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Sports AWARD TIME

David Sweedman
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Sports AWARD TIME

At this time, members of sporting clubs everywhere gather for end of year celebrations and to pay tribute to those in the organisation who have shown their skill throughout the year and, during a sumptuous lunch at the Bribie Island Hotel recently, Bribie Island Indoor Bowls Club members were recognised for their achievements.

Featured Image(above): Bribie Island Bowls Club – Club Triples Championship winners. L to R- Eddie James, Sandy Martin & Roger Avern Runners up – Kevin Fuller, Kim Ford & Kerry Smith

After club president Margaret Dunn welcomed everyone to the event and thanked Division One Councillor Brooke Savige for attending, the award recipients were announced and I don’t think that too many people were surprised (except maybe Bruce himself) when Bruce Hennessy was named as Club Champion for the second year in a row. Along with the extensive number of bowlers who received trophies, Lara Patey was honoured with the “Rising Star” award.

Following the presentation of awards, the drawing of the raffle winners began and, thanks to the marvellous effort by Roy Bradford who spent many hours collecting donations from local business, there were many prizes to be won. It would be remiss of not to mention that both the food and friendly service at Charlie’s was worthy of praise and all who attended thoroughly enjoyed the occasion.

On a rather sad note, one club member who was missing from the occasion was treasurer Alan Landeman who suffered a severe stroke in the days prior to the event and was in hospital at the time. Regrettably, Alan passed away the following day and the thoughts of all are with Alan’s wife Jenny and the family in their time of grief.

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Gloss Magazine Bribie Islander 1st Edition Jan 04 2019 Issue 78

IS BRODI OUR NEXT JEFF?

David Sweedman
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IS BRODI OUR NEXT JEFF?

At only 14 years of age Brodi Halliwell is no stranger to success in the boxing ring. This has many in his circle of peers wondering if he could be the next Jeff Horne who just happens to be the young man’s hero. At the recent ABL Australian Boxing Titles held in Hobart Brodi came away with the gold medal in the 48kg class. According to Brodi’s proud father, Ian Halliwell, it has been a bit of a rough journey this year for his son.

“Brodi had to compete in Rockhampton at the State Titles seven weeks after breaking his collarbone playing club footy for the Warrigals,” said Ian. His father says it is a testimony to his fitness level, ability and mental toughness that he was able to do so well at the Australian titles. Brodi’s boxing long-time coach Ty Gilchrest was equally impressed with his protege’s performance. “I have been training Brodi for around 6 years and have seen him do very well at state and national titles winning gold and silver for his weight category,” said Ty.

“There is an old saying ‘Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard’ and Brodi is the personification of that saying. He works extremely hard and is an absolute pleasure to train. He certainly has what it takes to go to the highest level in the sport.” And what does Brodi have to say for himself? Well like his hero Jeff Horne he is a quiet achiever who lets his result in the ring speak for itself.

Wallum Action Group presented a cheque to Camp Quality

David Sweedman
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Wallum Action Group presented a cheque to Camp Quality

For a number of years, many within the community have benefited from the outstanding generosity of a local organisation which is funded by money made by the sale of plants at its completely volunteer operated nursery. Not only has the Wallum Action Group supplied countless diabetes pumps and bought wheelchairs for use at the Caboolture Hospital, but they have also paid for the training of an assistance dog for a little girl and provided funding for many other worthy causes.

Featured Image(above): Representatives of Banksia Beach School, Bribie Community Kindy and Beachmere State School were presented with a defibrillator

Among their other donations has been their annual contribution to the Camp Quality project and this year at the Camp Quality picnic in Brennan Park, they once again handed over a cheque for $15,000 to this very worthwhile cause. Another ongoing project has been the donation of defibrillators to various groups and in the past, this has included the Bribie Island Community Arts Centre, the Sandstone Point Community Association, the Bribie Island and District Neighbourhood Centre and the Bribie Island Respite Service.

Earlier in December, the Wallum Action Group presented another three defibrillators to Narelle Dawson from the Bribie Community Kindy, Dianne Carpenter and Shellie Sorrell from the Beachmere State School and Melissa Robinson from Banksia Beach School. Action group President David Wearne has told me that there will be more defibrillators handed out in the near future.

The Wallum Action Group presented a $15,000 cheque to Camp Quality recently

The Wallum Action Group Community Nursery can be found in First Avenue at Bongaree next to the Orchid House. The nursery offers a great variety of plants for sale at very reasonable prices. Open from 8 am until 11 am each weekday, the nursery welcomes enquiries from anyone who would like to become a volunteer or wishes to dispose of unwanted plants. Further information about this wonderful organisation can be obtained by making a call to 0407 699 953.

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The Rotary “World’s Greatest Meal to End Polio

Travel destination – Darwin

David Sweedman
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Travel destination – Darwin

Tags: Tourism, travel, Australia. Darwin. Northern Territory

After being stranded at the Bungle Bungles and time to do repairs at Kununurra, we were finally on our way to Darwin. However not without a stopover at Katherine, where we embarked on a fantastic canoe trip up and down the Katherine Gorge. Ginger, not being a sporty spice and rather uncoordinated with paddles, got a lift in Daddy’s canoe. And occasionally I hooked mine up as well, making sure hubby got a good work out, while I was blissfully contemplating those huge steep cliff walls majestically moving past us.

Sunset at Kakadu

This was topped off by an afternoon watching a horse and dog training show with the fit lads ending up standing on top of a horse and strumming a guitar at sunset. I was thrilled at the chance to dress up in our checked shirts with cowboy boots and hats, all to Ginger’s dismay who felt that we were like an overdressed act with nowhere to go… But on the go we were, and all of a sudden the dust and outback gave way to tropical greenery when we finally arrived in Darwin.

Berry Springs

We were surprised at all the lush colour and humid weather making us reminisce about Bribie! And like Bribie, Darwin is very clean and neat and has lots of wonderful free activities like water parks for kids, manmade lakes to swim without crocs, walks, lookouts and museums just to mention a few. Alternatively, if you want to part with some cash you can go on a harbour, river or crocodile cruise, helicopter flights or muster a handsome cowboy at a rodeo.

Canoeing at Katherine Gorge

However, the one thing that is burned in my mind is the love, hate relationship between Darwin and the ‘Crocodile’. As soon as you arrive you become part of the wave, with one side of you going through all sort of lengths to see a big scary crocodile close up, and the other side constantly observing signs like ‘Don’t go in there!’, ‘Don’t swim here!’, ‘Don’t stick your finger into that…. or the croc will get you!’ Signs like that can be found at the amazing Berry Springs, offering three huge pools filled with warm turquoise water along a river, heaps of room to float your noodle even at the busiest of times except… if a croc decided to have a float as well!

Outback show

As luck had it, the Springs just re-opened after a crocodile was found lounging about, eyeing off the juicy locals and tourists, until it finally was caught a week later. We spent six weeks in Darwin and surrounds, and our favourite caravan park was close to the city centre at Howard Springs with amazing pools, grassed sites and tall shady trees. Ginger made friends the minute we arrived, while I and the girl’s mother Jennifer formed the ‘Bar’ as we called it – sitting around in a circle at sunset with a handful of neighbour caravaners, exchanging experiences and laughs over a wine or two.

Table on Waters Edge

Nevertheless, the possibility of kissing the lawn, once legless, made me keep a lid on my usage of the grape. Nevertheless, fluid was in hot demand as it was the hottest winter on record with daily temperatures reaching 35 degrees, which gave the aircon in the van a rather good workout. One morning I even got woken up with a nice cold dripping rain installation from the ceiling. As usual, when disaster strikes, Richard would be back in Brisbane leaving it up to me to dig out a handyman. Handy he was, telling me its just condensation and not worthwhile him coming around!!! Never mind… I struck luck second time around and the rather sleek aircon specialist fixed the blocked ducts just in time before we ran out of towels and buckets.

The Bar

Just as well, as we had to be ready for Grandma and Grandad’s arrival, who Ginger persuaded at their sturdy age of 89 to jump on a plane in Melbourne and visit us for a couple of weeks in Darwin. Carol and Harry arrived in good shape and in the next few days we covered Litchfield park, swam in some amazing waterholes and even drove through a roadside fire. Then it was time for some city legwork and Ginger as usual forgot her shoes for the all-important museum visit. Richard told her that it was her problem and that she had to talk to the lady at the desk, who looked at Ginger with raised eyebrows and said….’Well its Darwin after all’ and so she got away with it… But one of our favourite activities was the virtual reality show of the ‘Flying Doctors visitors centre’ at the wharf. It was riveting and very scary, as one was viewing the Darwin bombing with special virtual reality goggles.

Holding on to your seat, while you moved through flying parts and bombed out ships, going up in the air with a fighter pilot, just to get bombed out of his plane, tumbling and plunging back down to the oil inflamed sea and slowly sinking to your death… I still felt motion sick for most of the dinner on the wharf and gave the wine a miss. However, this was not our first time on the wharf, where you can sit at your table suspended a few meters above the water level without railing, and watch the huge fish swimming and feeding below, all in the shade and balminess of Darwin city.

Another good place to get some multicultural cuisine is, of course, the most famous Mindil market, offering endless varieties of takeaway meals, while you are entertained by fireeaters! Although this is the end of this episode, I hope you can join me for the next one, when we get back to the dusty outback on ‘The Long Way Round To Bribie’!

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Queensland travel destinations – On the Way to Darwin

Letters to the Editor Jan 2019

David Sweedman
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Letters to the Editor Jan 2019

Dear Editor, I’ve always preferred your paper over that “Other” Bribie giveaway – yours has usually been free of political input, whereas the other one is a shill for the Liberal Party conservatives and reptilian social conservatives. So I was disappointed to see your “Laugh Riot” section take a spiteful whack at Greens voters (“no job, no plans…”). This is just another inaccurate caricature with no basis in actual fact. Still, I’m sure it raised a few guffaws in your readership, so in the interests of balance, I thought I’d submit a few more jokes for you. I haven’t got them all written yet, just the endings, but I can work on them further if you’d like. In the meantime here are the punchlines: “A typical Liberal voter,” he said, “smug, selfish, uncaring and in the pockets of Big Business!” “Oh no! He’s a Labor voter!” she exclaimed “A hypocritical yobbo… in the pocket of Big Business!” “Just like a One Nation voter,” he groaned “An ignorant bigot… in the pockets of Big Business!” Let me know if you’d like more zingers like these – I got a million of ‘em.

Regards, Tony Longland, Bellara.

 

Dear Editor, Weather as given on the TV Channels Given that we are advised of forthcoming weather wouldn’t it be nice to have weather presenters do it properly? I cannot accept the need to send a weather presenter on a jolly to the Ski Fields in Canada when presenting Australian weather. It seems to me that it is a total addon cost and unnecessary? So where are these places that are given as – “The Goldie, Tassie, the Alice, etc.”. With possible showers, sunny with occasional rain, windy at times and hot. I ask with the millions spent on weather that more accuracy is given than possible weather, and keep our presenters in Australia rather than junket’s overseas. Come Home Stevie! A Happy 2019 to all.

Farley

YOUR SAY DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR AND VOICE YOUR LOCAL OPINION! [email protected] PO BOX 116, Bribie Island 4507

Medals for the Australian Seniors Tenpin Bowling Team

David Sweedman
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Medals for the Australian Seniors Tenpin Bowling Team

Vivienne and Terry Bissell of Sandstone Lakes were both successful in making the Australian Seniors Tenpin Bowling Team represent Australia at the 15th Asian Senior Bowling Championships, Japan that was held recently from 9th to 18th December 2018. Countries competing for medals came from Australia, China, Guam, Korea, Macau, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan. Upwards of 300 bowlers were competing in the Championships. Australia was successful in 3 bronze medals. Of which we are all very proud. As a first international tournament for both Terry and Vivienne it was a very amazing experience.

Nothing made me prouder than to be selected to carry the Australian Flag during the opening ceremony. One I will never forget. We would both like to personally thank Bribie RSL, Caboolture Sports Club and Simone Wilson for their sponsorship towards our competition.

A TALE OF TWO TRADIES

David Sweedman
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A TALE OF TWO TRADIES

The following supplied article from John Boland offers a warning to our readers when sourcing their tradespeople from social media to adhere to the old adage Caveat emptor – “Let the buyer beware” and on a positive note that there are some really decent people in our community. Here’s John’s tale in his own words…. Recently we had to engage a tradesman to replace the dividing fence between the neighbour and us as it had past it used by date. (Some could say a bit like me). Taking responsibility to project manage I sought quotes through a trades site on the Internet for fencers.

Featured Image(above): Jonathon Huston our “Guardian Angel”

Two trades persons made contact and times were set for a quotation. Neither turned up so I commented on Facebook of my disappointment. As a result, there were three responses within a short time frame and times were set for quotations. The first guy was way over the mark as I had a fair idea of costs as I replaced fencing last year. The second person arrived with his wife and three kids sleeping in the car.

Being parents of four and grandparents to seven were decided to go with the young guy as it was just before Christmas and paid a deposit via EFT. On Wednesday 12 our “builder” rocked up around 11 am to start the job. By 4 pm I’d paid him the remainder of the bill in cash not taking too much notice workmanship (or lack of). After he left I discovered that not only was it not on the boundary line but was as crooked as a seaman’s leg, not bedded, palings at all angles and generally shoddy work. (There are other major issues that can’t be mentioned however they are under police investigation).

He decamped in such a hurry he even left his wheelbarrow behind. After running the issue on Facebook showing the “mess” left behind my faith in mankind has been restored. Jonathon Huston (QBCC License 15022051, ABN 20419979871) lobbed on our front door and informed that he would replace the fence the next day at cost. I don’t believe in “Fairy Godmothers” but my “Guardian Angel” is a bloody good bloke. If there were more people like Jonathan Huston in the world it would be a much better place. To my unregistered builder, I look forward to our date at QCAT. My lesson from this is to ensure that any tradesperson you engage is registered with the appropriate authorities and has an ABN as a business.

Queensland travel destinations – Leaving Darwin

David Sweedman
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Queensland travel destinations – Leaving Darwin

Tags: Tourism, travel, Queensland. Australia. Darwin. Northern Territory

Hi there, my short stories are all about our family, Richard my hubby, Ginger our daughter and myself, going on a 15 month trip of misadventure in a “big rig” around Australia, on a mission to find the place to call home… After five glorious and relaxing weeks in Darwin, we were sad to leave but excited to get back on the road again. Heading South, we returned for a pit stop at Mataranka, once again immerse ourselves in the Warm Springs and the life from the ‘We of the Never Never’.

Featured Image(above): Climbing Cawnpore lookout

This was our current night time read, causing our imagination to go walkabout, and leaving us eager to have another good look at Jeannie Gunn’s original homestead. The small basic hut without water and electricity was a total contrast to our next destination of Mount Isa, which as a huge mining town was lit up like a Christmas tree all year round. By now our rig was at a bursting point from storing all our rock and shell collections, however, that did not stop us having a ‘day out on town,’ acquiring a set of colourful bookshelves for Ginger, with no plan of where to put them in the rig…

To be honest we could not wait to leave this part of civilization behind and return to our outback mode. With a couple of options to get you out of town, we decided to take a more scenic route via Boulia to get to Winton. Little did we know that this road was narrower than any drive-way, and at best could be called a single lane road! It also came with its own road rules, namely …that the road trains have right of way and do not need to slow down for anyone or anything.

Wings would have been handy, but nothing was big enough to whizz us out of the way when the huge dust cloud was approaching! Veering into the bushes with Dodge, caravan and all was our only option! Not sure how we made it unscathed, however for the next 300 km we obeyed the rule of large comes first… and fogged in anything smaller than us. Now you are thinking, what mongrels! Honestly, one could not help but bury any bypassers with a dust cloud, because that was all there was… lots of dust. And the dusty Dodge was holding up through all those humps and bumps, however not without a couple of flashing warning lights going off!

Tourism, travel, Queensland. Australia. Darwin. Northern Territory

North Gregory Hotel

One constantly urging us to stop immediately as we were meant to have a ‘flat tire’! We obediently stopped and investigated multiple times, but could not find the flat tire… Ginger realizing our serious situation of possibly being stranded once again in no-mans land told us to think outside the square and to consider that maybe we left the flat one behind … No wiser, we pushed on with our phantom flat tire and instead jumped on the brakes for a couple of wild camels and an emu crossing the road with its chicks.

With all that excitement we missed our powered caravan site at Boulia and instead ended up right next to the gents toilet door, mistaking those mosquito zappers for the infamous Ming Ming lights during the night. Still, on the way to the Queensland outback town of Winton, we came across a spectacular lookout called Cawnpore, reaching above the flat landscape like a red desert cupcake framed by the deep blue sky.

Tourism, travel, Queensland. Australia. Darwin. Northern Territory

Ginger in danger

To top it off we found a pub in the middle of nowhere, called the Middleton Hotel, which made history in 1862 when the first white men, John McKinlay and his Burke and Wills search party entered the area. I couldn’t resist a Baileys on ice, while studying the old photos and admiring the historic remnants of the ‘town’, which by now had shrunk to a population of three.

In comparison, Winton was a thriving town with multiple historical pubs, one of them being the North Gregory Hotel where Waltzing Matilda was first publicly performed in 1895. There was even a hairdressing salon called ‘Pinky’, made famous through the ABC show ‘Backroads’. Needless to say, my hair was pink and perfect after my visit! But first, we had to go on a search through the pubs to find the booking officer for the Tattersalls Hotel caravan park.

Tourism, travel, Queensland. Australia. Darwin. Northern Territory

Baileys on ice at Middleton Hotel

As usual, we had to pace out our spot when helping Bob appeared from the neighbouring motorhome. He and his wife Noelene soon became our Winton travelling buddies, and we decided to all go together in the Dodge to the dinosaur museum. This was especially exciting for Ginger as she could talk to her heart’s content with our new friends about her favourite books. Ginger announced that she loves all sort of books except Mummy books because they are sooo boring and send her to sleep…. always talking about how to be happy…

Tourism, travel, Queensland. Australia. Darwin. Northern Territory

Glassed out days and great fishing

And happy I was when this informative car trip ended, and we arrived at the most impressive Winton dinosaur museum. It was a great combination of in-house information with a bones workshop, where experts and volunteers alike made bones emerge from dirt and rocks. The outdoor activities were just as exciting with a short trip on the shuttle bus to a designated area of dinosaur canyons and boardwalks, which made me feel like I was walking next to those ancient polished giants! By the end of our stay in Winton, I was also in need of some polishing up and was looking for a place to get my eyebrows waxed.

Ginger was surprised and remarked that she thought I wanted to have more hair not less? Leading to a deep and meaningful conversation of how one could implant their ‘plentiful eyebrow hair’ onto the top of one’s head… Before I leave you with that hairy thought… I have to tell you that we have some very exciting news! Can you guess it? Send me an email! Although this is the end of this episode, I hope you can join me in the next edition of ‘The Bribie Islander’, when we try to strike it rich fossicking for gemstones.

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Queensland travel destinations – Coolum

CRAFTY FOR LIFE

David Sweedman
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CRAFTY FOR LIFE

Tags: Arts and crafts. Bribie Island

Tucked away at the rear of the Ningi Community Hall is a building which, although it takes on the appearance of nothing more than a shed, is the home to an organisation which is not only a meeting place for locals to catch up for the chance to indulge in their own particular type of craft. Going by the title “Crafty Shed,” the organisation is a frequent supporter of various charities, either by way of monetary donations or by supplying the results of their efforts whenever applicable.

Featured Image(above): Jill Heading with the painting by Stephanie Domagala

Members of the Crafty Shed recently gathered for their end of year Christmas party and during the morning, they recognised the wonderful job done by president of twelve years Beryl Higgins by honouring her with a life membership. I think everyone in the building other than Beryl knew that this was on the agenda and, after Pauline Heaslip made the presentation, Beryl, who is retiring from the position, was quite speechless.

As another part of the Christmas get together, I had the pleasure of drawing the winning ticket in the raffle which was for a beautiful painting by Stephanie Domagala and, although Beryl threatened me with dire consequences if I didn’t draw her ticket out, it was Jill Heading who took the painting home. I believe Beryl has insisted that Stephanie do a similar painting for her now.

One of the ways that “Crafty Shed” members support others within the community is by providing “Pamper Packs” for distribution to victims of domestic violence and, in a small ceremony at the Bribie Island and District Neighbourhood Centre recently, Crafty Shed President Beryl Higgins handed over thirty six of the packs to centre staff. Beryl explained to me that many of the items for the packs are supplied by an extremely generous Jenny Smith as well as some donated by Jill Heading.

‘Jenny is a frequent traveller and she even pays the cost of extra baggage to bring us the items that she gets at various places of accommodation,’ said Beryl. ‘The bags that contain the items were made by Diane Dirkson,’ she added.

For more information see https://www.facebook.com/ningihall/

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Arts and Crafts Club

MAD POETS SOCIETY – Dec 2019

David Sweedman
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MAD POETS SOCIETY – Dec 2019

RUDOLFS BLANK FACE

Rudolf is hanging by a piece of string

His face is blank no mouth or eyes he cannot see a thing

The nose jaw and mouth move separate from his head

I hope someone buys him as Santa will dread

Training another reindeer so close to Christmas time

He needs his nose ears and eyes for the journey of a lifetime

Now Santa is around the corner and the elves are down the isle

Gathering all the toys while Santa looks for his mobile “Come on Rudolf it will soon be Christmas day”

“We have heaps to do and must be on our way”

“ On the glass shelves are the fairies that wave their magic wand

They fly to isle two for Rudolf and sing a magical song

Now Rudolf shakes his head and his ears turn pink

Next comes his deep brown eyes and he gives the fairy a wink

Hair begins to grow on his face and his red nose is distinct

Rudolf is very hungry and his belly is starting to sink

Clipperty clop goes Rudolf shoes as he walks down the isle

Carrots biscuits and a bale of hay create a great big smile

Santa lets out a roar “It is time for all to flee”

Rudolf is harnessed at the front of the pack

The elves create mayhem there is no going back

Santa puts on his big black boots

The fairies fly and begin to swoop

The reindeers focus and off they go Flying high then flying low

Now Australia is pretty hot and the reindeers are really spent

Rudolf musters all he can to make a happy event

Santa is sweltering in his big red suit

The elves are packing the sack “Check the list” Santa calls

“There is no going back” Brisbane Sydney Melbourne and the Coast the list is very long

They are heading for the outback just in time to see a billabong

They see the billy boil from the sky and take respite by a tree Kangaroos

Emus Koala Bears gather at the fray Santa Rudolf and the elves land safely on the sleigh

Fires drought and red dirt is not a place to nap

Rudolf wanders off to view without his GPS map

The siren sounds everyone is bound

The presents sit by the log

The search party is out and so are the dogs

The reindeers are in a bog

Footprints of mud at the creeks edge

Leave an impression that Rudolf is dead

Bubbles appear in the middle of the creek

Thank God is alive but he is weak Rudolf is alive and prancing again

Everyone has cooled off nothing is bleak

This is Australia in the summer heat

So Santa and Rudolf and the team Hitch up the sleigh and create a beam

A magical rainbow to the North Pole “Yuletide “ he calls and off they go

By Sharmayne Kurtz

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Poetry, Poems, Riddles and Rhymes

LAUGH RIOT – Dec 2019

David Sweedman
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LAUGH RIOT – Dec 2019

An Irishman was terribly overweight, so his doctor put him on a diet . “I want you to eat regularly for 2 days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for 2 weeks. The next time I see you, you should have lost at least 5 pounds .” When the Irishman returned, he shocked the doctor by having lost nearly 60 POUNDS ! “Why, that’s amazing!” the doctor said, “Did you follow my instructions?” The Irishman nodded…”I’ll tell you though, by jaesuz, I t’aut I were going to drop dead dat 3rd day. “ “From hunger, you mean? “ “No, from bloody skippin’ !”

 

 

Scotch with two drops of water… A lady goes to the bar on a cruise ship and orders a Scotch with two drops of water. As the bartender gives her the drink she says, ‘I’m on this cruise to celebrate my 80th birthday and it’s today..’ The bartender says, ‘Well, since it’s your birthday, I’ll buy you a drink. In fact, this one is on me.’ As the woman finishes her drink, the woman to her right says, ‘I would like to buy you a drink, too.’ The old woman says, ‘Thank you. Bartender, I want a Scotch with two drops of water.’ ‘Coming up,’ says the bartender. As she finishes that drink, the man to her left says, ‘I would like to buy you one, too.’ The old woman says, ‘Thank you. Bartender, I want another Scotch with two drops of water.’ ‘Coming right up,’ the bartender says. As he gives her the drink, he says, ‘Ma’am, I’m dying of curiosity. Why the Scotch with only two drops of water?’ The old woman replies, ‘Sonny, when you are my age, you’ve learned how to hold your liquor. Holding your water, however, is a whole other issue.’

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LAUGH RIOT – Funny jokes

Contributors Wanted

David Sweedman
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Contributors Wanted

Are you a boating enthusiast? An automotive buff? A lover of film with a keen critic’s eye? A passionate carer of the young or elderly? Or any of 101 other topics that you may believe our readers will be interested to read about in 2019.

Then The Bribie Islander is keen to talk to you about contributing to the editorial pages of The Bribie Islander magazine. Are you a music festival goer? A foodie with a penchant for spices? Or maybe you know of a special person in the Bribie community that you would like to write about. Whether you can contribute just one article or an ongoing regular series on a topic that you are familiar with and passionate about we would love to hear from you. Students are also welcome to get in touch, as is anyone looking to increase their writing portfolio.

Unfortunately, we cannot offer you payment for your contribution but here’s what we can do.

We can offer: The opportunity to have your work published in print with a byline and enhance the community feel of The Bribie Islander magazine. All submissions will be sub-edited before being published. We will give contributors feedback on improvements where relevant. Interested?

Then contact David Sweedman General Manager/Editor The Bribie Islander Phone: 0409 846 559 or email [email protected] or drop by the office for a chat Shop 9 / 9 Toorbul, Street Bongaree.

A REALLY GREAT READ

David Sweedman
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A REALLY GREAT READ

I doubt that there are many avid readers who have not enjoyed one or more of the mainly African themed novels by well-known author Wilbur Smith and I think that it would be accurate to describe Smith as possibly the most well-read novelist by those who enjoy reading about all things African.

Whilst Mr Smith could be said to have captured the market in that category, since 2013, a Bribie Island author has definitely made inroads into removing that title from him. November “Islander Extraordinaire” Tina Clark who writes under TM Clark recently released her latest novel “Nature of the Lion” with a book signing at the Target store in Bongaree and when I stopped by for a chat, the Target stock had already sold out and Ms Clark was drawing from the stock she had brought along in reserve.

“Nature of the Lion” is the fifth novel that TM has written and, like Smith, she bases all her works on Africa. When I interviewed Tina for the Islander Extraordinaire article, she explained that she tries to pen one novel each year so, having now read and really enjoyed her latest effort, I will be waiting in anticipation for the next one. Without giving too much away, “Nature of the Lion” tells of a secret society of hunters who, after fulfilling their normal five animal target, Leopard, Lion, Buffalo, Rhino and Elephant, are given the opportunity to include a sixth victory, Man.

Having always been an avid reader of Wilbur Smith’s works, I can honestly say that TM Clark’s style is, to me, just as enjoyable. Unlike some authors, Ms Clark does not tend to get bogged down in lengthy descriptive text whilst still setting the scene quite accurately. In fact, I have found that events in her books are quite fast moving at times and this really keeps one reading for long after it was intended. In summing up, I would highly recommend that Wilbur Smith Fans treat themselves to a copy of this novel with a rather different storyline. Published by Harlequin, “Nature of the Lion” is available at all good bookstores as well as some other outlets.

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Books – DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT

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