Innehållsförteckning för TAK2404 från Take 5

Living in Australia, I love to make the most of this amazing country by seeing as much as possible. So, in our two-week Christmas break, I went to Moreton Island, Qld, the third largest sand island in the world, just 75 minutes from Brisbane on the ferry. My friend and I snorkelled the Tangalooma Wrecks, walked over rolling sand dunes and napped – a lot. By the last day, we were so relaxed we stumbled back to the wharf in a daze. And then something happened which made me snap back to full alert and feel quite upset. I got chatting to a lady who said her daughter doesn’t let her buy Take 5 because she doesn’t believe the stories are true. I was devastated. We pride ourselves on sharing…

Big in size, big in personality and he thinks he’s a lap dog! Beverley Richardson, 41. My partner, Elliot, came through the front door after his walk, looking excited. “Look at these beautiful dogs,” he said, handing his phone to me. I looked at the huge Newfoundland dogs on his screen. “A woman was walking them in the park,” Elliot explained. “I fell in love.” Both big dog lovers, we’d been considering giving one a home recently. “They’re a gorgeous breed,” I agreed. With our hearts set on a Newfoundland pup, we searched for a breeder. Once we’d found one, they insisted on some checks before they agreed to us buying a puppy. The breeder came around to check how big the house was and whether someone would be at…

Our community saved the day… Bridget Connor, 32, Wellington, NZ. Clutching a pile of colourful invitations, I glanced around the daycare centre. My son, William, three, was having his first proper birthday party and wanted his daycare friends to come. I’d thrown parties before, but only with people I knew. Thankfully, a teacher came to my rescue. “Ooh, these are so cute,” she said. “Just leave them by the door.” “Will you make sure the other parents take one?” I asked. “Of course,” the teacher assured me. Rather than have a party at home, we’d decided on a day at the beach. “It’s a casual thing, and people can drop in as they like,” I told William’s dad Steve, 32. When Saturday, October 28, 2023, rolled around, it was bright…

Rebecca Schulz, 37, Brisbane, Qld. Standing outside the bar, I had butterflies in my tummy. It was 2010, and I was about to go on my first blind date. A month earlier, I’d added Angus Cave on Facebook, thinking he was a fellow student on the online business and marketing uni course I was taking while living in my hometown of Griffith, NSW. Turned out, I’d got the wrong Angus – but it didn’t stop us from chatting. I’ve just come out of a long-term relationship, Angus confided. Me too! I replied, having just broken up with my high-school sweetheart. We had other things in common, too. We both loved to travel and exercise. And to top it off, we lived just a few kilometres from each other! As I…

They finally let girls in the game Amanda Williams, 44, Chadstone, Vic. Spotting my mum, Glenys, cheering on the sidelines, I ran over to her. “You were always meant to play footy,” she cried. It was 2018, and my team had just won our first match in the Women’s AFL Masters League. “I can’t believe we’re 39 years old and our mums are watching our game!” I laughed to my teammate Rebecca. My friends and I grew up playing footy with the boys at lunchtimes, but unlike our male peers, we couldn’t play it as a sport. Back then, in the ’90s, there weren’t football clubs for girls in rural Victoria. Somewhere between working full-time and being a mum to Jessica, 18, and Mitchell, 14, I forgot about my love…

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I uploaded our DNA then received a call from the police Donna Truscott, 44, Sydney, NSW. My father, Donald, wheezed. “I wish I’d found out what happened to my dad,” he said sadly. I took his hand. “I’ll keep looking for you,” I promised him. It was 2016, and Dad had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. His own father, Donald Gordon Buckley, had walked out on the family when Dad was four. No-one knew whether he was alive or dead. In 1972, Dad had put an ad in a Sydney paper asking for information on the whereabouts of his father. Afterwards, he received a call from someone who said Donald Senior was found dead on a riverbank in Moree, NSW, and had been buried there under a different…

Swinging helped cure my anxiety! Liv Arnold, 36, Melbourne, Vic. Unable to sleep, I gently nudged my fiancé, Tim, awake. It was well past midnight, but I couldn’t stop thinking about work. Earlier that day, I’d noticed a colleague looking at me and it had sent my brain spiralling. “I think everyone at work hates me and I’m about to be fired,” I told Tim. Tim and I had been together for a year and a half. He knew how bad my anxiety could get and it wasn’t the first time I’d woken him up at night. “I wish I didn’t feel like this,” I said. “Maybe it’s time to seek out some help,” he offered gently. Knowing he was right, I booked an appointment with my GP, who diagnosed…

From lion safaris in Africa to swimming with dolphins on Hamilton Island, animals make up a significant part of tourism – in fact, the UN World Tourism Organisation reports wildlife-based tourism accounts for close to 10 per cent of tourism revenue. Though encounters with all creatures great and small often leave travellers with unbeatable memories, many animal tours sadly aren’t ethical and impact the wellbeing of the animals. As Australia boasts some of the best wildlife (if we do say so ourselves!), we’ve tracked down five of the top ethical wildlife encounters you can experience across our great country. KANGAROO HAVEN WILDLIFE RESCUE, WA For a close experience even feed a joey! with our beautiful, Owner, Mandy bouncy friends, Watson, has worked Kangaroo Haven at closely with the Parks Kununurra…

CAPRICORN Dec 23 –Jan 20 A dramatic turnaround is possible this week. The choice to change is empowering. Not choosing to change? The change happens anyway and that doesn’t feel empowering. Stay in the driver’s seat when it comes to what you want. ★ Ano-holds-barred approach is necessary now. AQUARIUS Jan 21 –Feb 19 Life may be but a dream for you right now. Or, you could be in a living nightmare. Your intuition is telling you all you need to know. If you can’t receive the message, you need to be meditating. ★All the answers you need are inside you. PISCES Feb 20 –Mar 20 It’s okay to choose the company you keep. It’s okay to reduce the energy and effort you make towards friends or associates. If you’re…

We were driving each other crazy so we decided to hit the road Cassie Lole, 41, Lockyer Valley, Qld. Stacking the plates in the dishwasher, I swiped my hair away from my face in annoyance. Just then, two of my sons ran into the kitchen crying. “Jasper kicked me,” Hamilton, nine, moaned loudly. “I didn’t!” Jasper, 10, cried indignantly. “Boys, enough!” I yelled, fed up. They slunk out of the kitchen and a wave of guilt washed over me for losing my temper. Later that night, I sat down on the couch next to my husband, Josh. “I’m exhausted,” I said. “Me too,” he admitted. “I don’t feel like our boys are getting the best of us,” I continued. It was 2021, and we lived on an acreage in the…

After disaster struck, I was saved by fashion Leesa Cassar, 53, Newborough, Vic. Sitting across from my director at the aged care home where I’d worked previously, I fought back the tears. “I’m sorry, Leesa, but you’re unemployable.” I’d just been told that there was no prospect of me returning to work. Twelve months earlier, in 2019, I’d been in a terriblerible head-on collision with another car. My legs had been crushed in the accident, I had two slipped discs in my back and damage to many of my internal organs. I’d ended up in a wheelchair. After extensive physiotherapy,py, I could now walk, but only for 15 minutes at a time. Back home, I fretted about what to do with my life. I had…

I became a train driver in my 20s and bought a house in two years! Chelsea Taylor, 28, Melbourne, Vic. Standing in the kitchen with Mum and my brother, I had a minor meltdown. “I feel like I’m having a quarter-life crisis,” I unloaded to them. It was April 2019, and aged 23, I had already dropped out of three different university degrees and racked up $30,000 in student debt. First, it was exercise and sports science, but I wasn’t as sporty as the other students. Then it became nursing, but after 12 months, I didn’t love it enough to warrant the job’s demands. I switched to teaching, which was going well until I had my first placement and discovered I didn’t like hanging out with kids. “Why don’t you…

Teaching had been a lifelong dream for Colleen Ritzer. Ever since she was little, she’d wanted to help others – and had quickly learned sharing her aptitude for maths was the way she could do that. Her friends described her as “energetic” and “compassionate” in her quest to teach in a school. She graduated from teaching college in 2011, then completed a masters the following year. By 2013, when she was 24 years old, Colleen had landed a position teaching ninth-grade algebra at Danvers High School, where she was adored by her students and colleagues. “You couldn’t have asked for more from a teacher or from a friend,” one said. Outside of school, she loved her family, posting games and quizzes for her students on Twitter, and listening to Taylor…