Readers Digest Australia August 2021

FRIENDSHIP IS A GIFT, and one that we all treasure. Trusting and confiding in each other is what binds friendships together, but when those foundations are threatened, it can rock an individual to their core. In ‘Scammed By My Best Friend’ (page 108), we witness how low one scammer was prepared to go for financial gain. Olivia Newton-John (page 32) is a name synonymous with good times and happy tunes. But she’d be the first to acknowledge that her personal life has faced some tough challenges, particularly in terms of her health. Despite a diagnosis of breast cancer nearly 30 years ago, and then its return as stage 4 in her back in 2017, Olivia remains positive and is committed to a low-toxic, all-natural lifestyle. This month’s issue offers an interesting read…

Where Are We Headed? I have just finished reading ‘Saving the Moon’ (May) and I can’t believe what I read. Looking at the overall picture, humans wanting to explore and set up civilisations out in the universe, not to mention establishing mining companies on the Moon, makes me wonder, where are we heading? Again, it’s all about money. Wanting to establish mining companies to bring minerals back to our planet is beyond belief. Instead of spending millions of dollars on exploratory programmes, we should be looking at securing our world; many countries are gearing themselves for more wars and others are impoverished. Instead of wasting money investigating how to live beyond our world, we should be exploring ways for every country to live in peace and plan how to ensure that everyone has…

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“AND SO IT BEGINS,” I said to myself. We were a few minutes into our long walk, but getting to this first step had taken several years. Six, to be exact. In the summer of 2011, my friend Nino and I started talking over lunch about the Camino de Santiago. Only a handful of friends seemed to know about the pilgrimage route, and I was surprised that he not only knew about it but, like me, also had it on his bucket list. It took another six years before we finally found ourselves at the foot of the famous yellow arrows in the spring of 2017. Over those years we had grown to be more than just friends, and we thought of this walk as one long date. There is a network of…

Bringing Baby to Visit LORNE HENRY From 2008 to 2019, I lived in an old farmhouse in Lansdowne, a village on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, with no neighbours nearby. In the late afternoons, a pair of yellow-tailed black cockatoos would fly over, on their way from the mountain forests to who knows where, heralded by their sad cry. During the long drought in 2018, they’d stop in my backyard to drink from my large ceramic lily pond. One would stand guard high in the old black bean tree that used to shade the outdoor toilet, while the other drank its fill. Then, they’d change positions. When both were replete, they’d fly off. This occurred every day. When I hadn’t seen them for quite some time, I’d wondered what had befallen them…

Our regular pet columnist, Dr Katrina Warren, is an established and trusted animal expert. CAT BEHAVIOUR can often be puzzling and confusing to humans. However, rest assured, your cat isn’t crazy, there’s often a rational explanation for their actions. Veterinarian Dr Katrina Warren shares her expertise on some common and quirky cat behaviours to help you understand why your cat behaves the way it does. MY CAT ALWAYS SCRATCHES THE FURNITURE Scratching is a natural behaviour for cats – it’s a way for them to mark their territory and is how they remove the outer sheath of their claws to expose a new sharper claw underneath. If your cat does not have a suitable surface to scratch, they will choose your furniture or carpet. To protect your furniture, provide at least two scratching…