Sister city helps post-quake Japan

Sister city helps post-quake Japan

By MADELINE POWER
The smell of tantalising, steaming udon noodles hung upon the air, and further in among the crowd a set of drums tapped out a very festive beat. Canberra celebrated its 18th year of a successful sister city relationship with Nara, Japan, with the Canberra Nara Candle Festival – hosting 12,000 visitors, according to [...]

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A shadow of hope for Nuclear disarmament?

A shadow of hope for Nuclear disarmament?

By SOPHIE DUMARESQ
SILIENCE, broken by the sound of magpies in the trees, the curious murmurs of bystanders and the heavy breathing of the 30 something motionless bodies sprawled around me on the hot pavement of Garema Place under a late October Australian sun.
It’s been around two minutes since the whistle went off — signaling [...]

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Spirit of Ben continues to inspire

Spirit of Ben continues to inspire

By JACQUI GARRITY
YOU would not know it was just after eight-thirty on a Sunday morning. The energy in the gymnasium of Lake Ginninderra College can be felt from outside in the car park. Children, their parents, chatty teenagers and seniors are wearing registration bibs, standing in groups inside and outside the gymnasium. Event [...]

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Mountain of challenges for the ultimate spectator

Mountain of challenges for the ultimate spectator

By GREGG EASTON
MY twelve-year-old eyes peered out the family car window carefully scrutinising the rolling hills in the distance. With my father at the wheel we had just passed a sign that read, “Welcome to Bathurst, Australia’s oldest inland settlement”.
I fidgeted with impatient anticipation. [...]

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Men who want you to swap four wheels for two

Men who want you to swap four wheels for two

By EMMA BOURKE
A SUCCESSFUL trend will always contain the key elements of affordability and entertainment. That might explain why more Australians are now opting for two wheels instead of four. According to the Australian Bicycle Council, last year (2010) Australians bought 284,474 more bicycles than motor vehicles.
Whether we buy them to stay fit, reduce our [...]

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New breed of environmentally friendly renovators


Story and photos by JELISA APPS
ABOUT two hours from the political war field of Canberra, where the climate change debate never seems to grow stale, an environment hero lives her life almost without a leaving a carbon footprint. She may not have a fancy political slogan, but Frances Galvin is helping to save the environment and some money.

Women at top of their game still on cutting room floor

By SIAN McGROUTHER
ONE athlete, two World Cups, an Olympic Games and an Ashes Series. What an incredible sportsman he is, right? Wrong. She is an incredible sports woman.
One Saturday afternoon I sat in the bleeding sun at Leichhardt Oval to watch Canberra United take on Sydney FC in a top of the table [...]

Ariah Park B&S: a beacon in the bush

Ariah Park B&S: a beacon in the bush

By ALISON DANCE
PETROL fumes fill the air, mixing with the dust and humidity as engines roar and tires dig trenches into the red earth. The alcohol fuelled crowd brims with anticipation as hundreds of akubra bearing country goers reunite with old friends and openly leer at the promise of new ones. They mingle with groups [...]

Deaf to the curse of competitive sport

By SEAN DOWNIE
CRAIG Hammond is a 27-year-old local cricketer who is deaf in both ears. I realised how much we take sport for granted as I watched him play for his Division Three Tuggeranong team last Saturday (5 November, 2011).
Craig’s team batted first on a sun-drenched morning at Chisholm Oval. With the shatter of [...]

Passion for dance benefits Latin dance community

CANBERRA had its first Latin Dance Extravaganza on 5 November featuring interstate and local professional performances with plenty of social dancing, NATALYA YESKINA reports.

From fun to fights: alcohol-fuelled violence

By MELANIE LEACH
IT started as a normal Friday night (14 October 2011) at Vikings Erindale. People were having fun, drinking and listening to music. However, in a few short moments a fight broke out and the fun night was over for almost everyone.
A man with tattoos up his arms and with hair in one of [...]