Hello Reader, The Victorian Seniors Festival is almost here, and this October is shaping up to be one worth taking advantage of — thousands of events across the state, and a full week of free public transport travel to help you get to them. Now, we know "Seniors Festival" can sound a bit... beige. Like it might be all trestle tables and raffle tickets. But dig into the program and there's some rather brilliant stuff on offer — harp meditations in the gardens, a mystery book night (with...
2 days ago • 5 min read
Hello Reader, Exciting news for your diaries — the Victorian Seniors Festival event calendar has just launched, with thousands of events happening right across the state throughout October. Even better, Victorian Seniors Card holders get nine days of free public transport, from 3 to 11 October, covering metro Melbourne, V/Line trains and coaches, and regional buses — the perfect excuse to explore somewhere new. We're putting together three guides to help you make the most of it: our pick of...
7 days ago • 5 min read
Hello Reader, Paul here. On 10 June 1990, my brother Mark and I shambled up the carpeted stairs at the Shamrock Hotel in Bendigo to celebrate our grandfather's 80th birthday. Family had driven in from the Mallee, Wangaratta and Melbourne. Mark and I arrived straight from a bachelor and spinsters' ball in Deniliquin. It's always been natural for the Farrell side of my family to gather in Bendigo, and just as natural to meet at the Shamrock Hotel — which is exactly why I'm returning there next...
14 days ago • 5 min read
Hello Reader, It's Chris here. After more than 50 years preparing cartographic artwork for a living, you'd think I'd have had my fill of maps — but no. So when I saw Science Week's opening session was a comedy show called "Maps!", presented by a self-described Cartographic Comedian, I couldn't resist. Held in the historic Royal Society of Victoria building — one I'd walked past a hundred times but never stepped inside — the session was hosted by Julian O'Shea, an engineer-turned-comedian with...
21 days ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, As many of you will know, Travellers Aid is our Community Giveback partner this quarter — and we've planned one of the loveliest ways to support them. If you're passing through one of Melbourne's major stations — or planning a trip to Ballarat, Geelong or Seymour — we'd love to challenge you to pop into a Travellers Aid hub and introduce yourself. The team are there every day helping people get around with confidence and dignity, and they'd be delighted to say hello. I asked...
28 days ago • 5 min read
Hello Reader, Paul here. The parklands surrounding the MCG are now known as Yarra Park. But when I was boy, they were not described in terms of anything so grand. In those days, the lovely green space spreading north from the Northern Stand, a space occupied by gentle slopes and ancient gums, was known as the MCG Car Park. Or at least that's how I knew it. During the 1970s, before almost every Richmond home game, my father would bundle one or two brothers and me into our car, together with...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Hello Reader, It’s Terrie here, So many of my friends tell me how they regularly meet up with family or friends in the city — and I recently did the same with my brother. We met at Federation Square and took a gentle stroll over to the Melbourne Recital Centre for a Mostly Mozart matinee, Mannheim to Paris. Musicians from the Australian National Academy of Music, alongside director Carla Blackwood, presented a beautiful hour of music bringing winds and strings together — just magnificent....
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Hello Reader, There's a real festival buzz building across Melbourne, and we've been busy putting together guides to help you make the most of them — each one packed with reader tips and our top picks so you know exactly where to start. First up, Melbourne Rare Book Week runs 23 July to 1 August, with talks, tours and exhibitions across the city's libraries and heritage collections — most of it free, and the hero event needs no ticket at all. Read our guide here. Right in the middle of that,...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, Paul here. On our tour through the Hardware Lane Precinct, we finish up at Guildford Lane, which is one of my favourite lanes. I call it the Pot Plant Lane, for the good reason that it’s teeming with pot plants. The green of the leaves contrasts perfectly with the red brick of the old factories and warehouses. As has been written elsewhere, the industrial past meets a green future. Of the many delights in Guildford Lane, my favourites are two images tucked in among the ferns as...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read