The Sweet Spot. Making LIfe Sweeter.
Are we there yet? Crime and corruption proofing the Sunshine State
Walkley Award winning journalist Phil Dickie played a key role exposing the corruption leading to the 1987-89 Fitzgerald Inquiry and the downfall of the Bjelke-Petersen regime. Thirty-four years later, he casts a gimlet eye over the Sunshine State and finds we have...
The Rough End. You got a bad deal.
Growing free birth trend due to “broken” maternity system
I had never heard of free birth until the owner of the Sunshine Coast yoga school I belonged to (Zenko) died suddenly during childbirth in June 2022 after posting #wildbirth #freebirth on her Facebook and Instagram pages. Free birth or wild birth is where a woman...
The Long Read.
On the persistence of poetry: a true confession
Covid-19 has a lot to answer for but one of its most remarkable side effects has been a tsunami of poetry that has emerged from the epidemic lockdowns. Award winning poet and author, Steven Herrick says: "I blame the recent lockdowns for my inbox being crowded with...
Club Tropicana. Leisure and the Arts
Is Redgum still relevant? John Schumann reflects before he brings the songs back to QLD
John Schumann (ex-Redgum lead singer/songwriter) and the Vagabond Crew are returning to Brisbane with “The Redgum Years” in August. He reflects on gigging in the dark days of the Bjelke-Petersen regime and finds Redgum’s protest songs from the 70s and 80s still...
Pineapple Style. Queensland Style.
Hidden gem of modernist design comes back to life in Gympie
When it comes to Queensland architecture, most of us think of the iconic timber Queenslander. The south east Queensland town of Gympie has plenty of stately Queenslanders. It also boasts one of the largest and most intact examples of residential mid-century...
JUICY. SEX AND SEXUALITY
Queer eye for straight sex
Straight couples could learn a thing or two about love from the LGBTIQ+ community. 50 Shades of Grey didn’t help. The book and film were so locked into the old heterosexual script of “dominant, cruel male overwhelms and controls submissive female” it should have...
Aqua. On Swimming
The best freshwater swimming holes in the Mary Valley
A trip to Kenilworth in the summer months would not be the same without a swim in some of our beautiful fresh waterholes. The Mary River and the many creeks that flow into it offer diverse and interesting swimming experiences. Obi Obi Creek Crossing No 2 Obi Obi...
LITTLE PINES. FOR KIDS.
Wind in the Willows tour gives bush kids taste of theatre
Regional touring company RAVA, has announced a Queensland tour of a slightly Australianised version of the classic children’s story Wind in the Willows, starting in May 2023. Creative producer Ruth Atkinson and director Alison Vallette founded the Toowoomba based...
GREEN SHOOTS. ON GROWTH.
Do you know how pineapples grow?
When I first moved to the Northern Rivers of NSW, the back garden of my country-town rental abode offered a fruit-salad of mulberries, passionfruit, paw-paw, custard apples… and pineapples! I took great delight in showing friends, old and new, the pineapples. “Do...
