Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2022 i The Australian Women's Weekly

Reflecting on the month that was, it’s clear that the good news cycle we all so desperately need and deserve is not yet upon us. We lost another Aussie legend too soon in cricketing star Shane Warne (page 18), and devastating scenes from the floods at home and the war on Ukraine shocked us to our cores. All told it has been hard to hold onto that sense of New Year optimism and hope we had pinned to 2022 (or was that just me?). However, it was not only the horror and the loss that had me in tears in recent weeks – it was also the heartwarming displays of community and kindness. We saw solidarity and protests around the world in support of the Ukrainian people, including on the…

It was the first time in almost a decade that Her Majesty had missed the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey, but even though she wasn’t there, the monarch’s presence was deeply felt. In the morning she released a powerful message – “It has given me pleasure to renew the promise I made in 1947, that my life will always be devoted in service”. With her heir, Prince Charles, as her representative at the joyous and rather moving ceremony, the Queen was honoured as a role model, which included a spontaneous, unscripted “hip hip hooray!” from Lord Sentamu, former Archbishop of York, as Elizabeth II was widely lauded, the ultimate servant to the people. The Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge shared…

Green Tea washing In 2012, Younique marketed an “all natural” mascara, but a court found “the product was composed of ground-up nylon.” Younique was fined $US3.25 million for deceptive marketing. Arbonne’s Faux Pas Vegan beauty MLM Arbonne came under fire when its consultants were caught using the pandemic as a marketing opportunity. The US Federal Trade Commission wrote a sternly worded letter to the company in 2020, warning it had 48 hours to address consultants’ false and misleading claims. Arbonne consultants were spruiking an ‘immunity support’ product that could ‘boost up your immune system right now #coronavirus’, and promising high earning potential. One consultant gushed: “14 million people applied for unemployment just last week … turn a small investment into six figures …. #arbonne … #quarantine #2020.”…

“Country Tasmania in the ’70s was the most fortuitous thing that ever happened to us.” Once upon a time, there were three sisters who were utterly inseparable, and also mischievous, bright-eyed, clever and adventurous. “It’s school holidays,” writes Indira Naidoo, journalist, presenter, author and the eldest of the three. “That magical, parent-free time when the sisters can roam untethered … Perhaps we’ll ride our dragster bikes down to the local creek, where a posse of neighbourhood kids is already gathering. We’ll take turns leaping into the murky currents from a tyre-swing precariously slung over a weeping willow. It gives us rope burns that we parade around like badges of honour … Afterwards – skin tingling from the leached tea tree oil in the creek water soothing our abrasions – it’s…

“Hilde’s the lynchpin of our family and I’ve always idolised her.” When the phone call came that Saturday night last June, Hilde Hinton remembers going cold, then “shattering into a thousand pieces”. Her brother and “best buddy”, actor Samuel Johnson, had been hit by a car, and it didn’t look good. Driving to Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital, Hilde saw a convoy of police and ambulance vehicles wailing down Punt Road with Sam inside, and followed him to Emergency. Only four years earlier they’d lost their sister Connie, the inspiration behind the family’s Love Your Sister cancer campaign; Hilde couldn’t face the thought of losing her brother, too. “I just felt so sick,” she says, “because I kept thinking, ‘Not Sam. Not Sam.’ We’re the last two standing in a way, with…

Like many Australians, travel topped my post-retirement agenda; a dream to be realised once the mortgage was paid off. What I never imagined was that one particular holiday would prompt a reassessment of my life’s pathway. Three weeks travelling through Italy, spending time in its towns and cities, was the catalyst. Millions of visitors have been captivated by Venice, the magical, floating city where ancient palazzi rise from still water, mosaics glint in Saint Mark’s Basilica, and the Rialto Bridge, where Shakespeare’s money-lender Shylock once demanded his pound of flesh, spans the Grand Canal. But on my visit, a different, less grand Venice cast its spell. It was a day warmed by sunshine and possibilities; I’d wandered off-grid to the city’s western fringe and come across a large square, or…

A friend of mine is the father of a very almost-teenage girl. He told me about the time she wanted to get a hot chocolate with him before school and ducked below the car window on the way there, so no one from school would see her drive past with her dad. Because obviously that would be hideously embarrassing. He of course had the rational (and slightly rejected) reaction of asking, “So, you want me to buy you a hot chocolate, even though you’re too ashamed to be seen with me?” I can only imagine the eye rolls that ensued. It can be very upsetting when your teenager doesn’t want to be seen with you or seems embarrassed by you. Or, just hypothetically, when they ask you not to kiss…

MUST TRY Scalp soothers For those who suffer with an itchy, uncomfortable scalp, regular TLC works wonders. The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA for Scalp, $19.50, is a milky, leave-in emulsion that hydrates the area. Simply massage in a few drops into a dry scalp at bedtime. Aveda Pramasana Protective Scalp Concentrate, $65, cleanses and exfoliates away build-up and helps balance sebum levels too. Peep SHOW Eye openers A simple three-step plan to brighten tired eyes. First, hydrate the under-eye with a formula like Dermalogica’s Awaken Peptide Eye Gel (1), $89, which we keep in the fridge. A dab of Trinny London’s shimmering Eyetallics (2), $40, on lids is an effective way to instantly open eyes, while a few swipes of Milk Makeup’s Rise Mascara (3), $43, lengthens and…

‘Annie …’ came the email from my editor. ‘We’d like you to decide a workout for our readers – something to motivate them, something where they’ll see results … It should be short, manageable and … ’ I didn’t read the rest. I excitedly rolled up my sleeves and got stuck in. Then came another email. ‘It’s to be based on the Royal Canadian Air Force 5BX workout.’ I did a little search and it seems that this series of five basic exercises (hence 5BX) was devised in the early 1960s for the Royal Canadian Air Force, who decided that short bursts of progressive exercise was just the job to keep pilots in shape – no matter where in the world they were. Prince Philip was an avid fan, apparently!…

Pillow TALK Pain in the neck While some sources of neck pain are out of our control, we can still minimise risk. One of the first places to look is how you sleep. The two positions that can ease discomfort: on your side or back. And consider investing in a pillow that supports the natural curve of your neck, like Dentons Pillows’ Posture Plus pillow, $129.95. For more, visit dentons.com.au Sexual HEALTH Q. Could you benefit from ‘down-there’ tightening? A. For any woman who has given birth, there are often long-term physical consequences, including loss of sexual satisfaction caused by laxity. According to gynaecologist Dr Fariba Behnia-Willison, a treatment called Viveve is providing a way forward. The radio-frequency device requires one 60-minute treatment, with no downtime and little to no…

Vino cotto is made from grape must › meaning “young wine” – which is the name given to freshly pressed grape juice containing the skins and stems of the grapes. It has a unique sweet and sour flavour and can be used in dressings, relishes and deglazing. Use navel oranges if blood oranges are not available. You can test this cake by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean it is cooked. If the skewer is wet it will require further cooking. This dish also goes beautifully served with soft polenta.…

Baked ocean trout fillet with gazpacho salsa & charred greens SERVES 6 PREP + COOK TIME 30 MINUTES 1 whole (1kg) side ocean trout fillet, skin off, pin-boned 1 lemon, rind removed, sliced thinly 10 lemon thyme sprigs 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 bunches (400g), broccolini, trimmed, halved lengthways 1 bunch (250g), choy sum, trimmed Lemon wedges, to serve GAZPACHO SALSA 2 ripe (300g) tomatoes, chopped finely 1 (130g) Lebanese cucumber, chopped finely 1 small (150g) red capsicum, chopped finely 1 small (150g) yellow capsicum, chopped finely 1 small (150g) green capsicum, chopped finely ¼ red onion, chopped finely 1 clove garlic, chopped finely ½ teaspoon smoky paprika 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar ¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil 1 Pre-heat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). 2 GAZPACHO…

The shells of hardboiled fresh eggs peel off more easily if you add a teaspoon of bicarb soda to the water. It helps to have the water already boiling, too. Dye hard Instead of using coloured dye, paint hard-boiled or artificial Easter eggs with two coats of black chalkboard paint, then allow the kids to decorate them with white or coloured chalk. If you regularly use your printer, choose greyscale instead of colour where possible, and check out ‘ink-saving fonts’ on your favourite search engine to use even less. For all seasons While passionfruit are cheap and plentiful, store them whole in the freezer, or scoop them into ice cube trays and freeze, before storing them in ziplock bags. Put a pin in it When cooking a potato in the…

London-based Bonnie Garmus was raised in Riverside, California. “My parents were by-products of the Depression, so practicality and frugality were important themes, as was reading,” she tells The Weekly. Bonnie worked as a copywriter and wrote novels in her spare time, never believing she could make “an actual living at it”. So, at the age of 64, Bonnie screamed when 16 publishers bid for Lessons in Chemistry, as did her family. “I was absolutely shocked. It still doesn’t seem possible.” The book is also being made into a TV series.…

Florence & Fox by Zanni Louise, Walker Fox uses Florence’s hammer when round for a play. “It’s not sharing day today,” says Florence, but borrows his bucket. Later, she goes to Fox’s house with a bag of tools. “It’s thank you day today!” The Accidental Penguin Hotel by Andrew Kelly, Wild Dog Yarra river keeper Kelly’s story is as heartwarming as it is educational. The penguins come to fish-rich waters to hunt. One penguin makes a burrow and decides to stay! The Australian Climate Change Book by Polly Marsden, Hachette Whip-smart guide to why we need to take care of the world, and how little ones can help make a positive social change. With pull-out poster.…

You are a molecular biologist. What made you switch to writing novels? I’ve been obsessed with reading novels my whole life, so I enrolled in a TAFE course on fiction writing for fun. The Dinner with the Schnabels family is larger than life. Where did the inspiration for the characters come from? I don’t know! I’ve always daydreamed funny little scenes with made-up people. Your novels are laugh-out-loud funny and also poignant. What is the secret to writing comedy? Observation. The world is a ludicrous place and I try to notice ridiculous things. What do you think is at the heart of the unique voice found in Australian fiction? Our unique circumstances: we’re a mostly immigrant nation living on land with 70,000 years of history. What is your favourite novel…

Aries Mar 21 - Apr 21 April, day one: Sun, new moon, Mercury and Chiron pop the cork on the zodiac’s new year in the sign of you feisty, excitable firecrackers who posses the magical talent for making everything old feel new again. Now it’s your prime time for this year’s reset, consider checking out Aries neuroscientist Dr Joe Dispenza’s perspective on Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How To Lose Your Mind and Create a New One. Planetary make-over vibes are pumping through the first half of April, before your warrior spirit dives into a slower flow so the newer, truer, updated you can make its entrance. Taurus April 22 - May 21 Cue new beginnings as April arrives like a psychic vitamin shot to kick-start your letting go…

“A good half of the art of living is resilience.” - ALAIN DE BOTTON Inclusivity How wonderful to see a mainstream publication highlighting so many accomplishments across the disabled community in Australia. As a mother of two young children with rare disabilities, the stories of Dr Olivia Ong (My story, AWW, February) and Boston Inia (The healing power of music, AWW, February) were a joyous and insightful read. I do hope the rhetoric of aspiring to develop “typically” ends and instead we can simply appreciate the many and varied ways that we as the human race exist. S. Fisher, Calala, NSW. A revelation Oh my goodness, Pat McDermott, I have been reading your column since those five children of yours were little nippers. To finally discover that the famous M.O.T.H.…

“... because my safe word is ‘harder’.” Sonia Kruger raised eyebrows during her commentary on DWTS. “Don’t over-pluck your eyebrows, and just know that somehow you eventually grow into those teeth.” Dannii Minogue dishes out advice to her younger self. “It blows my mind people get up, they go to work every single day, living a mundane and boring life.” Locky Gilbert during his stint on SAS Australia. “I don’t walk under a ladder. If I see a magpie, I salute.” Victoria Beckham on her superstitions.…

As a proud sporting nation punching above our weight on the international stage, Australia loves a winner – but we love a character even more. From the pool to the pitch, from the SCG to the MCG, from Olympians to Immortals and Invincibles, we savour their successes and forgive their failings because they’re one of ours and one of us. The ability to scale the greatest of heights while still remaining grounded is one only a rare breed of sportspeople and celebrities have mastered – and those who have hold a special place in our hearts. “Every day you told me how proud you were of me and I promise to try and keep making you proud. I am going to miss you so much Dad.” – Jackson Warne When…

When “Sarah” attended a training day that promised to help her sell lipstick, she was hoping to get some business lessons and a few tips on how to apply make-up. She had recently signed on to sell SeneGence cosmetics after the friend who had introduced her to the products told her she could get a discount if she became a distributor. Sarah’s intention had only ever been to buy the colours she wanted and sell some on to people who were interested. She really liked the lipstick, after all, and you couldn’t buy it in stores. But as she sat listening to the company’s training, she had the sickening realisation that what she had signed up for was not really about make-up at all. “The whole thing was about marketing.…

“When Joshua was introduced to Sunny it just made everything so much easier.” – Rebecca, mother A young boy, aged eight or nine, sits on the carpet in the open-plan hallway outside his classroom. Described as selective nonspeaking by his teachers, the boy is bathed in morning sunlight streaming in through a full-length window, his focus on the eager dog sitting in his lap as he gently rubs its ears and feeds it another treat. At first both silent and hesitant, within a few minutes the boy’s reticence evaporates, and the words slowly begin. “Sunny is my favourite,” he says. “She’s such a lovely dog. She’s always so good. She feels nice.” His words, just a trickle at first, slowly become a stream, and then a torrent and suddenly sentences…

ON December 31, 1999, as fireworks went off over Sydney Harbour to usher in a new millennium, word came through from the Kremlin in Moscow of a change in leadership that would dramatically alter the course of the 21st century. A former KGB spymaster by the name of Vladimir Putin would become the acting President of Russia. Back then, the most immediate risk to the world seemed to come from what was called the Y2K bug, a flaw in computer operating systems that threatened to wreak global havoc. Little did we know that Putin posed a far greater threat to the international order, and would go on to become the mastermind behind so much misery and murder. From Chechnya to Crimea, from Syria to the cathedral town of Salisbury in…

Happy, healthy, mature, middle-class women rarely go missing for more than a few days, and they are hardly ever among the ranks of those who are never found. Dorothy Davis and Kerry Whelan were not hitchhikers, or associates of drug dealers, or unhappy with their lives, or suffering from mental health issues. In fact, they fell well outside any of the conventional categories of people at risk of permanently disappearing. Dorothy Davis was a 74-year-old widow who lived in a house in the quiet, upmarket, seaside suburb of Lurline Bay in south-eastern Sydney. She was financially comfortable and led a peaceful, predictable life centred around her children, grandchildren and many friends. Kerry Whelan was an active and healthy 39-year-old with an affluent, family-based lifestyle. She lived with her husband, Bernie…

A classroom full of bored 15-year-olds in the mid-1970s. A teacher lounging on his desk at the front of the room, his back to the blackboard – and they really were blackboards in those days, and teachers used actual chalk. The teacher is giving his class (which includes 15-year-old, hair-flicking me) both barrels about the failings of young people. A common theme both then and now. “Your generation?” The teacher gives us all a dismissive wave. “The only problem your generation is going to have is what to do with all your leisure time.” Famous last words, as we were the generation who grew up into the world of 24/7 work, the era of short escapes rather than long summer holidays and mandatory online wellbeing courses, taken while cramming a…

Off the coast of the Netherlands is a long, narrow island that looks like a finger on the hand of Holland pointing north. The historic isle is called Texel, and it lies on a sea crossing that was a vital 17th-century trade route. Dyes and oils from the Mediterranean, Chinese porcelain, silks and majolica pottery passed through the tempestuous area known as the Texel Roads. Today, that same passageway has become a threshold between the modern day and the lost world of the Dutch Golden Age. For beneath the surface of the silver Wadden Sea lie the shipwrecked bones of more than a thousand galleons that were dashed to pieces as they made the perilous journey in a time when Dutch trade, science and art flourished. Four hundred years later,…

The desire to feel energised is well documented as the driving force behind many of our healthiest choices. It’s the carrot that dangles in front of us when we eat wholefood, exercise regularly and refuse that second glass of wine at dinner. We don’t want to feel depleted. And yet we do. And underlying our best daytime efforts – and sometimes derailing them completely – is our sleep. According to a study by the Sleep Health Foundation in partnership with Melotin MR, almost two-thirds of Australians feel that poor quality sleep is affecting their motivation to enjoy life to the fullest. “It’s our third pillar of health, and when we get the sleep we require, we’re able to face the joys and challenges of the day,” says Dr Carmel Harrington,…

1 Maintenance Phase. Host Aubrey Gordon, who wrote about her experiences as a fat person for years under the pseudonym Your Fat Friend, debunks the junk science behind health fads and nonsensical nutrition advice. 2 Body Kindness. Registered dietitian and nutritionist Rebecca Scritchfield uses her show to counteract the self-critical messages we absorb about our bodies, and helps listeners stop seeing food as reward versus punishment. 3 Keep Calm and Cook On With Julia Turshen. Here, the cookbook author combats diet culture by encouraging listeners to really reconnect with their love for food – the tastes, textures and process of cooking.…

Preserved lemon salsa verde SERVES 6 PREP TIME 10 MINUTES 1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped finely 10 mint leaves, chopped finely 1 garlic clove, chopped finely 3 anchovy fillets, chopped finely 2 tablespoons capers, chopped finely 1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemon rind 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/3 cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil Combine ingredients in a small bowl; stir to combine. Season with freshly ground pepper. Sauce gribiche SERVES 6 PREP TIME 25 MINUTES 1 cup (300g) good quality mayonnaise 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and grated 2 tablespoons baby capers, rinsed and drained ¼ cup curly parsley, chopped finely ¼ cup cucumber pickles, chopped finely 1 tablespoon pickle juice Combine ingredients in a small bowl; stir to combine. Season with sea salt flakes…

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran, Ultimo Arabian jasmine grows “obediently” at the Cinnamon Gardens nursing home, where residents remember wilder fragrance from home. Maya has been owner for 40 years; we meet her with caftan pockets stuffed with biscuits. Maya and her husband strive to save cultural customs – Polish babka at Easter, a linen cupboard converted to a Hindu shrine. Greek welder Mr Petsas, 88, migrated at 17. “For decades he worked on Sydney bridges, canisters of liquid fire strapped to his back ... a harness tethering him to a platform.” His back is a scarred map of migrant graft. But racial hatred is threatening the calm of this wonderful place. Wise and dignified. The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs, Simon & Schuster Eliza Acton’s…

At the age of 50 I decided I wanted to be a writer. I hadn’t written a word of fiction since high school, but a couple of years after making the decision, I had a draft of the story that would become The Rosie Project, and three years after that a publication contract. I’m now a full-time writer with half a dozen bestsellers and three books in development as movies. When I began the journey, I knew embarrassingly little about writing. But I had two lessons from my previous life that turned out to be as valuable as anything I’ve learned since. The first was this: when you’re tackling a big or complex task – earning a qualification, organising a wedding, cooking for a dinner party – break it into…

Shine bright The clarity of New Zealand’s night skies has been celebrated since the Māori first marked the new year with the rise of Matariki (the Pleiades) hundreds of years ago. Since then the South Island’s Mackenzie Region has become the literal poster child for stargazing. (Visit the International Dark-Sky Association’s website and you’ll see Lake Tekapo’s church backlit by the twinkling night sky.) Now there are even more opportunities to wish upon a star, including at the Dark Sky Project. The $11 million facility combines Māori astronomy with science, allowing visitors to feel the “heartbeat” of the stars, visualise how Polynesian voyagers found their way to Aotearoa using constellations and see the nine-metre-tall Brashear Telescope, built in 1894. On clear nights it’s also worth booking a tour to the…

One way to narrow down your choice of shares is by looking at key financial ratios. Your broking platform will probably provide a variety of ratios for each company. Or jump onto the ASX website (www2.asx.com.au), which shows the main ratios for each listed company. 1. Dividend yield: This tells you the percentage of a company’s share price that it pays out in dividends each year. It can be a way to compare different companies, as well as comparing ongoing returns on shares to other investments. To work out the dividend yield, divide the annual dividend per share by the share price. Let’s say Company XYZ paid an annual dividend of 50 cents per share, and its shares are trading at $10, the dividend yield would be 5% ($0.50 ÷…

MLMs, or multi-level marketing companies, are businesses that use direct selling to distribute products. Consultants sell to their friends, relatives and broader network. They also recruit others to sell products to their networks. When a consultant recruits a new seller, that person becomes their “downline”, and they earn commission from their downline’s sales. In turn, part of their earnings goes to their “upline” – the person who recruited them.…

• Research suggests that using wellbeing and therapy dogs in response to traumatic events can help reduce symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. • Just being near a dog when stressed can reduce anxiety. In one survey, 92 per cent of students said they felt more relaxed during teaching and learning time when there was a dog in the classroom. • Wellbeing dogs have been used in literacy programs, as children can be less self-conscious reading to dogs than to teachers or their peers. • Dogs are good for older people, too. A Japanese study found older adults who care for (and walk) a dog are half as likely as their non-dog-owning peers to develop a cognitive or physical disability. And a study from the University of Michigan has found caring for…

5 AM The sun is just coming up and most of the world is still asleep, but in an unassuming Sydney office, urgent, lifesaving work is underway. Calls come in from all across the country – each one a cry for help. Men and women sit at cubicles answering the phones and doing what they can to provide solace to the voice on the other end of the line. In an average four-hour shift, each one might speak with a dozen people who are feeling isolated, lonely and depressed. The volunteers at the national crisis hotline, Lifeline, are a vital safety net for Australians in need, and they have never been busier. “It’s actually a really humbling thing to have people tell you really private things that are going on…

We are in 1963 and while London is swinging, it seems it’s not quite ready to embrace the sexual antics of the Duchess of Argyll. Born in 1912, the vivacious, party-loving Margaret Campbell was the darling of Britain’s society set until a bitter and very public divorce battle with her second husband, Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll, one of Scotland’s most powerful noblemen and owner-occupier of the 90-room Inveraray Castle, ripped her reputation to shreds. The acrimonious split was the culmination of years of legal wrangling as the tempestuous couple indulged in ever-increasing tit for tat skirmishes, suing and counter-suing each other. But what was revealed and pored over in smutty detail in the final courtroom stoush shocked the nation. This was the longest, costliest and most notorious…

The adolescent brain is a strange and wonderful thing. We tend to think a lot about the impact of what teens are and are not doing – risky behaviour, not wanting to talk or hang out with their parents, and the dreaded ‘peer pressure’ – instead of what is actually going on inside their noggins. A good place to start might be asking yourself: what do you want your relationship with your kids to be like when they are grown up? And how do you intend to get there? Teenagers are famous for disconnecting from their parents. In psychology this is called individuating and, much like bankruptcy, it happens very slowly and then all at once, as Ernest Hemingway wrote. Conceptually, it is something that you want to happen –…

For anyone who has experienced the wonders of a professional brow grooming, it’s quite something to see how strategic plucking and a little shading can transform your face. There’s something so polished about strong, defined brows. The good news is that it’s easy enough to rehab them at home, if you know where you’re going. Here, we tackle some curly questions about how to handle gaps, dated shapes and barely-there hairs, and ensure the make-up you add has an impact. Problem 1 Not quite thick enough The good news is that it’s easy enough to bulk up brows. Once you have filled any spots, brush a tinted brow gel in the opposite direction of the hair’s growth, from the tail to the inner corner of brows. To finish, sweep the…

Given that one in three Australians will face mental health issues during their lives, it’s safe to assume that most of us have or will know someone who needs our support at some point. And yet while being a good friend comes quite naturally, helping someone who is suffering from low mood, anxiety or depression isn’t always intuitive. Nor is it easy. “We can sometimes feel discomfort around our family and friends’ emotional experiences, especially if we think it is our job to fix what they’re going through or if we’re concerned about saying the wrong thing,” says clinical psychologist Dr Jodie Lowinger, author of The Mind Strength Method. One of the most powerful things you can do, she says, is allow that person to feel your kindness and connection.…

INCHWORMS Level A 4 Level B 5 Level C 5 Level D 6 Level E 8 Level F 8 PRONE LAT PULL-DOWNS Level A 6 Level B 7 Level C 8 Level D 8 Level E 8 Level F 8 GLUTE BRIDGES Level A 15 Level B 15 Level C 18 Level D 22 Level E 25 Level F 25 CRAB TOE TOUCHES Level A 6 Level B 6 Level C 8 Level D 8 Level E 10 Level F 10 AB CRUNCHES Level A 15 Level B 20 Level C 25 Level D 30 Level E 35 Level F 40 MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS Level A 12 Level B 18 Level C 24 Level D 30 Level E 40 Level F 50 V CRUNCHES Level A 10 Level B 12 Level…

“There’s just enough cream in the sauce to make it truly luscious and a tad old-fashioned, which I love.” -maggie Pan-fried goat’s cheese with walnuts, pomegranate & mint SERVES 4 PREP & COOK TIME 30 MINUTES (+ STANDING TIME) 8 preserved vine leaves 1 tablespoon verjuice 500g goat’s cheese ¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil 1/3 cup (35g) walnuts, roasted, skinned and chopped ½ fresh pomegranate, arils removed 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, torn 1 Place vine leaves in a bowl of water and leave for a half an hour to rinse salt. Discard water, dry and then drizzle with verjuice. 2 Divide the goat’s cheese into 8 portions. If vine leaves are large cut in half, wrap the goat’s cheese in the vine leaves, trim any excess leaf.…

Chocolate madeleines MAKES ABOUT 18 PREP + COOK TIME 45 MINUTES (+ COOLING) 3 eggs 2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind ½ cup (75g) plain flour 1/4 cup (25g) cocoa 50g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing 75g white chocolate, melted 75g dark chocolate, melted 2 glacé cumquats, sliced thinly, for decorating, optional 1 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Grease a 12-hole (1½ tablespoon/ 30ml) madeleine pan with butter. 2 Whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and orange rind in an electric mixer on high speed until triple in volume (6-7 minutes). 3 Meanwhile, triple-sift the flour and cocoa. Sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture and gently fold through. Fold through the melted butter. Drop 1 tablespoon of the…

Floral fortune eggs Inspired by fortune cookie messages, these eggs are a great Easter gift idea. Gently wash and dry some white eggs. Remove the contents (keep for cooking) by making a very small hole in the top and a slightly bigger hole in the bottom of each egg with a needle or skewer. Blow the contents out of the bigger hole into a bowl, then rinse the whole egg under a tap, blowing out any more contents. Leave to dry completely. Take a floral paper napkin and separate out the layers. Using the patterned layer, cut out the flower details and place to one side. Using a small brush and decoupage glue, delicately attach the cut flowers to the eggs – avoid using too much glue as the paper…

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday If you read just one book this year make sure it’s Lessons in Chemistry. Clever, hilarious, thought-provoking, uplifting … I could go on. Although set in the 1960s, protagonist Elizabeth Zott is a woman for our times who challenges the status quo with the sort of resolve we all wish we had. We first meet her as a reluctant TV star, hosting hit cooking show Supper at Six in which she presents the nightly meal prep as a chemistry lesson. Water is H2O, salt – sodium chloride … for Elizabeth’s passion isn’t cooking, she’s a scientist. The story of how she landed in this seemingly unsuitable job unfolds at a dazzling pace and is served up with a delicious side-order of kick-arse feminism.…

The Scarlet Cross by Lyn McFarlane, Pantera Press A murky mess of institutional power is exposed when Nurse Griffin in St Jude’s hospital ER suspects a supposed suicide is not what it seems. Brunswick Street Blues by Sally Bothroyd, HQ Impressive debut set in Melbourne’s back streets with gutsy Brick Brown as our protagonist – a bartender turned amateur investigator. The Cane by Maryrose Cuskelly, Allen & Unwin North Queensland in the 1970s. Janet, 16, is missing and her mum is walking the cane fields where locals believe there’s a malevolent presence. Atmospheric. A Great Hope by Jessica Stanley, Picador A timely plot sees a politician falling to his death. The leader, father and husband – with a secret lover – could have been the next PM. Accident or murder?…

At first glance, Simon Larsen looked like a man adrift. The hunch in his shoulders, the five-day stubble. He wore a stained hoodie and the trackpants stretched over his waist had seen better days. He was tallish without being quite tall, and beefy without being exactly fat. His eyes, once a sharp blue, were watery and faded with pouches underneath, like small, hairless caterpillars napping. His hair, already silver, was scruffy and his face was puffy and grey. He seemed aimless. That would be an understandable assumption, from the look of him. But if you thought that, you’d be wrong. Okay, he might not have a burning goal that ignited his energy and imagination and saw him leaping out of bed in the morning before the alarm. He’d had those…

What’s new in Christchurch? Nearly everything. A decade after a series of earthquakes devastated the city, it’s now re-emerging from the rubble, and new hotels and restaurant openings are a regular occurrence. A walk along the new Ōtākaro Avon River promenade (above) reveals this transformation. Home to the (new) Riverside Market, it’s a short distance from the (also new) award-winning Tūranga library and the $475 million Te Pae Convention Centre, which opened in December 2021. Although vacant lots remain, they’re filled with interactive installations, such as coin-operated dance floors, giant swings and hammock forests. Christchurch could have clung onto its old identity as the “Garden City”, but instead it’s reinvented itself as a city for the people of its future. Visit christchurchnz.com to learn more.…