drone shots, post-heat 

interviews and all. Free. 

Meanwhile, there’s five 

different businesses busy 

trying to get wave pools off the 

ground and into the economy, 

taking surfing out of the ocean 

altogether, and trying to get us 

to pay for waves in the process. 

There’s watches of various 

kinds, tracking your rides if you 

want them to, and giving you 

something to post on Instagram 

later so everyone knows of your 

essential magnificence. 

And soon there’ll be Surfline 

Sessions. 

It makes you wonder, is 

Nature still God? Can surfers 

still claim the open sky, if we’re 

using that much machinery to 

get there, and back? Does it 

even matter? 

I guess as long as we feel 

the waves exist without us 

– as long as they break our 

boards occasionally, and show 

up sometimes without being 

forecasted, and don’t do what 

we tell them – then that’s 

something. 

* The writer is a surfline.com 

correspondent. 

SEPTEMBER 2019 43 

Surfing Life

Health & Wellbeing 


Arts for wellness: unleash 

creativity and feel better 

During October our 

community will be 

given the opportunity 

to explore and experience 

a diverse range of creative 

arts events, classes and 

educational workshops that 

help with stress reduction, 

relaxation and social 

connection. 

The Arts for Wellness 

project, which will be 

launched on the Northern 

Beaches in conjunction with 

mental health month, is based 

on the idea that engaging 

in creative and expressive 

activities such as arts and 

craft, dance, music, yoga, 

mindfulness and meditation 

practices can do your mind 

and body a world of good. 

Research shows 

participation in the creative 

arts and expressive activities 

can improve health and 

wellbeing by: 

Providing comfort and 

reducing stress and anxiety; 

Offering empowerment, 

purpose, meaning and a sense 

of achievement; and 

Enhancing capacity to 

connect with community and 

reduce social isolation. 

The month-long program of 

events is being co-ordinated 

by the local not-for-profit 

group TIPS Community of 

Calm, a subgroup of a Trauma 

Informed Practitioner Support 

(TIPS) group in Mona Vale. 

Chairperson, counsellor 

Jane Macnaught of Tranquillo 

Place in Mona Vale, explained 

the program was designed to 

bring awareness to creative 

arts and other therapeutic 

approaches for mental health 

wellness and self-care. 

“The arts in all its forms can 

help us to access and express 

parts of ourselves that are 

locked away or can’t easily 

communicate,” she said. 

“Movement and creative 

activities lift our spirits 

and keep us feeling more 

connected to our feelings and 

ourselves. 

“Creativity helps us in so 

many ways: bringing joy, a 

sense of satisfaction, make 

sense of our lives, and we 

simply feel better.” 

Arts for Wellness project 

manager Mandy Loveday 

teaches the movement 

practice Nia which blends 

dance with martial arts and 

healing arts. 

“As a Nia teacher, I see 

positive change in people 

all the time,” Ms Loveday 

said. “People become more 

expressive, more relaxed and 

more joyful. 

“Having a movement 

practice has helped me 

manage and resolve my own 

anxiety, which has previously 

been a debilitating aspect in 

my life. 

“I’m very passionate about 

the Arts for Wellness project 

and I encourage people to try 

some of the activities in our 

events calendar.” 

Partnering with The Big 

Anxiety and supported by 

Northern Beaches Council, 

the Arts for Wellness event 

has attracted more than 40 

local practitioners who work 

with groups or individuals 

offering dance, yoga, 



What’s on offer 

Arts for Wellness 

comprises two programs 

breathing, mindfulness, 

meditation, arts, naturopathy, 

nutrition, soothing sessions, 

body mapping and other 

therapeutic services. 

For more information go to 

www.communityofcalm.org. 

– Lisa Offord 

* If you’re a practitioner 

on the Northern Beaches 

and you’re interested 

in participating in Arts 

for Wellness, email your 

expression of interest to 

info@communityofcalm.org 

(closes September 8). 

A month-long calendar of 

open classes and interactive 

educational programs. 

This includes many local 

practitioners, instructors, 

facilitators and experts with 

a wide range of activities in 

various community locations 

across the Northern 

Beaches. This is program is 

designed to give people an 

opportunity to find which 

activity works for them. 

Two one-day events, 

to be held in Mona Vale 

on October 5 and Manly 

October 12, where people 

will be able to sample the 

creative and expressive arts 

activities, therapies and 

experiences by booking 

sessions on these dates. 

This curated program will 

include highlights from the 

month-long calendar of 

events. 








Child eye health in focus 

as Myopia rates increase with Rowena Beckenham 

Myopia – commonly 

known as shortsightedness 

or near-sightedness 

– is increasing at an 

alarming rate worldwide, 

doubling in children over 

the course of a single 

generation. But what 

exactly is myopia and 

why the rise? 

Typically diagnosed 

in children around 

the age of 10-12 

years, myopia is a 

common progressive 

eye condition where 

the eyeball grows 

too long, causing 

blurred distance 

vision. However, 

the age of onset is 

dropping, increasing 

the likelihood of a 

more extreme level of 

short-sightedness (high 

myopia) and higher eye 

disease risk in adulthood. 

With the emergence of a 

new digital age, the reason 

for the significant increase 

in myopia is believed 

to be largely caused by 

environmental factors – 

resulting from modern 

lifestyles. As children are 

spending more time indoors 

than ever before, researchers 

believe that resulting low 

levels of outdoor activity, 

low levels of light exposure 

and prolonged time spent 

on close-up activities like 

computer, phone and 

television screens are 

affecting normal eye growth 

in childhood. 

The telling symptoms 

include: 

n Blurry vision when looking 

at distant objects; 

n The need to sit closer to 

the television, movie screen 

or front of the classroom; 

‘Oarsome’ work 

More than $40,000 has been pledged to local charities 

One Eighty and Gotcha4Life to help them to continue 

their vital work in our community. 

The money was raised by more than 150 northern beaches 

boaties from Avalon Beach, Collaroy and South Curl Curl 

who were sponsored to participate in a 

24-hour row at surf life saving clubs last month. 

The three clubs rowed an impressive 2,512,344m over the 

24-hour period. 

One Eighty and Gotcha4Life are focused on providing 

support to young adults and opportunities to openly discuss 

mental health. 

* Find out more at oneeighty.org.au and gotcha4life.org – LO 

n The need to squint 

or partially close 

the eyelids to see 

clearly; 

n Excessive blinking; 

n Frequent rubbing of 

his or her eye; and 

n Headaches caused 

by eyestrain. 

Regular eye tests 

from a young age 

enable optometrists 

to detect early signs 

of myopia before it 

fully develops. There 

are treatment options 

available to slow the 

rate of progression, 

with the aim of 

reducing its severity 

and protecting 

children from eye 

complications 

associated with 

high myopia in their 

adult years. With 

research showing that regular 

glasses alone do not aid in 

controlling the rate of myopia 

progression, I have listed 

some techniques to assist 

you in helping look after your 

child’s growing eyes. 

How you can help: 

n Get children to spend 

more than an hour and 

preferably two hours a day 

outdoors in their pre-school 

and primary school years; 

n Be aware that the 

likelihood of developing 

myopia, particularly high 

myopia, increases when 

one or both parents are 

myopic; 

n Talk to their 

schoolteachers regarding 

their patterns of learning 

and concentration in the 

classroom; 

n Book in an eye test. 

Bulk Billing is available 

for all children and 

student comprehensive 

eye consultations, and we 

invite parents to book in all 

children and adolescents 

for an eye exam so we can 

help ensure the health of 

young eyes and assist in 

maintaining their wellbeing. 

Comment supplied by Rowena Beckenham, of 

Beckenham Optometrist in Avalon (9918 0616). Rowena 

has been involved in all facets of independent private 

practice optometry in Avalon for 20 years, in addition 

to working as a consultant to the optometric and 

pharmaceutical industry, and regularly volunteering in 

Aboriginal eyecare programs in regional NSW. 






New season 

asthma alert 

Find it hard to breathe in Spring? It may be asthma. 

Asthma and hay fever affect over 2 million Australians 

and hay fever impacts every 1 in 5 people – hay fever also 

makes asthma much harder to control. 

Asthma can start at any age and according to Asthma 

Australia it can be more of a problem when it starts in older 

adults, so don’t assume any shortness of breath is a natural part 

of ageing, or if you never asthma that it’s not possible now. 

If you experience breathlessness, wheezing, a tight feeling in 

the chest, and/or continuing cough, then you may have asthma. 

You may have all of these symptoms or only a few, and they may 

come and go. 

A diagnosis of asthma is more likely if you have eczema or 

hay fever, or have close relatives with allergies and/or asthma, 

and if your symptoms keep coming back, or happen at the same 

time each year, are worse at night or in the early morning, are 

clearly triggered by exercise, allergies or infections or improve 

quickly with reliever medication. 

If you experience shortness of breath you should see your 

doctor for a professional diagnosis. 

Shortness of breath can be caused by other lung and heart 

diseases, not just asthma, said Mona Vale GP Ethel Gilbert. 

“Even if the cause is asthma, international research and advice 

is, that if you need a relief inhaler more than three times a week, 

you should probably be on a preventer inhaler for different 

periods of time to stop long-term damage such as chronic 

Australians living with aggressive 

forms of cancer and inflammatory 

conditions will have access to more 

affordable treatments through the 

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. 

The medicines Avastin, Sprycel, Actemra 

and Somatuline Autogeon were listed on 

the PBS on August 1 following a Federal 

Government $56 million investment. 

Member for Mackellar, Jason Falinski 

said the listings would provide a new 

hope for patients. 

“These medicines enhance the 

treatment of brain tumours, leukaemia 

and inflammatory disease of the large 

blood vessels,” Mr Falinski said. “Their 

new affordability and accessibility will 

save more lives.” 

Without the subsidy patients would be 

paying $31,200 for Avastin, $51,900 for 

Sprycel and $10,200 for Actemra. Under 

the PBS, the medicines will be available 

for $40.30 per script, or $6.50 with a 

concession card. 

bronchitis in later years,” Dr Gilbert said. 

A GP can help assess how much the asthma is affecting your 

life day to day and prevent that happening. 

“Asthma changes often with seasons or allergies and good 

control should always be sought so asthma really has no impact 

on your life,” Dr Gilbert said. 

Asthma Australia is releasing helpful information each 

day during Asthma Week from 1-7 September; more info 

asthmaaustralia.org.au 

– Lisa Offord 

$56 investment in PBS medicines 

Mr Falinski said while the listings would 

be hugely beneficial to sufferers, they also 

injected some much-needed optimism 

among communities and families. 

“These medicines will not only give 

patients a greater chance of survival, 

but give their loved ones a much-needed 

feeling of hope.” 

The government has added on 

average 30 medicine listings per month 

to the PBS since 2013, at a cost of $10.6 

billion. 

– LO 



Hair & Beauty 

The ‘unsexy’ issues 

women don’t talk about with Sue Carroll 

Over the years, the 

advances in medical knowledge, 

problems which have 

combination of nature 

and science has been 

prevented you from leading full 

evolving to improve women’s 

lives with everyday activities 

health and appearances: 

can be overcome. Leading by 

lasers, radiofrequency, PEMF 

example and being strong role 

(pulsed electromagnetic fields), 

models, we can make a difference 

Bioptron Light Therapy and 

in our own lives and those 

other energy devices are helping 

of our mothers, sisters, daughters 

pave the way for treatments 

and girlfriends. It is time 

that weren’t available even 

to enjoy full, healthy lives – and 

10 years ago. We seem more 

celebrate being a woman! 

and more comfortable talking 

about treatments for fine lines, bulging of the vagina and rience and who is also skilled 

Sue Carroll of Skin 

wrinkles, scar tissue or stretch comment that either they or and practised with the newer Inspiration has been a qualified 

Aesthetician for 33 years. 

marks. Finally, the focus seems their partners notice that sex laser, radiofrequency and electromagnetic 

devices,” she said. 

to be shifting, and women are doesn’t feel quite the same.” 

Sue has owned and 

having more conversations For women going through For women today, no matter 

operated successful beauty 

about vaginal health, function menopause these symptoms what your age is, you can now 

clinics and day spas on 

and appearance. 

could be amplified. 

be proactive with your intimate 

Pregnancy and menopause 

the Northern Beaches. 

“The decreased oestrogen health. There is no need to put 

can wreak havoc to our body, leads to worsening stress or up with incontinence, laxity or info@skininspiration.com.au 

and the vagina is the one area urgency incontinence… also a dryness. With the availability www.skininspiration.com.au 

that can bear the brunt of feeling of vaginal burning and of new technologies and the 

issues. So let’s start a conversation 

dryness with sex. Some women 

about some of the issues develop or underlying condi- 

and technologies that can be tions such as Genitourinary 

used to effectively improve Syndrome of Menopause (GSM) 

post-pregnancy, menopausal as that are unlikely to improve 

well as the cosmetic appearance 

over time without treatment.” 

of the vaginal area — no Many women, both post- 

better place to start than with birth and menopausal, simply 

gynaecologist, Dr Sonya Jessup, put up with these symptoms, 

a respected leader in her area assuming it was just something 

of medicine, who is now working 

they needed to live with – the 

on the Northern Beaches to cost of giving birth or just part 

provide women with intimate of the journey of menopause. 

health solutions. 

“Others are unwilling to go 

I asked Dr Jessup (BHB, with options such as surgery, 

MBChB, MReprodMed, FRAN- vaginal meshes or tapes which 

ZCOG, ESAG) to provide some have had increasing negative 

insight into ways women can publicity due to a number of 

lead full and healthy lives with cases with severe adverse reactions,” 

vaginal revitalisation. 

Dr Jessup said. “So much 

“Over the years working as so that many of these procedures 

a Gynaecologist and fertility 

are no longer allowed in 

specialist, I have seen first-hand, Australia. Medication may be 

many women experience an alternative but may not be 

incontinence, vaginal laxity and suitable for all women, such as 

decreased sexual enjoyment following 

those that have breast cancer, 

childbirth,” she said. which is hormonally sensitive.” 

“Their pelvic floor muscles The good news is that there 

have never quite recovered, despite 

is now a whole range of non- 

pelvic floor exercises, to surgical devices that provide 

the extent that they now leak treatment and relief for these 

urine with coughing, sneezing issues. “Not every method is 

and during exercise or getting suitable for every woman. It 

up multiple times in the night is essential to see a qualified 

to go to the toilet. 

gynaecologist with traditional 

“Other women notice some and hormonal treatment expe- 



Health Hair & Wellbeing Beauty

Business Life: Money 

Business Life 

Infrastructure outcomes: 

Let’s start them at home 

with Brian Hrnjak 

This month we look at 

some nearby opportunities 

to improve infrastructure 

outcomes… on one 

single day in August every 

major media outlet featured 

infrastructure as a political 

issue: Among several articles 

The Australian welcomed the 

PM’s push for more infrastructure 

to be delivered 

by smaller contractors. The 

Australian Financial Review 

featured at least five large 

articles, including one on 

how the current infrastructure 

spend is insufficient to 

match population growth. 

The Sydney Morning Herald 

noted the end of suburban 

sprawl and how major cities 

are reaching crush capacity CHOKE POINT: If you can afford the toy you can afford to store it somewhere safer than a local street. 

on public transport. The ABC 

hospitals, schools and local ents. Around 10% used some have become cheaper and 

announced an all-new season 

transport such as the new form of public transport and households now have more 

of Utopia. 

metro and B-Line. Local government 

is classically kerbs, – but more on that in a min- 

10 years ago. We share a 

bicycles didn’t rate a mention cars than they did 20 or even 

From this point on I have to 

be a little careful writing this 

drains, local roads and sporting 

facilities. 

see a jump in the public transing 

homes and between all 

ute. I’d be surprised not to driveway with two neighbour- 

as I don’t want the remainder 

of the article to sound like 

What made me pause to port figures in the next census 

as the B-Line and Keoride dren – there are 14 vehicles, 

of us – six parents, nine chil- 

another middle-aged bloke 

think about infrastructure 

having a whinge but in some improvement beginning at combination have become a plus two caravans (all off 

parts you will need to excuse home is that in the midst of welcome addition to our area street I might add). 

me as it will certainly come all this spending and building 

on seemingly worthwhile important transport improve- 

is population and develop- 

and probably the single most The other obvious factor 

across that way. 

The political virtue signalling 

of spending public to work is now taking longer On the numbers I mention ing Herald noting the end of 

projects, my trip from home ment in 50 years. 

ment. With The Sydney Morn- 

money on infrastructure is than it ever has. In fact, on here for motor vehicle transport 

urban sprawl, which is growth 

simple: we improve our social some mornings at certain 

users, a mere 15-min- 

at the edges, this simply 

assets while at the same time times, the paltry 6km run ute-per-day improvement in means there has been more 

achieving ongoing improvements 

from Avalon to Mona Vale travel time converts to some- 

infill development – or in other 

in efficiency – the can take almost half the time thing like 6,000 person hours words, growth in the mid- 

ratio of inputs to outputs – to navigate that the B-Line per day on an ongoing basis dle. A few weeks ago, I drove 

less time, less cost etc. The takes to travel the 30km from – over 1.3 million hours over into Warriewood Valley around 

process also creates employment 

Mona Vale to Wynyard. (You the number of working days the time of morning peak 

opportunities with what can see what I mean about in a year that can be convert- 

hour, a mistake I won’t be re- 

are generally long-running this sounding like a whinge ed to potentially productive peating until they’ve finished 

projects – by way of example but this is a serious economic 

hours as opposed to time with the development-related 

look at the extent of roadworks 

issue – I spend way more spent staring at the number road closures that are in force. 

along the east coast time driving between places plate of the car in front. 

So, what could be done to 

of the country up to the on the Northern Beaches The sources of our longer improve things? The issues 

Queensland border. 

than I do driving the Pacific local travel times are numerous, 

around property prices and 

All three levels of government 

Highway to Queensland and 

but the simple fact is population growth are genies 

undertake spending most likely so do all of you.) there are more cars on the that are well and truly out 

on infrastructure, or capital 

Reverting to the numbers road at the same time. I have of the bottle, so manage- 

works as they are often in the 2016 census, 24,229 no empirical evidence to ment is the only option. With 

called. The federal level is people in Pittwater travelled back this, but my view is that the B-Line introduction we 

usually responsible for building 

to work on census day by as house prices increased have seen recent improve- 

national roads, ports and car as a driver or passenger more children have stayed at ment in our public transport 

the like. The states provide – that’s 67.5% of all respond- 

home, cars have in the main options and no doubt this 



will assist. So too will those 

people who choose to work 

from home because of faster 

internet and flexible employment 

conditions – I’ve noted 

in a previous article that the 

work-from-homers probably 

saved our bacon as far as 

congestion on local roads 

has been concerned. 

When discussing local issues 

with others who live and 

work around here, the items 

listed below seem to come 

up frequently: 

Waste collection service – 

some years ago waste collection 

services occurred overnight 

and out of hours. On 

the northern part of the peninsula 

most Mondays are a parade 

of multi-coloured trucks 

named Dennis blocking local 

roads and main roads during 

peak travel times. It’s hard to 

criticise a bureaucrat for saving 

money – unless of course 

that saving is achieved at the 

expense of the majority of 

road users for the sake of that 

bureaucrat’s key performance 

indicators. Surely common 

sense suggests that waste 

collections occurs over night 

or between morning and 

afternoon peaks? 

Navigating local roads – 

with the influx of cars there 

has also been an influx of 

toys – boats and caravans being 

the main culprits. Quite 

a few local roads allow only 

a single car to pass at a 

time. If you can afford the 

toy, you can afford to store it 

somewhere safer than a local 

street where it blocks traffic 

and sight lines. Some people 

are surprised to learn it is 

illegal to park on a nature 

strip or across a footpath 

even if it is your own driveway; 

it could probably be argued 

for a formal relaxation 

of this rule in certain areas or 

streets to allow cars or toys 

to come off the road. 

Right hand turn bays – one 

sure sign that development 

has increased in the local 

area is that right hand turn 

lanes are now too small for 

prevailing traffic, not occasionally 

but most of the 

time. Would it be too hard 

to make them bigger/longer, 

or a no-right turn if bigger is 

not possible? 

Push bikes in traffic – I 

have no idea how the 

lycra-latte bicycle set have 

managed to achieve such 

lobbying power when their 

numbers as a significant 

transport option in the 

census don’t even rate a 

mention. Personally, I’d be 

happy to ban all push bikes 

from single lane main roads 

during peak times (cue the 

flack) but I suspect I’m on a 

hiding to nothing. 

School zones on main 

roads – are the 40km/h 

speed restrictions really 

necessary on main roads, or 

are the six lanes of moving 

traffic, signage and flashing 

lights insufficient to draw 

kids’ attention to the danger 

of stepping in front of oncoming 

cars? 

With our prime minister 

presently on a crusade to 

bust congestion, here are 

five shove-ready projects 

worthy of federal grant funding 

and ready to go. 



Brian Hrnjak B Bus CPA (FPS) is 

a Director of GHR Accounting 

Group Pty Ltd, Certified 

Practising Accountants. Offices 

at: Suite 12, Ground Floor, 

20 Bungan Street Mona Vale 

NSW 2103 and Shop 8, 9 – 15 

Central Ave Manly NSW 2095, 

Telephone: 02 9979-4300, 

Webs: www.ghr.com.au and 

www.altre.com.au Email: 

brian@ghr.com.au 

These comments are of a 

general nature only and are 

not intended as a substitute 

for professional advice. 


Business Life: Finance 


Super & insurance: How 

to protect your family 

From July 1 2019, 

superannuation fund 

members with inactive 

accounts risked losing their 

insurance coverage unless 

they opted-in to retain their 

cover. Prior to the end of the 

financial year, more than one 

million Australians received 

letters requesting an opt-in 

response. Those that did 

not respond in time may 

have forced any cover they 

previously held to lapse. 

As a result, many 

Australians may now have 

no Life, Income Protection 

or Total and Permanent 

Disability (TPD) insurance. 

This leads to the obvious 

question of “how much 

cover should a person or 

family have?” Unfortunately, 

most Australians have never 

completed a comprehensive 

insurance needs analysis. 

Insurance needs analysis 

An insurance needs 

analysis is a robust and 

comprehensive process 

that considers not just your 

immediate needs, but how 

that cover must provide for 

you and your dependents in 

the event of a claim. 

Personal insurances are 

traditionally a combination of 

coverage for varying amounts 

taken out at a specific time to 

suit a need. Once the policy 

is ‘in force’, it is generally left 

to increase year on year with 

inflation, regardless of any 

changes in circumstances. 

Having incorrect levels of 

insurance can be costly to 

the policyholder; they either 

pay too much in premiums, 

or do not receive enough 

payment to cover their needs 

if a claim is made. Over and 

under insurance often occurs 

where clients receive default 

insurance through their 

employment. This cover often 

has little or no correlation 

to their circumstances; the 

amount is often based on a 

limited metric, such as three 

or four times their annual 

salary. 

Indeed, an Underinsurance 

Australia report, recently 

released by independent 

consultants and actuaries 

Rice Warner, highlights that 

“the median level of life cover 

meets just 28% of the amount 

needed to ensure family 

members and dependants 

can maintain their standard 

of living after the death of a 

parent or partner.” 

We recommend that a 

comprehensive review takes 

place every year before 

your annual insurance 

premiums become due to 

ensure any changes in your 

circumstances are reflected in 

your levels of cover. 

Balancing affordability with 

conditions of release 

Once a comprehensive needs 

analysis has been conducted 

and the levels of coverage 

ascertained, your insurance 

specialist should then look at 

the structure of the policies 

to ensure they suit your 

cash flow needs and that the 

conditions of release would 

With Geoff Aitken 

be met in the event of a claim. 

TPD inside of your 

industry or retail super fund 

is commonly held as ‘any 

occupation’ policies. This 

means if you are found to be 

incapacitated but still able 

to complete any type of paid 

employment, you may not 

meet a condition of release. 

As a result, the claim is paid 

to the super fund but not 

passed on to the beneficiary. 

Insurance and 

superannuation 

Insurance held inside a super 

fund isn’t always a bad thing; 

however, it is important that 

your superannuation is in 

order. Having several super 

funds may mean paying 

multiple insurance premiums, 

which will deplete your super 

balances quicker and reduce 

the income available to you in 

retirement. 

This article contains 

general information only 

and does not take into 

account your objectives, 

financial situation or needs. 

Therefore, before relying on 

this information, you should 

consider your own personal 

circumstances and seek 

professional advice. 

Geoff Aitken is a Financial 

Planner – Director of One 

Wealth Advisory (see ad 

p15) with 25 years’ industry 

experience. Geoff is a 

Member of MFAA, FPA and 

the Australian Institute of 

Company Directors. 



Business Life: Law 

Consider collaborative 

process for resolution 

Collaborative Family Law 

is a far better and more 

respectful option in resolving 

important issues, such 

as general parenting plans or 

Orders or property divisions; 

as such it’s extremely important 

that the community is 

educated about this process. 

While not everyone’s 

circumstances may be suited 

to the collaborative process, 

those who have separated and 

seek to maintain an amicable 

relationship with their partner, 

spouse and any children 

should seriously consider it. 

Family law matters are 

diverse and sometimes involve 

deeply personal issues; from 

being a sperm donor to 

children and wondering if you 

have any rights as a parent; or 

around responsibility for adult 

child maintenance where that 

child is going through gender 

dysphoria needing financial 

assistance from parents, just 

naming a few. 

My commitment to 

ensuring that people have 

the collaborative process 

option available to them on 

the Northern Beaches led 

me to form the Collaborative 

Professionals Northern Beaches 

Practice Group. (Testimonials 

on the Gentleslaw website 

demonstrate the benefits that 

this interest-based resolution 

process provides.) 

As a Nationally Accredited 

Mediator, I am qualified to 

assist in cases where two people 

want to have one legally 

trained Solicitor facilitate in 

mediation to resolve property 

division. Those clients who do 

not wish to go to Court can 

use this process even where 

there is significant disagreement 

with a former partner 

or spouse. Mediation is also 

an effective use of limited 

funds, keeping legal costs to a 

minimum. 

There will be circumstances 

where filing applications in 

either the Family Court or Federal 

Circuit Court is the best 

and only way forward. Our experience 

enables us to prepare 

and file urgent applications for 

clients in dire need. 

Our goal though is to 

provide clients with the best 

advice and a cost-effective 

service, enabling them to reach 

an earliest resolution – and our 

With Ioanita Gentles 

mission is to do this collaboratively, 

if possible. 

We pride ourselves on taking 

the time to listen to clients’ 

needs. Our staff are all local 

to the Northern Beaches and 

take a friendly, compassionate 

and empathetic approach in all 

interactions with clients and 

their families. (We also have an 

office in the CBD.) 

Seeing a lawyer when you feel 

emotional is often a daunting 

experience and we recognise 

that clients deserve advice that 

provides the best outcome. 

Comment supplied by Ioanita 

Gentles of Gentles Family 

Lawyers, Suite 5, 39 East 

Esplanade Manly. P: 9977 

0889. W: gentleslaw.com.au 




Business Life: Law 


The Law of Succession a 

valuable, dynamic study 

It was a surprise to learn that 

the law of succession is no 

longer taught as a compulsory 

subject to students of law, 

which in this writer’s opinion is 

a shame. 

The law of succession is not 

just a statute of that name nor 

is it an area of law limited to the 

law of wills, intestacy law and 

the probate jurisdiction of the 

Supreme Court. It is in theory 

and practice closely related to 

other areas of law, including 

the law of property and the law 

governing persons incapable 

of managing their own affairs 

and as with so many areas of 

law, it has had to adapt to the 

changing needs of society. 

The law of succession is an 

important component of a legal 

system in which Australians 

have embraced the concept of 

a ‘managed society’; in which 

it is expected their personal 

affairs and those of their family, 

to be managed from cradle to 

grave, that is to be managed 

in anticipation of, and during, 

experience of incapacity for 

self-management and beyond. 

The jurisdiction in which 

succession law is found is the 

Probate Protective and Family 

Provision, of the Equity Division 

of the Supreme Court of NSW. 

The Protective jurisdiction 

exists for the purpose of taking 

care of those who cannot care 

for themselves. The Court 

focuses on the welfare and 

interests of a person incapable 

of managing his or her own 

affairs, testing everything 

against whether what is to be 

done or left undone is or is not 

in the interests, and for the 

benefit, of the person in need 

of protection. 

The Probate jurisdiction 

looks to the due and proper 

administration of a particular 

deceased estate, having 

regard to any expressed 

testamentary intention of the 

deceased, and the respective 

interests of parties beneficially 

entitled to the estate. The 

task of the court is to carry 

out a deceased persons 

testamentary intentions, and 

to see that beneficiaries get 

what is due to them. 

The Family provision, 

jurisdiction as an adjunct 

to the probate jurisdiction, 

looks to the due and proper 

administration of a particular 

deceased estate without undue 

cost or delay, to order that 

provision be made for eligible 

applicants for relief out of a 

deceased estate or notional 

estate in whose favour an 

order for provision ‘ought’ to 

be made. 

A notional estate occurs 

where the actual estate is not 

sufficient to meet the family 

provision order; in these 

circumstances the court will 

consider whether the deceased 

has a notional estate. A 

notional estate is comprised 

of assets that did not belong 

directly to the deceased at 

the time of death which as a 

result of a relevant property 

transaction (an act or omission) 

were transferred to another 

person or trust without full 

valuable consideration – i.e. 

payment being given to the 

deceased. The act or omission 

must take place within three 

years prior to the deceased’s 

death, or the date of death, or 

after the date of death. 

It has been suggested that 

lawyers should recognise 

the possibility that the 

legal process of death may 

begin when, in anticipation 

of mental incapacity as a 

precursor to death, a client 

with Jennifer Harris 

executes an enduring power 

of attorney (governed by the 

Powers of Attorney Act 2005), 

an enduring guardianship 

appointment (governed by 

the Guardianship Act 1987), 

and a will (governed by the 

Succession Act 2006, and the 

Probate and Administration 

Act 1898). 

The process may end 

only when the time has 

expired with an application 

for a family provision order, 

governed by the Succession 

Act 2006, is reached. 

While all of the foregoing 

processes involve the Supreme 

Court. There may be a necessity 

to deal with the jurisdiction in 

practice of the Guardianship 

Division of the NSW Civil and 



Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). 

The NCAT Tribunal deals 

with a large range of cases, 

in an exercise of jurisdiction 

protective in nature, affecting 

the person and estates of 

persons who are, or may be, 

incapable of managing their 

own affairs. 

A relatively recent 

phenomena has been a 

development and number 

of ‘Elder Abuse’ cases which 

has attracted the protective 

jurisdiction of the Supreme 

Court or NCAT. 

Elder abuse has been 

defined by the World Health 

Organisation (June 2018) as 

“the mistreatment of older 

people as a single reported 

act, or lack of appropriate 

action, occurring within any 

relationship where there is 

an expectation of trust which 

causes harm or distress to an 

older person”. 

Anecdotal evidence 

consistent with cases before the 

Supreme Court suggests that 

vulnerable people are in many 

cases exploited by those closest 

to them, including family and 

friends or by the holder of a 

power of attorney. 

If exploitation or a risk of 

exploitation, is discovered in 

time, systematic protective 

orders might be made by the 

Supreme Court or NCAT for: 

n The appointment of a 

manager of the vulnerable 

person’s estate, involving 

the operation of the NSW 

Trustee and Guardian Act NSW 

2009 and the administrative 

oversight of the NSW Trustee 

exercising power under the 

Act; or 

n In protection of the person of 

the person, the appointment of 

a guardian by NCAT, pursuant 

to the Guardianship Act 1987. 

A grant of probate has dual 

characteristics, being an order 

of the court and an instrument 

of title to property. 

Grants are made in common 

form or solemn form. 

A grant in common form is 

essentially an administrative 

procedure and is usually 

granted on an ex parte basis as 

the application for probate is 

non-contentious. 

A grant is solemn form 

involves court proceedings, as 

those with an interest may wish 

to challenge the validity of the 

Will or may wish to prove that 

the Will should be set aside 

or varied as undue influence 

occurred during the making of 

the will or the deceased lacked 

capacity to make a will at the 

time it was made. 

In a case in 2014, the Estate 

of Kouvakas [2014] NSWSC the 

Judge issued a grant of probate 

in solemn form and made a 

judicial statement that, on the 

Court’s then assessment: 

(a) All persons interested 

in the making of a grant 

(and particularly those 

with an interest adverse 

to the making of a grant) 

have been allowed a fair 

opportunity to be heard, 

with a consequence that 

principles about the 

desirability of finality in 

the conduct of litigation 

should weigh heavily on any 

application for revocation of 

the grant: 

(b) On evidence then 

formally noticed, the 

Court is satisfied that the 

particular grant represents, 

consistently with the 

law’s requirement that 

testamentary intentions 

be expressed formally an 

expression of the deceased’s 

last testamentary intentions 

if any; 

(c) An order for a grant in 

solemn form appropriately 

serves the due 

administration of justice. 

What this means is that 

before a grant in solemn form 

is made, the court needs to 

be satisfied that all persons 

who have or may have an 

interest in the estate have been 

given reasonable notice of the 

proceedings leading to the 

grant. 

Informal Wills – that is, 

a testamentary document 

not executed in accordance 

with the requirements of the 

Succession Act – are no longer 

unusual. The defect is often 

an unsigned document or an 

inappropriately witnessed 

document, or where a 

beneficiary has witnessed the 

document. In dealing with 

an informal will the court 

cannot apply the traditional 

presumption of capacity, 

or knowledge and approval 

arising from ‘due execution’. 

Rather it must investigate 

questions of fact and to the 

determination of disputed 

questions of fact, it has to 

draw an inference usually 

drawn from established facts. 

The Law of succession as 

demonstrated by the practice 

of the Probate Protective and 

Family Division of the Equity 

Division of the Supreme Court 

is far from a dry traditional 

subject to be bypassed 

by aspiring lawyers. It is 

dynamic, and grounded in 

enduring concepts requiring 

adaptation to changes in 

Australian society. 

Comment supplied by 

Jennifer Harris, of Jennifer 

Harris & Associates, Solicitors, 

4/57 Avalon Parade, 

Avalon Beach. 

T: 9973 2011. F: 9918 3290. 

E: jennifer@jenniferharris.com.au 

W: www.jenniferharris.com.au 




Trades & Services 


AUTO REPAIRS 

British & Swedish Motors 

Call 9970 6654 

Services Range Rover, Land Rover, 

Saab and Volvo with the latest in 

diagnostic equipment. 

Narrabeen Tyrepower 

Call 9970 6670 

Stocks all popular brands including 

Cooper 4WD. Plus they’ll do all mechanical 

repairs and rego inspections. 

Barrenjoey Smash Repairs 

Call 9970 8207 

barrenjoeysmashrepairs.com.au 

Re-sprays a specialty, plus 

restoration of your favourite vehicle. 

Commercial specialist. 

BATTERIES 

Battery Business 

Call 9970 6999 

Batteries for all applications. Won’t be 

beaten on price or service. Free testing, 

7 days. 

BOAT SERVICES 

Avalon Marine Upholstery 

Call Simon 9918 9803 

Makes cushions for boats, patio and 

pool furniture, window seats. 

BUILDING SERVICES 

Calyx Construction 

Call Mat 0416 105 032 

Northern Beaches-based; small team, 

top attention to detail. Specialists 

in quality house renovations, major 

alterations and additions. 

Rob Burgers 

Call 0416 066 159 

Qualified builder provides all carpentry 

needs; decks, pergolas, carports, 

renos & repairs. 

B & RD Williams 

Call Brian 0416 182 774 

Kitchen renovations, decks, pergolas. 

Small extensions specialist. 

CLEANING 

The Aqua Clean Team 

Call Mark 0449 049 101 

Quality window washing, pressure cleaning, 

carpet washing, building soft wash. 

Martin Earl House Wash 

Call 0405 583 305 

Pittwater-based owner on site at all 

times. No travellers or uninsured 

casuals on your property. 

HouseWashing 

NorthernBeaches.com.au 

Call Ben 0408 682 525 

Softwash experts; window cleaning, 

pressure & gutter cleaning. Pittwater 

resident. 

CONCRETING 

Pavecrete – All Concrete 

Services 

Call Phil 0418 772 799 

pavecrete@iinet.net.au 

Established locally 1995. Driveways plus 

– Council Accredited. Excavation service. 

ELECTRICAL 

Eamon Dowling Electrical 

Call 0410 457 373 

For all electrical, phone, TV and data needs. 

Local business. Quality service guaranteed. 

FLOOR COVERINGS 

Blue Tongue Carpets 

Call Stephan 9979 7292 

Family owned and run. Carpet, rugs, 

runners, timber, bamboo, vinyl, tiles, 

laminates; open 6 days. 

FLOOR SANDING 

Pittwater Eco Floor Sanding 

Call 0425 376986 



Floor sanding & polishing; staining & 

lime washing; installation & repairs; rejuvenation; 

decking and outdoor timber. 

Call now to arrange your free quote. 

GARDENS 

Graham Brooks 

Call 0412 281 580 

Tree pruning and removals. Reports 

regarding DA tree management, 

arborist reports. 

Precision Tree Services 

Call Adam 0410 736 105 

Adam Bridger; professional tree 

care by qualified arborists and tree 

surgeons. 

DISCLAIMER: The editorial and advertising content in Pittwater 

Life has been provided by a number of sources. Any opinions 

expressed are not necessarily those of the Editor or Publisher of 

Pittwater Life and no responsibility is taken for the accuracy of 

the information contained within. Readers should make their 

own enquiries directly to any organisations or businesses prior to 

making any plans or taking any action. 

Special Branch Tree Services 

Call Jason 0439 964 538 

Qualified arborist; 20 years’ experience 

all aspects of tree work Avalon and 

surrounds. Fully insured. Call to arrange 

quote. 

GUTTERS & ROOFING 

ABC Seamless 

Call 9748 3022 

Local roofing & guttering experts. 

Free quotes. 40 years’ industry 

experience. Fully licensed, insured & 

extensive warranties. 

Cloud9 G&R 

Call Tommy 0447 999 929 

Prompt and reliable service; gutter 

cleaning and installation, leak 

detection, roof installation and painting. 

Also roof repairs specialist. 

Gutter-Vac 

Call 1300 654 253 

Professional & courteous vacuum 

cleaning of commercial & domestic 

gutters, roofs, solar panels and downpipes. 

Also EnviroClean, environmentally 

friendly mould & moss treatment for 

roofs, paths, driveways & walls. 


Advertise your 

Business in 

Trades 

& Services 

section 

Phone 

0438 123 096 





KITCHENS 

Seabreeze Kitchens 

Call 9938 5477 

Specialists in all kitchen needs; design, 

fitting, consultation. Excellent trades. 

MASSAGE & FITNESS 

Francois Naef/Osteopath 

Call Francois 9918 2288 

Diagnosis, treatment and prevention for 

back pain and sciatica, sports injuries, 

muscle soreness, pregnancy-related 

pain, imbalance. 

Avalon Physiotherapy 

Call 9918 3373 

Provide specialist treatment for neck & 

back pain, sports injuries, orthopaedic 

problems. 

Fix + Flex Pilates & Physio 

Call Jen 0404 804 441 

Private & Group Equipment Pilates & 

Physio sessions (max 3 per class). 

PAINTING 

Contrast Colour 

Call 0431 004 421 

Locals Josef and Richard offer a quality 

service; tidy and reliable, they’ll help 

you choose the best type of paint for 

the job. 

Modern Colour 

Call 0406 150 555 

Simon Bergin offers painting and 

decorating; clean, tidy, quality detail you 

will notice. Dependable and on time. 

AJJ Painting & Decorating 

Call 0418 116 700 

Andrew is a master painter with 30 

years’ experience. Domestic and commercial; 

reasonable rates, free quotes. 

PEST CONTROL 

Predator Pest Control 

Call 0417 276 962 

predatorpestcontrol.com.au 

Environmental services at their best. 

Comprehensive control. Eliminate all 

manner of pests. They provide a 24-hour 

service. 

PLUMBING 

Nick Anderson Plumbing 

Call Nick 0411 251 256 

Specialist in gasfitting, drainage and 

plumbing. Complete service, competitive 

rates. Local and reliable – free quotes. 

Pure Plumbing Professionals 

Call 9056 8166 

Zero dollars call-out – and you approve 

the price before they begin. 24/7 

Emergency Service. 10% pensioner 

discount. 

RUBBISH REMOVAL 

One 2 Dump 

Call Josh 0450 712 779 

Seven-days-a-week pick-up service 

includes general household rubbish, 

construction, commercial plus 

vegetation. Also car removals. 

Advertise your 

Business in 

Trades 

& Services 

section 

Phone 

0438 123 096 

UPHOLSTERY 

Luxafoam North 

Call 9999 5567 

Local specialists in all aspects of 

outdoor & indoor seating. 

Custom service, expert advice. 

Essyou Design 

Call Susan 0422 466 880 

Specialist in day bed and outdoor 

areas. Reliable local service. Offering 

domestic & commercial. 



Times Past 

Bilgola SLSC’s 

‘rough’ beginnings 

A 

real estate brochure 

from the 1930s summed 

up Bilgola Beach thus 

“… a charming spot on the 

oceanfront, one mile beyond 

Newport Beach – exclusive on 

account of its size”. 

However, until 1949, Bilgola 

Beach had a treacherous 

reputation – unfortunately 

it had seen numerous 

drowning deaths, including 

that of an early resident and 

one-time owner of the first 

weatherboard ‘Bilgola House’, 

Colonel Oswald Watt. 

According to the SLSA 

(Surf Life Saving Association) 

Beachsafe site, Bilgola Beach is 

rated ‘moderately hazardous 

6/10’. 

It was the frequency of these 

early drownings that prompted 

the formation of the Bilgola 

Surf Life Saving Club. In the 

summer of 1949, a small group 

of local men decided to form 

a surf club to stem the flow 

of these tragedies. The only 

life saving device available to 

them was a crude box/line 

outfit located on the site of the 

present kiosk and probably 


installed by Warringah Shire 

Council (WSC). 

After several meetings 

the Club was formed; its 

Constitution, Rules and By-laws 

were drawn up and the Club 

became a reality and affiliated 

with the SLSA. 

Two squads were soon 

formed and after intensive 

training, 15 members 

were awarded their Bronze 

Medallions by February 1950. 

Three neighbouring surf 

clubs provided instructors – K. 

Webster from Whale Beach, 

Laurie Payne from Newport 

and Stan Butler from the 

Avalon Beach Club. 

Also, Newport and Avalon 

Beach provided assistance 

during the training period by 

making boats, crews and gear 

available. Avalon Beach also 

gave the Club a surfboat. 

Patrols commenced on 

Sundays, usually when 

reasonable weather prevailed, 

and they continued until the 

end of the 1949/50 season. 

A ‘reel, line and belt’ and 

flags were secured and kept in 

the garage of a private house 

on the beach owned by the Oag 

family. Their two sons were 

original members. 

The need for a clubhouse 

was next on the list, so 

fundraising, variety shows/ 

concerts and cash donations 

all contributed towards the 

project. Plans were drawn up 

by architect CC Ruwald during 

1950; they were approved by 

WSC and construction began. 

‘Midge’ Gonsalves (christened 

Harry and who ‘stood five 

feet nothing in bare feet’) a 

stonemason from Palm Beach 

(and a member of the Palm 

Beach SLSC since the 1920s) 

soon had the ground floor 

underway. It consisted of a hall, 

boatshed and toilet facilities. 

Later the top floor was let 

out as a contract and although 

there were renovations along 

the way, the first major 

addition was completed and 

officially opened in May 2001 

by local Member John Brogden. 

Between 2001 and 2003 there 

was a complete rebuild of the 

downstairs area, providing 

significantly more room 

for the now 800 members, 

including 287 nippers. 

Preparations are underway 

for Bilgola Beach’s 70-year 

celebrations later this year. 

(The main image shows 

Bilgola Beach [detail from a 

Frank Hurley photo], and the 

surf club under construction in 

1950/51. 

The first pool is also visible 

east of the headland on the 

rock shelf – the current pool 

was still to be built! 

Bilgola House number 2 

is visible on the far right in 

amongst the cabbage tree 

palms.) 

* Special thanks to David Lyall 

(Foundation/ Life Member and 

Past President) for help with 

this article. 

TIMES PAST is supplied 

by local historian 

and President of the 

Avalon Beach Historical 

Society GEOFF SEARL. 

Visit the Society’s 

showroom in Bowling 

Green Lane, Avalon 

Beach. 


Times Past

the 

good 

life 

Showtime 

clubs & pubs 62 

Showtime 

food 

64 

BODIES CORPORATE: (L-R) Ashleigh Haynes (Megan), Chris Richardson (Angela), Silka May (Michelle) and Paul 

Johnson (Michael) are among the cast of Elanora Players’ October production. 

Cast picks up on a 

ʻVibe’ of the times 

In late 2018, Elanora Players chose Davis “His powerful script delivers drama and 

Williamson’s comedy ‘Corporate Vibes’ for comedy through the fortunes of his characters 

67 

their October production in 2019. Little in a plot which leads from conflict towards a 

crossword 

did they know two major themes of the play degree of enlightenment.” 

would be so much in the public eye a year In the role of Sam is Paul Millett, whom 

later: residential tower blocks and bullying in EP audiences will recall from his recent 

the workplace. 

appearance as the over-the-hill TV idol in 

As the story unfolds, sales of Sam Siddons’ ‘The Bold, The Young and the Murdered’ and 

residential tower blocks are in the doldrums several other recent productions. Facing off 

while his opposition’s sales are booming. to him as the sweetly relentless Deborah is 

Loud, brash and aggressive Sam does not see Jordan Farrow, a new face on the Players’ 

himself as being to blame. His harassed staff stage who brings a wealth of theatrical 

are on the point of revolt when Sam takes a experience to the role. 

vacation. In his absence, his office manager Chris Richardson (the dizzy Florence in 

gardening 

70 

employs a Human Resources officer, Deborah, ‘The Odd Couple: The Female Version’) and 

who sets about exploring with members of Ashleigh Haynes (Danielle in ‘The Bold, The 

the staff the sources of their grievances. Young and the Murdered’) return as staff 

Production director Bill Akhurst says what members Angela and Megan. Silka May (as 

follows is a hilarious battle of wits between Equal Opportunities consultant Michelle) plus 

Sam and Deborah for the jobs of the staff and Stephen Allnutt and Paul Johnson (as company 

the fate of the company. Sam, hectoring and manager Michael and sales manager Brian) 

implacable, seeks to dominate the sweetly, bring fresh talent to the production. 

insistently reasonable Deborah. The staff 

‘Corporate Vibes’ will run for 10 

looks on in wonder. 

performances from Friday 4th to Saturday 

“Williamson’s familiarity with Sydneysiders 12th October. Tickets cost $28; $25 

and their ways is delightfully displayed in this concession and $22 for groups (10+). 

travel 

73 ironic comedy about people and situations * Bookings on 9979 9694; boxoffice.elanora@ 

that audiences will recognise,” said Akhurst. bigpond.com or elanoraplayers.com.au – NW 

60 SEPTEMBER 2019 The Local Voice Since 1991

Tom’s in like Flynn for 

Sydney run of Chicago 

It’s been almost 15 years 

since Tom Burlinson 

last performed in a 

musical production but 

the acclaimed Newport 

entertainer says he’s excited 

to be tackling the role of 

iconic character Billy Flynn 

in the current Sydney run 

of the multi-award winning, 

record-breaking ‘Chicago’ at 

the Capitol Theatre. 

Burlinson said he was 

approached to play the role 

of cunning and charismatic 

lawyer Flynn by co-producer 

John Frost after an actor 

who had played the role in 

London’s West End and on 

Broadway was unexpectedly 

unable to come to Australia 

for the production. 

In particular he’s looking 

forward to once again 

combining the ‘trinity’ of 

performing talents – acting, 

singing and dancing – 

although he’s somewhat 

grateful his character 

doesn’t require too much of 

the latter. 

“Really not that much, 

thankfully – I call it 

‘moving to music’ rather 

than dancing as far as 

I’m concerned,” he tells 

Pittwater Life. “But of 

course, there is fabulous 

dancing in the show 

performed by the two 

leading ladies, as well as the 

fine ensemble.” 

Performing alongside 

Burlinson are Natalie 

Bassingthwaighte, as the 

irreverent and determined 

Roxie Hart, and musical 

theatre star Alinta Chidzey, 

as the empowered and 

glamorous Velma Kelly. 

Much-adored Casey 

Donovan plays the tough 

and sassy prison warden, 

Matron ‘Mama’ Morton. 

“It’s been 15 years since 

I combined the skills 

of acting, singing and 

dancing in a musical (‘The 

Producers’) and I’m very 

much looking forward to 

performing with the multitalented 

cast in one of the 

masterpieces of modern 

musical theatre.” 

As for how he’s portraying 

Billy, Tom said his character 

was very smart, charming 

and successful – although 

his true intentions were not 

always what they appeared 

to be. 

“It’s always challenging 

and interesting to portray 

complex characters like 

him,” Tom said. 

“I will bring a relatively 

new approach to the role if 

only because it’s my face, 

my physicality, my voice and 

my choices of interpretation 

within the guidelines of the 

script, score and direction 

given by the creative 

professionals from overseas 

who have helped us learn 

the show.” 

He added he was wellgrounded 

in the origins of 

the production, which would 

help his performance. 

“I saw the first Australian 

production in the early 

1980s, and other major 

productions in 1998 and 

2008, so I’ve seen Billy 

played by Terry Donovan, 

John Diedrich and Craig 

McLachlan,” he said. “And of 

course, I also saw the movie 

in which Billy was played by 

Richard Gere.” 

Burlinson’s incredible 

performing career has 

spanned over 40 years and 

he has been a fixture on 

Australian stages, films 

and television since his 

breakthrough big screen role 

in the iconic ‘The Man from 

Snowy River’. 

His musical credits include 

‘The Producers’, ‘Miracle 

City’ and ‘How to Succeed 

in Business Without Really 

Trying’; in recent years he 

has spent most of his time 

on the stage, having created 

and toured with many music 

shows including ‘Frank – A 

Life in Song’, ‘Now we’re 

Swingin!’, ‘Young at Heart’ 

(with Melinda Schneider), 

‘Swing That Music’ with 

(Emma Pask, Ed Wilson and 

The Sydney All Star Big 

Band) and ‘Great American 

Songbook’. – Nigel Wall 

* Chicago The Musical 

is now showing at the 

Capitol Theatre (ends 

Sunday October 20); tickets 

ticketmaster.com.au 

SONG AND DANCE: Newport’s Tom 

Burlinson plays Billy Flynn in Chicago. 


Showtime

Dining Clubs & Guide Pubs 

Clubs & Pubs 

September's best functions, music gigs, events and dining news... 

BOWLO BOUND: 

The Mezcaltones 

play Avalon 

in September 

Getting ready for Once 

Upon A Time in Avalon 

Think early Tarantino soundtrack, meets 

Salma Hayek in ‘Dusk Til Dawn’, with a shot 

of tequila, and some Dick Dale ’60s surf rock. 

The Mezcaltones are not just a band, they’re an 

experience… 

Lead singer Don Too and the ‘Queen of Southern 

Rhythm Strummin’’ Neralita (alias husband 

and wife team Col and Neralyn), have just got 

back from a holiday in America and Mexico, 

which was something of a music pilgrimage; 

taking in New York, LA, Nashville and New 

Orleans. Armed now with even more outrageous 

outfits, dance moves, guitar riffs and Tex 

Mex attitude, they’re ready to blow the roof off 

Avalon Bowlo on Sunday 15 September. 

“We wanted some new inspiration for the 

band, so we went to Mexico to get new outfits 

and see new looks,” says Neralyn. “And we saw 

so many bands in America. In New Orleans and 

Nashville there are fantastic bands in every bar 

on the main streets, and we were out every 

night watching them.” 

With a new CD out at the end of the year, a hilarious 

new video out next month for their song 

‘Na Na Na’, and a host of gigs before Christmas, 

the band are flying. But as Neralyn reveals, they 

almost didn’t happen. 

“Col and I were watching the Robert Rodriguez 

TV series ‘Once Upon A Time in Mexico’ 

about six years ago,” Neralyn explains. “And I 

said it would be great to put together a band 

to play that sort of soundtrack with that sort of 

look. Col looked at me like I was mad! He liked 

the music, but he really wasn’t keen on the outfits 

I had in mind for the band,” she laughs. 

Neralyn says that Col absolutely loves the 

band now and they have such fun playing gigs. 

“There are no egos in the band, and we just 

have such a laugh. I think that translates to the 

audience and everyone has a great time,” she 

adds. 

Anyone who has seen The Mezcaltones 

couldn’t help but agree. 

The band play Avalon Bowlo four or five 

times a year, and love the vibe there: arty, music 

lovers, who love to dance. And with a new 

stage, PA system and lights it’s about to be an 

even better place to play. Neralyn says that the 

Bowlo’s consistent commitment to music makes 

it one of the best venues for bands on the 

Northern Beaches. And entry is free! 

Don and Neralita will take to the Bowlo’s new 

stage with regular members El Shango, Filthy 

Lucre, Don Juan and the Spicy Seductress Mimi, 

who shakes like a Rattlesnake! Look out for a 

new co ver of a Henry Rollins cover of the Waylon 

Jennings song ‘Lonesome On’ry and Mean’. It 

brings together the bands’ rocking sound and 

sense of fun. 

Great venue, great band, great fun. And as 

Neralyn says, you can even have a game of lawn 

bowls outside to the sound of The Mezcaltones. 

It would make a great scene for Tarantino’s final 

movie... 

– Rob Pegley 

Pittwater RSL 

Assorted eateries 

82 Mona Vale Rd Mona Vale 

Pittwater RSL Club’s 

Glasshouse eatery is a finalist 

in the Savour Australia 

Awards for Excellence for the 

2nd year in a row! Book your 

table now to find out what all 

the fuss is about. 

They love their Members 

at Pittwater RSL Club – and 

September is Members 

month! There are two shows 

in September with The Devine 

Miss M tribute show (Saturday, 

21st) and ska/rock band Spy V 

Spy (Saturday, 28th) Members’ 

tickets are only $10. 

There is a new $10 

Members-only menu, available 

for lunch from Monday to 

Friday, and $15 dinner specials 

from Monday to Wednesday. 

Pittwater RSL holds weekly 

raffles on Wednesdays, Fridays 

and Sundays with plenty of 

meat, seafood and veggie trays 

as well as Club money to be 

won. 

Once a month the Club 

holds a FREE ‘Love your Seniors’ 

show, head there and join the 

fun on Monday September 30 

from 11am with complimentary 

morning tea – call the Club to 

reserve your spot today. 

Families are loving the 

indoor playground in Potter’s 

Café. Relax with a coffee and 

chat with friends while the kids 

play. 

And if you’re looking for 

something to do on a Tuesday, 

from 10.30am the Club offers 

‘Toddler Tuesday’, a fun day 

for the kids with face painting, 

interactive story time, balloon 

fun plus more and best of all, 

it’s FREE! 

pittwaterrsl.com.au 

Avalon 

Beach RSL 

Bistro 61 

1 Bowling Green Lane 

Avalon Beach 

Avalon Beach RSL’s Bistro 61 

is a great place to head for 

a local meal, offering tasty 

modern Australian dishes at 

affordable prices. 



Head down on Father's Day 

with $6 Stella Artois all day, 

plus a $2,000+ Mega Raffle, 

$5 Kids Meals and free pool 

from 1pm-7pm. 

Take advantage of their new 

#AVRSL MEMBER MONDAY. 

This brand new weekly 

promotion includes $5 drinks 

all day for members, plus a $15 

Roast Meal special (lunch and 

dinner) and $10 chicken wings 

available to all! 

There are great music acts 

in September, including Distant 

Drum (6th; free) and Kid 

Kenobi (7th; tickets eventbrite). 

And now available for free 

download – the new Avalon 

Beach RSL Club App. Earn 

rewards, prizes and member 

points by logging in daily. 

See what's on, check out 

events, view menus and more! 

Bistro 61 is open for 

breakfast from 9am to 

11.30am. Open for lunch 

and dinner seven days, with 

extensive outdoor dining 

areas, Bistro 61 offers a variety 

of specials (lunch and dinner) 

during the week, including 

$12 tacos (Tues), $15 Chicken 

Schnitzels (Wed), 2-4-1 pizzas 

(Thurs), and a $20 burger + 

beer (Fri). 

Seniors are well catered 

for – there are daily Seniors 

specials, including beerbattered 

flathead – plus they 

do a $5 kids meals on Sundays! 

(There’s a playground, too.) 

avalonbeachrsl.com.au 

Royal Motor 

Yacht Club 

Salt Cove on Pittwater 

46 Prince Alfred 

Parade, Newport 

The Royal Motor Yacht Club, 

Broken Bay was officially 

opened in 1928. Over the 

past 91 years, RMYC has 

grown from a modest twostorey 

establishment into a 

magnificent clubhouse sitting 

proudly on the shores of 

Sydney’s beautiful Pittwater. 

Become a member today and 

start enjoying all the RMYC 

has to offer. 

RMYC’s restaurant Salt Cove 

on Pittwater is under Executive 

Head Chef Jeff Turnbull. It 

offers affordable meals and 

generous servings including 


a variety of starters, seafood, 

burgers, grills, salads and 

woodfired pizzas. 

Friday night music kicks 

off in the Lounge Bar (level 1) 

from 5.30pm to 8.30pm. There 

are some great acts during 

September including: Eric Lewis 

(Fri 6th); Michelle Little (Fri 

13th), Adrian Joseph (Fri 20th) 

and Sarah Paton (Fri 27th). 

WATERFRONT WEDDINGS 

Located on the shores of 

Pittwater, the Royal Motor 

Yacht Club offers a spectacular 

setting for both your wedding 

ceremony and wedding 

reception. Contact Michelle 

on (02) 9997 5511 or email 

michelleb@royalmotor.com.au 

There are so many reasons 

to drop into RMYC and 

experience the most idyllic 

location on Pittwater! 

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY 

Social members – $180 

Boat Owner membership – 

$620 (initial joining fee $500) 

royalmotor.com.au 

Club Palm Beach 

Barrenjoey Bistro 

1087 Barrenjoey Road, 

Palm Beach 

In September, make your way 

to Club Palm Beach, located a 

short stroll from Palm Beach 

Wharf, for great dining for the 

whole family. 

Head down on Thursdays 

for 'Mussels Mania' – it's a 2-for- 

1 deal, with two 500g bowls of 

mussels (Neapolitan or White 

Wine) plus Garlic Bread for just 

$23.50! ($25.50 non-members). 

Also, enjoy a Works Burger and 

schooner for just $15 every 

Friday. 

Every Wednesday there's 

family trivia from 7pm, with 

great prizes! 

Barrenjoey Bistro is open 

for lunch (11.30am to 2.30pm) 

and dinner (6pm to 9pm) 

seven days. The Bistro serves 

top-value a la carte meals plus 

daily $13.50 specials of roasts 

(Mondays), rump steak with 

chips and salad (Tuesdays), 

chicken schnitzel with chips 

and salad (Wednesdays), 

homemade gourmet pies with 

chips and salad (Thursdays) 

and tempura fish and chips 

with salad (Fridays), except 

public hols. 

The Members’ lucky badge 

draw is held Wednesday and 

Friday night (every 30 mins 

between 5pm to 7pm), and 

jackpots by $100 each week. 

Enjoy Trivia Night from 

5.30pm on Wednesdays, plus 

Bingo 10am on Fridays. 

The club has a courtesy 

bus that makes regular runs 

Wednesdays, Fridays and 

Saturdays from 4.30pm to 

9pm. Ring to book a pick-up. 

clubpalmbeach.com.au 

Dee Why 

RSL Club 

932 Pittwater Rd, Dee Why 

Located in the heart of the 

Northern Beaches, this 

club boasts contemporary 

surroundings and an 

expansive menu offering 

across its bars, restaurants 

and function spaces. 

Available for lunch and 

dinner, every day throughout 

September, enjoy a Chinese 

Tower for two which includes 

two Eye Fillets with Black Pepper 

Sauce, a Lobster with Ginger 

and Shallots, an assortment of 

yum cha delights, fresh fruit and 

two Portuguese tarts, from only 

$59.90. 

The club also presents 

terrific entertainment acts. In 

September, catch: ‘Partners 

in Crime’ Starring Rhonda 

Burchmore and Lara Mulcahy 

(21st, $45); and ‘Rumours, A 

Tribute to Fleetwood Mac’ (27th, 

$25). 

The Bistro on Level 2 is a 

great place for an enjoyable and 

affordable lunch or dinner with 

classic café and pub-style food. 

At ‘The Asian’, you 

can choose from a menu 

showcasing a variety of wok 

dishes from Hong Kong, 

Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. 

Enjoy the heart of Italian 

culture with antipasto, pizza, 

pasta and contemporary cuisine 

Italian at Aqua Bar & Dining. 

Flame Lounge & Dining 

is currently closed and will 

relaunch in late 2020 as 

part of the club’s current 

redevelopment. 

Dee Why RSL offers a twoyear 

membership for $5. 

Check out their website for 

the latest menus and specials. 

deewhyrsl.com.au 

This Month... 

Distant Drum 

Phil Foxman, ex-Supernaut on 

lead vocals and guitar, The 

Nature Strip’s Peter Marley on 

bass and vocals, Big Merino’s 

Colin Sevitt on drums and 

When Saturday Comes’ Dom 

White at Avalon Beach RSL on 

Friday 6 from 9pm. FREE. 

Partners in Crime 

Rhonda Burchmore and Lara 

Mulcahy’s hilarious new live 

show features the classic 

songs of iconic duos at Dee 

Why RSL Club on Saturday 21 

from 8pm. Tickets $45 deewhyrsl.com.au 

Miss M Tribute 

The Divine Miss M – The Bette 

Midler Story starring Annemarie 

Lloyd is packed full of smash 

hits and comedy at Pittwater 

RSL Club auditorium on 

Saturday 21 from 8pm. Book 

through reception 91670208. 

Friends trivia 

Love the epic series Friends and 

know all the words to ‘Smelly 

Cat’? Then you won’t want to 

miss this themed trivia night at 

Club Palm Beach on Thursday 

26 from 7pm. Free entry with 

great prizes and giveaways. 


Dining Clubs & Guide Pubs

Food Life 


Finger food the perfect 

match for footy finals 

For most of us, September is the month that just can’t 

come quick enough. We start to see the warmer weather 

on the horizon (and feel it in the air), and it coincides with 

the availability of a new burst of wonderful fresh fruit and 

vegetables. Not to mention – the footy finals are finally here! 

Celebrate the new season (spring) and the end of season (footy) 

with some delicious food; it’s easy to prepare! Serve up at home 

for a family feast… or take along as your contribution when the 

friends get together. Either way, settle back in front of the telly, 

and cheer your team on! 

Chorizo & sausage 

puffs 

(Makes 24) 

4 fresh chorizo sausages 

400g pork mince 

1 brown onion, grated 

1 carrot, grated 

¼ cup chopped parsley 

½ cup panko crumbs 

2 eggs 

4 sheets frozen puff pastry, 

just thawed 

1 tbs sesame seeds 

Tzatziki dip or chilli sauce, to 

serve 

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C 

fan forced. Line two baking 

trays with baking paper. 

2.Squeeze the chorizo sausage 

meat out of the casings 

and into a bowl. Add the 

pork mince, onion, carrot, 

parsley, panko crumbs and 

1 egg. Season and use your 

hands to mix well. 

3.Cut 1 pastry sheet into 6 

rectangles. Place a heaped 

tablespoonful mixture on 

half of 1 rectangle, leaving 

5mm border at edges. Fold 

pastry over mince mixture. 

Press edges to seal. Cut 3-4 

small slit on top of pastry. 

Repeat with remaining 

pastry and mince mixture. 

Place on prepared trays. 

4.Whisk the remaining egg. 

Brush the top of each pastry 

with egg and sprinkle with 

the sesame seeds. Bake 20- 

30 minutes until pastry is 

golden. Serve with tzatziki 

or chilli sauce for dipping. 

Janelle’s Tip: You 

can also add dressed 

coleslaw to the burgers. 

Buttermilk chicken 

burger 

(Makes 4) 

4 soft burger buns, split, 

toasted 

2 tbs chilli sauce 

4 iceberg lettuce leaves, 

shredded 

½ cup mayonnaise 

Buttermilk chicken 

1 tbs paprika 

4 chicken thigh fillets 

1 cup buttermilk 

vegetable oil, for deep-frying 

1 cup plain flour 

2 tsp baking powder 

1.Sprinkle the paprika over 

with Janelle Bloom 

both sides of chicken. Place 

into a large bowl. Pour over 

the buttermilk. Turn to coat. 

Refrigerate for 1 hour. 

2. Pour enough oil into a wok 

or deep, frying pan so its 

one-third full. Heat over 

medium heat until the 

temperature reaches 180°C 

(350°F) on a deep-frying 

thermometer or when a 

cube of bread dropped into 

the oil, it turns golden in 15 

seconds. 

3.Shake the flour and baking 

powder in a large snap-lock 

bag to combine. Remove 

the chicken from the 

buttermilk mixture, 

allowing any excess to 



For more recipes go to www.janellebloom.com.au 

drain into the bowl. Add 

chicken one piece at a time 

to flour mixture. Shake to 

coat evenly, remove to a 

tray. Cook the chicken, in 

batches, for 5-7 minutes 

or until crisp, golden and 

cooked through. Place on 

a wire rack in 150C oven to 

keep warm while cooking 

remaining chicken. 

4. Spread bun base with chilli 

sauce. Top with lettuce, 

chicken then mayonnaise. 

Top with burger bun lid. 

Serve. 

Loaded fries with 

sirloin steak 

(Serves 4) 

1kg oven fries 

Olive oil cooking spray 

2 tbs oil 

500g sirloin steak 

30g sachet taco spice mix 

1 red onion, finely chopped 

½ cup water 

Janelle’s Tip: If you 

like, you can add a 

can of rinsed, drained 

black beans in Step 3. 

1 jar taco salsa 

1 large tomato, finely 

chopped 

1 cup grated tasty cheddar 

1 avocado, mashed 

Sour cream, chopped green 

onions & lime wedges to 

serve 

1. Preheat oven and a large 

roasting pan to 220°C. Once 

hot, quickly grease with a 

little spray oil. Add fries 

and spray with oil. Bake 20 

minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, rub both sides 

of the steaks with a little 

oil, then sprinkle with 2 

teaspoons of taco spice 

mix. Heat a large non-stick 

grill pan or frying pan on 

medium-high. Cook the 

steaks, on 2-3 minutes each 

side for medium. Remove to 

a board. Stand 5 minutes. 

Thinly slice. 

3.Add remaining oil to the 

pan, heat over medium 

heat. Add the red onion 

and remaining spice mix. 

Cook, stirring 4 minutes 

until soft. Add the water 

and half the salsa. Reduce 

heat to medium-low and 

cook, stirring occasionally, 

for 5 minutes or until sauce 

thickens. Remove from the 

heat, stir in the steak. 

4. Remove fries from the 

oven, carefully turn fries 

over. Spoon over the beef 

mixture. Sprinkle tomato 

then cheese. Bake for 10 

minutes or until cheese is 

melted. 

5.Serve with avocado, sour 

cream, green onions, 

remaining salsa and lime 

wedges. 

Chocolate-dipped 

Strawberries 

(Serves 4) 

500g strawberries 

200g milk chocolate, chopped 

200g white chocolate, 

chopped 

Pink gel colouring (optional) 

1.Line a baking tray with 

baking paper. 

2. Place milk chocolate 

into a small, heatproof, 

microwave-safe, pyrex or 

ceramic bowl. Microwave, 

uncovered, in 1-minute 

bursts on High/100%, 

stirring every minute with 

a metal spoon, or until 

almost melted. Remove 

from microwave. Stir until 

smooth. Repeat with white 

chocolate. 

3.Spoon half white chocolate 

into a smaller bowl, colour 

with pink food gel (if 

desired). 

4. Holding strawberries by 

their leaves, dip, one at a 

time, into various bowls of 

chocolate. Allow chocolate 

to drain over the bowl. 

Place onto the baking tray 

to set. Spoon remaining 

melted chocolate into snaplock 

bags. Snip the edge 

and drizzle chocolate over 

strawberries to decorate. 

Once set, place into paper 

cases to serve. 






In Season 

English spinach 

English spinach has bright 

green, thick, soft, oval 

to arrow-shaped leaves and 

green stems, both of 

which are eaten. 

Raw spinach 

is 91% water, 

4% carbohydrates, 

3% protein, 

and contains 

negligible fat. 

In a 100 g 

(3.5 oz) 

serving 

providing 

only 23 calories, spinach 

has a high nutritional value, 

especially when fresh, frozen, 

steamed, or quickly boiled. 

Fresh spinach is sold loose, 

bunched, or packaged fresh 

in bags. Fresh spinach loses 

much of its nutritional value 

with storage of more than 

a few days. Fresh spinach is 

packaged in air, or in nitrogen 

gas to extend shelf life. While 

refrigeration slows this effect to 

about eight days, fresh spinach 

loses most of its folate content 

over this period of time. 

Buying 

Buy in bunches or loose as 

salad greens. Look for bright 

green, fresh perky leaves that 

show no sign of wilting. 

Storing 

Remove the string from 

the bunch and refrigerate, 

unwashed in a plastic bag in 

the crisper. It will keep for 

up to 3 days. Wash leaves 

thoroughly before cooking. 

Fill a bowl with cold water and 

drop the leaves in, 

gently swilling the 

water. Repeat 2-3 

times until there 

is no grit in the 

water. Pat 

dry 

with paper towel or 

use a salad spinner before 

cooking. Frozen spinach can be 

stored for up to eight months. 

Nutrition 

Spinach is rich in antioxidants. 

It is a good source of vitamins 

A, B2, C and K. It also contains 

magnesium, manganese, folate, 

iron, calcium and potassium. 

Also In Season 

September 

Bananas; Grapefruit; 

Mandarins; Australian 

Blood and Cara Cara 

Oranges; Tangelos; Papaya; 

Pineapples; Blueberries 

& Strawberries. Also 

Artichokes; Asian Greens; 

Avocado; Asparagus; 

Broccoli; Broad and green 

Beans; Beetroot; Cauliflower; 

Carrots, Silverbeet; 

Australian Garlic; spring 

Onions and fresh Peas. 

Spinach & feta pinwheels 

(Makes 24) 

1 tbs olive oil 

1 brown onion, finely 

chopped 

2 garlic cloves, crushed 

1 bunch English spinach, 

leaves removed, washed, 

dried, shredded 

150g ricotta 

100g feta, crumbled 

½ cup finely grated parmesan 

1 lemon, rind finely grated, 

juiced 

2 tbs pine nuts, toasted, 

chopped 

3 sheets frozen puff pastry, 

just thawed 

1. Heat oil in a frying pan 

over medium heat. Add 

onion and garlic. Cook 3-4 

minutes until soft. Add the 

spinach, cook, stirring 1 

minute until just wilted. 

Remove to a bowl. Cool 15 

minutes. 

2. Add ricotta, feta, parmesan, 

lemon rind and 1 

tablespoon lemon juice. Stir 

in pine nuts and season. 

Mix until well combined. 

3. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line 

2 baking trays with baking 

paper. Place 1 pastry sheet 

on a clean work surface. 

Spread with spinach 

mixture. Starting from 1 

edge, roll up to enclose 

the filling. Trim ends. Cut 

crossways into 8 slices. 

Place in a single layer on 

the lined trays. Repeat twice 

with remaining pastry and 

spinach mixture. 

4. Bake, swapping trays 

halfway through cooking, 

for 25-30 minutes or 

until pastry is puffed and 

golden. Set aside to cool 

slightly. Serve warm or at 

room temperature. 



Pittwater Puzzler 

Compiled by David Stickley 

6 DOWN 

ACROSS 

1 Holiday operator with an 

in-store boutique at Avalon’s 

Travel View agency (4,3) 

5 Written versions of a 

play or other dramatic 

composition (7) 

9 A conductor’s platform 

facing the orchestra (7) 

10 No doubt you can find 

one to check the books at 

GHR Accounting in Mona Vale 

(7) 

11 First novel by Tim Ayliffe, 

head of TV news for the ABC 

(5,2,4) 

12 Nothing (3) 

13 Stalk of a plant (4) 

15 Capital, of a letter (5-4) 

18 Amateur recording of live 

action now possible using a 

mobile phone (4,5) 

20 Set of 1-down; hiker’s 

bag (4) 

22 Large or great (3) 

23 Type of vehicle being 

added to Northern Beaches 

Council’s fleet (8,3) 


27 Mater Maria Catholic 

College and Pittwater House, 

for example (7) 

28 A popular pastime on 

Pittwater (7) 

29 In a raw state (7) 

30 Describing Zali Steggall 

after the most recent federal 

poll (7) 

DOWN 

1 A game like Bridge, for 

example (5) 

2 Someone who has suddenly 

risen to wealth, importance 

or power, a parvenu (7) 

3 To cause to be swallowed 

up or absorbed in something 

greater or superior (5) 

4 Bowl over, but not at 

Hitchcock Park (9) 

5 A raised floor or platform, 

especially one on which plays 

etc. are performed before an 

audience (5) 

6 Police device used to catch 

speeding drivers (5,4) 

7 Destination of a new 

service to be trialled by 

Palm Beach & Hawkesbury 

River Cruises at the end of 

September (7) 

8 A folding chair on wheels, 

in which a child can be 

pushed along (8) 

14 Regular visitor to United 

Cinemas in Avalon, for 

example (5-4) 

16 Common feature of older 

pubs for those who like to 

sink a few! (4,5) 

17 Destination of Ella 

Woolcott, Pittwater’s first 

female ferry skipper (3,5) 

19 A photograph of a 

face, especially for official 

purposes (7) 

21 One who rides a 

pushbike (7) 

24 Artist’s equipment (5) 

25 Mental picture (5) 

26 Not pliant or flexible (5) 

[Solution page 72] 


Pittwater Puzzler

Tasty Dining Morsels Guide 

Tasty Morsels 

Pronto’s taste of Italy 

Popular Palm Beach café 

Pronto Creative Foods is 

now open for dinner on 

Friday and Saturday evenings, 

with owner Stacey Driver 

focusing on an Italian theme. 

Stacey, who has been 

operating the Barrenjoey 

Road premises for 34 years, 

is presenting three different 

past options on rotation, 

including Rigatoni with Bacon, 

Semi-dried Tomatoes, Pesto, 

Peas & Balsamic; as well as 

a deep-flavoured Spaghetti 

Bolognaise. 

Meat dishes include a 

mouthwatering Veal Lemon 

with Fondant Potatoes (below) 

or Eye Fillet with Sicillian 

Potatoes; a fish dish will also 

be on the menu. Desserts will 

feature Tiramisu, Panna Cotta 

and Sticky Date Pudding. 

Dining will be from 6-8pm 

(kitchen closes 8pm), with 

bookings essential – especially 

with limited indoor seating. 

“If all goes well the plan is 

to continue dinners through 

the warmer months, with 

outdoor seating,” Stacey said. 

Pronto’s popular daytime 

fare includes their “world 

famous” Chicken & Mushroom 

pies; Carrot, Corn and Coconut 

Fritters with Mint Yoghurt; 

and freshly made sandwiches, 

cakes, juices and smoothies. 

New to the menu are 

burgers (beef or chicken 

schnitzel) and their new 

coffee blend is from awardwinning 

Bathurst specialty 

roaster, Fish River. 

Coffee is available from 

6.30am, with breakfast every 

day from 8am to 12 noon. 

* Pronto Creative Foods, 

1095 Barrenjoey Rd Palm 

Beach; 9974 5695. 

Feast for 

the Dads 

Park House in Mona Vale 

have two great options to 

help celebrate Father’s Day on 

September 1 – they’re taking 

bookings for their popular 

‘House Feast’ or you can 

choose to dine a la carte in 

the Garden Bar. 

Plus, every Dad will receive 

a refreshing Furphy ale on the 

house! 

Their House Feast includes 

three courses of favourite 

dishes, served banquet-style 

and made to share with the 

family. Or limited bookings 

are available in the Garden Bar 

are welcome for something 

more casual for the family. 

And for the kids, there 

will be a craft station fit with 

cardboard, colouring pencils, 

lots of glitter and stickers (so 

don’t worry about stopping 

at the shops for a Father’s 

Day card). 

Park House is also running 

a special 2 4 1 deal in 

September – simply make 

a food purchase ($18+) any 

day of the week, and you’ll 

receive a 2 4 1 voucher to use 

on your next visit (Monday to 

Thursday). 



ʻGuilt-free’ Girdlers launch 

The popular Girdlers 

wholefoods café group 

has expanded its Northern 

Beaches footprint, opening 

a smart space at the foot of the 

Clareville shops last month. 

The Girdlers journey began 

in 2005 when ex-NRL star Ryan 

and his wife Katja took over a 

small cafe on Dee Why Beach. 

After retiring from rugby 

league Ryan developed a new 

passion for specialty coffee 

and roasting. 

Sebastian, their Colombian 

“partner in crime” joined the 

pair a few years later, bringing 

a wealth of knowledge and 

business expertise to the team. 

The trio’s mission is to make 

healthy eating a delicious experience, 

welcoming to all. 

“Girdlers is a place where 

people from all walks of life 

mingle and enjoy their shared 

passion for natural, tasty 

foods,” said Ryan. “From beautifully 

designed ‘boho’ interiors 

to guilt-free, wholesome food 

and their own freshly roasted 

coffee we like to think we have 

created more than just a cafe, 

but also a lifestyle.” 

He said the team liked to 

continually surprise customers 

with exciting new menu items, 

turning even the most hesitant 

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diners into converts. 

For example, they offer Fluffy 

Buckwheat & Coconut Pancakes 

served with Seasonal Berries 

& Coconut Ice Cream, drizzled 

with Organic Maple Syrup & 

‘Goodtella’ (their Homemade 

Vegan Chocolate Sauce). 

Or Avocado, Kale Florets, 

Grilled Halloumi, fresh Herbs, 

Poached Eggs, Homemade 

Green Goddess Sauce on Rye 

Sourdough (with gluten free 

Seedy Brown Bread). 

Like any decent café, they 

have not skimmed over a very 

important element: coffee. 

“The creation of our beloved 

own blend ‘The ALL Good’ has 

been a long, tedious process!” 

Ryan said. “As you’d expect 

‘The ALL Good’ is organic and 

free from pesticides, herbicides 

and any nasty chemicals.” 

With an ever-growing market 

for alternative and healthier 

food options, Girdlers is 

focused on cementing its position 

in the community with 

food and wellbeing enthusiasts 

alike, with the motto: Simple, 

Honest, Goodness. 

The Clareville café joins a 

portfolio which includes bases 

at Dee Why, Warringah Mall 

and Manly. – Nigel Wall 

Tasty Dining Morsels Guide 



Garden Life 


Delight ‘Turn on’ in lilium the amazing bulbs for 

colours gorgeous of Xmas hydrangeas colour 

Always a favourite for 

Christmas colour, hydrangeas 

are flowering their 

heads off! They look wonderful 

in the garden, brightening 

the semi-shaded areas and 

glowing in the full, protected 

sunlight. Once the older 

varieties were either pink or 

blue depending on the soil, 

additional lime will deepen 

the pinks and blueing tonic 

(sulphate of aluminium) will 

heighten the blues, but the 

new named varieties will 

maintain their colour. White 

never changes. There are 

hydrangeas of every size from 

the tiny dwarf Piamina to the 

tall traditional Mop Heads. 

With so many to choose from 

it is almost too difficult to 

decide. There are the delicate 

lace caps, the huge blooms 

Although lilium bulbs have been in 

garden centres for several weeks it is 

not too late to plant them now, and 

they will be flowering for you by Christmas. 

Although liliums look exotically delicate, 

surprisingly they are hardy and easy to grow. 

They will grow in the garden – but I think 

they are easier grown in pots. Pots will have 

the advantage that you can bring them 

inside when they flower. If you want to grow 

them in the garden, find a position that 

gets morning sun, but is protected from the 

afternoon heat and wind. 

Liliums like acid soil that has no trace of 

of the traditional mop heads, 

the cone-shaped flowers of 

hydrangea paniculata bushes 

that can be two metres tall. 

The recently introduced 

smaller growing Picotee 

varieties with two-tone flower 

heads are hard to leave behind 

and if you have a semishaded 

wall, the climbing 

lime. They are perfect partners with camellias 

hydrangea petiolaris is just 

and azaleas. They love soil that is rich in 

beautiful. 

organic compost that will drain well but never 

Hydrangeas are forgiving 

dries out. (If you grow your bulbs in pots, buy 

plants that are easy to grow. 

the best potting mix that you can find, with 

They like regular water and 

both water crystals and slow-release fertiliser.) 

any good garden soil. Mulch 

When you buy your bulbs, make sure that 

the roots with compost to 

they are firm and not rotten or dried. Look 

keep them cool and feed 

online for some great bargains at this time 

them in early spring to get 

of year. 

them going. Grow them in 

Plant the bulbs as soon as you can – once 

pots, or in the garden; bring 

the shoots appear, feed them with a liquid 

them inside when in flower 

fertiliser every two weeks for a wonderful 

or cut the blooms – they last 

display by Christmas. 

well in water. 

with Gabrielle Bryant 

Cheap and 

easy Cherry seeds Guava for a 

planting sweet surprise 

GI rowing n full flower vegetables in my from veggie 

commercially garden is my packed Cherry seeds Guava, 

can sometimes be expensive. known When as you a Strawberry 

of Guava. chillies This or tomatoes, delightful 

want 

a couple 

packets evergreen of seed shrub contain never enough fails to 

seeds produce for dozens a heavy of plants. crop of cherry 

Ready-grown guavas in early seedlings autumn. are 

expensive It is a and small, can pretty be frustrating tree with 

as the rounded, labels glossy show photos green leaves that 

often that mislead. only grows If you to buy about tomatoes 

or chillies three metres that you in like, height. it is Keep easy it to 

harvest trimmed the seeds into shape and grow after them. fruiting. 

The cut open delicate the fluffy fruit and flowers 

First, 

remove are creamy the seeds. white, Spread growing the seed close 

onto a the piece branches. of paper They towel are or followed 

tissue by and the tangy allow it flavoured, to dry for 

a 

paper 

several sweet, days. berry-sized, If needed, cherry the seeds red 

will fruit stay that viable are for high several in vitamin months, C. 

once Unlike they the are taller-growing dry, until the season deciduous 

yellow arrives guava (keep that them needs in a zip- 

to plant 

lock cooking, plastic bag). the fruit can be eaten 

Fill raw a small straight pot from with the seed-raising tree or 

mix used and in cut cooking, the paper jellies, to fit drinks, with 

several sauces seeds or jams. attached. Cover with 

a fine You layer should of seed-raising protect the mix fruit and 

water from with fruit a fine fly with spray. a fruit fly bait. 

Get into the 

‘swing’ of Xmas 

It is time to relax and enjoy 

your garden. Look at your 

outdoor seating requirements 

– the shops are full of 

amazing chairs and tables. 

Hanging cane egg chairs have 

been trendy for the past few 

years and now the ‘Swing 

Seat’ is back. Nothing is more 

peaceful than swinging in a 

seat for two, sheltered from 

the weather with a roof to 

shade from the sun – makes a 

great Christmas present too! 

72 70 SEPTEMBER DECEMBER 2017 2019 


’70s flashback as 

old favourite returns 

After several years of neat 

hedges, plus mondo 

grass and buxus, it is 

wonderful to see the return 

of colour to our gardens. 

In the 1970s and ’80s pink 

Secrets to 

hibiscus 

pruning 

September is the month 

to trim and prune back 

summer-flowering shrubs; the 

risk of extreme cold is gone 

and plants are shooting with 

new spring growth. Hibiscus 

flowers are the essence of life 

at the beach. 

This is the month to prepare 

for a riot of colour through 

summer, with the huge, flamboyant 

hibiscus blooms. First, 

remove any dead or old wood 

from the centre of the bush to 

allow airflow and light, then 

prune the hibiscus back by at 

least one third of their size. 

The flowers only appear on 

the new growth. 

Always prune back to an 

outward growing bud. Don’t 

be afraid of cutting into the 

old wood. Hibiscus are tough 

and will always grow back. 

You will be rewarded with 

healthy new growth and thick 

lush foliage. 


Diosma, coleonema pulchellum, 

could be seen in nearly 

every garden. It is a South 

African native that thrives 

in Sydney. The delicate pink 

flowers smother the tiny, 

bright green, needle-like 

leaves in spring. It grows 

in full sun, loves to be 

trimmed, and is perfect in 

rockeries and borders. 

A revival in popularity of 

this plant was inevitable. 

Pink Diosma makes a perfect 

soft edging, or low hedge, 

responding well to light 

trimming on a regular basis. 

There are other Diosma 

varieties – red Diosma, white 

Diosma and the lower-growing 

gold Diosma but none 

perform as well as the pink. 

The gold Diosma is grown 

for foliage colour, as the tiny 

pink flowers can’t compete 

with the brilliant gold leaves. 

After pruning, feed the 

shrubs with a complete 

fertiliser and mulch the soil 

with cow manure to get your 

hibiscus growing again. 

Manure will encourage leaf 

growth, then in a month’s 

time, feed with a fertiliser that 

will create new flowers. Sudden 

Impact for Roses works 

well. Protect the new leaves 

from aphids and other insects 

by spraying with Eco oil. 

Shy creeper comes to life 

Kennedia rubicunda, the Dusky Coral Pea, is a shy creeper 

that comes to life in the bush in early spring. It will grow as 

a groundcover or it can climb if given a support. It grows to a 

height of two metres or it will cover an area on the ground of 

about three metres in diameter. 

The Dusky Coral pea is an Australian native plant that grows 

along the Eastern seaboard of Victoria and NSW. Given a trellis 

or other support in cultivation it will cover up quite quickly, the 

dark green foliage looking attractive all year. 

The dusky red flowers that appear in spring are loved by 

birds. This attractive creeper may not be readily available in 

garden centres but can be found in nurseries that specialise in 

native plants. It is well worth the hunt. If you can’t find a plant, 

the seed germinates easily once it has been treated with heat. 

As with many Australian plants the seed has a hard shell that 

is designed to grow after the heat of a bushfire. The easiest way 

to soften the seed is with boiling water. Cover the seed with 

boiling water and allow it to soak overnight before planting. 


Garden Life


Jobs this Month 


September 

September is a busy 

month in the garden. 

The cold dry weather 

is gone and there are many 

jobs to be done. September 

is tomato time. Sow seed or 

plant-out seedlings to have 

a crop in time for Christmas. 

Prepare the soil well before 

planting with plenty of added 

compost and a slow-release 

fertiliser. Spray the area with 

Wettasoil to make the most 

of the precious water. Plant 

the seedling deep into the 

soil, covering the stem up to 

the first set of leaves. The 

buried stem will develop 

roots, making your seedling 

stronger. 

String of Dolphins 

With hanging baskets back in 

fashion, trailing succulents 

look fantastic and require 

very little care. The chain of 

hearts, the string of beads 

and burro’s tails have long 

been favourites; now you 

should try growing senecio 

peregrinus, the ‘String of 

Dolphins’. The cascading 

strings of succulent leaves 

look like shoals of dolphins as 

they ride the waves. 

Blight & easy 

Dry days make watering 

difficult, but Azaleas love 

them. This year petal blight 

that is caused by rain and 

overhead watering will be 

much easier to control. Spray 

the buds before they open 

with Zaleton to prevent the 

disfiguring squishy brown 

flowers. 

Cutting back 

Cut back hydrangeas now. 

Reduce the size to a double 

bud. They will soon grow 

back. Take out any weak 

and spindly growth. You can 

improve the flower colour 

by watering in garden lime 

around pink flowers and 

bluing tonic around blue 

varieties. Also, poinsettias 

should be cut back now to 

encourage new bushy growth 

that will increase the flower 

heads next winter. 

Veggie crop 

Sow or plant-out veggie 

seedlings. Beans zucchinis, 

cucumbers, chillies, carrots, 

capsicum, egg plants, 

onions silver beet, lettuce 

and tomatoes can all go in 

now. Grow French marigolds 

in the vegetable garden as 

companion plants. 

Magnolias a must 

If you have room for a new 

tree that will give shade 

in the summer and let the 

sunlight through in winter 

when the leaves fall, nothing 

could be more exquisite than 

a magnolia tree. Magnolias 

are one of the only springflowering 

trees that will do 

well on the peninsular. Look 

around this month to decide 

which colour to buy. The pale 

pink Magnolia soulangiana 

(pictured) is hard to beat. 

Lawn repair 

Repair your lawn now after 

the cold winter. Patch worn 

areas with seed or new turf 

(try to match up existing 

grass varieties). Packet seed 

is often a blend of several 

types of grass and if you 

have a pure lawn it can look 

very odd. If in doubt, take a 

sample of your lawn to a turf 

supplier for identification. 

Also, spray grassed areas 

with bindii killer to save your 

feet from burrs in summer. 

Fill the gaps 

Pull out plants or shrubs that 

have become tired or have 

overgrown their allocated 

space and start again. There 

are so many shrubs to choose 

from. The new sun-loving 

goldfussia Chameleon has 

amazing, brightly coloured 

leaves followed by tiny pink 

flowers. Justicia White Cloak 

is a hardy shrub with spikes 

of pure white flowers that 

have tinged purple throats. 

It is great as a background 

shrub in a semi-shaded 

position. If you like to grow 

Aussie natives find a plant of 

Tetratheca thymifolia for a 

brilliant display of violet bells. 

Pest watch 

Keep aphids away by hanging 

yellow sticky pads in the 

garden. Hang them carefully 

so that they will not catch 

small birds or tiny lizards. 

Don’t be fooled by dry days. 

Snails are hiding under stones 

and logs. They come out 

when the day cools down and 

can destroy your seedlings in 

one night. Control them with 

animal-friendly Multiguard 

snail pellets. 

Crossword solution from page 67 

Mystery location: TASMAN ROAD 



Travel Life 

Viking ‘The Thinking Person’s Cruise’ 

After entering the industry in 

1997, Viking’s river cruise 

segment has grown rapidly. 

Travel + Leisure readers have 

rated Viking as a ‘World’s Best 

River Cruise Line’ every year 

since the award’s inception 

in 2010, and the company 

now boasts a fleet of 72 river 

ships, offering scenic voyages 

along the waterways of Central 

Europe, Asia, Portugal, Egypt 

and Russia. 

Travel View’s Karen Robinson 

says Viking’s state-of-the-art 

vessels are designed to take 

you right into the heart of each 

destination; and with more 

time spent in port, a Viking 

cruise allows you to immerse 

yourself in the locations. 

“On board, discover serene 

Scandinavian-inspired spaces 

filled with natural light, indulge 

in a cocktail on the chic Aquavit 

Terrace, make use of the 

putting green on the sun deck, 

and take a stroll along the 

walking track while admiring 

the organic herb garden,” said 

Karen. “Plus, every stateroom 

features a hotel-style bed 

topped with luxurious linens 

and a spacious bathroom complete 

with heated flooring and 

premium Freyja toiletries. 

“Recognised as ‘The Thinking 

Person’s Cruise’, Viking 

offers itineraries that are designed 

to help you explore and 

engage with each destination 

through its history, traditions, 

cuisine and customs,” she said. 

“You won’t find any kids or 

casinos. Instead, you will find 

several guest lecturers eager to 

enlighten you about the region 

through which you are travelling, 

as well as a wonderful 

library that has been expertly 

curated by London’s influential 

bookshop, Heywood Hill.” 

A Viking river cruise fare 

includes just about everything 

— from onboard meals and an 

enriching shore excursion at 

every port to unlimited Wi-Fi and 

all taxes and gratuities. 

“Imagine sampling delicious 

soft cheeses in a sprawling 

French food market accompanied 

by a world-class chef, or 

entering a traditional Russian 

kommunalka to drink tea with 

locals as they share their fascinating 

memories of Soviet life,” 

Karen said. “Or picture yourself 

floating over the spectacular 

ancient treasures of Egypt in a 

hot air balloon, or winding your 

way through the vineyards of 

Portugal’s lush Douro Valley 

while learning about the art 

of port wine blending. With 

a Viking river cruise, you can 

experience it all.” 

* Learn more about Viking at 

a free info session on Wednesday, 

October 30; more info call 

Travel View on 9918 4444. 






‘Open’ invitation to 

Club Med party! 

Iconic holiday operator Club 

Med recently opened its first 

in-store boutique on the Northern 

Beaches at Gail Kardash’s 

Avalon-based agency Travel 

View, which now joins an exclusive 

group of 11 specialist travel 

agents across Australia with a 

dedicated Club Med corner in 

their shopfront. 

Gail said the new travel boutique 

is a one-stop destination to 

check out the huge range of allinclusive 

sun and snow holidays 

designed for families, couples 

and groups of friends. 

“Whether you’re just curious 

to know more, or ready to 

go now, our professional and 

friendly consultants will take 

you through all you need to 

know, help you select the right 

destination and take care of all 

the details,” she said. 

Club Med, the largest 

premium all-inclusive resort 

operator, has over 70 resorts in 

stunning locations, including 25 

ski resorts in Japan, France, Italy, 

Switzerland, China, and soon 

Canada. “If it’s a sunny getaway 

or the thrill of the mountains 

you seek, Club Med’s resorts 

boast wide-ranging sports 

schools offering anything from 

yoga to ski-school, gourmet 

food experiences and even a 

premium open bar – all-included,” 

Gail said. 

The French company was 

founded in 1950 as a non-forprofit 

organisation with its 

founder Gerard Blitz’s philosophy 

of allowing guests to 

completely unwind, be happy 

and get away from it all – and 

that means not having to reach 

for money or credit cards. 

His idea was revolutionary, as 

was his concept of the Club Med 

Kids’ Club. He dreamt up the 

idea of keeping children over 

four occupied and happy, so 

the adults could relax, but with 

a focus on fun, discovery and 

creativity so that kids have an 

unforgettable holiday supported 

by the highly trained, passionate 

and multi-lingual staff. 

Most of Club Med’s resorts 

are four- or five-star destinations 

across Asia, Africa, Europe, and 

the Indian Ocean. The company 

also offers guests a five-mast 

sailing ship and luxury villas and 

chalets for all-inclusive holidays. 

It plans to open three to five 

new resorts per year globally 

by 2022, at least one of 

which will be a snow 

resort in Canada - Club 

Med’s first ski resort in 

North America. 

“Thanks to the all-inclusive 

package, our holidays 

are true value for money 

and our guests are assured they 

will not blow out their holiday 

budget. Club Med provides premium 

and quality holidays, not 

budget ones, but guests know 

how much it’s going to cost 

upfront, with no surprises,” says 

Club Med’s General Manager, 

Rachael Harding. – Nigel Wall 

* Celebrate Travel View’s ‘New 

Club Med Look’ at a party 

on Thursday 19 September 

(3-5pm) at Travel View, 36 Old 

Barrenjoey Rd Avalon with 

prizes, gifts, bubbly and nibbles. 

RSVP Bella on 9918 4444 

or bella@travelview.net.au

Pittwater Life September 2019 Issue

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