After weeks by the beach I’m super calm, overly meditated and ready for some city energy. Transition is a funny thing and I quite like that small window where I arrive in Melbourne’s mayhem in my own little private bubble of quiet, distanced observation of the human race. Melbourne’s seasonal…

Along with most 70-year-olds, I began writing a memoir three years ago. Called “Our Story,” I envisaged a readership of one, my son. I expected to write in a humorous style, engaging, deft, clever wordsmithing that would leave my reader enthralled, wanting to know more. I would be meticulously truthful,…

A dedicated cinephile- given me an aisle seat, a big screen, surround sound and an anticipatory hush and I am transported for nearly two hours into another world. If it’s a Good film and I’ve seen so many Good films this summer…. there is no other reality, other than which…

It’s holiday time and while Melbourne rushes to the beach, I rush to the city.  The days between Christmas and New Year see beaches and shopping centres crowded, but the roads are free of school traffic so moving around is easy.  There’s a laid-back summer vibe in Melbourne that I…

Let me start with a story. I was living the corner office dream in the 1990’s. A well-paid corporate job, big hair and shoulder pads, and a big ego, I was General Manager of an international consulting firm, saw little of the family and a lot of the coveted glass…

Never one to live moderately, I now belong to 3 book groups. I’m reading more than ever and I’m reading books and exploring authors that I never before knew about. Recently, we were asked to share a list of all-time favourite books. This is my list in no particular order……

” Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”  A mantra for older age. A Funeral eulogy favourite. Dylan Thomas’s famous poem suddenly came to life  last October when  I visited his…

Someone once said ” There are 2 seasons in Scotland- June and winter!” I should have heard this before I set off to the UK in September/ October this year! I had grand plans. For my 74th birthday I would spend a week in my favourite town in Scotland, Oban….

Whether it’s by the sea or in the countryside many Viva 70 readers dream of owning a little place with a garden in a small community as a weekend escape from the city or a permanent residence. You know the dream where life is simple and the cottage is comfortable…