A room filled with 17 friendly cats is heaven on earth for feline fans, and at The Cat Lounge in Auckland, the kitties have a pretty stellar deal as well. Spending their days in an indoor playground complete with tree houses, tunnels, bridges and walkways, able to retreat to a visitor-free abode should the attention get too much, these pampered pusses are well looked after.
Meet Gordon. Born in England, he travelled to Melbourne to print facsimile editions of London newspapers for British expats. He spent 50 years printing those newspapers day-in, day-out. Gordon lived and breathed printing, having even been named after a publishing house. Sadly Gordon was made redundant when a newer model superseded him, and was tossed onto the scrapheap. Seven years ago he was rescued from a deceased estate by a young woman who breathed new life into him.
Growing garlic may not be too tricky, but growing farmers can be. To help young prospective farmers gain the skills and experience they need in the field, Farmer Incubator was established in Victoria in 2013 by Paul Miragliotta. Melbourne based landscape gardener Per Staurup soon joined the small group due to his interest in “making sure there are good farmers out there and that people who deserve the chance to do it can”.
Eight billion dollars. That’s the staggeringly high cost of edible food that Australians waste each year, according to Do Something’s recent Food Waste campaign. It’s a figure shocking enough to put you off your lunch. But for Georgia Hutchison and her friend Tullia Jack, it was the perfect inspiration to put on lunch – in 2013, they started Open Table, a non-profit organisation that actively addresses food waste and social isolation by hosting free community dinners using salvaged food otherwise destined for the bin.