Veronika Wild

Once more into the Rainforest   Apart from an impromptu stop at the Mole Creek Market, where I spent most of my money, the next day proved to be rather disappointing.   I had managed to find someone who had not only heard of, but been to Sensation Gorge Falls, but apparently he had only succeeded by clinging onto bushes and hauling himself up a cliff face. Undeterred, I went along to the rangers’ office at nearby Marakoopa Cave. Though they went to great lengths to show me where the track began, they also warned me that the last time someone had come to cut the track, they had given up after encountering four snakes in the first few metres.  Enthusiastic worker at the apple juice stand, Mole Creek Market Ever hopeful, I soon I found myself at a dry scrubby creekbed beset with knee high grass.   Having a pathological fear of snakes, I was about to put my gumboots on, when it occurred to me that if there was no water in the creek, there was probably not going   to be

Waterfall baggers delight - Main Fall at Liffey. These photos taken too late in the day, do not convey its true beauty We all know about  peak - baggers- those intrepid souls who like to climb every mountain. Then there are people like me who belong to the secret society of waterfall -baggers. There are more of us than you might think. I am just mesmerised by falling water. It’s not just the water however. Nor is it  the challenge of simply ticking another one off a list. It is also the beautiful scenery that goes with it – the richness of the vegetation -the tree ferns, the mosses, the tall trees and the thrill of discovering another of nature's wonders.  Craig Doumouras, creator of the beautiful Waterfalls of Tasmania website, puts it very well, " For me personally, having been a sufferer of depression for many years, chasing waterfalls fills my soul with a sense of freedom I never knew existed..." I couldn't agree more. Liffey is really

Sign of the Times Pardon me, I’m not an economist, but I fail to see how cutting the wages of low paid workers and the poor will save the economy. According to Stephen Koukoulas of The Guardian , Australia currently has around 725,000 unemployed people and 1,067,000 people who are underemployed, not counting those who have given up looking. You are officially 'employed' even if you only work one hour a week. Even if and it’s a big if , employers do put on another worker, also on a low wage, where will the extra money come from to buy more beer,   another coffee or more things? The same goes for cutting pensions.  Our retirees, unemployed people and those on disabilities have also come in for their share of cost cutting, so less money will be spent in the community, especially as all other costs are rising, and wages have barely moved since the Global Financial Crisis, despite significant increases in corporate profitability.  Instead, it will be like a reverse st