Same-sex Marriage, IT’S not just out west where the drought’s on. The Brisbane Valley, which is just west of Brisbane, is also looking pretty dry, the creeks and watercourses well down, the paddocks and grass dry. All of which makes the prospect of a meal there, an hour west of central Brisbane, based on local produce slightly curious — will the vegies lack substance and flavour? But Spicers Hidden Vale, at Grandchester, pulls it off pretty well with its restaurant Homage.
Water supplies aren’t such a big problem that irrigation can’t solve. New chef Ash Martin, who previously did the cooking for another Spicers outfit at nearby Spicers Gap, has whipped around the region to source the entire menu locally, including quail from Pittsworth; pork from Millmerran; freshwater crayfish from Taroom; lettuce from Gatton; and cheese, olives, sweet corn, green beans, capsicum and broccoli from Laidley and Boonah.
The Spicers chain started as resorts with a good restaurant attached but now seems to be turning into an eating place where you can stay overnight. The cottages at Hidden Vale have a beaut view towards Spicers Gap, about 80km distant, and there are plans to link the two via a walking track. So in a few years you’ll be able to walk through these fields of produce before you eat them. Just hope the drought breaks before then.
TRAVEL
NEVADA’S recent decision to welcome same-sex marriages will no doubt boost Las Vegas as the world’s wedding capital, and hoteliers are primed to cash in. About 100,000 marriage licences are issued each year to couples wanting to tie the knot Las Vegas style. If you are after a romantic wedding why not check out the Bellagio Resort and Casino package? Wedding planners time the resort’s famous water show to start just as the newlyweds embrace for their first kiss . The Wynn Las Vegas wedding package, meanwhile, offers custom-made Cartier wedding bands, a private party, and rehearsal dinner at the award-winning Bartolotta Ristorante de Mare .
bellagio.com; wynnlasvegas.com
LISA ALLEN
ACTIVE Travel has a themed trip to Peru next year that sounds perfect for crafty types. The Textiles of the Andes tour, from Lima to Cusco, departs June 24 and will be led by Valerie Kirk, senior lecturer and head of textiles at the Australian National University’s school of art. The 13-day itinerary includes hands-on workshops with local weavers and visits to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca; $5169 a person, twin-share. Flights extra but special fares on offer if booked by November 19. activetravel.com.au
SUSAN KUROSAWA
TECH
A GROUP of graduates from the US, France, The Netherlands and Taiwan has developed software that allows deaf people to take part in group conversations using smartphones. An app lets the user follow, say, a workplace meeting by displaying what each person says, in much the same way text appears in a message thread. The app claims to display the text of each person’s comments in real time using voice recognition technology. The trick has been to make the set-up seamless. The deaf user gets other participants to confirm they want to take part in the conversation with a single button press. Transcense so far has received $US33,000 ($37,846) through crowd-funding site indiegogo.com, exceeding its $US20,000 goal.
CHRIS GRIFFITH
HEALTH
ARTHRITIS can have a big impact on your capacity to work. The second leading cause of disability in Australia, it affects three million people, or 15 per cent of the population, with two in three sufferers of working age. As the condition often involves inflammation of one or more joints, work for those affected is often made difficult if not impossible. A study conducted by the University of NSW Social Research Centre found two in three people surveyed reported arthritis had affected the type and hours of work or study they were able to do. One in four reported that they were permanently unable to undertake these activities because of their condition. Arthritis Australia chief executive Ainslie Cahill says early diagnosis is important: “We know that much can be done to prevent or reduce the disability associated with arthritis by providing better care for people as early as possible in the disease course.”
Water supplies aren’t such a big problem that irrigation can’t solve. New chef Ash Martin, who previously did the cooking for another Spicers outfit at nearby Spicers Gap, has whipped around the region to source the entire menu locally, including quail from Pittsworth; pork from Millmerran; freshwater crayfish from Taroom; lettuce from Gatton; and cheese, olives, sweet corn, green beans, capsicum and broccoli from Laidley and Boonah.
The Spicers chain started as resorts with a good restaurant attached but now seems to be turning into an eating place where you can stay overnight. The cottages at Hidden Vale have a beaut view towards Spicers Gap, about 80km distant, and there are plans to link the two via a walking track. So in a few years you’ll be able to walk through these fields of produce before you eat them. Just hope the drought breaks before then.
TRAVEL
NEVADA’S recent decision to welcome same-sex marriages will no doubt boost Las Vegas as the world’s wedding capital, and hoteliers are primed to cash in. About 100,000 marriage licences are issued each year to couples wanting to tie the knot Las Vegas style. If you are after a romantic wedding why not check out the Bellagio Resort and Casino package? Wedding planners time the resort’s famous water show to start just as the newlyweds embrace for their first kiss . The Wynn Las Vegas wedding package, meanwhile, offers custom-made Cartier wedding bands, a private party, and rehearsal dinner at the award-winning Bartolotta Ristorante de Mare .
bellagio.com; wynnlasvegas.com
LISA ALLEN
ACTIVE Travel has a themed trip to Peru next year that sounds perfect for crafty types. The Textiles of the Andes tour, from Lima to Cusco, departs June 24 and will be led by Valerie Kirk, senior lecturer and head of textiles at the Australian National University’s school of art. The 13-day itinerary includes hands-on workshops with local weavers and visits to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca; $5169 a person, twin-share. Flights extra but special fares on offer if booked by November 19. activetravel.com.au
SUSAN KUROSAWA
TECH
A GROUP of graduates from the US, France, The Netherlands and Taiwan has developed software that allows deaf people to take part in group conversations using smartphones. An app lets the user follow, say, a workplace meeting by displaying what each person says, in much the same way text appears in a message thread. The app claims to display the text of each person’s comments in real time using voice recognition technology. The trick has been to make the set-up seamless. The deaf user gets other participants to confirm they want to take part in the conversation with a single button press. Transcense so far has received $US33,000 ($37,846) through crowd-funding site indiegogo.com, exceeding its $US20,000 goal.
CHRIS GRIFFITH
HEALTH
ARTHRITIS can have a big impact on your capacity to work. The second leading cause of disability in Australia, it affects three million people, or 15 per cent of the population, with two in three sufferers of working age. As the condition often involves inflammation of one or more joints, work for those affected is often made difficult if not impossible. A study conducted by the University of NSW Social Research Centre found two in three people surveyed reported arthritis had affected the type and hours of work or study they were able to do. One in four reported that they were permanently unable to undertake these activities because of their condition. Arthritis Australia chief executive Ainslie Cahill says early diagnosis is important: “We know that much can be done to prevent or reduce the disability associated with arthritis by providing better care for people as early as possible in the disease course.”
