If you live in the bushy parts of any east coast Australian city, you'll be familiar with rainbow lorikeets as extravagant flashes of colour diving through the trees like little neon stunt planes. And if you have a sunny balcony, you'll probably have seen them up close, because of their habit of dropping in uninvited, whether or not there's food ...

IT'S WHERE THE FRENCH HOLIDAYDuring the European summer, popular seaside resort towns in the south of France teem with international tourists keen on soaking up the local flavour. To avoid the crowds, Parisians in search of a beach holiday head instead to Ile de Re, a small island on France's Atlantic Coast. Just off the mainland from La Rochelle, it's ...

Just how important is vitamin D, the vitamin that we obtain from direct exposure to sunlight? Enough to make researchers sit up and take notice of its potential to help defend against chronic diseases.Researchers at the University of Melbourne want to establish if vitamin D and calcium can prevent type 2 diabetes, while in the US, scientists are launching a ...

The show stoppers at the world s biggest garden show have moved beyond flowers. Today, they have deeper design mot" The Chelsea Flower Show, held in London by the Royal Horticultural Society every May, is gardening's equivalent of the Olympic Games. Garden designers from all over the world compete to win coveted gold medals for their show gardens and set ...

When you're a little person, your bed is not merely a bed; it often assumes a larger than- life role in your universe, morphing into a fortress, mountain or cave inhabited by supermen and princesses. But, when darkness descends, and superheroes resume their ordinary lives, the bed becomes an island of comfort.So, what should you look for in a bed? ...

If you're the type whose heart beats a little faster when fossicking for treasure at your local markets, the Strathalbyn Collectors, Hobbies and Antique Fair on South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula is a real find. This is antiques heaven: a country town one and- a-half hours' drive from Adelaide, turned over to the pursuit of Carlton Ware pottery, Murano glass, original ...

Often the biggest hassle in building a house or extension is getting planning approval from your local council, a process that can run into months. All state governments are working to speed up the development approval process, but often make things worse by adding to the long list of requirements to be met. In NSW, for example, the process has ...

Decorating within a smaller floor plan is a challenge for anyone - whether you are downsizing from a large home into an apartment or you're a single, couple or family embracing an urban lifestyle. Here, interior designer Ruth Levine of RLD shares her top 10 tips for turning a new apartment into a comfortable home and living well in a ...

Not many houses begin life as a tractor shed. Rosemary and Patrick Kline's country home in the Southern Highlands of NSW not only began this way, its every charm is derived from the industrial bones of a working farm building."We originally had plans for a substantial home sited elsewhere on the property," says Rosemary. "The shed was built first, intended ...

A chance breakage last month led to a wonderful find - albeit one that turned bittersweet. In a klutzy moment, I dropped a friend's vintage cake knife and watched, mortified, as the bone handle broke in two. In a stroke of good fortune, a stylist pal told me about an 'invisible mending' business - conveniently around the corner from the ...

To improve the energy-efficiency of your home, there are a few things you need witch off. Namely, some bad habits.Curbing your energy use is easily achieved if you can make a couple of small behavioral adjustments," says Paul ors, EnergyAustralia's energy-efficiency specialist. Top of the list is saying goodbye standby power, as this can account about 10 per cent of ...

Major wine-producing countries tend to be parochial in what they drink. The French drink French vin, Italians drink Italian vino, and so on. Increasingly, however, Australians are exploring foreign wines over local favourites. So what are we drinking now?New Zealand sauvignon blanc, for a start. In fact, New Zealand wine accounts for almost 60 per cent of all of our ...

Taste Le Tourby Gabriel Gate (Hardie Grant, $35). An adorable collection of recipes inspired by the Tour de France from the TV series of the same title.Salades by Damien Pignolet (Lantern, $59.95). A beautiful book with spectacular salad combinations for everything from entrees to main courses and even desserts.French Lessons by Justin North (Hardie Grant, $45). Just released in paperback, ...

TIMELY TASKSAs nature quickens, there's no time to lose in the garden. Now's the time to fertilise, plant and prune. Conditions can be windy at this time of year, so increase watering and protect vulnerable plants. Fertilise all garden beds using organic-based fertilisers such as compost, worm castings and cow manure. In all but the coldest areas, this is an ...

About 10 kilometres north-east of the Melbourne CBD, Eaglemont is known for its beautiful gardens, Art-Deco houses and as the area where the Heidelberg School of painters made their base. A suburb of parklands and curving streets, it was designed in 1915 by Walter Burley Griffin, the architect who created the blueprint for Canberra.Burley Griffin himself lived in Eaglemont from ...

Few make-up categories have grown and changed more dramatically in recent years than foundation. Beauty companies have recognised that most women prefer a fresh, natural look and no longer need or want to cover their faces with a thick layer of foundation Oily, gluggy formulas are history. In their place are multipurpose products capable of improving skin-tone and much more.Many ...

The sparkling beauty of Sydney's Palm Beach has inspired many lovely interiors over the years, but it was the quieter splendour of neighbouring Pittwater estuary that inspired John and Leoni McKillop to transform an ordinary holiday unit into a stunning waterside apartment."We had spent time on the beautiful lakes of northern Italy and Switzerland and felt that Pittwater was our ...

"It all started with a day out in the Southern Highlands," says Gary Sands, explaining how he and his partner, Garth Richardson, came to be owners of a handsome villa in country NSW. "We were visiting friends for lunch and it was one of those perfect Highlands days - blue sky, crisp air and warm sunshine."Completely seduced, the pair found ...

Women over the age of 35 have always agonized about the aging process. But over the past few months, a growing number of everyday women have discovered a new way of winding back the clock which has long been a hit with Hollywood celebrities. And the good news is that it doesn't require going under the knife, pills, needles or ...

Most houses require reinvention from time to time to keep pace with modern living. That was the case with this picture-postcard farmhouse in the Fleurieu Peninsula town of Strathalbyn, 65 kilometres from Adelaide. Built in the 1850s by early settlers as a four-room cottage, the home has undergone several transformations as owners progressively changed the layout and added on to ...

While many people dream of escaping the city for the country life, a few years ago, Justin van den Berg and Michael Arends found themselves desperately trying to work out the best way back in."In 2004, we bought 23 hectares at a quaint little place called Esk, not far from Toowoomba in Queensland," says Justin. "We were about to start ...

It's been called the golden age of sea travel, and so it was, at least for those who could afford the luxury of the legendary multi-funneled ocean liners that cruised the world at the end of the 19th century through to the late 1920s. Their smooth sailing was interrupted by two world wars and some spectacular accidents, but they sailed ...

1. the royal visitIn exciting cruise news, Cunard Line's luxurious 2620-passenger Queen Mary 2 is basing herself in Australian waters during 2012. While here, she will conduct the Royal Circumnavigation of Australia, including a 22-night itinerary departing Sydney on Valentine's Day, 2012. Tickets go on sale on July 14.2. Come full circleMany other cruise lines are adding circumnavigation voyages to ...

I must confess to some initial scepticism about biodynamic wines. Let's face it: spraying the ground with manure aged underground in cow horns and considering the cycles of the moon before you apply it does sound a bit odd.But that was before I visited a biodynamic vineyard. The place felt supremely healthy and energised and the wine tasted sublime.Biodynamics is ...

Cool weather encourages a mass of colourful blooms, crisp homegrown vegetables and ambitious plans for the future, writes country gardener Amy Willesee.Rambling vines of golden-podded peas have lit up the winter garden with their masses of lilac flowers. The young pods are a revelation: sweet as snow peas and delicious raw in salad. That is, if they ever make it ...