Tina has been a glass blower on the Hinterland for 24 years

She started her career in glass blowing 24 years ago when she established her first studio in Mapleton, assembled from $2000 worth of recycled junk materials.

Now Tina is selling her current Montville home and planning her next building venture overlooking Lake Baroon.

Here, Tina describes her love affair with living and working on the Hinterland.

WITH MY partner, Mark Galton, we formed our first studio, Martini Glass, in the mid 80s, which proved to be very successful both from an artistic perspective and for our financial returns.

With this success I made a very brave jump to buy my first house for $104,000. It was an old Queenslander set on one acre in Treehaven Way, Maleny.

We constructed a small glass blowing studio on the property which was one of the first studios on the Range.

In those early days arts venues were only just becoming a major tourism focus and small studios like ours helped greatly with building the arts reputation of this region. As the years went by I renovated five houses which were scattered all over the Range, the proceeds of which were used to support my glass blowing career.

My design ability was a great asset with these renovations as I was always able to make them unique and I believe you could always see my artistic touch when you visited them.

“L’Amour” is my current residence and the one I have loved the most as it has been a healing space for me during the past seven years which have been very challenging to say the least.

I lost my partner, my health was failing and the pressure of being a successful artist was taking its toll on me. I may not have made it through this troubling period if it wasn’t for the energy of “L’Amour” which has been the saviour of my soul. It is a beautiful home, full of love and it is awaiting its next loving occupants to enjoy its tranquillity.

My next step is to build my dream home with recycled timber and old bridge timbers. The block has been lovingly prepared for this step over the past 10 years. It looks over Lake Baroon and is majestically perched on the high point of our neighbourhood.

I intend to set up an appointment-only gallery there and, hopefully, a small glass blowing studio for me to work from.

My block now has over 900 tons of rock with 12 terraces down the sloping terrain and from any vantage point you get 200 per cent views over the water. It is awaiting me and my artistic touch and I am looking forward to making my last move and enjoying the building and design process.

I continue to love living on the Blackall Range and wouldn’t be anywhere else for quids. Its energy and sense of community is fantastic and there is nowhere else in the world to compare.

Tina’s new home-building venture overlooking Lake Baroon.

]]> http://www.hinterlandtimes.com.au/2011/11/05/tina-cooper%e2%80%99s-next-big-adventure/feed/ 0 http://www.hinterlandtimes.com.au/2011/11/04/tree-changers-james-jody-craig/ http://www.hinterlandtimes.com.au/2011/11/04/tree-changers-james-jody-craig/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:48:32 +0000 admin http://www.hinterlandtimes.com.au/?p=9848

Jody and James Craig in their new Montville home

James and Jody Craig and their two young children Jessica and Samuel … moved from Grange in Brisbane, via Buderim to Montville only three months ago. Here they overlook Lake Baroon in a spacious Queenslander and have no wish to return to the city.

Why did you come here?

James: A combination of reasons really. We have lived in cities pretty much all our lives, and we’ve had close neighbours for a long time. With young kids growing up it’s nice to have a bit more room. We’re also lucky to have such a nice view of Lake Baroon. It’s also convenient for my job as an anaesthetist at Nambour Hospital… It takes me 15 minutes to drive there, the equivalent 15 minutes drive in Brisbane doesn’t get you far.

Jody: I think we’ve always known that we eventually wanted to live outside a major city. Last year while we were deciding where to live a position for James at Nambour Hospital came up and it all fell into place really. We used to come up here to the Hinterland a lot; we always enjoyed visiting it from Brisbane.

Jody: We did consider a few other regions before we moved to the Sunshine Coast and we weighed up what would be around for the kids as they grew older; would there be enough opportunities for them in terms of education and sport. It’s still a reasonable distance from Brisbane if we want to go down for various activities.

What did you have to change in coming here?

Jody: I had already changed the focus of my full time work in Brisbane as a physiotherapist once I had children, so that’s been no different for me moving here. I have been able to pick up work that fits in with school hours.

James: We have a much bigger block of land here and as such a lot more mowing, I find that I enjoy getting on the ride-on mower.

Jody: We’ve only been here three months and the inside of the house has been our priority. But the plan is to turn the garden more towards our style.

James: I suppose there is a change of pace, and there’s been a change of social groups for all of us. But we’ve found our neighbours are very friendly and welcoming.

their children, Samuel 5 and Jessica 7.

Jody: Our family is still in Brisbane so we can still visit them on weekends and school holidays.

What would keep you here?

James: Well, I am happy where my career is going and I don’t have any desire to go back to the city and work there. I enjoy the lifestyle up here and that’s a major driver for me. Something that does attract us to the area is the lack of high density living areas. It would be nice if that characteristic remained.

Jody: We like things as they are really. That’s what attracted us to Montville in the first place. As for the longer term – you do see families with teenagers go to high school off the Range so it’s do-able.

We will just assess that as they get older. The longer I am here I don’t think I could go and live anywhere else. So as long as we keep feeling like that we’ll stay here.

Trainers Ray Louden and April Adsett try out the new leg curl and leg extension machine

“We are now well and truly up with the best of community based gyms,” says gym trainer Ray Louden. “The gym has all the equipment we require, and since moving to the Maleny Showgrounds, we have a lot more space.”

Apart from a new rack of dumbbells, benches and two new bikes, a leg extension and leg curl machine was recently installed. This machine helps those with lower back problems because it works quadricep, hamstring and glute muscles without activating the hip joint or affecting the lower back.

The students were taken through various techniques, including self defence moves and sparring, and all were graded to the next rank, which means a new belt and new techniques to learn.

There were over 150 students in attendance from all over the Sunshine Coast. Master Rhee is the father of Tae Kwon-Do in Australia, having introduced the Korean martial art to Australia in 1970.

If you are interested in fun, fitness and learning self defence, come along and take advantage of the Unlimited Free Trial currently on offer.

Rhee TaeKwon-Do is held at 5pm every Tuesday and Thursday at the Maleny Community Centre on Maple Street.

Phone 0419 496 160 or 5447 0166 for more information.

John Pirie holds up his Boxing Kangaroo flag

John Pirie is a Hinterland resident and Maleny chiropractor. He is also a Canadian ice hockey ‘tragic’ who flew to Vancouver to join the biggest congregation ever to witness a Winter Olympic ice hockey event. John told the Hinterland Times how an Australian icon helped Canada win the gold medal.

A few days before my departure, a news item in an Australian newspaper caught my eye. The Aussie athletes at the Olympic Village had hung a ‘monstrous boxing kangaroo’ flag outside their quarters in the village. The International Olympic Committee wanted it taken down because the flag wasn’t ‘official’ The Aussies refused to budge, and eventually the flag stayed. I decided then to take one of the flags with me and hang it from the balcony of my apartment in Vancouver. Trouble was, I couldn’t find one anywhere on the coast so flew off to Vancouver empty handed.

The Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey tournament is one of the toughest tournaments to win in sport. The Canadian team got through to the quarter final, which was against Russia – the tournament favourites. This would turn out to be the biggest game of the tournament.

The post arrived on the morning of the game and to my surprise it contained a notice indicating a package was waiting for me to pick up at the local post office. About an hour before I had to leave for the game, I dashed over and picked up the package. It was from my wife Pippa. Inside was a
giant 6 foot boxing kangaroo flag. I decided to take it to the Canada/Russia game for good luck.

Our seats for that game were the best we’d had. Two rows from the ice and right behind the Russian net for the first period. I decided to ‘give it’ to the Russians. I got that boxing kangaroo flag up on the glass at ice level and started to put the ’hex’ on the Russian goalie in the warm up -“Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oy Oy Oy”. It worked! Canada scored four goals in the first period and ended up crushing the Russians 7-3. The boxing kangaroo had come through.

That flag is now hanging from a doorway in our Hinterland home and I can’t help but smile with the memories it brings… go Canada go!

Of the seven events Hannah contested, she had results in five, including one Champion trophy (‘Youth Handler’), two Reserve Champion titles (‘Youth Rider’ and ‘Western Pleasure’) and a top-10 placing in ‘Youth Show Hunter’ and ‘Youth Bridle Path Hack’.

It will probably be Hannah and ‘Tricky’s’ last year riding together, as she will need to move up to a larger horse to see her through the next few years of competition.

“I’ll end up growing out of Tricky,” Hannah explained.

“I’m hoping to get a nice Galloway, about 14-2,” she said.

It’s already been a successful year for the busy rider, with a Champion trophy (10-14 years) from the Summer Show in Caboolture on the shelf at home.

The gutsy 10 year old says she has to thank her mum for her love of all things equestrian.

“My mum used to show horses. She was really good,” Hannah said proudly.

Hannah, who has been riding since she was four, was excited just to have the opportunity to ride at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre, where the Sydney 2000 Olympics were held.

“I’ll keep going and just see where it gets me,” Hannah said.

“I’ve got the Pan Pacs coming up at Ipswich in April,” she said. “My goal then is to compete at the Ekka.”

Photo: courtesy of Bright Stars Modelling.

Well, they’re not the words that 15 year-old Stacey Bentley would use, nevertheless, she is the best young Paint Horse rider in the country, and this striking young woman will soon leave for Fort Worth, Texas to prove her own worth as one of the best riders of the Paint Horse in the world. Stacey spoke to Hinterland Times editor, Michael Berry about this rarely known, but growing sport.

“Competition is like a western type of show with the emphasis on what they call Western Pleasure”, says Stacey. “You wear what the cowboys wear – leather stock curved saddles with shiny silver ornaments. The aim is that the
horse goes around in a relaxed manner with you being as relaxed as you can too, but having full control. The horse goes around on a long rein; they have to look willing. There’s a bit of an art to it.

Photo: courtesy of Agile Photographics.

“You ride around the outside of the arena, the judge will stand in the middle and they will call out to walk or to jog or lope which is a form of cantering but slower. They judge on how well trained the horse is, how well you ride yourself with position and leg aids.”

Paint Horse riding has become the second biggest show horse event in the US. The special quarter horse and thoroughbred  breed has striking white patches ‘painted’ over its body and the genuine  Paint Horse rider looks like a cut-out from Wild Bill Hikock’s Wild West Show.

When you see her all dressed up Stacey Bentley wears her wide cowgirl hat, silver belt buckle, wide chaps with frills down the leg, wrangler jeans, high boots and rhinestone covered shirt. A good paint horse rider must also learn equitation – a form of etiquette in the saddle. You have to look prim and
proper, relaxed but not sloppy.

Stacey is raising money for her airfares and expenses to Fort Worth in June when she will be in a team of four under eighteen year-olds.

Photo: courtesy of Francene Neuendorf.

“When we get there we literally draw a horse out of a hat”, says Stacey. You only have about 40 minutes with the horse before your event. So, you’ve got to be able to ride any horse, adapt and do your best. You might get a horse
that has been trained completely differently to what you’re used to, so there’s a bit of luck and some strategy to it to be the best rider that you can be.

“They also have a team relay on foot where you run from station to station having to piece together a bridle, then to another and say, put together a map of the world. Then there’s knowledge of the horse competition, a teams
parade with a set theme. Then they add up all the results. Last year Australia got fourth.”

Stacey was born into a horse-riding family. Their Kunda horse stud in Peachester has its own ring and stables and Stacey trains and rides her own paint horse called Odette. Stacey’s grandmother and mother have both been
champion riders and their trophies from decades past literally line the entire lounge / dining room of the grandparents’ home.

“My mum rides, trains and breaks paint horses, so I was kind of born into it”, says Stacey matter of factly. I started competing when I was 12. I have been to the state and national championships every year since then. In the last two years I have got high point junior youth (14 and under). At the state show I got high point junior for two years and high point youth overall (18 and under).”

Is there a secret to Stacey’s winning form? “Well, you see some people riding around who have such plain, scrunched up expressions. I enjoy myself and the bond that I have between me and my horse, Odette.”

“Presentation is the key”, adds Stacey. “I make sure all my tack and clothes are clean and I am fit well. And I pay attention to things like hair, make-up, clothes, etc. If you come into the arena on a dirty horse, with a bad outfit you will not place; the judge won’t even give you a second look.”

Stacey, who is a Year 11 student at Beerwah State High, is also doing a retail traineeship. She rides 4-5 days a week and when she leaves school she has ambitions of going back to America to work as a ranch farmhand.

Win or lose in Fort Worth Texas, one thing is sure. Stacey has her hands firmly on the reins of her future.

LIZZIE YORKSTON is into her third year of a Bachelor of Human Movement degree at the University of Queensland. She wants to be a senior PE teacher and apart from keeping fit herself she has to study human physiology. Lizzie has organised her own gym program at the well-equipped Maleny Gym and thinks keeping herself fit is simply part of her own career path. For the first few

years that path will probably mean teaching PE to children in Queensland country schools, something this young person is quite cool about.

Patrick Campbell is in Year 12 at Maleny High this year and at 16 he is already an accomplished and dedicated sportsman. He has won several school swimming records, but his focus is now as a sprinter. At a zone carnival last year he achieved 11.3 secs in the 100 metres which gave him a buzz and made him realise that he had the speed to at least qualify for the Asian National Games.

Patrick trains 4-5 times a week at the Maleny Gym under the guidance of personal trainer Dan Clarke. His personal challenge is to improve his upper body stature and build up his hamstrings – the key leg

muscles for a sprinter. Patrick intends to build up slowly through low level

competition and see where his personal fitness will lead him. Of course Year 12 will be a busy one for Patrick who knows he has to carefully arrange his studies alongside his personal fitness program and his part-time job of junior swimming coach at the Maleny pool. But then Patrick, like Lizzie, is well able to stretch himself to his outer limits.

Maleny Community Gym is located at the Maleny Showgrounds. Contact trainer April Adsett Ph: 5494766 or email: apriladsett@hotmail.com

Among its many benefits, Rhee TaeKwon-Do promotes self discipline, health & fitness, moral values and personal growth, while improving confidence and encouraging self reliance. Rhee TaeKwon-Do is an Australia wide organisation, with 12 branches on the Sunshine Coast.

“Every 3 months our Master Instructor, World Master Chong Chul Rhee, visits the Sunshine Coast, allowing students the opportunity to receive instruction from a World Master.” said Nathan. “This is a benefit unique to Rhee TaeKwon-Do”.

You’re invited to come along to the Maleny Community Centre on Maple Street Maleny at 5pm on Tuesday or Thursday and take advantage of the Unlimited Free Trial currently on offer. Phone 0419 496 160 or 5447 0166 for more information.

www.rheetaekwondomaleny.com