Since September last year many Australians have lived with nightly images of our communities on fire. Worse for some they have lost their homes and loved ones. When disaster strikes trauma results and for people directly affected by fire the road to healing is long and expert professional support is…

Here in Australia it’s mid- summer and along with 40 degree temperatures the bushfires rage. Julia Richard is our regular Wellness contributor to Viva 70. Originally from New South Wales she has lived in Yorkshire for many years now working as a coach and medical herbalist. This wonderful article was…

I bought a red woollen winter coat yesterday, in a sale at Zara. It’s 36 degrees outside. The shopping centre is shrouded in thick yellow-white smoke, like a tarpaulin tightly covering the city, letting nothing through. Not sure why I bought it. Then I remembered a photo. Images. Jane Fonda…

This month Viva 70 welcomes Graeme Leith as a guest writer to our pages.  Apart from being a talented winemaker and founder of Passing Clouds vineyard, Graeme is a prolific writer and published author. His storytelling and dry wit is legendary and I think I’ve nearly cajoled and harassed him…

The PBS News Hour program is fabulous. I stumbled across it here in Melbourne by accident channel surfing on a particularly bleak rainy day. It’s on SBS Viceland at 4.10pm weekdays. I’m sure its streamed on other media too. On Friday I saw an interview with Jane Fonda. It made…

In Australia’s cooler climes November is the last month of spring. In my garden the birch trees are laden with catkins, the ornamental grape has clusters of fine powdery seeds, lavenders and roses bloom and pollens abound. This month our resident wellness expert, Julia Richards has sent through a very…

In a recent 50 Faces 50 Lives article I wrote about the two most transformative events of my life- the birth of my son and having him in my life and the experience in 1998 of a complete physical and mental breakdown. Let me point out that these 2 events…

Welcome back to our Wellness expert  and Viva 70 contributor, Julia Richards. Julia is a medical herbalist in her practice in Yorkshire and patients often ask her for ways of improving their sleep. As we age, our sleeping patterns change and this month she provides some specific, practical advice about…

I recently reported on a Melbourne Fashion Week forum that I attended, where the issue of older women being invisible was raised and dismissed in the same breath. ” Invisible? Invisible to the male gaze? Who cares?!” suggested the  panel member. One of Viva70’s greatest supporters Maureen Moffat who lives…