The first time I met Kate Pilcher we were sitting around a kids table doing readers with our young daughters. There’s no way I would have pinned her for a linguist who has spent more than two years living and working in Kenya as a horse guide. Fluent in Spanish and Swahili, Kate’s appearance captivated […]

A Sunshine Coast school celebrates 30 years of its community fundraiser Strawbfest on 3 September, with live music, prizes and plenty of strawberries. The Twist Brothers Strawberry Farm opposite Chevallum State School donates the fruit from one of its fields for the event. Children from every grade help pick the strawberries, with the motto “pick […]

No hardship can crush the hopes of two million people. “Freezing winters, communism, war… all these we endure,” Ljubljana’s Helena said. The red-haired university lecturer stood and watched passers-by stroll through the the main square of Slovenia in southern central Europe. Despite a struggling economy and a ballooning refugee crisis, Helena is optimistic about the […]

Farmers from Victoria’s Gippsland region took their campaign against coal seam gas exploration to Melbourne on Sunday, with hundreds of supporters backing their call for a ban on new coal mines and CSG exploration. The protesters marched from city square to the state library, where a petition signed by 1000 people was handed to Greens […]

After selling 180,000 Dagwood dogs and 100,000 Strawberry Sundaes, Queensland’s largest annual event – the Ekka – has closed for another year. In the 135th running of the show more than 400,000 people attended the 10-day festival, showcasing the best of the Country in the City. According to the RNA more than 20,000 cheese toasties […]

A plan to rebuild the Mary Valley following abandonment of the Traveston Dam was announced in Parliament this week by Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney. Mr Seeney said there had been more than a hundred inquiries about buying properties or being involved in projects. As a result of the previous government’s purchase of land to be […]